Podcasts you like

[celedhring]

Bumping this again. Any recommendation for a podcast dealing with the Napoleonic Wars? Just finished listening to Mike Duncan's take on the French Revolution, and since he closes shop with the Brumaire coup, it has left me thirsting for the Empire years.

[Savonarola]

I was listening to an iTunes University course on the history of ancient Greece.  The professor discussed the story in Herodotus about Solon and Croesus where Solon told Croesus that Tellus of Athens was the happiest of men since he had good children, lived to see his grandchildren and died defending his polis.  It struck me that by the standards of our culture Donald Trump is the happiest (or most fortunate, since as Solon points out no living man can be judged to have a happy life) of men.  Trump has celebrity.  He was born with an enormous fortune which he has kept and therefore he has lived richly.  He has had numerous beautiful wives which he divorced before they became old or fat.  What more could a man want (other than to be president)?

[Liep]

So this one is in Danish, but it's so good it's worth learning Danish for.

http://www.radio24syv.dk/programmer/den-korte-radioavis/

Legbiter, this is the radio show I was telling you about, time to brush up your Danish and laugh your ass off with this satirical take on everything. It's like a female Colbert only a bit more aggressive towards mocking the left.

[Savonarola]

I was listening to an iTunes University course on the history of ancient Greece.  The professor discussed the story in Herodotus about Solon and Croesus where Solon told Croesus that Tellus of Athens was the happiest of men since he had good children, lived to see his grandchildren and died defending his polis.  It struck me that by the standards of our culture Donald Trump is the happiest (or most fortunate, since as Solon points out no living man can be judged to have a happy life) of men.  Trump has celebrity.  He was born with an enormous fortune which he has kept and therefore he has lived richly.  He has had numerous beautiful wives which he divorced before they became old or fat.  What more could a man want (other than to be president)?

Once again, how I hate it when the joke is on me.   

Oh well, maybe there is such a thing as Nemesis.

[PRC]

New Dan Carlin podcast is up ("the Destroyer of Worlds").  6 hour "blitz" edition.

Also wanted to mention that Dan Carlin took down the forum on his website... it was overrun with "the_donald" types dominating it such to the extent that he decided to just delete it completely.

[frunk]

Hello from the Magic Tavern - Podcast set in a tavern on a fantasy world.  This particular episode features Windsprinkle the Unicorn (played by Peter Sagal of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me).  The musical interlude is by Mike Doughty, former frontman from 90s band Soul Coughing.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I was listening to an iTunes University course on the history of ancient Greece.  The professor discussed the story in Herodotus about Solon and Croesus where Solon told Croesus that Tellus of Athens was the happiest of men since he had good children, lived to see his grandchildren and died defending his polis.  It struck me that by the standards of our culture Donald Trump is the happiest (or most fortunate, since as Solon points out no living man can be judged to have a happy life) of men.  Trump has celebrity.  He was born with an enormous fortune which he has kept and therefore he has lived richly.  He has had numerous beautiful wives which he divorced before they became old or fat.  What more could a man want (other than to be president)?

Once again, how I hate it when the joke is on me.   

Oh well, maybe there is such a thing as Nemesis.

He might die serving his polis, wouldn't just be him that was happy 

[crazy canuck]

I recommend the Trojan War podcast. 

[Rex Francorum]

The only podcast I listen - not systematically and not enterely (the radio calls part do not interest me)- is Patriots Football Weekly in Progress. PFW is the official paper/online magazine from the Pats. I like the cast. They are up to 4 and have great chemistry. Each has his distinct personnality.

http://www.patriots.com/media-center/audio/pfw-in-progress

[Valmy]

Wow I have to say Rex that was not what I expected when I saw you recommended a podcast

[Rex Francorum]

Wow I have to say Rex that was not what I expected when I saw you recommended a podcast

You were expecting a classical music podcast? or a cat podcast? 

I don't time for that. I prefer to listen to music and watch cats.

[Maladict]

I'm enjoying Athletico Mince. Excellent banter and you can't go wrong with Bob Mortimer.

[mongers]

In depth 10 part BBC podcast series about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the 'deep state' in Pakistan:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05r6cgx/episodes/downloads

Rather interesting.

[Berkut]

Sam Harris is still just freaking excellent. He has really figured out how to make podcasting interesting, and his style of conversation is pretty compelling, IMO.

He gets interesting people on, and talks to them. He doesn't try to trap them into saying anything, and works hard to make sure his guests get to say exactly what they mean, while being very willing to challenge them when his views diverge.

Really just high quality stuff.

[Savonarola]

I've been following Open Yale American Revolution, taught by the ever entertaining Joanne Freeman.  My favorite anecdotes thus far:

Freeman was in Nevis researching Alexander Hamilton.  To get court house records she had to first purchase a stamp and get the stamp placed in the courthouse book.  The stamp man (at the post office, as you might expect) kept Caribbean hours which caused so many delays with her research that eventually she thought "Curse that stamp man."  At which point she realized she had just experience her own American Revolution moment.

In the 18th century British universities were a place you went to become the right sort of person, and to meet the right sort of people.  Due to their ties to dissenter religions, colonial universities were more akin to 19th century British universities, institutions that stressed mental development.  The exception to that was William and Mary, which was like an 18th Century British university.  One of the reasons Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia was that he was so disappointed with the education he had received at William and Mary.  His idea was that it would be a temple of learning, without ties to any religion and where students could select their courses.  While this did eventually become the template for the American university, at first it didn't quite work out like that.  The students would spend their times racing their horses across the campus green and shooting guns in the air.  Jefferson was so appalled by this that within seven months of the university's foundation he gathered the entire student body to rebuke them.  As he got up to talk, he was overwhelmed with emotion and broke down into tears.  The students were so moved that they promised to behave.  (That didn't last for long, but it was a start.)

I also learned the Jefferson considered Patrick Henry lazy, ignorant, volatile and poorly read, but a fantastic orator (the Donald Trump of his day.)  Henry's famous speech to the Virginia house of Burgesses might be more legend than fact, the first transcripts of it didn't appear until nearly fifty years later.