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Hardcore History Podcast with Dan Carlin


Manhole Eunuchsbane

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4 hours ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

This guy is pretty great, 30 minutes on Princip alone and I didn't feel like it was dragging at all.

Oh yeah, that bit hooked me. The whole "imagine if Lee Harvey Oswald was unable to take his shot, then went out to some diner for lunch and Kennedy's motorcade just happened to pull up alongside him as he came out." Holy shit.

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4 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

Oh yeah, that  bit  hooked me. The whole "imagine if Lee Harvey Oswald was unable to take his shot, then went out to some diner for lunch and Kennedy's motorcade just happened to pull up alongside him as he came out." Holy shit.

Yeah, that made it pretty clear what I was listening to.

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5 hours ago, Jaime L said:

Yeah actually just saw 'Ghosts of the Ostfront' in his library after making that post. Is it good? I'd pay for that for sure.

On HDTGM, love the Fast 7 episode and Bloodsport. Believe me Roadhouse and Gymkata have been on my list forever but didn't DL them initially and now they're behind a pay wall too! Whatever, I just gotta suck it up and pay for the quality podcasts out there. 

Yeah Ghosts is really, really good.  Almost as good for me as Wrath of the Khans (I'm a bit biased as I used to be really into Mongol history).  

And yeah it's fucked up there's a paywall now for HDTGM.  I've been listening since the beginning of it, frustrating that I can't listen to the old ones.  Although I wasn't really paying attention while listening to the latest mini-episode but I think Paul Scheer said they were getting a resolution to that.

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13 hours ago, DunderMifflin said:

I don't think he's even sure if he's doing anymore hardcore history episodes. I've seen him be interviewed about them and he talks about the huge amount of work that goes into making each one.

That'd be a massive shame. I think the issue is he really enjoys doing the history and puts more pressure on himself to be really well read in the topic. I think WWI burned him somewhat as he admitted that the sheer volume of primary, secondary and historical sources are vast. It's one of the reasons why he avoids WWII and more modern events. Ostfront got a pass because there's relatively little in contemporary sources covering that side in WWII. The problem is "king of Kings" was meant to be easy due to their not being many primary sources and it took him a year.

Back to the Ostfront. What I really enjoyed about it was how unapologetic and human it was. Both sides were propping up nasty regimes but the way many of the soldiers were treat was horrible. A segment that touched me was a description of how russian soldiers had machine gunners ordered to fire on those who wouldn't charge and that there was another soldier with a gun to use on the machine gunner if they didn't fire. Later in the war the Germans had to do the same thing to get their soldiers to fight in some cases. Like I say it's that weird thing of when both sides are "bad" that the actual people caught up in it seem more vulnerable/human on both sides. Whereas allies vs nazis I just find harder to empathise with the nazi soldiers. On top of all that the series drove home to me just how important Russia was in bringing WWII to a conclusion and it's quite shocking/sad how much their role was downplayed because they were communist and became the next major threat to western allies.

For those thinking about buying episodes vs listening on youtube. A compromise to consider is that there is a donation button on Dan's site. Maybe listen to the show and then consider donating what you thought it was worth? Or alternatively buy some of his merchandise - a shirt for example has the added benefit of you advertising his podcast :)

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So the later episodes or the ones focusing on modern history are less sensationalist than the first one - 'Alexander vs Hitler' - seems to be? Other than that, the premise of his episodes looks pretty good. If so I'll give some of the freely available ones a listen to begin with.

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19 hours ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

Does that make my beloved Eastern Romans the First Order?

That depends on how much you think Domhnall Gleeson resembles Emperor Justinian :P 

 

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5 hours ago, red snow said:

That'd be a massive shame. I think the issue is he really enjoys doing the history and puts more pressure on himself to be really well read in the topic. I think WWI burned him somewhat as he admitted that the sheer volume of primary, secondary and historical sources are vast. It's one of the reasons why he avoids WWII and more modern events. Ostfront got a pass because there's relatively little in contemporary sources covering that side in WWII. The problem is "king of Kings" was meant to be easy due to their not being many primary sources and it took him a year.

For those thinking about buying episodes vs listening on youtube. A compromise to consider is that there is a donation button on Dan's site. Maybe listen to the show and then consider donating what you thought it was worth? Or alternatively buy some of his merchandise - a shirt for example has the added benefit of you advertising his podcast :)

 I believe he mentioned on one of his Common Sense podcasts that he was shooting for one Hardcore History podcast every 3-4 months, but that he had been mostly unable to keep to that timetable. He didn't mention not doing them anymore, but that he'd likely do them less frequently.

 I went to his page and tossed him $50 bucks. They always say "a dollar a podcast, that's all we ask." I figure I've probably listened to at least 10 already, so I figured I'd give myself a cushion. Will probably end up getting a t-shirt as well.

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10 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

That depends on how much you think Domhnall Gleeson resembles Emperor Justinian :P 

 

More of a Basil II, that motherfucker I could see blowing up planets and getting his jollies off while doing it.

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It's been years since I listened to Ghosts of the Ostfront, and it was great, but having read a bit more about the Eastern Front, I think I can recognize some problems with it's historicity in retrospect.

It's definitely colored by the fact that a lot of the sources from the Soviet side are either only in Russian, or very hard to find in English.

While I won't accuse him of propagating the Myth of the Clean Wehrmacht, since he definitely acknowledges and describes Nazi Germany's atrocities, and not just those committed by the SS, but it seems like a lot of the color is informed by the self-serving memoirs of German Generals such as Guderian or Manstein. One trope I noticed that bled through was that of the Inhuman Asiatic Hordes, willing to charge straight into machine gun fire without regard for life or limb.

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5 hours ago, Horse of Kent said:

So the later episodes or the ones focusing on modern history are less sensationalist than the first one - 'Alexander vs Hitler' - seems to be? Other than that, the premise of his episodes looks pretty good. If so I'll give some of the freely available ones a listen to begin with.

Early episodes were very short and essentially him spitballing an idea without going too in depth eg Alexander vs Hitler. He also had one about whether substance addiction may have been the underlying issue with several historical figures/eventseg Alexander, Hitler and Churchill, Napoleon, JFK, the khans.

4 hours ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

 

 I went to his page and tossed him $50 bucks. They always say "a dollar a podcast, that's all we ask." I figure I've probably listened to at least 10 already, so I figured I'd give myself a cushion. Will probably end up getting a t-shirt as well.

It's a shame he doesn't have a straight up "DC Hardcore history" shirt in the style of the cap.

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37 minutes ago, red snow said:

It's a shame he doesn't have a straight up "DC Hardcore history" shirt in the style of the cap.

Some of the graphics that go with the various You Tube episodes are pretty cool. Like the Prussian Hussars with the zeppelins above them or the Lenin/Uncle Sam mash-up. Not sure if those are his or not, but I would buy one of those on a t-shirt. 

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1 hour ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I really want to like Dan Carlin but every time I try a podcast I get frustrated by the slow pace, repetition and relatively simplistic points.  I haven't found a history podcast that I enjoy. 

Have you tried Patrick Wyman's Fall of Rome? He generally tried to present the latest in academic history and keeps it reltively accesible.

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Peadar recommended Prophets of Doom to me at worldcon.  Pretty much listened to everything available w my podcast app.  Was actually considering dicking around w itunes to see if they had more back episodes.  May just pay the man directly.  

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Funny that this came up, I am on episode 5 of the WWI podcast.  I never really listened to podcasts until a couple of years ago when my girlfriend and I first got together.  A few times a year we make the 8 hr drive to visit her mom who lives waaaaay out in the Texas desert and podcasts are definitely the way to go to kill the time.  She favors criminal justice podcasts which aren't my cup of tea, so I began downloading podcasts that interested me and competing for air time.  We incorporaed a good bit of the King of Kings podcast on our most recent trek there and back.  

Now lately, with the election and aftermath seemingly permeating any and all of my internet haunts, I just have to limit my intake of politics.  My old standby of listening to NPR on both legs of my daily commute has taken a backseat these last couple of months in favor of working my way through DC's WWI series.  Like others have said, it was a subject I really didn't know as much about as I probably should and I have been duly horrified by what those who experienced the war had to endure.  

DC is really great, it is impressive that he can put together these seemless 4-5 hour shows that flow nicely.  I often find myself wandering if he ever has to get up to pee or anything, because the guy hardly seems to take a breath.

If I had to make one criticism I would echo Iskral that sometimes it takes DC a long time to make his point.  There will be a tangent that you think is going to be a quick aside that ends up being a 15 minute detour before returning to the main point.  So there are occasional times where I'm thinking: OK DAN, I GOT IT.  JESUS. :lol:

I still very much like listening to hardcore History though, it is hands down my favorite, and ultimately I think the tangents are mostly necessary when tackling a subject with the breadth of WWI in a narrative style.  When finish the WWI episodes I think I'm going to go ahead and buy some of his paywall episodes.

By comparison I'm also about 40 episodes into The History of Rome podcast (not sure who the narrator is) which is in more digestible 15-20 minute episodes but lacks DC's dramatic delivery and therefore is a lot drier.  I do like it well enough, but I can get people in the truck with me to go along with some Dan Carlin, but start getting some side-eye with some pretty dryly delivered Roman History.  So I appreciate Carlin's accessibility and entertainment value and that he does that without sacrificing the programs value as a history lesson.

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