Torrents of Time: Recent Episodes
johnlucasbowman
Welcome to Torrents of Time. I am John Lucas Bowman., I am a writer and I want to tell you stories that move my heart as I try to understand the human condition. The stories I tell happened, they are history, but I don’t give you a lecture. I am a writer. I like to reach beyond the facts and unveil the human story that lies beyond, a story that makes me walk in the shoes of someone else for a few minutes. I would be happy if you would join me. Check out www.torrentsoftime.com
Perhaps one of the most captivating portrayals of emperor Nero is that of Peter Ustinov in the 1951 movie Quo Vadis. He portrays Nero as a self-absorbed psychopath who collects his tears in little bottles for posterity to behold and who fiddles like a madman while Rome burns. This portrayal is basically how modern pop culture understands Nero. The question is; is that portrayal historically correct? - Or is there more to the story of the emperor who was the first to persecute Christians on a large scale?
Check out
www.torrentsoftime.com
www.olaf-baumann.com
In the season when Americans begin a love affair with a maid from Switzerland, soft drink sales plummet. To make a brown bubble brew from Atlanta into an integral part of the Winter Wonderland, marketing executives employ an ancient saint to be their jolly ambassador. They create the most successful marketing campaign of modern time. While the reason for the Christmas season, Jesus Christ, is all but forgotten, nobody can escape the spell cast by Santa, the modern saint of stuff.
No one in the history of mad emperors is more notorious than emperor Nero. That is more than a modern sentiment, created by novels and Hollywood movies. Nero was already notorious in antiquity. Ancient historians write that there is no act of decadence and debauchery he does not excel in. One beautiful Mediterranean day, he proudly creates his masterpiece of malice his when he devises a devious way to end his mother Agrippina. But mommy is nothing but resilient. She is at least as devious as her son and she is a stronger swimmer than expected.
It was on a nice Thanksgiving day in 1970 when Massachusets wanted to celebrate 350 years of the Pilgrim Fathers setting foot of Plymoth rock. A great party was to mark the occasion. The governor would host a Turkey dinner with dignitaries, music and speeches. One highlight was Frank, the nice Indian, who was invited to say something uplifting and appreciative about the arrival of the white man in America. A nice Indian would make the govenor's guests feel good about themselves and about America. But Frank, the nasty native, wanted to talk about what really happened when the white man came to the shores of the new world. The governor knew that a native perspective would spoil the fun of celebrating the thoroughly sanitized founding mythology of America. Frank was kicked off the guest list. And while inside white America celebrated itself, native America stayed outside and protested.
Hello and welcome to torrents of time. This is episode zero of my podcast and this is what you can expect. I am John Lucas Bowman. I am a writer and I want to tell you stories that move my heart as I try to understand the human condition. The stories I tell happened, they are history, but I don't give you a lecture. I am a writer. I like to reach beyond the facts and unveil the human story that lies beyond, a story that makes me walk in the shoes of someone else for a few minutes. I would be happy if you would join me. The first episode drops on November 17, 2022.