History Guys: Recent Episodes
History Guys
Two historians discuss history, current events, movies and anything else they happen upon in an informed--often sardonic and inappropriate--way. Listen in, every Saturday at 5 PM Eastern, 2 PM Pacific!
In this episode, Alex and Dan gripe about current events, try to figure out the history of President Obama's recent praise of American muslims, and much more.
Dan and Alex recap their recent trip and its historical highlights and preview their upcoming trip to Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
Alex finally reviews Jared Orsi's Zebulon Pike biography Citizen Explorer. The Guys then recap current news stories while talking about an upcoming baseball vacation and trip to William Tecumseh Sherman's home in Lancaster, Ohio.
Dan and Alex return for an episode about current events--and Alex's never-ending wait for OUP to get their shit together.
Dan reviews a book about Richard and Pat Nixon's personal lives, Alex reviews "The Book Thief," and the guys discuss other issues of history in the news.
Dan and Alex schedule an impromptu show to discuss Lee Daniels' The Butler, the woes of Ukraine engaging in a real life game of Risk, and whatever else makes it into the show.
Dan and Alex fail to prepare properly for their weekend show, so they record a drunken bout of impromptu historical top five lists. Enjoy!
Dan reviews a number of books he has read lately. Alex promises to read a book on Zebulon Pike for next weeks show while announcing some career news. The guys also discuss new vs. old Robocop and a number of other topics grand and picayune.
Dan and Alex discuss the Netflix documentary, Mitt, and the issues surrounding video as historical evidence. They also tackle GOP Presidential primary polls for 2016 and a range of other topics as they go.
Dan and Alex are back on time for a change to recap the President's latest litany as well as discuss a book Dan is struggling to finish on the history of risk.
Dan and Alex return to discuss some recent history on the big screen and the stories behind the movies
Dan and Alex return to review The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, discuss the nuclear agreement with Iran, and the hundreds of other issues that have arisen since their last show, during the Coolidge administration.
Dan and Alex return to assure a concerned world that they are still alive and practicing history without licenses.
Alex and Dan discuss current events, books, and politics with their trademark historical wit and sensibility. Not actually trademarked, not yet anyway.
Dan and Alex reconvene their regular Algonquin Roundtable to discuss some history topics in the news, from Ms. O'Bagy's fake Georgetown Ph.D., to an article in Foreign Policy Magazine that almost made Dan cry, to the American Historical Association's inability to see what actually makes Mitch Daniels supposedly dangerous, the guys tackle it all, as usual.
Our show goes live against Monday Night Football, sorry NFL! The guys discuss impending (maybe/sorta) war with Syria over chemical weapons--including the alleged historical precedents that exist for it. They also chat about the historical components of their trip to New Orleans last week, books they are reading, and almost certainly the resumption of Football season.
Dan hosts on the road in this special Monday show where the guys report on current events big and small.
Dan is hosting again this week. He'll talk about an article he wrote, currently running on Alex's blog, "The republican Observer," and the guys will further discuss historical topics of the day--along with some pointless minutiae.
Alex is doing his last show from Las Vegas before moving to Texas to corrupt young minds. The guys talk about moving for jobs, job hunting, and probably get to some history somewhere along the way.
It's been a whole year since our first show aired and we're still here--still with no sponsors and over 50,000 listens, what the hell!? Join us as we review our work over the last year and talk about what is to come in the future, aside from locusts and the apocalypse!
Dan and Alex actually review, as previously promised, Geoffrey Wawro's "The Franco-Prussian War."
ian War. The title wouldn't fit, but we've got a full show after a two week hiatus--this time Alex's fault. The guys have seen some movies and read some books and now they're going to tell you about it. Alex is preparing to teach a World History course in the Fall and Spring, and the guys will discuss the pedagogical pitfalls in trying to conceptualize such a broad and gigantic topic.
Dan and Alex review Paul Cartledge's new book, After Thermopylae: The Oath of Plataea and the End of the Graeco-Persian Wars.
Dan and Alex forgoe talking about movies to talk about history. About midway the weeping stops.
Dan and Alex discuss the news of the day and also plot what book they should both read for another joint review episode. Oh, this is exciting radio!
Dan and Alex discuss recent news and history stories--while trying to keep things light and humorous. Perhaps they will fail or succeed, but you can be sure they will laugh. 39 episodes? What the hell? How did that happen?!
Alex recounts a meeting with an old friend from Germany who listens to the History Guys and then conducts a lecturing Q & A with Dan about the Mexican-American War on the request of said Deutche pal.
Alex recounts his visit to the John F. Kennedy Presidential LIbrary. Dan introduces story about Kennedy's views of fascism in the later 1930's and early 1940's.
Dan and Alex talk about some interesting recent stories and experiences and how history is still very much alive.
Dan and Alex pay tribute to Britain's last great Liberal, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The guys also discuss some other recent news and events.
Dan and Alex discuss going to graduate school, the pits and falls, and how they both survived and thrived during the experience.
Dan and Alex devote most of the show to discussing Amity Shlaes' new biography of Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth President of the United States. Perhaps a couple of other topics get in, perhaps not, you'll just have to listen!
Alex is travelling and Dan is sick. The guys challenge themselves to have an interesting conversation with minimal preparation and sparse news--you know, the same as every week.
This week the guys discuss Zombies, Will Durant's History of Civilization, a new report from the "Progressive" think tank Demos that suggests the rich are a pernicious cancer on the body politic, the government creating problems that only it can allegedly fix, and the odd career of Bob Woodward. Alex's father, Michael Marriott, calls in to ham it up with the guys and discuss all of these matters.
Dan and Alex devote the entire show to telling the fascinating and inspiring stories of four immigrants who contributed significantly to the American experience. While you may have heard of some of them before, chances are you haven't heard their stories in much detail or known just what they did. Travel through the entire history of the republic from founding to the post-war period of the 20th century through the eyes of those who, while born in distant and different lands, sought to make the American dream their own--and succeeded!
The Guys have chosen four immigrants to parcel up American history between them--Francis Lieber (1800-1872); Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911); Irving Berlin (1888-1989); and Henry Kissinger (1923-).
Dan and Alex haven't done a real balls to the wall history show since discussing the adventures of Lord Kitchener in the Sudan. This week, they plot another foray into a real historical story that they will narrate in the coming week!
Dan and Alex resume, finally, live podcasting on events of the day and stories of the past!
Dan and Alex interview each other for the entirety of the show. Find out what makes them tick, why they are historians, and much much more!
Bonus episode! Recorded during a trip Dan recently took to lovely Las Vegas! Dan and Alex are together at last! Listen as the guys drink, talk, and show the world that you can play violent video games and yet fail miserably to ever kill a single person! Also, they fail to meet a single human female. Tragedy, farce, comedy, drama, suspense, and history all in the first five minutes! A tour de force! Enjoy!
We debrief Dan on his amazingly wrong NFL playoff predictions and explore new history stories in the news.
Dan and Alex get back to talking history, the news, and everything in between after last week's show, where a creepy racist called in and ruined everything.
Dan and Alex continue rummaging through the past to offer insight on news, movies, and whatever else comes up!
Dan and Alex celebrate the holidays with acerbic wit and the complaints of old men (they are both in their 20s).
Dan and Alex discuss a recent offer they received to join a podcasting network--and why they turned it down. They then chat about some recent news stories that involve historical aspects, respond to questions, etc.
Dan sees Lincoln and talks about it. The guys recommend book and talk history and current events.
The guys talk Abraham Lincoln, the new Spielberg movie "Lincoln," and more history related stuff.
The history of the recent elections that is! The guys talk about the elections and other history stories.
Dan and Alex discuss the upcoming election and the movie "Argo." What do Alex and Dan really think of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama? The Guys also talk religion in and around politics. What is the historical significance of Mitt Romney's Mormonism?
Alex and Dan have a free-flowing discussion about history and film from Lawrence of Arabia, to Spielberg, to Tarentino, and beyond.
Dan talked about one of history's worst brothers, Horatio Blunderbuss. The guys then meandered in serpentine fashion through stories about Goebbels recently unearthed love letters, the Vatican declaring "Bullshit!" on the notion that Jesus had normal human emotions, and finally ending with a teaser for next week's show about movies and history.
Dan and Alex get back to actually discussing the events in the Sudan during the British effort to pacify it from 1882-1898.
Dan and Alex explain their love of the British Empire by recounting the thrilling expeditions of Gordon and Kitchener to the Sudan in pursuit of the Mahdi. They also discuss the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and the Consulate in Benghazi and the response of President Obama to both.
Dan and Alex revisit the hasty end of last week's Presidential spectacular and discuss the Presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama at greater length. Dan explains why he's in a U.S. Senate campaign commercial. Alex and Dan then answer fan questions before discussing famous historians caught plagiarizing (and their lame excuses)--plus the more rare event of hisorians being ripped off by Fareed Zakaria. Please comment, ask questions, or call in!
Because it's an election year, the guys pay homage to the quadrennial exercise by humorously--sometimes seriously--going through all of the Presidents and giving their takes, serious, humorous, or otherwise on the men that have held the office.
The guys answer your questions. Dan details his flirtation with death. Then Dan and Alex recommend good history books. The guys tackle Harvard historian Niall Ferguson's Newsweek article on President Obama and the intense backlash from the left, what's that all about? Then, for the remainder and majority of the time they discuss the Civil War. What caused it? What was it about? Were both sides at fault and/or laudable? What are the legacies of the conflict today? Please post questions or feel free to call in!
Alex and Dan talk about walking in cemeteries. History teacher Tom Major calls in to chat about teaching history in public schools and the kids today. Dan and Alex then answer questions, talk about Alex's latest war on the New Yorker, and getting the Civil War right. Miscellaneous topics may also arise.
Alex and Dan open discussing Nancy Pelosi's admission that she sees dead people--and they all like her and what she's doing. Democratic candidate for the Maine Legislature, Paul Aranson, calls in again to discuss voting issues as well as economic interventionism. Dan and Alex then recommend history books. The guys then discuss Sean Penn's campaign trip to Venezuela and the phenomenon of "fellow-travelling" from 1917 to the present among academics and Westerners more broadly--and among professional historians.
Alex and Dan discuss their own personal politics and political influences. Paul Aranson, Democratic candidate for the Maine State Legislature calls in, discusses his candidacy and issues surrounding public education. Alex and Dan then discuss Harry Truman's grandsons recent visit to Hiroshima and Japanese historical awareness of the Japanese war effort in World War II. Finally, the guys talk about the History News Network's "winners" of the recent poll for "the least credible history book in print."
In our second episode, Alex and Dan discuss the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee, and the opening ceremonies. Next, they discuss Nicholson Baker's "Human Smoke," and the myriad problems in morally ambivalent World War II historiography. Next, they reviewed their numerous issues with the History Channel. Finally, Dan discussed his upcoming book, "The American: The Life, Times, and War of Basil Antonelli."
Introductions. First the boys discuss their mutual love for the computer game, "Civilization." Then they turn to discussing the ongoing child molestation scandal at Penn State University. Next, they talk about the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises." Finally, in a desperate search for a topic to eat up the last ten minutes, they discuss the Portland Press-Herald's (Maine) ongoing attempt to bring the recent re-legalization of fireworks into disrepute.