I've been listening to some episodes of The Rest is History which is quite entertaining but the presenters are obviously right-wing. Sandbrook is a fairly straight-down-the-middle Tory, Holland is maybe slightly more liberal but also a Christian apologist to a weird extent. They're basically anti-woke, which I don't have a problem with, in fact I am prefer, except that they are annoying about it - their entire conception of the culture wars is a sort of twitter ontology where being 'cancelled' (i.e. dragged on twitter) is taken to be a foundational precept of our moral universe. Also they are obviously popular historians, and their nationalistic bias, their poncey chivalric ethical code, and their preference for the famous anecdote and the melodramatic narrative over a critical view of history are not entirely excused by good-humoured self awareness. Basically I want a podcast that covers interesting and major historical events, without the self-flagellating and anti-historical aspects of liberal identity politics and woke critical theory, but nonetheless with a view of history that is essentially materialistic and critically minded. If any of you are in the habit of reading the LRB that is the sort of stance I would like any suggested podcasts to take. Mike Duncan I've already listened to a lot but he's a good example of the sort of thing I'm looking for.
I know it's veering on slop, but I still recommend Dan Carlin to people who are looking for podcasts. He's one of the few people who understands podcasts as an audio medium and not literally just reading an essay script out loud into a microphone. He has good diction and pacing, something sorely lacking in the podcast landscape
Anonymous :
41 days ago :
№ 12917
>>12918
>>12917
I think there's just very little overlap between academic thinking and the sense for media creation it takes to make a good podcast. It's like looking for good academic Youtube videos. They are two separate skillsets and the unicorns that can skillfully bridge the gap aren't active or are making money elsewhere and don't have time / realize there is a potential audience. No one has put in the resources to gathering a team to cover the bases. We used to have that in the past for documentaries through broadcast media companies but those companies aren't interested that much in branching into podcasts and so on. If they are they can't muster the talent because younger generations are all retards.
In that case I'd agree with the first response (FBPB as always), you're better off reading a book because the podcast medium is still young and immature and no one has gotten around to doing anything of quality.
There was a good "history of Rome" podcast I recall listening to years ago. That might be the sole example I can think of, of an academically-focused podcast.You can download university lectures off of Youtube and listen to them as "podcasts", I did that years ago as well when I was at work.
>>12903
LRB make podcasts
Yep I listen to the free ones not much history though
>>12908I know it's veering on slop, but I still recommend Dan Carlin to people who are looking for podcasts. He's one of the few people who understands podcasts as an audio medium and not literally just reading an essay script out loud into a microphone. He has good diction and pacing, something sorely lacking in the podcast landscape
I like Dan, I have very happy memories of listening to Blueprint for Armaggedon as a teenager, but I'm looking for something more academic.
>>12917
I think there's just very little overlap between academic thinking and the sense for media creation it takes to make a good podcast. It's like looking for good academic Youtube videos. They are two separate skillsets and the unicorns that can skillfully bridge the gap aren't active or are making money elsewhere and don't have time / realize there is a potential audience. No one has put in the resources to gathering a team to cover the bases. We used to have that in the past for documentaries through broadcast media companies but those companies aren't interested that much in branching into podcasts and so on. If they are they can't muster the talent because younger generations are all retards.
In that case I'd agree with the first response (FBPB as always), you're better off reading a book because the podcast medium is still young and immature and no one has gotten around to doing anything of quality.
There was a good "history of Rome" podcast I recall listening to years ago. That might be the sole example I can think of, of an academically-focused podcast.You can download university lectures off of Youtube and listen to them as "podcasts", I did that years ago as well when I was at work.
Anonymous :
41 days ago :
№ 12919
>>12924
>>12919
Hell on Earth was great but for a long time I've suspected the Blowback guys are full of shit.
>>13079>>12919
Hell on Earth is fantastic, Blowback is entertaining but really bad history
There is Blowback and Chapo's Hell on Earth series about the 30 Years War
I'm sure it'll be mocked and rightly so I'm sure, but I always enjoy the Revolutions pod, by Mike Duncan.
The Age of Napoleon fits all your criteria. It has the rigor and style of Duncan, with a narrower focus. He’s been releasing episodes semi-regularly for almost a decade and only just got to 1810, so it will be ongoing for a good while.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfcL6I0O-LQ
Apostolic Majesty is not what I would categorize as lefty, but he seems to be what you ask for. When he's covered topics I know a great deal about I've been pleasantly surprised to find that he absolutely knows what he's talking about. The link is to a stream about Robert E Lee. I haven't listened to that one myself, but if there's anything about the content that you would find objectionable you would probably find it there
I like
Ghost Stories for The End of the World
Blowback
Death is Just Around the Corner
and some True Anon
but they're more about spooks and conspiracies and parapolitics