Giants of History: Introductions, Information, and Additional Pleasantries

Welcome all history fans to the Giants of History Podcast! 

 My name is JT Fusco, and I’m the executive producer, as well as the voice of Giants of History.  We thought it would be valuable to provide a quick intro show for everyone so that you could know a little bit about the background and origins of the production, as well as gain a clear understanding of what you can expect from the program itself. 

 For the last few years, we have taken great pleasure in listening to the incredible history podcasts that are currently being produced right now.  There are some really talented and passionate people putting some amazing content out there for all of us to enjoy and learn from.  The producers at Giants of History are proud to now make our contribution to that amazing line up of programs.

 Giants of History is a passion project for all of us here!  The podcast was born out of a genuine love of the subject, and we hold a special place in our hearts for the life stories of those individuals who have played the most influential roles on the vast stage of history.  Kings, heroes, heads of state, authors, artists, explorers, religious figures, other iconoclasts, and all people in between…  There are so many people who have moved the world in one way or another, whether it was with their sword or with their pen, or with the sheer force of their personality.  It’s truly incredible what one person can do if you think about it. 

 But on the whole, most of us don’t know very much about these individuals themselves.  We might know a few surface details about them and have a decent understanding of when they lived or the events they participated in…  But the stories from their actual lives, the stuff that really adds the color to the palette… that’s something that I myself found I was often missing out on.  And I realized this in a memorable way...  Many years ago, I spent a little bit of time in Paris.  One late spring afternoon, I found myself wandering through the Pere Lachaise cemetery.  Now if you haven’t been there yet, the Pere Lachaise is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world.  There are tall leafy trees everywhere, and cobblestone pathways weave in and out of the tombs and mausoleums that seem to almost be stacked on top of one another in most places.  Some of the notable people buried there include Chopin, Proust, Balzac, and of course Jim Morrison.  Oscar Wilde’s grave I also there and was by far the most interesting to me as it had lipstick kisses that covered the whole bottom half of the massive tombstone.  But as I was aimlessly walking the cemetery that day (which in my opinion is the best way to take it in) I started to notice something on most of the tombstones I looked at.  Now I had always seen it before, but it never really registered with me till that particular day.  And it was the simplest thing in the world… on most of the tombstones, in between the year of that person’s birth and the year of their death, was a dash.  A little line just floating there in between the years.  But at that moment I realized that the dash represented ever single experience and every single story that had occurred in that person’s entire life.  All the happiness and heartache, and triumphs and disasters, all were captured within the confines of that dash.  It was so interesting to me, all the stories that were out there from the lives of so many, just waiting to be read. 

 That single spring walk has thus sent me on a biography kick, an exploration of all those dashes that has now lasted the better part of ten years.  And so, in the spirit of education, inspiration, and entertainment, we have put together this podcast to try and pass on some of those life stories to you…  

 The way we’ve designed the podcast is simple…  We’ll first introduce the person whose life we’ll be exploring, and then we’ll follow that person’s journey from cradle to grave, and highlight the most important and entertaining stories from each stage of their lives along the way.  Each person’s series will be broken up into a number of shows, and that number can vary based on the amount of information available to us on that person.  Some series may last for ten shows, and others could be as short as two or three.  But each series will be jam-packed with quality content being carried by an upbeat narrative. 

 David McCullough once said that he writes the book he would want to read.  Well, we took that same logic and applied it to this podcast production. 

 We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoy putting it all together.  We are genuinely thrilled that you’ve joined us for this ride!

 Thank you…

 If you want more information, or to suggest a future subject for us to study, please visit our website at gohistorypodcast.com