Humans Are Evil - History Podcast
13 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratings'Humans Are Evil'.
A bi-weekly history show unearthing the most shocking events, actions and characters from our past.
The episode subjects will shock you in the same way learning about the Holocaust and Atlantic Slave Trade shocked us all the first time we learned about them. Most obviously aren’t on the same scale and severity of that evil catastrophes, but will contain the same lack of humanity that has always characterised humanity throughout all of history.
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Episodes
The Trail of Tears
March 24, 2020 18:45 - 16 minutes - 19.7 MBPresident Andrew Jackson's 'Indian Removal Act' of 1830 set in motion a 1000 mile journey of death and disease for the Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Creek. In this heartbreaking story, who really should be regarded as the "civilised", and who the "savages"?
"Season Two" coming Sunday September 1st
August 09, 2019 15:54Sad to say that my laptop his died. RIP. So instead of the 'Trail of Tears' episode being the last of "Season One" it will need to be the first of "Season Two". I'm performing the show live at the Edinburgh Fringe this month so we'll resume on Sunday September 1st. New episodes will include 'The Trail of Tears', 'Liberia's 1980 Coup d'etat', 'Scottish Witch Trials', 'St Petersburg's construction', 'Devil's Island' and 'The Harrying of the North'. I cannae wait!
Should we morally judge historical figures by today's moral standards?
July 26, 2019 13:06 - 15 minutes - 15.4 MBIt is all too tempting to judge those in the past by today's moral norms. Do Abraham Lincoln's racist statements nullify any of his achievements? Should people who did things we nowadays find morally repugnant be condemned when they knew no better? Are any actions intrinsically morally good or bad? MAIN SOURCES/FURTHER READING J. D. Velleman – Foundations for moral relativism M. Fricker - The Relativism of Blame and Williams’s Relativism of Distance https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mag...
Easter Island Apocalypse
July 11, 2019 23:47 - 18 minutes - 19.3 MBThe world's most impressive seafarers and statue builders were reduced from a thriving community of many thousands to just 111 traumatised survivors. These Rapa Nui people were the victims of their harsh environment, disease, enslavement and gun toting Europeans, Americans and Peruvians. All this after they had already turned against their gods, toppling many of the famous Moai head statues. MAIN SOURCES/FURTHER READING T. Hunt & C. Lipo - The Statues that Walked: Unraveling the M...
The First Crusade
June 27, 2019 14:24 - 25 minutes - 26.5 MB"Deus Vult" The First Crusade, called by the Pope in the name of God, contained the horrors of massacres and cannibalism. However, it is one of history's most misunderstood conflicts. Properly understanding this subject within its context can only help Christian-Muslim relations. MAIN SOURCES/FURTHER READING: J. Riley-Smith – The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam J. Phillips - Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades S. Runciman – A History of the Crusades C. Tyerman...
Argentina's Dirty War
June 13, 2019 21:49 - 17 minutes - 17.6 MBThe Argentine Military Junta's brutal campaign of repression, torture and murder that resulted in 30,000 left wing supporters "disappearing" and 500 children taken from their families to be raised by childless members of the military. MAIN SOURCES/FURTHER READING: J. Hedges - Argentina: A Modern History P.H. Lewis - Guerrillas and Generals: The Dirty War in Argentina D.M.K. Sheinin – Consent of the Damned: Ordinary Argentineans in the Dirty War W. Fowler – Latin America 1800-20...
The Taiping Rebellion
May 30, 2019 16:26 - 22 minutes - 22.9 MBThe crazy 19th century conflict that began with a failed student believing he is Jesus' younger brother and ended with approximately 20 million dead. MAIN SOURCES/FURTHER READING God’s Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan – J.D. Spence Imperial China – F. Schurmann & O. Schell China from the Opium Wars to the 1911 Revolution – J. Chesneaux et al Rebellions and Revolutions: China 1800s to 2000 – J. Gray https://www.britannica.com/event/Taiping-Rebellion
Future episodes...
May 29, 2019 20:34Every new episode will be released on Thursdays (this works best with other commitments) therefore the next episode 'The Taiping Rebellion' will be released tomorrow May 30th. Can't wait as it is such a crazily interesting subject!
Homophobic persecution in Britain 1533-1835
May 15, 2019 23:09 - 15 minutes - 16.5 MBThe "Buggery Laws" between the years 1533 and 1835 represent the peak of state sponsored homophobic persecution in Britain. This episode unearths a little known part of our history of discrimination. MAIN SOURCES/FURTHER READING: A Gay History of Britain – M.Cook et al Hidden from History – M. B. Dubberman et al Homophobia: A History – B. Fone https://www.bl.uk/lgbtq-histories/articles/the-men-killed-under-the-buggery-act http://rictornorton.co.uk/homopho5.htm http://ricto...
The Battle of Carthage
April 30, 2019 21:39 - 23 minutes - 23.9 MBDescribed by some as the "first genocide". This episode tells the incredible story of one of the world's greatest civilisation's last stand. "Carthago delenda est" (Carthage must be destroyed!) MAIN SOURCES/FURTHER READING: Carthage – B.H. Warmington Destroy Carthage! – A. Lloyd The Punic Wars – B. Caven To be Taken with a Pinch of Salt: The Destruction of Carthage - R. T. Ridley Cato The Elder and the destruction of Carthage – E. O’Gorman
The Partition of India
April 17, 2019 16:11 - 22 minutes - 22.7 MBThe independence of India was supposed to be a happy occasion, but it soon descended into unimaginable violence and suffering based on attempted religious purification. Main sources/further reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/opinion/india-pakistan-partition-imperial-britain.html http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/the-road-to-partition/ The Great Partition: the making of India and Pakistan - Yasmin Khan Remembering Partition: violence, nationali...
The Belgian Congo
April 03, 2019 14:35 - 21 minutes - 21.8 MBArguably the worst act of colonialism in history were up to 10 million Congolese people died in 2 decades. Main Sources: Red Rubber - ED Morel Five Years With The Congo Cannibals - H Ward Leopold to lumumba: a history of the belgian congo, 1877-1960 - G Martelli King Leopold's ghost : a story of greed, terror, and heroism in colonial Africa - A Hochschild https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/belgiums-genocidal-colonial-legacy-haunts-the-country-s-future-a7984191.htm...
Aztec Human Sacrifice
April 03, 2019 12:13 - 21 minutes - 22.6 MBMain Sources The Aztecs - RF Townsend Aztecs - I Clendinnen The Aztecs of Central America - F Berdan https://webpages.uidaho.edu/engl257/Ren/aztec_empire_in_1519.htm https://www.britannica.com/topic/Huitzilopochtli https://tecpaocelotl.livejournal.com/25254.html
First 2 episodes!
April 03, 2019 11:30It's the first release from this new bi-weekly history podcast. I'm certain that Aztec Human Sacrifice and The Belgian Congo are both perfect examples of the type of subjects this podcast seeks to highlight. Be sure to come back in 2 weeks time when I'll be looking at The Partition of India, a completely crazy descent into violence where all sides come out with tainted reputations. Like all episodes I'll be attaching some images to this, my main sources and with the warning that i'll u...