Now, when it comes to actually presenting this material, my focus has been to focus on the who, and the what, and the when. So, theres some hope that if something resembling a democratic backlasha small d democratic backlashcan happen and finally swamp the ship and send the modern Republican Party to the bottom of the fucking sea, then maybe we can have something that is good in the future. The English and American revolutions start of pretty slow but Mike really hits his stride on the French revolution and after that it becomes an amazing Podcast. And whatever next project I do, I will no doubt say I want it to be shorter than Revolutions, and then it will actually be probably twice as long, and it will take me 20 years to do. When the British started taxing themselves in the latter 1600s, suddenly their tax tripled after they came out of the Stuart dynasty. BookPage "Mike Duncan's excellent, well-researched book portrays Lafayette's extraordinary life as a fascinating, transatlantic drama with three great revolutions and transitional interludes that carry the reader through seven explosive decades of historical change. Bookmark Quiz Bookmark Quiz Bookmark. 17. I think it makes us better, more well-rounded people. Media. Theres a silly debate going on right now about whether the professional managerial class has revolutionary class consciousness. Because there are plenty of times where these same sorts of problems pertain, but theres nobody out there who is looking for it to be something that they can play to their political advantage. Thats crazy. Mikes next project is leading us all in the glorious revolution. What I think has often been lacking, and this goes back to what I feel like my role is here in the popularization of history, is that people often lack a kind of barebones narrative of what happened. Revolutions Mike Duncan History 4.8 12.3K Ratings; A weekly podcasting exploring great political revolutions. The hero of this drama plays starring public roles in the American . So, when I talk about this stuff, I often talk about what future historians are going to say about such and such an event. 122.4K Followers. 9.03. IlliterateJedi 5 mo. Of course it wound up being longer than The History of Rome wasthis is how I run my career, apparently. Hero Of Two Worlds hooks you from page one with humor, a sly perspective and a page turning narrative drive worthy of a life like Lafayette's."Rian Johnson, award-winning . Yes. It goes back to my first loves in history. I think that one of the ones in particular that I wanted to ask about is: it seemed like, at least in the earlier seasons, sovereign debt was a large driver of a lot of this stuff. I mean, one of the things that is very noticeable about studying all of these revolutions is that nobody has ever successfully predicted a revolution. And then the next thing you know, youre completely turned upside down, and the opposite of where you even wanted to start. Especially when you can already see how much panic is sparked by just little, teeny changestheyre talking about refugees from Honduras and Central America being like the Goths. I mean, you just flip on well, do not flip on the TV, I dont know why I told anybody to turn on the TV to try to get news. They dont wear black. Something like that. I mean, you said that theres an alternative. How does this connect? And then my concentration for political science was political theory. I know that I am really going out on a limb here. What those guys thought they were up to in the 1890s is not where they wound up in 1920. I mean, people should also learn music, and people should also learn about art, and there are many things people should learn about. Yeah. Final Episode- Adieu Mes Amis. Yeah, you have seven people working on this, and then five people over here, and 13 over here. I do care about debt, that is true. There have been a few times where a coup or some kind of uprising has worked, but was the French revolution planned? But that is what it is. He should never have a moments peace in public ever again, I think. Mike Duncan's Revolutions Can you name the revolutions covered in Mike Duncan's podcast series Revolutions? They need to manipulate the greater power that rural whites have inside of the American electorate, compared to other groups of people who live in cities or the suburbs. And I do agree that there are probably people out there that just listened to that last answer that I gave about trying to present something resembling an objective chronology of information and just rolling their eyes and saying, Well, this guy is absolutely full of shit because nobody can actually do that. And I actually agree with that. I imagine that takes some work to try to present this stuff in a way that is not I mean, I dont know; how do you do that? How do you think that its going to affect revolutionary movements? Mike Duncan is one of the most popular history podcasters in the world and author of the New York Times-bestselling book, The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic. Erika Cruz. LAST EPISODE. Today we have an extremely special guest. Most of the time, when youre talking about if a revolution from below succeeds or doesnt succeed, it has very little to do with whether or not the sovereign can bring full force to bear. The monarchy went broke, so they called the Estates General, then the Bastille came down. 3. It is very much just the human condition. I have two kids, theyre seven and four. I do think that there are some Pollyanna-ish tendencies out there, especially among the tech bro elite who think that this is just going to keep being great forever. Things are going to move around. Share with Friends Add To Playlist. Oct. 26 Boston @ The Wilbur. And if you look at the United States, I do think that there is a growing acceptance of pluralistic democracy being a good thing that people approve of. Especially in the United States of America, which is why I would be skeptical to the point of being pessimistic about any kind of left-wing revolution ever succeeding in the U.S. I mean, if youre going to learn Plato and Aristotle, you have to learn about the Greek city-states. Availability: On Our Shelves Now. But theres also the case that these revolutions take a long time. I feel like this is just a universal fact of life. NoTengoBiblioteca 6 mo. Mike Duncan is one of the most popular history podcasters in the world. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Jobs People Learning Dismiss Dismiss. I do acknowledge that Im coming from some kind of liberal bias here, because if were talking about liberal civil rights, I am going to be on the side of the liberal civil rights as opposed to the perpetuation of feudal ignorance and despotism, for example. Is this an intentional thing that you are doing? Okay. Report. No, it was just a huge, unfolding series of accidents that people then were able to hop on board with and steer certain ways for a certain amount of time. That is a great book, A Canticle for Leibowitz. I will probably be cagey about my own political beliefs. See, obviously I havent even written it. WALTER BENJAMIN'S RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE | Brian Britt. But they now do play out in a very certain way. Mexico. I found the "Hero of Two Worlds" to be an interesting lens to view the events of the American and French Revolutions. This is the downfall of the prophet, mystic, and the sage theory, is that it does not deal well with people who are just full of shit. William Clark. Spanish American wars of independence 6. Just got to be cagey about my politics. Appendix 1- Coming Full Circle. You can listen to it while youre doing chores. Paris Commune 9 . EEcav 6 mo. The regime, back in the early 1700s, was able to continue to draw loans and pay its debt and get back on its feet, in a way that Louis XV couldnteven though, in objective nominal terms, it was a lower debt load than Louis XIV had left. Because I think kids are all right. Many, many people do not. We have to abandon that mentality entirely. So what I can do is take all of that information that Im really interested in and convey it to the people, and thats a part of a longstanding tradition. When, in point of fact, the French Revolution was something that went on for 10 or 15 years, depending on where you want to mark the beginning and the end. We can call them the new Okies, right? He . And thats part of their entire political strategy, when it comes to voter suppression, when it comes to how they want to manipulate the Senate. Mike Duncan's been around for a while. Not that I dont have the next 15 years planned out. I have made some more enemies here today. And so that is how I wound up carrying it forward. I believe that its a good thing for society, for people, for citizens, to know as much history as possible. I do not think that the country is primed for it in any way. 1.7a- Tour Announcement. But there are political aspects to it, and political motivations to how that objective financial situation then leads to a revolution. Its clearly me, come on. Why our society is actually running the way it is. I mean, probably my favorite season so far is the Mexican Revolution season, and one of my favorite parts of that is that I had the sense, Oh, I know about the Mexican Revolution. I have the people who I understand as being important and who I agree with or disagree with. The somewhat insular world of TV animation was thrust into the spotlight in quite the negative way earlier this year when Rick and Morty co-creator was fired from the Adult Swim series (and other projects) over a domestic violence complaint filed by an ex-girlfriend in 2020. I do not think I was. Because we want to save people from the estates. Columbia Pictures / Revolution Studios / RKO Pictures / Cubevision: Steve Carr (director); Hank Nelken (screenplay); Ice Cube, Nia Long, John C. McGinley, Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden, Tahj Mowry, Dan Joffre, Pedro Miguel Arce, Linda Kash, Hayes McArthur, Colin and Gavin Strange, Jonathan Katz, Earvin . I consider those to be a revolutionary event, and I find it odd that revisionists managed to talk themselves into the English Civil Wars as not being a revolutionary event. Plus, you just have to talk about the CIA a lot for anything after Russia. And certainly nobody knew it at the time. Because we all watched this happen, with the previous administration. But these are my parents, and I love them dearly. So, I think all of that is good, and I think Im in that tradition of popularizing it. I mean, this is Auschwitz stuff, this is On War stuff. We did it! You can listen to a podcast while youre driving your car. "Highly recommend Revolutions by Mike Duncan, especially Season 10", Musk tweeted. And also, it plays interestingly into this modern monetary theory debate that are going on rightwhich, of course, is about what it means for the United States to have debt as a sovereign, which is of course a very different situation from what it meant for the king of France to have debt as sovereign. Its like what they do in the Ninth Circuit. However, he concluded the podcast in 2012. I do think the modern Republican Party should be sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Among the . Oct. 27 Washington DC @ Lisner Auditorium. Were very much in favor of that. Maybe a couple of years to get from one end of that to the other.. 9.01. Or have larger social structures changed too much to really have them anymore? The Creelman Interview. So were not offended. I think that one of the other great fears, which is entirely legitimate on top of climate change, is that weve been pumping ourselves full of antibiotics for the last 50 years. Its pretty close. I was honored. Revolutions. I mean, Im a personal debt guy, not a sovereign debt guy. I spent so much time doing The History of Rome and so much time studying the ancient Mediterranean world, that when I finished up The History of Rome, I didnt want to be typecast as just an ancient historian or just able to do one particular set of time. I will say, however, that when the MAGA people find me, they are profoundly disappointed. A weekly podcasting exploring great political revolutions. So, to your point, I think when we look around at what is happening these days, it is impossible to ever plant your flag on something and say, Oh, well that was the end of that, or This is the beginning of that. I think that we, in our own timesI speak even as a historian who has some experience with looking for places to plant flags and dividesay, Oh, this is when it started, and this is when it ended, and this epoch divides from this epoch. Even in the modern world, we have no ability to figure that stuff out. What I will say to these peopleespecially when it comes to current events and modern financing of modern statesthat is well, not just above my paygrade, but somewhere on another planet. Dismiss. Its really relatable, which I think is how you know thats right. And so theyll listen to The History of Rome and theyll be like, This is great, this guy must be one of us.. Wait, are you asking if its the end of history, Lyta? Mike Duncan is a political history podcaster and author. It was eight months in the past, nine months in the past, now a year ago. Im Mr. Its all of the piece. Do you see that as being part of a trend? Thats a nice prescriptive statement. Mike Duncan, a fish monger turned wildly popular history podcaster, wrote about Lafayette's story in his new book, "Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution." He . Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast . I would hope that we would lighten up a little bit, but again, Im not very optimistic about it. Everybody is going to make the statements about Trump that the Democrats now make about Reagan. I guess that is not true, some historians think they are doing a political project. But if you study the history, youll understand your own present society much better. Books will be distributed the night of the show only. Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution (Paperback) By Mike Duncan. We know this. So, I just spent an entire episode talking through the different ways that this could have actually gone. The thing I do get accused of, though, sometimes on Twitter, is that people think that I doomsay because either I enjoy it on a psychological level, or I think it plays well to an audience. And they find my Twitter feed, and theyre like, Oh my god, he is one of them. So, at a minimum, if you were talking to a MAGA person, I am one of them, not one of us. Like, not even joking, that is a real debate that leftists are having. And if youre going to study Cicero and Seneca, you have got to learn about the Roman Empire. As you said, the Twitter speculation is like, is Mike Duncan a liberal or a leftist? One of the formative books that I ever read was the March of Folly. The nightmare gripping Ken Middleton's family appeared to be possibly over in 2005. A wildly successful podcaster and New York Times- bestselling author, he's tackled topics ranging across space and time. Mike Duncan. Yeah, you really do a great job of avoiding the great man of history thing. But then inevitably theres going to be nine wise old ones who have the final, final, final say. Oct. 4 San Francisco @ Palace of Fine Arts. IN COLLECTIONS Podcast Compilation Collection . I hope to launch it in July. Well, thats the funny thing about being in the middle of a historical eventyou have no idea how its going to turn out. I think, unfortunately, what is actually driving a lot of this is not liberty and justice for all kinds of movements. ago. Right. Likes. People like us will be sitting there like, Why is Stephen Miller good now? He is not good now. Its a chunk, but not an enormous amount. Richard Duncan Expand search. Great. You have to look out for those guys. Tweets & replies. A self-described "complete history geek", his love for history grew from an interest in ancient civilizations as a child, with a particular affinity for Roman history. After the hungry 40s, there were a variety of debt crises in all of these little German kingdoms. SHOW ALL. Duncan Smith, MInstRE, Tech IOSH Expand search. After not finding any Roman history podcasts in 2007, Duncan began The History of . View Reports-/5-RATE But then if you actually start poking them a little bit about the details of what actually happened during the French Revolution, who did what when, that is a part that starts to get real fuzzy for people. . I dont think that things have changed so much that we will not continue to get the same kind of recurrent challenges from below to various existing regimes. What I was actually studying in school was a lot of political theory. Thats very cool. Our print magazine is released six times a year, in a beautiful full-color edition full of elegant design, sophisticated prose, and satirical advertisements. I guess I wanted to get your view on that. I am truly not 100 percent qualified to answer some of these questions. Because as youre describing this process or this experience, its like, Oh yeah, that is kind of what my work life felt like this week. You have a project and you have got to just make adjustments as you go to correct things, and then suddenly you end up somewhere completely different. Mike Duncan expertly weaves the story of some of history's greatest events into a fun easy listen. Offensive does not even begin to capture it. If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world. When I was a teenager, I got really into the American Revolution. I hoped that it did not, because I think that its not so much great men do great things that change the world, so much as these are human beings who are close to the levers of power, and the decisions that they make do in fact have a rather large impact on the societies within which they live. What we are seeing right now is the return of ethnonationalist populism. I mean, there are probably people out there that dont even realize that Louis XVI was not beheaded at the end of 1789. Partly you want a parliament involved because they tax themselves at a higher rate than just the despotic regime often does. A new biography of the giant of both European and American history. Revolutions takes deep dives into the world's most momentous political revolutions, from Mexico to Russia and beyond. As it turns out, they were practically still in the beginning of the revolution, far from it being in the rearview mirror. And so, what Im trying to figure out, is time a flat circle? 659 episodes totalling 313 hours, 54 minutes. And extremely stupid looking trucks to drive to them. And your backgroundyoure not an academic, really. Its Francis Fukuyama throwing history out of the bar, and then he turns around, and history is back at the bar. But one of the features, I think, of your podcast that is really interesting is that you have a lot of fans across the political spectrum. But I think that a lot of what you see when you are talking about history as a political project is that its all about which people you choose as being important and which events you choose and whose motivations you get into and whose motivations you do not. And during these mundane, often terrible parts of our dayslike when youre doing chores, and commuting, or exercise, nobody likes doing any of these thingswe can turn those periods of time into learning opportunities. The Paris Commune really seems like a continuation of the French Revolution in a way that we just dont know what is going to happen yet. I think when you come into the world, all of human history has happened before you, so you cant just go off and do whatever you want. The Upcoming American Revolution.