In the late 18th century in Scotland, a vagabond gained attention with a story of kidnapping, slavery, war, and immersion into native American culture. Peter Williamson became a sensation in the British Isles, but how much of his story was true? In this episode, I explore the bizarre tale of Peter Williamson. I separate fact from fiction and reveal the unlikely aspects of his story that proved to be true.

Music provided by The Conrads

Sound Effects from Pixabay.

Imagine one day waking up and being told to forget everything you had learned in school. Discovering that key industries in the economy had been eliminated. Learning that culture and history had been reset to year zero. And, worst of all learning that you and your friends and family were to be killed or sent to concentration camps.

This is the horrific reality Dr. Sara Pol-Lim was faced with as a young girl in 1970s Cambodia. The regime of the time -- a Marxist inspired junta named the Khmer Rouge created what they viewed as a utopia but the civilized world recognized as a dystopia. What followed was the Cambodian genocide which cost the lives of millions.

But what happens to those who survive such horrors? How do they move forward? How can they carry on and rebuild their loves in the shadow of unimaginable horror? 

In her powerful new book "Coming to Terms with Historical Trauma: A Memoir," Sara bravely shares her story. It is a book that is both tragic and inspiring. In this episode, I speak with Sara about her story, her trauma, and what lessons we as a society can learn from such terrible events.

Sara Pol-Lim's book is available from all major retailers including:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Dr. Pol-Lim honors include:

• “Woman of Distinction” Award from Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell in 2015. 
• Trail Blazer for Outstanding Leadership by 6th District Councilmember Dee Andrew 2014. 
• Outstanding Leadership Award by the United States House of Representatives Congressman Alan Lowenthal 2014. 
• 4th District Woman of the Year 2013 by Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe. 
• Woman of Distinction 2012 by the Honorable Roderick Wright of the 25th Senatorial District. 
• Hands Across the District Medal from the Assembly Member Warren Furutani 2012 
• Outstanding Cambodian Leader given by Cambodian Town 2012. 
• Selected as “Grand Marshall of the Cambodian New Year Parade 2011. 
• The Gene Lentzner’s “Human Relations” Award 2010 given by the California Conference for Equality and Justice, Long Beach. 
• Selected as “Grand Marshall” of the Long Beach Martin Luther King Parade 2010. 
• Woman Who Makes a Difference by the Long Beach NAACP 2009. 
• Community Leader Award by Mentoring A Touch from Above in 2009. 
• Extraordinary Woman Award by Voter Education & Research Action and presenting by Assemblyman Mervyn M. Dymally in 2008.

On the eve of launching a genocidal conflict in 1939, Adolf Hitler is reported to have asked "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" The event he was referring to was the near decade long systematic destruction of the ethnic Armenian community living in the Ottoman Empire or today's Turkiye. 

Hitler was alluding to the old adage 'History is written by the victors.' In essence, you can do the most terrible things but if you come out on top and control the narrative then no one knows or seemingly cares.  

A century later, the Armenian genocide hasn't been forgotten though, least of all in the now independent nation of Armenia which borders Turkiye. But Hitler was partially right. History and narratives pertaining to the past aren't always accurate. And today, a rival version of history exists within Turkish society in which there was no genocide. 

In this episode, I speak with Prof. Joachim J. Savelsberg author of Knowing About Genocide: Armenian Suffering and Epistemic Struggles.   We discuss how trauma and terrible events of the past come to be viewed differently through the prism of society. 

Music from Pixabay

Episode Guest: Joachim J. Savelsberg

Joachim J. Savelsberg is Professor of Sociology and Law and Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair at the University of Minnesota. He is the coauthor of American Memories: Atrocities and the Law and author of Crime and Human Rights: Criminology of Genocide and Atrocities.

Personal Website link

Faculty Page

Terminator, rogue chat bots, artificial intelligence replacing human workers ... over the last few years we have all seen numerous headlines about the existential threat posed to humanity by AI. But are these fears legitimate? Where do the fears come from? Are we really in danger from AI or something else? 

In this episode I speak with returning guest Prof. Margaret Schwartz of Fordham University. We discuss the cultural and societal impact of AI, but delve deeper than the media headlines as we try to understand how this new technology can actually impact us -- for better or worse.

Music and Sound: Pixabay

Photo: Creative Commons Attribution. Daniel Jurena from Prague, Czech Republic

We are all familiar with the Japanese Samurai: Sword wielding traditional warriors all consumed with a rigid honor code known as Bushido. But how much of this is true?

In this episode I speak with an expert Dr. Michael Wert Associate Professor of East Asian History at Marquette University. Through his work which includes the book Samurai: A Concise History, he has cast aside the Hollywood stereotypes and uncovered a real history that is much more complex. He explains the origins of the Samurai, their evolving role and shatters many of the myths most of us have come to believe.

Guest: Dr. Michael Wert

Sound & Music: Pixabay

At the end of ww1, the vast but ailing Russian empire collapsed. What followed was regicide, civil war and famine. But just a generation later, the world had changed. Russia, now part of the Soviet Union found itself uniquely positioned to itself on the global scene in a way it had done before. In this episode I speak with Russian born historian Sergey Rachenko, he Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs about his groundbreaking book To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power. We discuss the motivations and aspirations of Stalin, Krushchev and their successors as we learn how the events of the last century still cast a shadow today.

Guest: Sergey S. Radchenko

Music: Pixabay

Climate change has accelerated efforts by some theorists to develop mechanisms for controlling Earth's weather patterns and even the biosphere. But human attempts to control our these elements are nothing new. In fact, our ancestors aspired to do the same in antiquity. But what attempts have been made already to alter the weather? Were they successful? What did we learn from these efforts? Is this fantasy? madness? or something we can achieve? 

In this episode I speak with science and technology historian Prof. Jim Fleming (Ph.D. history, Princeton University) who is the Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and Society at Colby College. His published works include Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control and Inventing Atmospheric Science. 

With a mixed background covering both science and history, he is uniquely positioned to critique past and present efforts to manipulate the weather.

Guest:

Jim Fleming

Music: Pixabay

Photo Credit: Alexander Gerst public domain

WARNING: This episode includes eye witness accounts of a violent murder and subsequent execution.

Catherine Hayes was born into an unexceptional working class family at the end of the 17th century in Birmingham, England. Like so many of that era, and most of us today, she led a life that ordinarily wouldn't warrant mention in a history book. But one event caused her name to become synonymous with infamy: the murder of her husband. 

She claimed innocence up until her last breath but she was executed as a result of the crime. Was she the killer? Was she even morally responsible for the crime? And if she was -- as she claimed -- innocent, then why did she complicate the prosecution of the actual assailants? What was the true nature of her relationship with the two men?

This episode casts a light not only on the brutal world of the so-called Bloody Code era in England where 200 crimes -- many quite trivial -- could lead to the death penalty. it also casts light on our recent ancestors prejudices, negative perceptions of women, and on Catherine's own rather disturbing behavior.

Sound and Music: Pixabay

In recent years El Paso, Buffalo, Charleston, and Overland Park have joined the list of cities where right wing extremists have committed mass killings. Racial hate and fascism are not new. From slavery, into the civil war, Jim Crow, the civil rights era, onto the Oklahoma City bombing, Charlottesville and so on, right wing extremists have posed a threat to US society.

But, what happens when a violent far right extremist decides to turn their back on the movement? Many of these people engage with Life after Hate an organization dedicated to helping people break free from hate and live compassionate lives.

In this episode I speak with the CEO and Executive Director of Life After Hate Patrick Riccards. We discuss the radicalization process, the way hate groups grow, and the path to, and challenges faced on the road to redemption.

If you are seeking to exit an extremist group contact Life after Hate online at lifeafterhate.org or call/text 612-888-EXIT (3948). 

By the mid Nineteenth century Europeans had conquered or explored all of the Americas, Asia and even remote Pacific outposts that we know today as Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti. But bizarrely one area remained largely unexplored and it was right on Europe's doorstep: Sub Saharan Africa. 

As you might expect, explorers, missionaries and of course colonialists soon made their way down South. They encountered new languages, customs, ethnic groups and evidence of previously unknown (to Europeans) civilizations. But more surprisingly, they also encountered a group of people who identified as Jews. These were not converts to the religion but rather African people who claimed they were ethnically the descendants of Abraham, and perhaps even one of "The Lost Tribes of Israel." More remarkably, they also had an explanation for what had happened to the Ark of the covenant. It wasn't in Ethiopia, Israel,  or in a huge CIA operated warehouse full of crates. No, it was in their own backyard.

British Scholar Tudor Parfitt who has specialized in studying Jewish history decided to investigate these seemingly outlandish claims. Had these people in Zimbabwe merely adopted a form of Judaism introduced by Christian missionaries? Was there any evidence aside from oral tradition to substantiate their claims? The results of his research stunned the world.

In this episode I speak with Tudor Parfitt.

Guest: 

Tudor Parfitt Bio

Music: Pixabay

Originally aired 2022.

In 1990, astronaut Steven Hawley deployed the Hubble telescope in space as part of the crew of the space shuttle Discovery. Kansas-born Hawley was among the civilians selected to be part of the space program on the basis of his expertise in a specific area: astronomy. One of his subsequent trips into space involved completing maintenance on HST. More recently, he has used it at ground level during his research work. In this episode, I talk to Professor Hawley about Hubble, his time as an astronaut, and the impact of HST.

Featuring: Professor Steven Hawley

Music: Pixabay

Sound and pictures: public domain from 

Explore the captivating story of the Romanian revolution of 1989, a pivotal moment shaped by the country's rich history of resisting and embracing external influences. This intricate tapestry of events traces back to the second century AD when the Roman Emperor Trajan conquered the region, leaving an indelible mark in the form of plundered gold. Subsequent waves of invaders, including Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Magyars, and Ottomans, were met with fierce resistance, led by legendary figures like Vlad The Impaler.

Each conqueror left behind a lasting legacy, contributing to Romania's unique heterogeneity in a region dominated by homogeneity. While neighboring Slavic countries followed certain paths, Romania charted its own course, embracing Orthodox Christianity while adopting the Latin alphabet. As a result, Romanian stands as the language most closely linked to modern Italian, setting it apart from the predominantly Slavic, Turkic, or Greek languages spoken in the Balkan nations.

Join us in this episode as we unravel the complex historical threads that culminated in the Romanian revolution of 1989, shedding light on a nation's enduring spirit of resistance and its quest for a distinct identity.

Originally Broadcast in 2022

Sound Effects: Pixabay

BBC John Simpson BBC1 News

English: Address from the Brandenburg Gate (Berlin Wall). Full text at Wikisource

Date12 June 1987SourceUniversity of Virginia Miller Center for Public Affairs

President Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. Transcript available.[1]

Date26 June 1963SourceKennedy Presidential Library[2]AuthorJohn F. Kennedy

Mata Hari -- publicly portrayed as a mysterious Javan princess who became famous for her exotic dance routines and high profile affairs -- has become the poster child for twentieth century female espionage. The bombshell sex symbol who can seduce any man. The cunning and ruthless individual who will betray anyone to enrich herself as a double agent. She is model for the Bond femme fatales that have become a cinematic trope.

But, is any of this true? In this episode I speak with historian Professor Tammy Proctor of Utah State University. During her research which has among other things yielded the excellent book “Female Intelligence: Women and Espionage in the First World War” (2003, New York University Press), Tammy has stepped behind the curtain to expose the real Mata Hari.

Music and sound: Pixabay

This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of the top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site, and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia.

In 1912, the "unsinkable" jewel in the crown of White Star Line voyages -- The Titanic -- hit an iceberg and sunk on its maiden voyage. It is difficult to imagine how passengers enjoying the amenities of this luxury liner would have reacted when suddenly they realized the vessel had become a floating coffin. Only a third of the passengers and crew survived the harrowing journey. 

But, a touring exhibition now casts light on those passengers in an intimate and immersive manner. The Titanic Exhibition is currently on tour in Seattle, Washington. Visitors will gain access to over 200 artifacts from the ill fated voyage, as well as immersive audio commentary shedding light on the personal stories of passengers, and the chance to explore incredible recreations of the decks from the iconic ship.

In this episode, I speak with the CEO of Musealia -- the company behind the exhibition -- Luis Ferreiro about this remarkable, critically acclaimed exhibit as well as his personal story about how his father turned a Spanish national radio show about fishing into a global history exhibition company. 

Learn more at www.titanicexhibition.com

Music and sound: Pixabay

This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of the top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site, and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia.

She has become the poster child for James Bond style cunning, honey-trap-setting, spying vixens but does reality match the myths around Mata Hari? In this upcoming episode I speak with Prof. Tammy Proctor of Utah State University, author of Female Intelligence: Women and Espionage in the First World War. We discuss the Dutch girl who became a "Javan princess," a spy and ultimately a casualty of the first world war. Here is a sneak peak. 

Situated on the Mediterranean, just a short distance from Spain and the rest of Europe, Morocco attracts tens of millions of tourists every year. They flock to see the iconic mosques and bazaars.  But there's another, much larger structure that you won't find in any tourist guides and is seldom talked about. 

It's a 2700 kilometer long barrier wall constructed of dirt and brick that runs through the heart of the Sahara Desert.  And for the people living in its shadow, it's a symbol of an ongoing occupation and decades long period of oppression.  In this episode, I speak with Jacob Mundi, professor from Colgate University, an expert on the subject of Morocco's illegal decades long occupation of Western Sahara and the refugee crisis it created that now spans generations. 

Guest: Prof. Jacob Mundy

Links

Stephen Zunes, Jacob Mundy

Jacob Mundy on violence in the Middle East

If you found this topic interesting I have previously covered many of the subjects we mentioned in passing. Please check out my back catalogue to learn more about Mauritania (Modern Slavery) Mali (Songhai and Hamdullahi empires), Islamic extremism (Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, Hezbollah, Guantanamo Bay), Colonialism (Dahomey, Apartheid South Africa, Boer War, Simon Bolivar, Incas, Cambodia, Australia, Goering, Ireland 1793) Cold War (Angolan civil war, Pinochet, East Germany, Ceausescu, Hungary 1956, Moscow Apartment bombings), Africa (Tutankhamen, Ghana lake people, Kush empire, Mobuto Sese Seko, Gabon, Rwandan genocide)

Music: Pixabay

This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of the top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site, and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia.

In 1937, Kansas native and pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart sought to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. It was a daring adventure but one that ended in tragedy.

Almost 9 decades later, a company named Deep Sea Vision produced evidence of a plane closely resembling Amelia’s at the bottom of the Pacific. Recovery attempts are ongoing and offer the potential for resolution to the enduring mystery of how and where Amelia’s journey came to an end. However, this apparent discovery while exciting is just the latest in a series of theories – backed by photographs or eye witness reports that suggest she died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, crashed in Papua New Guinea, or that she starved to death on a tiny remote island. We may or may not ever now how her adventure ended but we do know how it began. And it was right here in Atchison Kansas. In this episode I uncover the equally intriguing story of Amelia’s early life as I speak with Heather Roesch Executive Director and Madison Paul Director of Archives at the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum.

With thanks to Heather Roesch & Madison Paul 

Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum

Sound and Audio: Public Domain

Music: Pixabay

This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of the top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site, and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia.

An old Angolan proverb suggests it is the voyage not the ship that is important. And for the people of Angola the voyage has been a long one, from the era of the might Kongo empire, through the slave trade, colonialism, an independence struggle, and more recently decades of civil war. Despite this, in 2015 the capital city Luanda was in was listed as the most expensive city in the world, But new high rises built off the back of an oil boom sit uncomfortably alongside squalid outskirts of the city in the former Portuguese colony. 

In this episode I speak with Alex Vines OBE was a UN observer when Angola held its first elections 30 years ago, as the Director of the Africa program at Chatham House, Alex has seen the growth of the nation, its slow transition towards real democracy and has expert insights into the nation, and the challenges it continues to face.

Alex Vines OBE Chatham House

Alex Vines has led the Africa Programme at Chatham House since 2002. Previously he has held roles at Chatham House as director for regional studies and international security, and director for area studies and international law.

He worked at Human Rights Watch as a senior researcher on its Africa, Arms and Business and Human Rights programmes, and has served as a consultant including for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); JICA, DFID, USAID, the EU and for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

He has also written expert reports for the EU parliament and has testified to law makers including for the US Congress and Senate, the EU parliament, the UK and Finnish parliaments and the Angolan and Mozambican National Assemblies.

Music: Pixabay

This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of the top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site, and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia.

Imagine one day being cast out of your society, subjected to violence or killed simply because you continue to participate in the traditional rituals and activities your community have practiced for generations. It might sound extraordinary but as we’ve seen down the centuries this is what happens when age old activities are suddenly rebranded as witchcraft and it is something that is happening now  in the tropical paradise of Papua New Guinea.

In today’s episode I speak with Papuan native Dr. Fiona Hukula a world renowned activist tackling gender-based violence. She worked for the Papuan government handling issues such as family and sexual violence, law reform and was the recipient of the Royal Anthropological society’s Satosoma Award. We discuss her efforts to tackle gender based violence in Papua New Guinea, how the intrusion of colonialism and fundamentalist Christianity created a maelstrom in the long isolated traditional communities of her homeland, and her thoughts on the future for her country. 

Music: Pixabay

This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of the top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site, and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia.

Imagine an alien world where a creature could create a sonic boom simply by whipping its tail. Look no further as such creatures once roamed the Earth. This is just one remarkable discovery made by the world renowned Paleontologist Philip J. Currie -- the man whose worked inspire Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park.

In this episode, I speak with Philip J. Currie about feathered dinosaurs, long necked giants, his fascinating career and ongoing work.

More info: Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum

Philip J. Currie Bio:

Philip J. Currie, born in Brampton, Ontario on March 13th, 1949, is a leading Canadian palaeontologist and museum curator who helped found the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. He is now a professor at the University of Alberta.

Inspired as a child by a toy dinosaur in a cereal box, Currie went on to study zoology at the University of Toronto, and then vertebrate palaeontology at McGill, under the tutelage of Robert Carroll, himself a major figure in the study of extinct animals. After receiving his doctorate, Currie became the curator of earth sciences at the Provincial Museum of Alberta in Edmonton in 1976.

In 1981, this department became the nucleus of the new Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (now the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology), in Drumheller, Alberta, where Currie is curator of dinosaurs.

Currie is an important figure in dinosaur science, and has specialized in fossils from Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park as well as other Cretaceous sites (dating from the latter part of the dinosaur age) around the world. He is particularly interested in the evolution and classification of carnivorous dinosaurs (theropods) and their living descendants, birds. He has painstakingly investigated the skeletal anatomy of many of these, including the recently discovered feathered theropods (Protarchaeopteryx and Caudipteryx) of China. The find was considered clear evidence of the relationship between birds and dinosaurs.

Other research has focused on dinosaur footprints, as well as dinosaur growth and variation, including description of embryonic duck-billed dinosaur bones discovered inside their fossilized crushed eggshells at Devil’s Coulee in southern Alberta.

Courtesy of Canadian Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Historica http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/

Music: Pixabay

This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of the top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site, and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia.