Over the next months until October in the Burning Archive podcast I am inviting you to participate in this unique booklover's reading challenge. And the challenge opens a unique window onto the multipolar world's cultural history.
Can we read together all 120 winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature since 1901 with me? How proud would you feel to be able to say I have read a little bit of every winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature?
This week I look at the winners from 1907 to 1913, from the British-Indian poet of empire, Rudyard Kipling, to the great Indian writer who saw beyond empire and nation while remaining rooted in his home of Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore.
What is the essential skill Western leaders need to regain a sense of reality, and to provide better leadership, diplomacy and statecraft?
The great historian of ideas and political philosopher, Isaiah Berlin, proposed a solution. What can you learn from his 1996 essay, "On political judgment"? We all complain about the quality of our political leaders. They seem to have lost touch with reality. Politico recently wrote that the G7 meeting in Italy - "6 lame ducks and Giorgia Meloni" - looked more like a last supper than a display of Western power. But advice on how to fix the problem of political leadership is harder to find. The great historian of ideas and political philosopher, Isaiah Berlin, proposed a solution. What can you learn from his 1996 essay, "On political judgment"?
You can read this essay in Isaiah Berlin, The Sense of Reality. Try my new introductory course on geopolitics and history). You can support the Burning Archive by contributing at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/burningarchive Subscribe to my free weekly email to receive insights from world history in a weekly essay on Saturday at https://jeffrich.substack.com Buy my book Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing
Rabindranath Tagore was a great Bengali and Indian writer who won the Nobel Prize in 1913, just before the world went to war. In 1917, in the depth of World War One he wrote his essay, "Nationalism in the West". I read the full essay, and introduce you to the reasons Tagore why this essay connects to debates about nationalism, "globalism", and the possibility for peaceful cooperation between peoples of many nations.
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Rabindranath Tagore was a great Bengali and Indian writer who won the Nobel Prize in 1913, just before the world went to war. In 1941, in the depth of World War Two he wrote his essay, "Crisis in Civilization". I read the full essay, and introduce you to the reasons Tagore still speaks so powerfully to India and the world today.
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Please enjoy my reflections on and reading of a classic essay of Japanese literature from 1200 that still speaks to us with compassion today. When the world around you is collapsing and you are gripped by fear of its demise, four responses are available to you, or at least so modern psychology says: fight, fawn, freeze, or flight. But the world has been collapsing for a long time now, and, despite our ingrained fears, we might yet recover, in the burning archive of world literature, some wiser responses to the suffering of the world. Kamo no Chōmei’s essay Hōjōki ("An Account of a Ten-Foot-Square Hut") is one such case. You may be surprised at the way this text from 800 years ago speaks to us compassionately today.
Please enjoy my reflections on and audiobook reading of Chōmei, Hōjōki. You can read more of my essay Chōmei, Hōjōki, or how to respond when the world is collapsing: Reflections on the classic of Japanese literature by subscribing to my free weekly email to receive insights from world history in a weekly essay on Saturday at https://jeffrich.substack.com You can support the Burning Archive by contributing at: Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/burninga... ▼ ▽ MY BOOKS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022 https://amzn.to/4b7cyyw Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020 https://amzn.to/3u2Yh56 #audiobook
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Can the USA bounce back from decline. Many geopolitics analysts are speculating on the end of the US empire, and the end of the unipolar moment. Is American Greatness over, or can the USA learn lessons of history to bounce back and renew its national dynamism? I share my assessment of the RAND corporation report, The Sources of Renewed National Dynamism, released 30 April 2024(https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2611-3.html). It argued: "History is full of great powers that hit a peak of competitive power and then stagnate and eventually decline. There are fewer cases of great powers that have confronted such headwinds and managed to generate a repeated upward trajectory—to renew their power and standing in both absolute and relative terms. Arguably, that is precisely the challenge that faces the United States." But will the USA learn the lessons of history? Find out in this wide-ranging discussion edited from my live stream (1 May 2024) on how empires end. Subscribe to my free weekly email to receive insights from world history in a weekly essay on Saturday at https://jeffrich.substack.com Try my new introductory course on geopolitics and history, Seeing the world clearly with history (https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/course/geopolitics-guide). I have distilled a lifetime of studying history, observing world politics, and advising governments into the seven essential lessons that will make you into an independent thinker on geopolitics and history. Enrolments are open now, and the course unlocks on 3 June 2024 Or take a deep dive with me into empires, civilizations or mindful history. More information on all my courses at https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/ You can support the Burning Archive by contributing at: Patreon: https://patreon.com/BurningArchive Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/burningarchive
In this video podcast, I share with you insights from the best historians of empire about whether we are living through an end of empire moment? Even Boris Johnson says the collapse of Western hegemony could be near? Will the US empire collapse? Will defeat in Eastern Europe bring on a Suez Crisis for the USA?
Subscribe to my free weekly email to receive insights from world history in a weekly essay on Saturday at https://jeffrich.substack.com
There you can read my article, "Is Ukraine the West's Suez moment?"
By upgrading your subscription to paid you will also receive a bonus essay every Wednesday: https://jeffrich.substack.com
Try my new introductory course on geopolitics and history, Seeing the world clearly with history (https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/co.... I have distilled a lifetime of studying history, observing world politics, and advising governments into the seven essential lessons that will make you into an independent thinker on geopolitics and history. Enrolments are open now, and the course unlocks on 3 June 2024
Or take a deep dive with me into empires, civilizations or mindful history. More information on all my courses at https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/
You can support the Burning Archive by contributing at:
Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/burninga...
Judge the "father of geopolitics" yourself by listening to my reading of his celebrated essay from 1904, the Geographical Pivot of History.
Try my new introductory course on geopolitics and history, Seeing the world clearly with history I have distilled a lifetime of studying history, observing world politics, and advising governments into the seven essential lessons that will make you into an independent thinker on geopolitics and history. Enrolments are open now, and the course unlocks on 3 June 2024
Or take a deep dive with me into empires, civilizations or mindful history. More information on all my courses at https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/
You can support the Burning Archive by contributing at:
Patreon: https://patreon.com/BurningArchive
Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/burningarchive
Subscribe to my free weekly email to receive insights from world history in a weekly essay on Saturday at https://jeffrich.substack.com
By upgrading your subscription to paid you will also receive a bonus essay every Wednesday: https://jeffrich.substack.com
Halford Mackinder's ideas about geopolitics were so influential that he is known as the "father of geopolitics." Many people think US strategy is still based on Mackinder's ideas. But when you look at these ideas with some quality world history you discover that Mackinder was mad, bad and dangerous to know. Find out what he got wrong in this podcast, and learn what you can do about it - so you can think independently, see the world clearly, and live in tune with a changing world. Try my new introductory course on geopolitics and history, Seeing the world clearly with history. I have distilled a lifetime of studying history, observing world politics, and advising governments into the seven essential lessons that will make you into an independent thinker on geopolitics and history. Enrolments are open now, and the course unlocks on 3 June 2024 Or take a deep dive with me into empires, civilizations or mindful history. More information on all my courses at https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/ You can support the Burning Archive by contributing at: Patreon: https://patreon.com/BurningArchive Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/burningarchive Subscribe to my free weekly email to receive insights from world history in a weekly essay on Saturday at https://jeffrich.substack.com By upgrading your subscription to paid you will also receive a bonus essay every Wednesday.
This Burning Archive interview tackles a critical question: Can Australia and China rewrite their shared Asian history? Delving into the subtleties of China-Australia history, the Burning Archive interviews a brilliant Australian historian who specializes in Australian Chinese communities, Sophie Loy-Wilson. Sophie shows how we all have a capacity for a more "generous approach to storytelling". We can rewrite history, without relying on political leaders. Discover how historical narratives have shaped international relations, and how a shift in perspective can unlock new ways to connect across borders. Learn about the historical factors shaping the relationship between these two nations and how a reframing of the past can pave the way for a more compassionate future. And as a special bonus Sophie Loy-Wilson (Senior Lecturer in History at Sydney University) offers her top three history book recommendations to learn about the history of China through the lives of individuals. The article "Ruptured Histories: Australia, China and Japan", co-authored by Sophie Loy-Wilson and Andrew Levidis in History Australia can be read for free here https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14490854.2024.2312210 Sophie Loy-Wilson's book, Australians in Shanghai is available at good public and university libraries and here https://amzn.to/3JkFsOF. Be sure to like and subscribe to the Burning Archive. If you enjoy this content, you can support my work by contributing through the Thanks button. You can read more insights into world history, geopolitics and culture today by signing up to my free weekly newsletter on world history, culture and geopolitics, the Burning Archive, at https://jeffrich.substack.com. Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: https://jeffrich.substack.com
W.G. Sebald, The Rings of Saturn is an unclassifiable book - essayistic semi-fiction that traces the history of destruction and is haunted by the horrors of war and the Holocaust. I reflect on Sebald's histories of destruction, based on my recent essay at jeffrich.substack.com, and read from the first chapter of The Rings of Saturn.
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From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022
Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020
Warwick Powell and I had a wide-ranging conversation about Australia-China relationships, and how history has shaped the tensions in the relationship today. But history can also show us how Australia, Asia and America can learn to live together at peace with a multipolar world. Please enjoy this wonderful, inspiring conversation with Australia-China expert, Warwick Powell. Warwick Powell is an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology, author, chairman of Smart Trade Networks, former adviser to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and a frequent commentator on geopolitics and Australia-Asia relationships. You can follow Warwick Powell on X (Twitter) at: https://twitter.com/baoshaoshan Warwick recommended two YouTube sites towards the end of the interview that can help you see the reality of contemporary daily life in China more clearly, and away from the often polarising rhetoric of politics. These sites are Blondie in China ( @BlondieinChina ) - https://www.youtube.com/@BlondieinChina Katherine’s journey to the East ( @kats_journey_east ) - https://www.youtube.com/@kats_journey_east You can also watch my discussion with @TheDuran about AUKUS, China and Australia's role in a multipolar world here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VutieNNCkDc&t=1377s Jeff Rich (the Burning Archive) writes on world history and cultural affairs, and offers courses to help you see the world more clearly, and connect with the world more compassionately, with some quality world history. ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/ World History Explorers Season I, Civilizations has started. Join now, and read with me a modern masterpiece of world history, Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY Read my weekly Substack, and receive insights from world history and my reading every Saturday. ✉️ Signup is free: https://jeffrich.substack.com ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: https://jeffrich.substack.com ▼ ▽ MY BOOKS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022 https://amzn.to/4b7cyyw Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020 https://amzn.to/3u2Yh56
How can smart defence strategies and multilateral diplomacy avoid a US-China war in Asia - for example over Taiwan? Have American and Australian advocates of war with China over Taiwan really thought about the realities of a war with China? How should middle powers - like Australia, Indonesia and the ASEAN nations - adapt their defence and foreign policies to the new realities of war, Asian strengths and US power today? My conversation with Sam Roggeveen about his book The Echidna Strategy: Australia's Search for Power and Peace asked these fundamental questions that concern everyone around the world. What would a war with China really be like, and how can defence - the echidna strategy - and some creative diplomacy avoid a US-China war in Asia. Our conversation covered Australian defence and foreign policy, AUKUS and nuclear submarines, the upcoming Australia-ASEAN meeting in Melbourne (March 2024), China, Indonesia, regional order in Asia and the West Pacific, lessons of the Ukraine war, & the USA. Is the USA becoming just a normal great power, and what does that mean for other countries all around the world? A big thank you to Sam Roggeveen, who is the Director, International Security at the Lowy Institute Links to Sam's book, The Echidna Strategy: Australia's Search for Power and Peace (2023) ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH QUALITY WORLD HISTORY Join my free weekly newsletter to receive insights from world history and reflections on the intersection of culture, history and geopolitics. ✉️ Signup is free: https://jeffrich.substack.com ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/
How did Western civilization rise up from the Atlantic Ocean? How did the idea of the West get confused with the military alliance of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation? And how do we tell the story of the West if we view civilisation as a process, and civilisations as always plural?
You can explore the world history of civilizations, as discussed in this podcast, by joining me in reading in Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations. Join my World History Explorers world history book club, with Season 1 starting on March 1.
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There have been many civilizations of the sea - the Vikings, the Ancient Greeks, the great Polynesian navigators of the Pacific. But among the most intriguing is Sri Vijaya that thrived in what we think of as Indonesia, in the 'middle ages'.
You can explore the world history of civilizations, as discussed in this podcast, by joining me in reading in Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations. Join my World History Explorers world history book club, with Season 1 starting on March 1.
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When Americans described Afghani tribesmen as uncivilized people from the mountains they used old tropes about the culture of people from highlands.
However, we learn from Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations much more about the complex achievements of civilizations of the highlands from Scotland to New Guinea, and from Afghanistan to South America.
You can explore the world history of civilizations, as discussed in this podcast, by joining me in reading in Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations. Join my World History Explorers world history book club, with Season 1 starting on March 1.
▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES
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▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY
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▼ ▽ MY BOOKS
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty
From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022
Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020
▼ ▽ MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS for World History Explorers
Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T
Darwin, After Tamerlane - https://amzn.to/3Ht5AGd
Frankopan, The Earth Transformed - https://amzn.to/3SqZb4B
Overy, Blood and Ruins - https://amzn.to/3Ubd8oU
Quinn, How the World Made the West - https://amzn.to/3U422St
Did civilization spread from a cradle in the river valleys of Mesopotamia? Or is there a different story of the emergence of civilizations from fields of mud?
In this episode of the special Summer of Civilizations series, I tell the story of Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations that developed in the river valleys of Mesopotamia. They left a legacy - carpets, the Epic of Gilgamesh - and an early piece of fake news, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. But is their true story how they struggled against the environment, and lost?
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▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY
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▼ ▽ MY BOOKS
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty
From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022
Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020
▼ ▽ MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS for World History Explorers
Fernandez-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T
Darwin, After Tamerlane - https://amzn.to/3Ht5AGd
Frankopan, The Earth Transformed - https://amzn.to/3SqZb4B
Overy, Blood and Ruins - https://amzn.to/3Ubd8oU
Quinn, How the World Made the West - https://amzn.to/3U422St
In this episode of the special Summer of Civilizations series, I share the stories of civilizations that developed in tropical islands, including the great African walled city of Benin and the island off Papua New Guinea, once named by Europeans as Frederick Hendrick Island, and known now as Pulau Kolepom or Pulau Yos Sudarso.
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▼ ▽ MY BOOKS
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty
From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022
Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020
▼ ▽ MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS for World History Explorers
Fernandez-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T
Darwin, After Tamerlane - https://amzn.to/3Ht5AGd
Frankopan, The Earth Transformed - https://amzn.to/3SqZb4B
Overy, Blood and Ruins - https://amzn.to/3Ubd8oU
Quinn, How the World Made the West - https://amzn.to/3U422St
In this episode of the special Summer of Civilizations series, I share the stories of civilizations that developed in the ice and tundra of Northern Eurasia and the great Eurasian Steppe.
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▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY
Join 200+ email subscribers who receive insights from world history and fragments of my reading weekly.
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▼ ▽ MY BOOKS
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty
From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022
Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020
▼ ▽ MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS for World History Explorers
Fernandez-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T
Darwin, After Tamerlane - https://amzn.to/3Ht5AGd
Frankopan, The Earth Transformed - https://amzn.to/3SqZb4B
Overy, Blood and Ruins - https://amzn.to/3Ubd8oU
Quinn, How the World Made the West - https://amzn.to/3U422St
What is a cradle of civilisation? A simple question, but quality world history gives us a more complex, but satisfying answer. There were many in different environments.
This episode will inform you about the well-known 'cradle' of civilisation in the fertile crescent of Western Asia, but also tell you about less honoured starting points for civilisation in East Asia and the Eurasian Steppe.
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