History Unplugged Podcast

Hannibal's crossing of the Alps with war elephants is considered one of the most daring move of the Punic Wars. But is it professionally accepted among historians that he actually crossed the Alps, and if so, is there any physical evidence?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When did the ancient Greeks stop making armies or supplying fighting men? One moment they're beating up the the Persian empire and conquering the known world, and the next, they're slave tutors for the Romans or philosophers in their major cities.  Learn about why the Greeks dominated the Eastern Mediterranean in the ancient world and why their star fell against the Romans.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You and your ancestor from 1,000 years ago have almost nothing in common. Your clothes are different. Your worship rituals are different. Your thoughts about the opposite sex are definitely different. Almost the only similarity is that both of you are driven to obtain food. In fact, one could say that civilization itself began in the quest for food. Epicure Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said it best: “Gastronomy governs the whole life of man.” In this episode, Professor Ken Albala of the University of the Pacific puts the subject of food and its importance in history on the table. Ken has studied widely on the types of cuisine that would be featured at a Roman feast, a medieval banquet, or a Renaissance Italian civic celebration. He’s ground Italian flour to make the sort of bread one would eat in Pompeii. He’s made stewed rabbit in a homemade clay pot the way an Elizabethean peasant would. He hasn’t tried field-mouse-on-a-stick (a popular Roman delicacy) but probably not for lack of trying. In this episode we discuss how Roman food reflected social rank, wealth, and sophistication; why the Middle Ages produced some of history’s most outlandish and theatrical presentations of food, such as gilded boars’ heads, “invented” creatures, mixing parts of different animals; and cooked peacocks spewing flames; modern foody gastronomy; and finally, one of my favorite desserts, Turkish Chicken pudding.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Electoral college is one of the most confusing—and, after the 2016 election, contentious—parts of American democracy. After losing two of the past five presidential races in the Electoral College (EC), Democrats are determined to never let it happen again. And many Americans—on both the left and the right—find it to be a confusing and antiquated system we would do well to get rid of.   But others think it's an indispensible part of American democracy. One of them is today's guest, Tara Ross, a legal scholar and author of The Indispensable Electoral College: How the Founders’ Plan Saves Our Country from Mob Rule. Tara argues the EC is neither outdated nor unfair—and the stability of the United States depends on it.   She argues the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing. They ingeniously balanced the will of the majority and the interests of minorities, avoiding the instability that has bedeviled every other democracy.   In this interview we discuss:   Why the Electoral College safeguards national unity How the Electoral College prevents political crises in tight elections How the Founders came up with the Electoral College—and why they thought it was so important Why the Electoral Colege was meant to be more important than the popular vote Why the Electoral College doesn’t favor one party over the other Why the Electoral College is inappropriately—and incorrectly—labeled a “relic of slavery”       ABOUT TARA ROSS   Tara Ross has spent much of her legal career studying and defending the Electoral College. She is the author of two previous books, Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College and We Elect a President: The Story of Our Electoral College and her tutorial “Do You Understand the Electoral College?” is one of Prager University’s most popular videos ever, with more than fifty million views. She has written for the National Law Journal, USA Today, the Washington Times, National Review, and the Weekly Standard.   RESOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE The Indispensable Electoral College: How the Founders' Plan Saves Our Country from Mob Rule  Tara Ross's websiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Western scholars first encountered "Arabic" numerals in the seventh century, making mathematics and accounting much easier. But Roman numerals stubbornly stuck around until the invention of the printing press made them permanently obsolete.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Wars of the Roses were a series of battles that were fought between the supporters of the House of Lancaster (Lancastrians) and the supporters of the House of York (Yorkists). The wars were called the Wars of the Roses because the Yorkists were represented by a white rose and the Lancastrians by a red rose.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Francis Burton was an explorer, translator, and contender for the 19th-century's world's most interesting man. He was also functional in dozens of languages and translated monumental works of scholarship from Arabic and Portuguese in English.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve seen the 1960 Spencer Tracy movie Inherit the Wind, you know about the Scopes Monkey Trial. In this real-life 1925 case, John Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The case became an enormous media sensation. It was reported on like a boxing match, science vs. fundamentalism. But oddly enough, Scopes was not originally brought to trial by any fundamentalists. The trial was deliberately staged to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposely incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant. In this episode Hillsdale Professor Darryl Hart discusses the Scopes Monkey Trial, the legal parameters of religion in American public life, and the larger-than-life figures of early 20th century America like HL Mencken.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Secularism, radical Islam, and nationalism all sound like buzzwords pulled straight from today’s headlines. But you might be surprised to know that 500 years ago they were at the epicenter of one of the greatest religious and political convulsions in western history—the Reformation. Today I talk with Prof. Bejamin Wiker, author of the new book The Reformation 500 Years Later: 12 Things You Need to Know. He brings to light the enduring relevance of one of the most significant events in history—and the surprising things about it you probably never learned in history class. We discuss... How Luther inspired radical reformers whom he actually despised How bad popes were even worse than you think Why nationalism was as much a force in the Reformation as religious reform was How the Catholic Church was in dire need of reform—and how it had benefited from continual reform over the course of its then 1,500-year history How the invention of the printing press both helped and harmed the Reformation Why another Reformation is inevitable—and what course it might takeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dialing 9-1-1 is a new innovation (at least in the sense of the scope of human history), but the need for emergency services goes back to the earliest settlements. How did a pre-modern civilization call for help when there were no phone lines?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.