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We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Friday, August 9. 2019

Revolutions (shameless pitch)

I'd like to pitch for a podcast I am now addicted to.  For what it's worth, I am not a podcast person.  The Revolutions podcast, link attached, is excellent and worth your time if you like history.  It was recommended by a good friend who thought I'd enjoy the current episodes on Communism.  Instead, I went to the beginning (which I highly recommend doing) and started from scratch.  It's worth it.  


I'm now in season 3, the French Revolution, and enjoying every minute of it.  To say the least, if you don't see parallels between today and the French Revolution, you probably may not know as much about the French Revolution as you think.  I know I didn't see them, and I thought I understood it.  I did not.  For what it's worth, the narrator is not pointing them out, I just think they are very, very noticeable.


At any rate, I recommended to my brother, who then sent me a note telling me that he hated me with the heat of a thousand suns because he has found himself hopelessly addicted to listening.  The stories are both entertaining and informative, and very funny in some of the most appropriate places.


The narrator also did a history of Rome, which I'll turn to once I'm finished.  And he does tours, which I hope to take part in (maybe we should invite him to our Urban Hike, though right now he's living in Paris).


Posted by Bulldog in History at 14:14 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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Indy Neidel has a couple of fantastic YouTube shows. One is the Great War and the other is WWII, of course.
#1 Jewel (Link) on 2019-08-09 16:05 (Reply)
I hope you also did his History of Rome. Really awesome.
#2 Karen on 2019-08-09 16:54 (Reply)
Both are excellent podcasts, and informed of how little I know of history. I very highly recommend them. That said, they’re the only podcasts I’ve listened to, so I don’t have much to compare to.
#3 Mark on 2019-08-09 17:40 (Reply)
The history of Rome the best thing I ever listened to on podcasts. Superbly done. The only problem is I got addicted to the program and it’s monstrous in size. 180 episodes
#4 Doc g on 2019-08-09 18:30 (Reply)
Thanks for the tip. I am listening to podcasts on my walks more and more. I have liked Patrick Wyman's "The Fall of Rome" and "Tides of History," and Airship's "1865," both on Wondery. The latter is simply jaw-dropping for things I did not know.
#5 Assistant Village Idiot on 2019-08-09 21:47 (Reply)
I am currently listening to the History of English podcast. I am on episode 50. I have at least 87 more to go. We started with the Info-Europeans and have now reached Alfred the Great. It is awesome
#6 Storkdoc on 2019-08-09 23:17 (Reply)
I'm not a fan of podcasts because you have zero control, you are at their mercy. They can waste your time listening to them waiting for something, anything of value. Also I am usually sitting in front of the TV when I'm on the computer so podcasts are a little awkward. But I tried it. And sure enough first I listened to a two minute advertisement, then a minute plus of thank yous for some previous appearance where everyone had a great time and I turned it off. Note to podcasters and youtubers; get your shit together. Don't play a loud musical introduction for 30 seconds or talk about something none of us saw or heard about or advertise or bore us with silly stuff. When speaking in public here are the rules"

1. Tell what you are going to talk about. One sentence suffices.
2. Tell us. Don't go off on tangents, tell us what it is you are trying to communicate as succinctly as you know how.
3. Tell us what you said. That is a 3 or 4 sentence recap of the point.
That's it. I don't care about your kids or your public appearances or how you did your hair that morning or how tired you are because you partied last night or how famous your friends are, etc.
#7 Saul on 2019-08-10 11:05 (Reply)
Not everything suits everybody. However, here's my advice (because, like you, I'm not a podcast person).

1. podcasts usually have a 15 and 30 second speed up/rewind up option. I skip over the ads. Just remember, nothing is free. So no matter how much you want them to not advertise or promote things...they need to make money somehow.
2. Mike Duncan (Revolutions) rarely talks about his day or his family. He does promote his tours, or let his listeners know when he's traveling, because it impacts his scheduled releases.

The reality is you're not at their mercy at all. That is one thing I like about podcasts. I've listened to several (usually during 10 hour drives to pick up my son), and if I don't like them, I skip through them or delete them. But some are pretty good.

I'm not saying EVERYONE has to love this. I doubt some will. But honestly I haven't had many that captured me like this one.

Plus, his first few seasons didn't have ads. He was a stay-at-home dad and he did it for fun. But there's a cost to what he was doing, and he realized he needed to get serious. So he did. I don't blame him one bit.
#7.1 Bulldog on 2019-08-10 12:10 (Reply)
I am a history buff so it would appeal to me too. I don't mean to be negative and I was more or less talking in general not just about this one podcast. This guy certainly isn't the worst I've found. I just wish more people would be more effective communicators when they make their podcasts and youtube videos. As for the ads, I get it, it's a fact of life. If I were given the choice of having to put up with ads or not having the resource at all I would choose to put up with the ads. So I'll try it again and my apologies for venting.
#7.1.1 Saul on 2019-08-10 15:32 (Reply)

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