High Tales of History

Put on your science pants Smoke Circle! KT is bringing us across the season six finish line with the brief history of language--from the first sounds of hominids to the formations of grammar to how culture shapes language around the world and how it is ever-evolving and changing year by year.
We love a topic in which science and history shake hands and take us all on a hazy trip leaving us going "whoa dude...that was deep."
We will be back again for season seven on February 6th, 2026! In the meantime, be sure to give us a follow on the socials and if you're really missing some new content, check out our Patreon, The Best Buds Club! It's all linked below!
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The Socials and Patreon!
Patreon-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Best Buds Club!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Facebook⁠ -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠High Tales of History or ⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory ⁠
Email—[email protected]⁠ 
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Source Material and References:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-language-shapes-thought/

https://sproutsschools.com/linguistic-relativity-how-language-shapes-thought/#:~:text=Linguistic%20relativity%20theory%20suggests%20that%20the%20languages%20we%20pick%20up,even%20our%20sense%20of%20self

https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/how-language-shapes-the-way-we-think-and-see-the-world/#:~:text=The%20language(s)%20we%20speak%20don't%20prohibit%20us,about%20all%20of%20human%20language

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/executive-systems-of-the-brain/attention-language-lesson/v/language-and-cognition

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010028501907480

https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/13/?fbclid=IwAR2aVKquukZc3pQFauPgIn86Atf83ZYUDIpdhRm5Rx3w4vQoNrowAX1PEuk 

https://news.mit.edu/2025/when-did-human-language-emerge-0314#:~:text=A%20new%20analysis%20suggests%20our,March%2014%2C%202025

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5525259/#:~:text=No%20one%20knows%20for%20sure,by%20around%2070%2C000%20years%20ago

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/magazine/animal-communication.html

https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-017-0405-3#:~:text=Humans%2C%20on%20the%20other%20hand,our%20short%20history%20than%20genes

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5525259/

Everett, D. L. (2017). How language began: The story of humanity's greatest invention. Liveright Publishing.

Bickerton, D. (1990). Language and species. University of Chicago Press.

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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

It's our penultimate episode of season 6 and we've got an amazing guest to share it with! Author, podcaster and all around kick ass dude, Michael Trapani, joins the Smoke Circle to talk about his gripping book "How to Start a War: The Rise of Extremism, the Fall of Democracy and the Lead Up to World War II"
Like many major world events, World War II has many smaller events that lead to the flash bang moments that get etched into our history books. Michael's book is all about those layers. Together we talk about the power of the common person, what happens when decisions are made out of fear and that, yes, Nazi High Command really was hopped up on drugs all the damn time.
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Check out what Michael's Doing!
Website -- https://www.howtostartawar.com/
Podcast -- Listen on Podbean or wherever you get your favorite podcasts!
Instagram -- @howtostartawarbook
TikTok -- @howtostartawar
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The Socials and Patreon!
Patreon-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Best Buds Club!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Instagram⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  
TikTok⁠- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistoryPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  
YouTube-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@High Tales of History⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Facebook⁠ -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠High Tales of History or ⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory ⁠
Email—[email protected]⁠ 
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Mentioned in the Stories:
Episode 37: The Third Wave Social Experiment
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Source Material and References:

Trapani, Michael. How to start a war: The rise of extremism, the fall of democracy, and the lead up to World War II. S.l.: Blackstone Audio, 2024.
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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

It's episode 110 and KT is bringing her deep love of dragons to the Smoke Circle! While you might think dragons are more likely to be found in fantasy novels and mythology books than in the pages of history, KT explores the cultural significance of dragons across various civilizations, touching on creation myths and the role of dragons in both chaos and order.
We'll be talking about the rich symbolism and cultural significance of dragons across different civilizations, particularly contrasting Eastern and Western perspectives as well as how dragons are perceived as benevolent forces in Eastern cultures, while in the West, they often symbolize greed and destruction. So join us for a fun adventure (maybe we'll meet Puff the Magic Dragon along the way?? Wiiiiiink!)
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The Socials and Patreon!
Patreon-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Best Buds Club!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Instagram⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  
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Facebook⁠ -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠High Tales of History or ⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory ⁠
Email—[email protected]⁠ 
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Source Material and References:
https://www.history.com/articles/dragon-myths

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-surprising-history-of-dragons/HgVxM6TaZ5rRJg?hl=en

https://youtu.be/hpdN0N_XxQM?si=0adLD03-aGcQxJx4

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/articles/dragons-and-their-origins/#:~:text=The%20anthropologist%20David%20E.,they%20formed%20the%20island%20archipelagos

https://dragondreaming.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/thefootprintsofdragons.pdf

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4gn0i2ard_gC&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=dragons+and+the+history+of+mankind&ots=KNEAc3lnEQ&sig=nNXZXmwhfQ15NlaLInuZKRvVlYU#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20240208-the-surprising-4000-year-history-of-dragons

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/08/the-origins-of-dragons/144532#:~:text=Dragons%20have%20appeared%20independently%20in,through%20the%20ages%20with%20Ra

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functions_of_the_Pharaoh#:~:text=Chief%20of%20the%20armies%2C%20the,common%20good%20and%20social%20agreement 

https://studycli.org/chinese-culture/chinese-dragons/ 

https://windhorsetour.com/blog/the-meaning-of-chinese-dragons#:~:text=This%20dragon%20is%20believed%20to,west%2C%20north%20and%20south

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsl/books/edited-volume/1643/chapter-abstract/107454535/Place-names-describing-fossils-in-oral-traditions?redirectedFrom=fulltext 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_gu#:~:text=Long%20gu%20are%20remains%20of,be%20the%20remains%20of%20dragons

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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

They were told not to speak their language. Those respective languages helped win wars and save countless lives. In episode 109, Laurel takes the Smoke Circle through the incredible story of the Indigenous code talkers of World War I and II--the Navajo, Comanche, and other Native American men whose voices became unbreakable codes in the Pacific and European fronts. Their history is a story of courage and cultural resilience.
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The Socials and Patreon!
Patreon-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Best Buds Club!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Instagram⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  
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Email—[email protected]⁠ 
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Mentioned in the Stories:
Extra Articles:
⁠Picture of Donald Trump with the code talkers in 2017
Whose Land Are You On?
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Source Material and References:
Reid, Darren R. Native American racism in the age of Donald Trump: Historical and contemporary perspectives. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.

Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Codetalkers of WWII
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11437988-code-talker

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41054076?read-now=1&seq=7#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.jstor.org/stable/42575905?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://americanindian.si.edu/why-we-serve/topics/code-talkers/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/navajo-code-talkers-wwii?loggedin=true&rnd=1759117609417

https://www.history.com/articles/world-war-is-native-american-code-talkers

https://www.history.com/articles/wwii-navajo-code-talker-fleming-begaye-dead

https://www.pbs.org/native-america/blog/legacy-of-trauma-the-impact-of-american-indian-boarding-schools-across-generations
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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Welcome to a bonus episode in which Kt and Laurel have award winning author, screenwriter and essayist, Barret Baumgart, in the Smoke Circle. Together we discuss his newest book Yuck: The Birth and Death of the Weird and Wondrous Joshua Tree, Yucca Brevifolia. You might not believe it, but the Joshua Tree has a strange little part to play when recounting the history of the American West and Westward Expansion and Barret is here to tell us about it.
In addition to Yuck, he has also authored some more strange nonfiction--China Lake, his debut novel, is about one of the strangest places in America: China Lake, which is the US Navy's largest single landholding. The top secret base researches and develops about 85% of the country's weapons and armaments...and sits on top of THOUSANDS of Native American pictographs.
He is currently working on a book that might take the care in "weird"--the history of the United State's worst nuclear disaster in Los Angeles in 1959 (no! It's not Three Mile Island! I know! We were shocked too!) that was covered up by the government until the late 1970s and the land is now owned by Boeing....so....nothing weird at all.
We had a blast having Barret on the show! Please check out his Substack and his books, especially if you love your history on the weird side!
We will be back in two weeks with episode 109, back on track for the rest of the season!
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Barret's Website
Barret's Substack "Dumpster Fires"
Barret's Instagram Profile
Buy Barret's Books Here!
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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/