The Dangerous History Podcast

Believe it or not, CJ has been doing the Dangerous History Podcast for 12 years now! Despite many trials & tribulations that have caused him to be slowed down or even knocked down, he has always staggered back up to his feet, wiped the blood out of his eyes, and resumed fighting the good fight of spreading brushfires of freedom via historical samizdat; and, with your help, he intends to keep doing it for at least another dozen (or couple dozen) years more!

To commemorate this anniversary, in this episode, CJ shares & expounds upon a dozen of his many favorite quotes from the early 20th century American writer & social critic H.L. Mencken, including the quote that inspired the title of the DHP. (He also opens & closes the episode with inspirational poems by Edgar Albert Guest that encourage perseverance.)

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The Collected Works of Edgar A. Guest (“Don’t Quit” & “See it Through,” the poems that CJ read at the beginning & end of this episode, respectively, are by Edgar Albert Guest, who is one of CJ’s favorite poets & who is tragically underappreciated today)

Notes on Democracy by H.L. Mencken

A Mencken Chrestomathy: His Own Selection of His Choicest Writings

The Vintage Mencken: The Finest and Fiercest Essays of the Great Literary Iconoclast

The Underground History of American Education: An Intimate Investigation into the Prison of Modern Schooling by John Taylor Gatto

Falling Down (1993, starring Michael Douglas)

Additional Links

Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon!

Other ways to support the show (including CJ’s PO Box address)

Subscribe to the Dangerous History Podcast Youtube Channel

“The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto” (an extended, in-depth interview of the late, great critic of institutional schooling, conducted by Richard Grove of Tragedy & Hope)

The post Ep. 0289: A Dangerous Dozen: 12 H.L. Mencken Quotes for the DHP’s 12th Anniversary first appeared on The Dangerous History Podcast.

Here it is — the 2nd installment of CJ’s already-epic mini-series, ‘The Mad Dream of Conquest,’ set in the Peloponnesian War in 5th-century BC Greece.

Join CJ as he shares an overview of some of the events of the first half of the Peloponnesian War, including:

Spartan-led Peloponnesian invasions of Attica (the countryside around Athens), which used the traditional Greek tactic of ‘ravaging’ farms in order to try to provoke the Athenians to confront them in a decisive hoplite battle

Athens’ refusal to do so, as they followed Pericles’ strategy of being purely defensive on land while waging naval & amphibious warfare against the coastal strongholds of the Peloponnesian League

The horrific plague that afflicted Athens for the first few years of the war, which likely killed 20-30% of Athens, including, eventually, Pericles himself

The leadership void left by Pericles, which was filled by men of much less competence, none of whom ever enjoyed the supermajority support that Pericles had

The ‘Peace of Nicias,’ concluded in 421 BC, which was never fully adhered to & wouldn’t last long

The growing political feud between Nicias & the Athenian doves vs. Alcibiades & the Athenian hawks

The appeal for Athenian assistance from a few Sicilian poleis against Syracuse, the most powerful polis on that island, & the Athenian debates over the wisdom of intervening there, dominated by debates between Nicias & Alcibiades

The decision of a majority of the Athenian Assembly to intervene on a massive scale

Religious/political scandals that created serious potential problems for the Athenian expedition to Sicily on the eve of its departure

The departure, to great fanfare, of a massive Athenian & allied force to Sicily

Like this episode?

Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon!

You can also throw CJ a $ tip via Paypal here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=D6VUYSYQ4EU6L

Throw CJ a $ tip via Venmo here:

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Other ways to support the show (including CJ’s PO Box)

Amazon Affiliate Links (buy ANYTHING from Amazon using any of these links & CJ gets a small commission at no cost to you!)

The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War

A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War by Victor Davis Hanson

The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan

The Life of Greece: The Story of Civilization, Vol. II by Will Durant

Links

Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon

Subscribe to the Dangerous History Podcast Youtube Channel

Follow CJ on Twitter/X

Follow the DHP on Instagram

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Hire CJ to speak to your group or at your event

The post Ep. 0288: ‘The Mad Dream of Conquest,’ Pt. II first appeared on The Dangerous History Podcast.

CJ decided he needed a break from modern US history as he continues to recover & reset his life, so this is the first episode of a new DHP miniseries set during the Peloponnesian War in 5th century BC Greece. The series will primarily focus on a famous Athenian military expedition to Sicily that occurred right in the middle of that conflict, an expedition that, to CJ, is eerily similar in some ways to the current war with Iran.

This first episode, though, is backstory & world-building, setting the stage for the massive, complex & costly Peloponnesian War of 431-404 BC during which the Sicilian expedition occurred.

Join CJ as he discusses:

A brief overview of ancient Greek history, from the Bronze Age through the Persian invasions of 490 & 480 BC.

The growing rivalries & tensions between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) & the Delian League (led by Athens) in the aftermath of the Persian Wars, including Athens’ increasingly aggressive & destabilizing imperialism, & Sparta’s fears about it

The rise of Pericles & the construction of the Athenian Long Walls

The ‘first’ Peloponnesian War of ~460 BC-445 BC, which ended with a treaty known as “The Thirty Years’ Peace”

The rising tensions & conflicts that caused the Thirty Years’ Peace to only last about half as long as it was intended to

The ancient Greek historian Thucydides

The escalating conflicts that led, in 431 BC, to the outbreak of the Second Peloponnesian War (sometimes just referred to as “The Peloponnesian War”), a conflict that would end up dwarfing the previous war in duration, cost, death & destruction

Like this episode?

You can throw CJ a $ tip via Paypal here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=D6VUYSYQ4EU6L

Throw CJ a $ tip via Venmo here:

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Or throw CJ a BTC tip here:

bc1qfrz9erz7dqazh9rhz3j7nv696nl52ux8unw79z

Amazon Affiliate Links (buy ANYTHING from Amazon using any of these links & CJ gets a small commission at no cost to you!)

The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War

A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War by Victor Davis Hanson

The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan

The Life of Greece: The Story of Civilization, Vol. II by Will Durant

Links

Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon

Subscribe to the Dangerous History Podcast Youtube Channel

Follow CJ on Twitter/X

Follow the DHP on Facebook

Hire CJ to speak to your group or at your event

Other ways to support the show

The post Ep. 0287: ‘The Mad Dream of Conquest,’ Pt I first appeared on The Dangerous History Podcast.

Good news — things have finally stabilized for CJ & his family, & he has finally fully recovered from the illnesses that caused him to be hospitalized in March!

He’s now back at the podcasting game full-force, hard at work on upcoming Dangerous History material, & this week he also returned Brave the New World, the weekly current events & media analysis show that he cohosts with Matt Carano. This DHP episode features the audio of CJ’s triumphant return to BTNW after a few months’ absence.

Join CJ & Matt as they discuss the low- & even-lower-lights of current events in recent months, & try to come to grips with the insanity that the 2nd Trump administration is inflicting on the world.

Like this episode?

You can throw CJ a $ tip via Paypal here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=D6VUYSYQ4EU6L

Throw CJ a $ tip via Venmo here:

https://www.venmo.com/u/dangerousmedia

Or throw CJ a BTC tip here:

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Links

Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon

Other ways to support the show (including CJ’s PO Box address)

BTNW on Youtube

BTNW on Spotify

BTNW on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe to the Dangerous History Podcast Youtube Channel

Follow CJ on Twitter/X

Follow the DHP on Instagram

Follow the DHP on Facebook

Hire CJ to speak to your group or at your event


The post Ep. 0286: Braving This Dystopian Timeline (w/Matt Carano) first appeared on The Dangerous History Podcast.

The hits have just kept on coming! (And not in a good way.)

For anyone who cares and/or is curious why CJ has been mostly incommunicado the past 2 months (other than angrily ranting against the insanity of current events on Twitter): In this special DHP episode he gives an update on the most recent trials & tribulations he & his family have been through, including (but not limited to) his wife being hospitalized twice, another major death in the family, & finally, CJ himself being hospitalized for almost a full week while being the sickest & in the worst pain he’s ever had in his entire life. (Fun times!)

On the brighter side, the redemption in the third act is that CJ is still alive, still sober, & is (once again) getting back up to keep on fighting the good fight, so look for more Dangerous History coming your way as long as (knock on wood!) he can get a little bit of a respite from the near-constant dumpster-fires!

Like this episode?

You can throw CJ a $ tip via Paypal here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=D6VUYSYQ4EU6L

Throw CJ a $ tip via Venmo here:

https://www.venmo.com/u/dangerousmedia

Or throw CJ a BTC tip here:

bc1qfrz9erz7dqazh9rhz3j7nv696nl52ux8unw79z

Links

Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon

Subscribe to the Dangerous History Podcast Youtube Channel

Follow CJ on Twitter/X

Follow the DHP on Facebook

Other ways to support the show

The post “Rise, and Fight Again” first appeared on The Dangerous History Podcast.