World War III: The Great African War
From 1996 to 2002, one of the largest wars in history was fought between nine countries and countless insurgencies, taking the lives of millions... and you've never heard of it.
Nov 16, 2020•38 min
Tanner Talks About Stuff that Happened
Tanner likes to talk about history and find threads that pass through everything that has ever happened. If you wanna listen, you can.
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Episodes
MKULTRA
In 1953, as the Korean War was coming to a close, the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States initiated a top-secret project that would experiment with psychoactive drugs on human beings in order to attempt to create some sort of mind-control effect, and for the next twenty years, this project would create a general sense of unease and distrust in the United States federal government... because most of the subjects had no idea they were being experimented on.
Nov 10, 2020•27 min
Dracula: The Story of Vlad The Impaler
In the 15th century, an Eastern European ruler by the name of Vlad Dracula would perpetrate a series of acts that would cement himself in human history as one of the most notorious, and most heroic, leaders of all time. This is the story of Vlad Dracula. Happy Halloween!
Oct 28, 2020•37 min
Roanoke
In 1590, John White returned to his beloved colony off the coast of North Carolina, only to find that all 117 inhabitants had seemingly vanished into thin air. What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island?
Oct 14, 2020•22 min
Yugoslav Wars
It's one of the most forgotten conflicts in modern history, fueled by ethnic tensions and unresolved disputes. The 1900s ended just as it began: with war in the Balkans.
Sep 28, 2020•31 min
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, 1911
On a cold, Saturday afternoon in March of 1911, a cigar butt was tossed into a bin of scraps in a clothing factory. The tragic aftermath would create a movement to protect workers that led to safety procedures that we still abide by in our modern workplaces.
Sep 13, 2020•19 min
Burning Man
Burning Man is an annual gathering taking place in the Black Rock Desert region of Nevada. Originally established in 1986 as a counter-culture gathering centered around self-expression, it has become something far different in recent years. DISCLAIMER: I started school two weeks ago and have been making a significant adjustment between school, work, and this podcast, along with other writings I have been doing, so this podcast is a bit shorter than usual.
Sep 06, 2020•19 min
The Industrialization of Warfare
Between 1776 and 1914, a series of transformations took place in the global military ecosystem that revolutionized the way war was fought between nations. These transformations would cost the human race millions of lives. TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains dramatizations of warfare, and may be a trigger for listeners suffering from PTSD or Schizophrenia.
Aug 31, 2020•24 min
When Metallica Took Down the Soviet Union
Less than three months before the Soviet Union dissolved, the largest single-day rock concert in history was held in Moscow, in a country where, only five years before, western rock music was effectively outlawed. It is remembered as being a symbol of revolution in the once-feared communist country as it died with a whimper.
Aug 23, 2020•22 min
Vikings
At the tail end of the 8th Century CE, a group of raiders from Norway plundered a sacred priory off the coast of Scotland, instigating what is now known as the "Viking Age." Who were these terrifying warriors, and were they really as horrific as we are led to believe?
Aug 15, 2020•19 min
The Great Leap Forward
Why do Western powers hate communism so much? Following World War II, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States all had economic booms fueled by the new industrial revolution, and freshly communist China wanted in on that action, so Chairman Mao Zedong set into action a five-year plan that was designed to match the economic output of the United Kingdom as quickly as possible. It was one of the worst humanitarian disasters in history.
Aug 02, 2020•28 min
The Sinking of the Lusitania
In 1915, the German Empire began executing Unrestricted Submarine Warfare surrounding the British Isles, ultimately sinking thousands of ships in a four year period. Their fatal mistake? One of those ships had over one thousand civilian men, women, and children on board. It may have ultimately cost them the war.
Jul 26, 2020•15 min
Megalithic Mysteries
They challenge what we know about our origins as a species. They go against our understanding of ancient societies. They raise new questions about our abilities as a human race. Stonehenge, the Giza Necropolis, the Pyramid of the Sun, and Gobekli Tepe: these are some of our Megalithic Mysteries.
Jul 20, 2020•34 min
Capitalism? Socialism? Communism? Oh, My!
Systems of economics are far more complicated than "right" and "wrong." So, why do so many people in the United States proclaim Capitalism or Socialism to be inherently evil? I'm going to give you an explanation for each of these systems of economics.
Jul 12, 2020•22 min
Live Aid
In October of 1984, a news segment aired on BBC that galvanized the Western World in a fight against hunger in Ethiopia, leading to the single largest live music broadcast in history. How did it happen, and what was it like? I'll tell you. It was awesome.
Jul 06, 2020•27 min
Nintendo
It's one of the most beloved electronic companies in the world, but it's a bit older than you might think. Even... a century older.
Jun 18, 2020•26 min
Boston Tea Party
In one of the most famous acts of protest in American history, a bunch of guys dressed up like Native Americans boarded a ship in the middle of the night and turned the Boston Harbor into a giant cup of tea. Why was this act of protest so pivotal? Let's examine.
Jun 11, 2020•18 min
The Berlin Wall
In 1945, World War II came to an end, and the allies were victorious; but being allies didn't necessarily mean they were friends. Splitting the city of Berlin up between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies, the Soviet Union decided that they didn't like how the West was running things, so they established a monument that would forever be remembered as a symbol of division between the East and West.
Jun 05, 2020•25 min
Arab Spring
On December 17th, 2010, one man made a decision that would send shockwaves throughout the Arab World, creating a domino effect that would lead to the overthrows of several governments in North Africa and the Middle East. In this episode, we examine the causes and effects of the Arab Spring, the first historical event I've covered on this podcast that I remember living through.
May 28, 2020•25 min
Bipartisan America
In 1796, in his farewell address to the nation, George Washington expressly warned against the creation of political parties and factions in the United States. His warnings went unheeded, and today, two powerful political parties dominate the American political landscape. How did we get here?
May 21, 2020•14 min
The Russian Revolution
In 1905, Tsar Nicholas II ordered Imperial Troops to stop a group of protestors from reaching his Winter Palace at any cost, in an event that would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday," which would set off a chain of events that would lead to the toppling of the Tsarist Monarchy, one of the bloodiest civil wars in history, and the creation of a nation that would eventually strike fear into the hearts of the citizens in democratic countries across the globe.
May 16, 2020•20 min
The Bible
It's the most famous book in global history. Here are some things you might not know.
May 08, 2020•31 min
The Spanish Armada, 1588
Phillip II didn't like Elizabeth I, so he decided to send the largest fleet ever assembled up to that point to invade England and topple her reign. It was a train wreck. How did it happen?
Apr 23, 2020•15 min
The Bay of Pigs Invasion: Kennedy's Blunder, 1961
In April of 1961, a large group of Cuban defectors landed on the beaches of an area of Cuba known as the Bay of Pigs with the intention of challenging the regime of Fidel Castro, the new communist leader of the country. It went horribly wrong. How? I'll tell you.
Apr 16, 2020•27 min
Three Reichs
Hitler declared that Nazi Germany was the "Third Reich," but what were the first two Reichs? What are their significance in the creation of German Nationalism? Why was Hitler able to create such a powerful empire in such a short time, and then have it dissolved as quickly as it rose? This is episode six in the Quarantine Chapters, and we're talking about Nazi Germany. Let's go.
Apr 09, 2020•16 min
George Washington Crosses the Delaware, 1776
On Christmas Day, 1776, with the fate of the United States of America hanging in the balance, George Washington ordered his band of ragtag soldiers across the freezing waters of the Delaware River, en route to the town of Trenton, leading to an event that would alter the historic timeline forever. In the fifth episode of the Quarantine Chapters, we examine the heroic Battle of Trenton, and the aftermath that caused British generals to shake in their boots.
Apr 03, 2020•20 min
Mohenjo-Daro
Beneath the fertile plains of Pakistan lies a mysterious city discovered in the 1920s that rewrote much of what we thought we knew about humanity's history. Who were they? Why were they there? Why did they leave? We may never know. In the fourth chapter of the Quarantine Chapters, we investigate one of the most mysterious settlements ever discovered: Mohenjo-Daro.
Mar 28, 2020•15 min
The Plague of Justinian and the Black Death
In the third episode of the Quarantine Files, we're exploring the Bubonic Plague, and the cause of it: Yersinia Pestis. In the years between 1347 and 1351, nearly 30% of the world population was killed by a microscopic bacteria that spread through much of the planet, but how long has that bacteria been around?
Mar 25, 2020•18 min
The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, 1906
On an early morning in April of 1906 in the Bay Area of California, a 7.9 earthquake rattled the city of San Francisco. Residents were shaken, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of their problems. What happened in the biggest catastrophe in San Francisco history? Let's find out, in the second episode of the Quarantine Chapters.
Mar 21, 2020•19 min
Christopher Columbus and the Fall of the Byzantines
The first episode of the Quarantine Chapters, we take a swim in the Mediterranean and examine the events that transpired causing the accidental Spanish discovery of the American continents. How does the Byzantine Empire, once the Eastern Roman Empire, fit into all that? Well, it plays a bigger part than you might think by way of the Butterfly Effect.
Mar 17, 2020•18 min
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