Episode 495: The Fall of the King
Europe finally reacts to the French Revolution, and a startling discovery sets in motion events which will condemn Louis XVI to death. Western Civ 2.0
Nov 27, 2025•19 min•Season 1Ep. 495
Western Civ
A fast-moving history of the western world from the ancient world to the present day. Examine how the emergence of the western world as a global dominant power was not something that should ever have been taken for granted. This podcast traces the development of western civilization starting in the ancient Near East, through Greece and Rome, past the collapse of the Western Roman Empire into the Dark Ages, and then follows European and, ultimately, American history as the western world moved into a dominant world position.
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Episodes
Episode 494: Saint-Dominque
Saint-Dominque, soon to be Haiti, erupts in its own revolution. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Nov 24, 2025•23 min•Season 1Ep. 494
Episode 493: The Flight of the Royals
Louis XVI makes a break for it. France passes a new Constitution into law. And the storm clouds continue to grow around the French Revolution. Western Civ 2.0
Nov 21, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 493
Episode 492: Bread and the Church
Riots in Paris provoke unrest, while in the countryside French peasants recoil at attacks upon the Catholic Church. Western Civ Podcast 2.0
Nov 14, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 492
Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic
Buy The Book In his own day, the ancient philosopher Diogenes the Cynic had a reputation for eccentricity, heckling his fellow philosophers in the marketplace, living in a clay pot, and relieving himself in public. Since his death in 323 BCE, devoted followers made him and his ideas famous the world over. But what we think we know about Diogenes remains distorted and sanitized. In Diogenes , classicist Inger N.I. Kuin scours all existing evidence of Diogenes and his followers to offer an in-dept...
Nov 11, 2025•37 min
Episode 491: The Women's March
Bread shortages force the Revolution's hand. Western Civ Podcast 2.0
Nov 07, 2025•22 min•Season 1Ep. 491
Episode 490: The Fall of the Bastille
The French Revolution gets serious as the people of Paris rise up and storm the Bastille. Western Civ Podcast 2.0
Oct 31, 2025•21 min•Season 1Ep. 490
War and Power: Who Wins Wars—and Why
In this bonus interview, I sit down with Phillips Payson O'Brien and we discuss his latest book: War and Power: Who Wins Wars—and Why . For nearly two centuries, international relations have been premised on the idea of the “Great Powers.” As the thinking went, these mighty states—the European empires of the nineteenth century, the United States and the USSR during the Cold War—were uniquely able to exert their influence on the world stage because of their overwhelming military capabilities. But...
Oct 28, 2025•50 min
Episode 489: The Estates-General
An oath on a tennis court, of all things, sparks the French Revolution. Western Civ Podcast 2.0
Oct 26, 2025•13 min•Season 1Ep. 489
Episode 488: The Flood
Efforts to reform France under Louis XV and Louis XVI fail, plunging the kingdom into the flood of revolution. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Oct 24, 2025•29 min•Season 1Ep. 488
Bloody Crowns: A New History of the Hundred Years War
Today I sit down with historian Michael Livingston and talk about one of my favorite subjects: the Hundred Years War. Henry V at Agincourt. Edward III at Crécy. The Black Prince at Poitiers. Joan of Arc at Orléans. The period we call “the Hundred Years War” was a cascade of violence bursting with some of the most famous figures and fascinating fights in history. The central combatants, England and France, bore witness to uncountable deaths, unbelievable tragedy, and uncompromising glory. But the...
Oct 21, 2025•40 min
Episode 487: The Old Regime
Also known as the Ancien Regimé, the system of France going into the revolution was maddeningly complex and, seemingly, designed to fail. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Oct 17, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 487
Episode 486: The Young Republic
The Americans won their independence, but what would they do with it? Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Oct 10, 2025•30 min•Season 1Ep. 486
The Romans: A 2,000 Year History
Today I sit down with historian Edward J. Watts and talk about his latest book: The Romans . When we think of “ancient Romans” today, many picture the toga-clad figures of Cicero and Caesar, presiding over a republic, and then an empire, before seeing their world collapse at the hands of barbarians in the fifth century AD. The Romans does away with this narrow vision by offering the first comprehensive account of ancient Rome over the course of two millennia. Prize-winning historian Edward J. Wa...
Oct 07, 2025•1 hr 2 min
The History of the Peloponnesian War
Thucydides called his work a “possession for all time,” and his History of the Peloponnesian War has been essential reading for generals and politicians for centuries. Robin Waterfield’s translation of Thucydides’s sweeping narrative vividly depicts the events of the war between Athens and Sparta that began in 431 BCE and would continue until 404, a conflict that embroiled not only mainland Greece but Greek states from the eastern Mediterranean and as far west as Italy and Sicily. The only extan...
Oct 06, 2025•39 min
Episode 485: The American Revolution Part Three
Washington's victory at Yorktown effectively ends the war and costs Great Britain her colonies. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Oct 03, 2025•15 min•Season 1Ep. 485
Episode 484: The American Revolution Part Two
The Battle of Saratoga turns the tide while Washington builds resilience in Valley Forge. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Oct 01, 2025•21 min•Season 1Ep. 484
Episode 483: The American Revolution Part One
The American colonists vote for independence and Washington crosses the Delaware. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Sep 26, 2025•30 min•Season 1Ep. 483
1942: When World War II Engulfed the Globe
By the end of the Second World War, more than seventy million people across the globe had been killed, most of them civilians. Cities from Warsaw to Tokyo lay in ruins, and fully half of the world’s two billion people had been mobilized, enslaved, or displaced. In 1942 , historian Peter Fritzsche offers a gripping, ground-level portrait of the decisive year when World War II escalated to global catastrophe. With the United States joining the fight following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, all th...
Sep 23, 2025•48 min
Episode 482: The Boiling Pot
In the span of one decade, Great Britain went from winning a war against France to fighting a war with its own colonies. This is that story. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Sep 19, 2025•25 min•Season 1Ep. 480
Episode 481: The Partition of Poland
Over the course of roughly three decades, Lithuania-Poland ceased to exist. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Sep 17, 2025•12 min•Season 1Ep. 479
Episode 480: The Seven Years War
AKA the French and Indian War for those of you who ever took US History... Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Sep 12, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 480
Episode 479: Storm on the Horizon
A number of factors led into the Seven Years War. Here I break them down. Western Civ 2.0
Sep 05, 2025•18 min•Season 1Ep. 479
Episode 478: Pirates!
Plus the Russo-Turkish War of 1710 and the founding of New Orleans. Support the Show!
Sep 01, 2025•24 min•Season 1Ep. 478
Episode 477: Prussia
Frederick I founds the Kingdom of Prussia and the Great Frost of 1709 grips Europe. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Aug 25, 2025•19 min•Season 1Ep. 477
Episode 476: Peter the Great
Russia enters our story as a major power player under Peter the Great. Support the Show
Aug 22, 2025•16 min•Season 1Ep. 476
Episode 475: Europe and North America at the Turn of the Century
I cover a few remaining issues from the year 1700 including the rise of Russian and the formation of Great Britain. Western Civ 2.0 Free Trial
Aug 16, 2025•15 min•Season 1Ep. 475
Episode 474: The Sun King
"I am the State." - Louis XIV Support the show and become a MEMBER .
Aug 15, 2025•24 min•Season 1Ep. 474
Episode 473: The English Civil War (Part Ten)
William of Orange supplants James II, the Stuart line ends, and with it, the English Civil War. Western Civ 2.0
Aug 13, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 473
Episode 472: The English Civil War (Part Nine)
The restored monarchy ends, but not with a bang. Charles II's death, however, thrusts the question of the succession front and center. Western Civ 2.0
Aug 12, 2025•21 min•Season 1Ep. 472
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