WEBVTT 1 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:20.320 And we have a special hone guest today. He's an 2 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:24.719 American political commentator. He calls himself an amateur historian, but 3 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:28.160 I wouldn't really consider him that. He's a podcaster, former 4 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:31.719 radio show host. And Dan Carlin. 5 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.640 How you doing, Dan, I'm well, thank you for having 6 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:35.200 me on the show. 7 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:36.119 Oh you bet. 8 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:38.840 First of all, I have to say how pleased I 9 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:42.280 am that you're talking to us today. I'm a real 10 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:44.399 big fan of yours, and I hope to turn some 11 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:47.119 of our listeners onto you and they'll become your fans 12 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:47.600 as well. 13 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:51.679 Well, we would love that you do two podcasts. 14 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:55.799 I'm going to start out first by talking about the 15 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:58.920 one you do more often, which is called common Sense, 16 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:01.600 and then we'll get right into the hardcore history, which 17 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:03.399 we're going to focus on today. 18 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:04.680 A little bit. 19 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.719 About common Sense from I listened to all of it now. 20 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:11.120 I mean I started out listening to you with the 21 00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:14.560 hardcore history, and then I got involved in the common 22 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:17.560 Sense and I'm telling you some of the things you uncover, 23 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:22.680 it just makes me wonder, why isn't anyone doing something 24 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:23.359 about this? 25 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:25.840 Can you talk about that? 26 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:29.000 You know? Actually, I think that's the most interesting aspect. 27 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:31.560 And we actually talk about that all the time here. 28 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.040 We don't understand why no one else is talking about 29 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:37.560 it either, And I feel like it's a real I mean, 30 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:40.719 on a personal sense, it's a blessing because it's great 31 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:44.000 to have no competition. In another sense, though, I mean, 32 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:45.959 if you're really worried about some of these problems we 33 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:48.480 talk about, it'd be a little bit more encouraging to 34 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.519 think that there was a whole lot more people talking 35 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.560 about it, just that talking about things from a typical 36 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:57.159 Republican or Democrat talking point. I think all that stuff's 37 00:01:57.200 --> 00:01:59.000 hurting is more than helping us these days. 38 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:00.760 And you think you see more of that out there 39 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:00.959 in the. 40 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:04.159 Old mainstream media. But maybe we're benefiting from the fact 41 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:04.519 you don't. 42 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:08.319 Yeah, So I just want to tell you, speaking of 43 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:12.759 this podcast in particular, are common sense. It's called I 44 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:18.120 listened to a YouTube earlier. There's a podcast that you 45 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:20.400 did back in two thousand and seven when you totally 46 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.599 predicted the economic crash that was about to happen. 47 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:24.919 How did you do that? 48 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:29.240 Well, you know, really that's just a function of history. 49 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:33.000 I mean, eventually, I mean, I think we human beings 50 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.280 get stuck in this idea that the way things are are. 51 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:38.120 We just plan on that if you go to a 52 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:41.000 meeting with your financial advisor, for example, as you have one, 53 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:42.680 they're going to sit down and they're going to show 54 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:45.159 you a graph of how the American economy has been 55 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.759 doing since the Second World War. And of course what 56 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:49.360 I always say back to them is, you know, there 57 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:51.960 was an economy before the Second World War, and once 58 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.120 you realize that, you see, oh, you know, everything goes 59 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:56.199 up and down in cycles. Just because we haven't had 60 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:58.759 something really bad happen to us, history show is just 61 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:00.560 going to happen again. So I think I was more 62 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:03.879 citing with history in that sense, just saying, you know, 63 00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:05.879 it's like people who said that the tech bubble would 64 00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:08.199 never burst as stocks and you just sit there and go, really, 65 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:10.479 it's going to go on forever. So I mean, I 66 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:13.680 think we just got lucky in predicting a typical cycle 67 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:14.879 that we're always living. 68 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:16.520 There right right now? 69 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:19.520 Do you use a lot of historical events and you're 70 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:23.840 thinking when you do those particular podcasts, I'm. 71 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.199 Actually stuck that way. I mean, I think we all 72 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:30.599 organize our framework for thinking differently, and in my case, 73 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:32.840 I just sort of base everything on history. That's how 74 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:35.120 my mind operates, for better or for worse. I think 75 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:38.719 that gives me other blind spots too. But we always 76 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:41.439 brought a lot of history into our political current events show, 77 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:44.879 and that's what gave someone else the idea that maybe 78 00:03:44.919 --> 00:03:47.919 we could do a history show too. It wasn't my 79 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:49.759 idea that just heard a lot of history in our 80 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:52.159 common sense shows. So yeah, I've always used that as 81 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.400 sort of one of the foundations that we try to 82 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:54.960 work off of. 83 00:03:55.479 --> 00:03:59.439 I was looking at your Wikipedia page and it says 84 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:03.280 that you're an amateur historian. Now that just just means 85 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:04.680 that you don't have a degree in history. 86 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:04.919 Is that? 87 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:06.280 Is that what it means by that. 88 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.360 I do actually have a degree in history. 89 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:09.919 It's just a. 90 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.520 BA University of Colorado. And when you want to call 91 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:17.279 yourself a historian, by our modern standards, you really should 92 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:18.000 have a PhD. 93 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:18.680 I see. 94 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:21.600 And so I don't want any historians to get mad 95 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:23.839 at me. I like to consider myself in the vein 96 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:26.839 of you know, what they used to call an oral historian. 97 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.120 And you can go back and it's like the minstrels 98 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:33.240 in medieval times or the traditional storytellers that you'll see 99 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:36.600 in tribal societies where they will relate the stories of 100 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:40.360 the past to the young people with all its grandeur 101 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:43.360 and drama. You know, people sometimes, you know. 102 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:45.360 One of the criticisms I hear about our show. 103 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:46.800 Is that it's a little melo dramatic. 104 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:48.720 And the way I answer that is that I'm. 105 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:53.199 Specifically choosing topics that are wonderfully dramatic, and I'm trying. 106 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:55.120 To get away from the names and the days and. 107 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:57.240 All that and give people a sense for how dramatic 108 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.279 these events really were. And so I think that's why. 109 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:03.000 I think that's why the whole thing works. 110 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:07.199 Okay, so let's jump right into this hardcore history. And 111 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.360 again that's how I found you. I was actually found 112 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:14.240 your podcast by going into iTunes and just looking for 113 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:17.920 anything history related. The one thing I got to say 114 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:21.240 about I really love the out of the box thinking 115 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:24.680 you have when you're doing your podcasts. Do you have 116 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:28.639 to plan way ahead on doing a particular podcast. 117 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:32.759 It's a little different for each show. The Common Sense 118 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.600 Show is a version of a program I used to 119 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.160 do on radio, and my lifestyle is almost a tune 120 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:40.639 to it. While I'm reading things, I'm marketing and cutting 121 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:42.720 things out. So I've got that kind of down to 122 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:45.279 a science, and that doesn't take that much work. That 123 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:48.560 history show is a lot more labor intensive. We work 124 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:50.800 very hard on it, and it's hard on us mentally. 125 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:53.160 I wish sometimes I had a bigger you know, like 126 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:56.199 one of those aliens with a giant head, who with 127 00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:58.560 an IQ of three hundred, because sometimes I literally feel 128 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.759 like I'm pushing my men to the limits. But I'm 129 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:03.079 sure it's a. 130 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:05.480 Lot of work, and a lot of the stuff you 131 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:08.959 talk about it just simply couldn't be found in text. 132 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:11.279 Where do you come up with all this information? 133 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:13.920 You know, one of the places, Because that's a very 134 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:15.920 broad question. I'm not sure I have the answer, but. 135 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:18.600 I do know that when I was a history major. 136 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.240 Back in college, and you would you would have conversations 137 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:23.720 with the other history majors. This is the kind of 138 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:26.439 weird stuff we would all talk about. I mean, when 139 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:28.759 you're a history geek, there are certain you know, you 140 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:30.959 can go to our websites out there that discuss things 141 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:34.399 like alternative history, what if the Germans had won the 142 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:36.560 Second World War or something like that. 143 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:37.480 That's fascinating. 144 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.399 Yeah, that's all the stuff that history geeks geek out 145 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:42.279 on and I think a lot of those kinds of 146 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:44.879 thinking are people. You know, history majors will talk about 147 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:46.040 this stuff amongst themselves. 148 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:50.519 I like the show you did of effects on alcohol 149 00:06:50.519 --> 00:06:54.519 and drugs on past events. I mean, that's something I 150 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:56.399 don't think too many people would have ever thought of. 151 00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:58.120 It really makes sense. 152 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:01.759 You know, And truthfully, that came from a couple of 153 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:06.000 stories that I had read. One was a question about 154 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:10.759 whether Napoleon had been influenced by taking opium. 155 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:13.879 The night before for some painful ailment of his And 156 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:16.680 they were just a couple of those stories out there. 157 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:19.199 Like that, and I thought, how weird is it to 158 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:21.160 think that we can talk about how much of an 159 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:24.399 effect things like alcohol or tobacco or anything like that 160 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:27.360 has on our modern culture, but just because the sources 161 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:29.759 aren't telling us about it in the past. I mean, 162 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:31.560 you've got to think that those people were at least 163 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:32.759 as affected as we are. 164 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:34.839 And I think you start wondering, well, if they were, 165 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:36.040 does that explain. 166 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:39.959 You know, by Napoleon's conduct at Waterloo that day? For example? Yeah, 167 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:41.439 that was a fun one. 168 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:43.480 H Yeah, that was great, It was great. 169 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:48.000 And another one I really enjoyed or just never really 170 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:50.560 thought deeply about it, but was slavery you know, you 171 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:54.199 think about slavery more in contemporary terms when I say 172 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.079 contemporary in the last three three hundred years, but you 173 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:00.879 went way way back, and if I can quote you, 174 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:04.000 I believe you said something along the lines of we 175 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.680 all have slaves flood running through our veins, you. 176 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:09.240 Know, And that was It was funny because while I 177 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:12.000 was doing the research for that show, and maybe it's 178 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.800 because we're here in the United States and we're and 179 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:16.839 and when you talk about slavery, our slavery was so 180 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:21.120 relatively recent in historical times that it still dominates all 181 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:24.480 of our conversation about it, except that it's such an 182 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.199 age old human institution that if you want to sort 183 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:29.879 of give the long view of it, well, most of 184 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:32.159 us have been slaves at one time or another, with 185 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:33.879 the way we're all related. 186 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:35.559 In the way that different societies, I mean, the. 187 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.480 Romans used to enslaved all sorts of people. We don't 188 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:41.440 think of in the United States as having ever been slaves. 189 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.720 And I think if i'm you know, the while now 190 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.639 since we did that show, but I think we were 191 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:50.720 talking about slavery as the original labor saving device yes, 192 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:54.000 you call it, and how that once upon a time 193 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:57.000 in caveman times, not quite cave man times, but really 194 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:01.519 early the history of people slavey may actually have been 195 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:05.200 some sort of a human rights advancement, because the way 196 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:08.320 you got slaves was by not killing some prisoner on 197 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:11.759 the battlefield, and you'd make a deal with them and say. 198 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:13.720 Okay, I won't kill you, but you have to do 199 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:15.039 what I say the rest of your life. 200 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:18.000 Strange to think of history as some sort of a 201 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:21.840 human progression in morality or civilization, isn't it? Yes? 202 00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:24.279 And I do recall you pointing out that it was 203 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:30.039 a stagnation as far as developing inventions and things, right 204 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.879 because they just relied on slaves to do the work. 205 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:35.919 Well, that's the theory. There were all these stories about how, 206 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:40.960 for example, in some of the slave areas in South America, 207 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:44.480 they didn't develop water systems and plumbing until later than 208 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:46.879 the surrounding areas because they had slaves to go get 209 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:48.879 the water for them, so there was never any need 210 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:51.879 to be filled. That's fascinating right. 211 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:56.639 Now, speaking along those lines, what would make someone remain 212 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.960 a slave just fear of being killed? 213 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:02.559 Basically the way. 214 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:06.200 I think I think that's a tough question for modern minds. Yeah, 215 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.159 I think, first of all, I think the situation differs 216 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:11.320 in different situations. I mean, that's the ones here in 217 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:15.200 the United States were particularly horrifying and cruel, but there 218 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:19.360 are tribal societies where being a slave is sometimes almost 219 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:22.480 like being an extended member of the family. If you 220 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:26.080 were a Greek slave in Roman times and you weren't 221 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:28.320 working in a mine or one of those terrible jobs, 222 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.039 you might be employed as a tutor in the household. 223 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:33.320 I mean, it's not a wonderful life per se, but 224 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.360 it's not what we always associate with, say, you know, 225 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:39.159 channel slavery in the US South or something, so maybe 226 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:40.879 that has something to do with it. But even then 227 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:45.360 Rome had huge uprising with hundreds of thousands of armed 228 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:48.840 slaves fighting against you know, Rome's armies at times, so 229 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:50.639 I don't think people always did put up. 230 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:54.200 With that's amazing, amazing. And then you did a segment 231 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:57.440 on World War Two, which. 232 00:10:57.240 --> 00:11:00.279 I thought, because I've know a good part of the 233 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:03.080 twentieth century, with the least half of it, I don't 234 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.840 think of it as being that brutal, but it really was. 235 00:11:06.279 --> 00:11:08.639 Some of the things you point out between the Russians 236 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:13.120 and the Germans were just amazing the way they brutalized 237 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:13.600 each other. 238 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:16.639 I think history is certainly going to record that the 239 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:19.200 twentieth century is the most brutal century there ever was. 240 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:22.320 It depends on how you can measure it, but in 241 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.840 terms of like overall human sufferings, the twentieth century is 242 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:28.799 a pretty bad one. And yeah, we chose the Eastern Front, 243 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:32.320 specifically the war between the Germans and the Russians, because 244 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:34.399 most of us here in the United States don't focus 245 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:36.600 on that. We like to focus on our involvement, and 246 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:39.480 you know, conversely, the Russians like to focus on their involvement. 247 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:41.960 But it's a whole part of that war that if 248 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:44.240 you took it out of the context of the Second 249 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:47.960 World War, just what we call the Eastern Trust, that's 250 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:49.799 just like the biggest war in history. 251 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:51.679 All by itself, right, right. 252 00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:54.519 It was a massive amount of people, and it was 253 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:57.080 a war to the absolute finish in a way that 254 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:59.399 I don't think the United States, I don't think we've 255 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:01.200 ever fought away like that, where it was a war 256 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:03.799 for the absolute finish. And on the Eastern Front, you 257 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.480 really got a chance to see what man's in humanity 258 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.000 demand needs. 259 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:08.759 Right, right? 260 00:12:08.919 --> 00:12:10.879 A lot of times I think you get into these 261 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:14.519 real brutal subjects, but you know, that's that's what war was. 262 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:16.840 It was very cruel and brutal. 263 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:19.000 I guess that's one of the things that fascinates me. 264 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.440 But it's the extremes of human experience. 265 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:24.360 And that's why I can't enjoy fiction. 266 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:26.519 Anymore, because it's one thing to sit in your house 267 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:28.679 and write about the extremes of human situations. 268 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.679 It's another thing to read about people that actually had 269 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:31.360 to live through it. 270 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.840 Right now, what do you have on the horizon coming up? 271 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.320 I'm stuck in a long series we're going to probably 272 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:41.240 do on the fall of the Roman Republic. And it's 273 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:45.480 following a typical pattern with me where I completely pick 274 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:47.600 a wrong topic that's going to be too big that 275 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:49.919 I'm never going to be able to and finish. And 276 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:51.879 so I've just done it again. So I figure I'm 277 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:54.399 trapped for a while here in this Roman Republic stuff. 278 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:57.279 Wow, And do you have people helping you with the 279 00:12:57.320 --> 00:12:59.799 research you do on this that's classified? 280 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:01.679 I don't blame you. 281 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:05.159 I'll just say that it's no more than one if 282 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:08.320 it is. Indeed, one, and it's not Ben right, I 283 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:09.519 can't say anything about that. 284 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:13.159 I was going to ask you about then, but yeah. 285 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:16.320 I know he's everybody wants to know. I'm sorry. Dan. 286 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:20.000 Let's talk a little bit about your discussion board. That's 287 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.039 a very active, very active sight. 288 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:23.759 Yes, you know, and. 289 00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:26.240 And and having no experience with it, I'm a little 290 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:28.519 surprised by how it's turned out. I have to say 291 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:32.320 that sometimes I feel like a parent where you almost 292 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.799 feel like you know you've created something that's going to 293 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:36.600 go off on its own to college now and have 294 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.600 its own life because the people that have gone to 295 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:42.799 the discussion board, it's this wonderful place to be in 296 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:45.000 terms of if you want to discuss political events or 297 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.480 things in an atmosphere with a wide variety of people 298 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:51.799 who try to be somewhat polite night that has little 299 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.919 to do with me, and yet you we post this thing. 300 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.120 It's it's that's a fun development as part of the 301 00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:57.559 new meeting. 302 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:01.000 So it's just taken off on its own really now. 303 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:03.759 Well we helped it along initially like a kid, but 304 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:05.840 I mean now it's the people who are there that make. 305 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:07.720 It what it is right right now. 306 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:11.679 One thing I know from experience when I'm talking on 307 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:14.919 these podcasts or when I'm doing anything, even when it 308 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:20.000 comes to cataloging antiques, you name it. People love to 309 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:22.840 certain people, I should say, love to pick out out 310 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:24.799 your mistakes that must happen. 311 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:27.840 Oh yeah, well listen, there's no question about that. 312 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:30.799 I mean, how do you mention that? I mean we 313 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:31.559 get of course, we. 314 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:34.039 Get tons of email from people you must pronounce this. 315 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:37.399 Oh yeah, I don't think you and offering tons of 316 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:39.440 advice and all kinds of things. I mean that comes 317 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:40.240 with the territory. 318 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:43.960 Well, I talked to a guy that does historical maritime 319 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:46.879 paintings and when he's doing the painting of the Harvard 320 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:50.320 he tries to research even erosion on the shoreline and 321 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:53.919 everything to get it just right. And he says sometimes 322 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:56.679 someone will contact him and say the building was over 323 00:14:57.240 --> 00:14:59.399 looks like maybe three or fourth feet to the left 324 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:02.360 a little bit. You know, let's just take apart everything. 325 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:03.600 So yeah, it's interesting. 326 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:05.960 Well, especially if you try to just talk and not 327 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:09.519 have everything written down, you're going to make mistakes just 328 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:12.080 by this year nature. You know, we're all people and 329 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:15.759 things come out wrong, and your choices are to you know, 330 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.639 just continue to focus on perfection or to sit there 331 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:20.799 and say but in the audience knows what people do, 332 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:23.600 and most people aren't bothered by that stuff. Hopefully, I 333 00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:24.679 have my fingers crossed. 334 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:28.159 Now, you've had a couple of good interviews yourself, that 335 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:29.200 you've talked to people. 336 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:31.120 Burke was on the phone, right. 337 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.039 Oh, yeah, he was great. I mean, if you talk 338 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:36.159 about people that I pay money to sit and have 339 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.600 lunch with, that guy, James Burke, he's as high of 340 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:40.759 my list as anybody. 341 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:44.279 Yes, yes, And I heard you mentioned Shelby Foot the 342 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:46.639 other day. He was the person I would have loved 343 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:47.399 to have listened to. 344 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.200 Yes, I have a soft spot in my heart for 345 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:52.799 all those kind of people, if only because you know, 346 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:54.759 I mean, you sit there and Shelby's foot. I mean, 347 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:56.639 think of the story that he'd be able to relate 348 00:15:56.919 --> 00:15:59.360 the graces of a war historian. And it's not just 349 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:01.600 that it's not just that they can relate all this 350 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.120 stuff because they have the knowledge, but the way that 351 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:08.039 they convey it is, Yes, is you know you're at 352 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:10.159 rapt attention the whole time by their style. 353 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.960 Yeah, he was my favorite in ken Burns a series. 354 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:14.960 Yeah, me too. 355 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:16.759 Yeah, he was great. He was great. 356 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:20.559 Now, have you ever considered doing anything like the American 357 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:24.039 Revolution or anything like that, or the Civil War? Or 358 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:26.039 do you think those have just touched on too often? 359 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:28.639 Well, you know, part of the problem of doing these 360 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:31.200 things and people request things all the time, and they 361 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:34.639 think I have knowledge enough to take their request and 362 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:37.360 actually turn them into a program. But everything we talk 363 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:40.120 about on the show is something that I already have 364 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:43.039 a certain base amount of knowledge off of. Otherwise there'd 365 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:45.480 be no way to educate myself enough to do the 366 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:48.799 podcast within the time limit. So when people bring up 367 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:51.240 something like the Civil War, I know there's a ton 368 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:53.039 of people who'd love to hear that. It's just not 369 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:56.399 a subject that I'm strong enough in to do a 370 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:59.320 good enough job to meet anyone's expectations. 371 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:01.080 So I'm living that is by my own. 372 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:02.480 Limitations like that mm hm. 373 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:04.839 But I'm sure if you did something like that, you'd 374 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:06.599 probably take your typical approach. 375 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:09.519 Well, the fun I mean the fun you know, when 376 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:11.599 you're talking about events like this, the word fund doesn't 377 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:14.200 really fit. But the fun part, the fun part about 378 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:17.440 the Civil Wars is that there's always and we'll get 379 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:19.359 into this in the in the one on the Roman 380 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:20.920 Republic that we're doing now, because. 381 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:22.559 There are a bunch of civil wars in that too. 382 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:25.680 The interesting part is to look at the brother versus 383 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:31.279 brother aspect or how, how, how how unbelievably repressed these 384 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:33.720 people are in terms of being angry at their own 385 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.920 countrymen and how that sometimes comes out and what happens. 386 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:40.480 And truthfully, the US Civil War was gentlemanly compared to 387 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:41.960 things like the Roman one. 388 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:43.559 Oh really wow, Well. 389 00:17:43.480 --> 00:17:46.960 They had scores to settle, believe, politics turned deadly violent 390 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:48.799 in the in the Roman Republic. 391 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:52.440 M Now, I'm just going to ask you, do you 392 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:54.119 collect anything yourself? 393 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:56.200 Because I know you collect books, don't you. 394 00:17:56.279 --> 00:18:00.839 Yes, well, my wife would say obsessively collective. I just 395 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:03.000 feel like I buy them and never throw them away. 396 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:06.000 I don't know if that's collecting or not. I definitely 397 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:07.200 have a bit of a book fetish. 398 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:10.720 I guess other things as well, are just books. 399 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:14.599 Well, you know, people send me stuff, really, and it's amazing. 400 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:16.759 A lot of them are German. For some reason, German 401 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:18.640