Speaking of History…

We were? Well, speaking of education (see post below), I can’t believe I left this one out. I’ve been digging Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast for several months now. In fact, you may have heard me mention it in class once or twice.

If you like history, or think you might like history, if it didn’t involve, you know, classes and books and stuff, grab Dan Carlin’s podcast. He talks about all kinds of stuff: Alexander the Great, the bubonic plague in Europe, Winston Churchill, the Norman Conquest—the list goes on.

Dan has a knack for putting a modern spin on his topics, or at least relating them to things that really click in your mind: How was the devastation of the plague in Europe like a nuclear holocaust? Was Alexander the Great a sort of ancient Adolf Hitler? How were the ancient Greeks’ and Romans’ run-ins with the ferocious Scythians like an alien encounter from a sci-fi movie?

Good stuff, it is. Listen to some of these, and you’ll tear it up in your next history class, especially if you grasp some of the general concepts and big trends in history he frequently discusses. You might also start to see history in a new light—and something you can learn about on your own, without having to do the vocabulary for Chapter 57!

» Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History page, where you’ll find links to episodes as well as books he talks about, for further reading!
» Direct link to The Hardcore History podcast on iTunes. Click the subscribe link, and it will grab the most recent episode for you.

1. 

   Ashley Stewart says:

   December 19, 2007 at 11:48 pm

   I’ve had those podcasts on my ipod for….a very good long while, but I haven’t bothered to listen to any of them yet. Perhaps I will give them a listen since I’m “hardcore” for history
   haha
2. 

   Mr. Ferrell says:

   December 20, 2007 at 8:54 am

   Yeah, you do have to be a tiny bit hardcore—maybe a little more than I was in high school, but not much. And heck, to get something like this when I was in high school, you’d have to go somewhere and buy a tape. For your Walkman. For $12.95 or something.
3. 

   L.T. Miller says:

   August 10, 2010 at 8:55 pm

   Are you going to show us how to get those this year in Mythology? The quicker I get these things the happier I will be
   • 

     Mr. Ferrell says:

     August 10, 2010 at 8:57 pm

     Walkmans? Or podcasts?
     • 

       L.T. Miller says:

       August 22, 2010 at 7:39 pm

       podcasts.