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Western Civ

Adam Walsh

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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  • 26 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 50 min
  • English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • S1 · E557
    Friday · 31 min

    Episode 557: The First, Second World War

    The Second World War does not begin everywhere on September 1, 1939. In fact, in Asia, it's already been raging for two years. Today, we explore that story and see how the machine toward Pearl Harbor is already in motion....

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E556
    September 11 · 50 min

    Episode 556: The Twenty Years' Armistice

    There is an argument that there are not two world wars. Just one with a twenty-year pause. Today I explore that idea as we break down the beginning of World War Two in Europe and evaluate what is the same compared to the Great War and what has REALLY...

    • Transcript
  • September 8 · 56 min

    Blood Dawn: World War II and the Making of Modern Asia

    Today I sit down with historian Hans van de Ven and discuss his latest book: Blood Dawn: World War II and the Making of Modern Asia. Drawing on deep archival research across continents, historian Hans van de Ven tells the dramatic story of how Asia’s...

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E555
    September 4 · 45 min

    Episode 555: Muddling Through

    For the last two weeks, we have been focused on Europe and Asia, but now we come back to the United States. While Hitler has assumed power in Germany and while Japan expands into Manchuria, most Americans are still just trying to deal with the Great...

    • Transcript
  • September 2 · 2 hr 36 min

    Western Civ 2.0: The "Antonines"

    This is a preview of what you can expect if you subscribe to the Patreon feed. Every once and a while I like to provide one of these.  In this episode, I cover the long reign of Antoninus Pius, one of the "good" emperors who ruled the Roman Empire at...

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E554
    August 28 · 47 min

    Episode 554: To The East

    I've wanted to move to Asia for a long time. And we're finally getting there. Today we discuss the development of Japan and China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  https://patreon.com/westerncivpodcast

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E553
    August 21 · 43 min

    Episode 553: The Gathering Storm

    The Depression did not only impact the United States. It hit Europe as well because the world economy had become too interconnected for this to be a one-country issue anymore. And Europe responded to the crisis much differently than America. America...

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  • S1 · E552
    August 19 · 25 min

    Episode 552: The First Hundred Days

    Before FDR the idea of a "First Hundred Days" was not a thing. But Roosevelt was so incredibly active during that period that ever since American Presidents have been judged by his standard. Today I cover Roosevelt's First Hundred Days, what...

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E531
    August 14 · 25 min

    Episode 551: The Descent

    At first, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 is seen as a Wall Street issue. But it does not take long before the Great Depression grips the nation. Plus, in the high plains, the earth itself begins to come apart. https://patreon.com/westerncivpodcast

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E550
    August 12 · 23 min

    Episode 550: The Crash

    The Great Wall Street Crash did not cause the Great Depression. But it sure didn't help either... https://patreon.com/westerncivpodcast

    • Transcript
  • August 7 · 49 min

    Is Plea Bargaining Just?

    In a fun little twist, today I sit down with Attorney Edward Cohn and we argue (and sometimes agree) about the justness of plea bargaining, the state of the Fifth and Fourth Amendments, and the overall state of our justice system.  Attorney Cohn is a...

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E549
    August 7 · 44 min

    Episode 549: The Roaring Twenties

    Jazz. Radio. Talkies. Cars. All of it. The Roaring Twenties are when the world starts to look modern. Oh, and did I mention...

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  • August 5 · 54 min

    Illusions of Trust

    This one is new. I'm trying my hand at fiction interviews and, I have to say, I enjoyed it.Here I am sitting down with Jeffrey Stephens and we are talking about his newest book: Illusions of Trust. It's a lovely legal thriller with twists and turns...

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E548
    August 5 · 27 min

    Episode 548: Wilson's Failure

    Woodrow Wilson came home from Paris thinking the hard part was behind him. Little did he realize Republican opposition and his own intransigence would doom his League of Nations and nearly cost him his life.  https://patreon.com/westerncivpodcast

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E547
    July 31 · 1 hr 51 min

    Episode 547: Armageddon

    Today we step back and catch up with events we passed in the Great War as the Russian Revolution unfolded. We follow the war to its brutal conclusion. Then we pick up the Russian Civil War and take that to its equally brutal end with a sprinkling of...

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E546
    July 24 · 50 min

    Episode 546: Red October

    The Bolsheviks did not need to take over Russia. It was never a foregone conclusion. But after October 1917, it became increasingly inevitable. https://patreon.com/westerncivpodcast0 

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E545
    July 17 · 34 min

    Episode 545: April Theses to July Days

    The Russian Revolution's final result was never a foregone conclusion. Lenin made several crucial mistakes early on that might have resulted in his demise. We see that today.  https://patreon.com/westerncivpodcast

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E544
    July 10 · 33 min

    Episode 544: Lenin

    It is that time. The Russian Revolution would be a lot different without Vladimir Lenin (Lenin is not his real name by the way...) But Lenin strikes a deal with the Germans who hope that he can steer Russia out of the Great War and he hits Petrograd...

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  • S1 · E543
    July 3 · 35 min

    Episode 543: The Roots of Revolution

    The Russian Revolution did not come out of nowhere. It was not merely the result of World War One. Its legacy is long. Today, we go all the way back to the abolition of serfdom and hit the main events that lead to that critical month: March 1917....

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  • S1 · E542
    June 26 · 47 min

    Episode 542: Meat Grinder

    1916 is one of the most depressing years in human history and today we're covering it. This is the year that makes World War One the horror it is. This is the year of Verdun, of the Somme, and of countless deaths on other fronts. It is also the year...

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Showing 1–20 of 26 episodes