PODCAST · history
Friday Night History
by Nyri A. Bakkalian
Your favorite weekly historical romp! Hosted by Dr. Nyri A. Bakkalian
Episodes
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Episode 155 (S5E12)- Threats and Bluster
Date Yoshikuni, daimyo of Sendai, tries to buy time for negotiation. Will Satsuma and Choshu listen? Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 154 (S5E11)- The Northern Mantle
A thousand years of fiercely guarded semiautonomy comes to a head as the Boshin War moves north. But what's the story behind that thousand years of precedent? And what does this have to do with a legendary disaster bisexual who invoked that history in his letters to the crowned heads of Europe?...
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Episode 153 (S5E10)- Last Stand of the Shogitai
North of Edo, Tokugawa Army units have unexpected success at Utsunomiya before blundering into Satsuma men in the rain. The Shogitai makes its last, doomed stand. And while the war in the Kanto is over, the war in the Tohoku mountains is already underway. Script and sources available at...
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Episode 152 (S5E9)- Bootstrapping an Army
Young, idealistic Hayashi Tadataka, daimyo of Jozai, bootstraps and crowdfunds an army while staying one step ahead of the Kyoto government's forces. And in Edo, Tokugawa Iesato inherits the mantle of Tokugawa headship. Script and sources available at...
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An Update, 21 August 2026
Hi FNH listeners! We're bringing the backlog of the podcast up to the current recording and vocal standard, one episode at a time, sprinkled between new releases. Here's what you need to know.
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Episode 151 (S5E8)- "To Whom Does the Stonewall Belong?"
In late April, an ex-Confederate ironclad arrives in Yokohama and threatens to throw what appears to be a tenuous peace into question. A naval hero who saw action on North Carolina rivers witnesses the arrival of his former nemesis in Japanese waters. And east of Edo, while reconstituting...
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Episode 150 (S5E7)- Fire in the Mountains
On flimsy promises of future riches, Kondō Isami feeds his men into the meat grinder at the Battle of Kashio. At Shimo-Suwa, Sagara Sōzō has a close encounter with the Leopards-Eating-Faces Party. And in Edo, Katsu Kaishū negotiates a tenuous peace which holds...for now. Script and sources...
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Episode 149- Spotlight on the Sources, Part 7- "At the Edge of Empire," by Michael Gardiner
It is once again time to talk about a book that is regrettably part of the historiography, and makes many basic errors of fact while showing absolutely no citations whatsoever. I read Michael Gardiner's trainwreck 2007 biography of Thomas Blake Glover, At the Edge of Empire, so you don't have to....
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Episode 148- Spotlight on Sources, Part 6- "Shinsengumi Saito Hajime no Subete"
Some people are nexuses of connections. Saito Hajime of the Shinsengumi was one such man. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com Subscribe to...
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Update, 5 June 2026
An update about my abrupt hiatus, and getting back in gear for next week's episode. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com Subscribe to...
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Episode 147- Spotlight on Sources, Part 5- "Shinsengumi Tenmatsuki," by Nagakura Shinpachi
There's nothing quite like firsthand recollections. They're flawed, but all sources are flawed, and they're all we've got. Let's try to understand them. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 146- Spotlight on Sources, Part 4- "Saigo Takamori: The Man Behind the Myth," by Charles Yates
On Saigo Takamori the man, Great Saigo the myth, and why the next regular episode had to wait until I finished rereading this book. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 145- Spotlight on Sources, Part 3: "French Officers in the End of the Shogunate and the Boshin War," by Emmy Faubry
Every now and then, there are books in the historiography that aren't that great, but you have to talk about. This book, on the French officers active in Japan during the Boshin War, is one of them. Let's talk about it. Script and sources available at...
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Episode 144- Spotlight on Sources, Part 2: "Edo in 1868," by M. William Steele
A spotlight on M. William Steele's "Edo in 1868," and a reminder to round out our picture of the Boshin War with "the view from below." Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 143 (S5E6)- The Thick of Things
The Meiji government makes a formal declaration of war against Tokugawa Yoshinobu because a British diplomat asked it to do so on behalf of the other foreign legations. The US declares neutrality in the Boshin War. Disgruntled Tokugawa retainers, fed up with being mad, get organized. And Kondo...
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Episode 142- Spotlight on Sources, Part 1: The Papers
An interstitial series where we explore the sources behind the season. This time we examine Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Third Session of the Fortieth Congress, Part I, which contains US diplomatic correspondence sent from Japan over...
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Episode 141 (S5E5)- Realignments
The Meiji government institutes new offices, while its armies cause an international incident in Hyogo. A veteran of Antietam commands the defense of the foreign legation. And in the north, the heirs of Date Masamune nervously eye the approaching war-clouds. Script and sources available at...
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A Week of Hiatus
Circumstances have intervened, and we're off this week. We'll be back on 27 March for the next episode of Into the Scale of Battle. I'll see you then. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 140 (S5E4)- Force Multiplier
The brocade banner, the symbol of the emperor's army, appears over the battlefield south of Kyoto. The Tokugawa army shatters. Tokugawa Yoshinobu takes shelter on an American warship. And as the Tokugawa administration's organized fight ends, we ask: who was fighting for the remainder of the war?...
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Episode 139 (S5E3)- Shots Fired
An overconfident and disorganized Tokugawa force heads north from Osaka and blunders its way into a bloody fight at Fushimi and Lower Toba against the Satsuma and Choshu men. Soon, the latter receive a force multiplier that will entirely reshape the newly begun war, one so memorable that even...
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Episode 138 (S5E2)- War Within a Breath
A strange interregnum follows Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigning from the position of shogun. Foreign relations continue apace, while Satsuma and Choshu fan the flames of war with a terror campaign hoping to goad the Tokugawa into a response. Then in Edo, Shonai Domain takes the Satsuma bait. Script…
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Episode 137 (S5E1)- Pax Tokugawa
Welcome to Into the Scale of Battle: A History of the Boshin War. When you hear someone mention the so-called Meiji Restoration, remember this: it didn't restore anything, and it came at a terrible price in blood. At the center of that bloodletting was the Boshin War. Today, we set the stage by...
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Preview: Season 5 Members' Episode 4- The Last Daimyo
The fourth members' episode of Season 5 is here! In which we discuss the exceptionally long lived Jozai Domain lord Hayashi Tadataka. Here's what you need to know.
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Preview: Season 5 Members' Episode 3- Flag of the Defeated-Army Star
The third members' episode of Season 5 is here! In which we discuss Shonai, a domain of northern Honshu that was a major player in 1860s Japanese politics. Here's what you need to know.
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Preview: Season 5 Members' Episode 2- American Entanglement
The second members' episode of Season 5 is here! In which we discuss the depth and breadth of American entanglement in 19th century Japan. Here's what you need to know.
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Preview: Season 5 Members' Episode 1- Mahan and Boyer
The first members' episode of Season 5 is here! In which we discuss two US Navy eyewitnesses to Japan's Boshin War. Here's what you need to know.
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Episode 136- Advances in Mapping
Modern maps of Edo period domains and Shogunal land are hard to make. This week, let's talk about a brand new attempt at filling that gap. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Welcome to Reiwa 8
Happy New Year! The podcast is off this week. Here's what you need to know. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com Subscribe to...
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Episode 135- A Retrospective for Reiwa 7
This has been an *eventful* year for Friday Night History, and it's all thanks to you. Let's get into some of the numbers as to how and why that is. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Preview: Season 4 Members' Episode 4, "The Five Precepts"
Members' Episode 4 of "Dragon Ascendant" just dropped on the Patreon, in which we discuss the alleged Five Precepts of Date Masamune and how they're fictional. Here's what you need to know. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Preview: Season 4 Members' Episode 3, "Hawk of the North"
Members' Episode 3 of "Dragon Ascendant" just dropped on the Patreon, in which we discuss a 1959 film about Masamune. Here's what you need to know. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 134- Taking Stock of Season Four
Taking stock of Season Four, and considering what comes next. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com Subscribe to...
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A Brief Pause
This week, Friday Night History is off. Here's why, and what comes next. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com Subscribe to...
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Episode 133 (S4E33)- Si Monumentum Requiris
The year is 2025, and in modern Sendai, the City of Immortals, Date Masamune enjoys a strange immortality. We examine the story of an unlikely shrine and a beloved statue that tell us more about his city than the man himself. And finally, we visit his greatest monument of all. Sound effects from...
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Episode 132 (S4E32)- Dragon Ascendant
Date Masamune makes a desperate, white-knuckle trip to reach Edo before death claims him. The nation mourns the dragon's passing. And at Otamaya, just south of Mount Aoba on the banks of the Hirose, the making of a legend is completed. Script and sources available at...
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Episode 131 (S4E31)- "My Date Father"
The shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu's relationship with Date Masamune deepens. Masamune continues to party hard and live and love boldy. And for an outspoken statement in an unexpected place, Masamune receives an unexpected privilege. Script and sources available at...
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Episode 130 (S4E30)- Taming Mountains and Rivers
On Date Masamune's orders, Kawamura Magobe'e tames the fourth largest river in Japan, and a Chinese refugee wizard named Wang Yi joins one of Masamune's sons to tame an unruly volcano that threatens life and agriculture alike. One of these endeavors will come at a terrible price. Script and…
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Episode 129 (S4E29)- Endings and Beginnings
Hasekura Tsunenaga returns from Rome to a changed Japan. With the attainder of Yamagata Domain, Lady Yoshi chooses relocation to Sendai and reenters our story. And with the ascension of the third shogun Iemitsu, Date Masamune confronts a shogunate that was in fact here to stay. Script and sources...
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Episode 128 (S4E28)- Since I Have Been Spared
Date Masamune embraces a Renaissance man's range of hobbies. Tokugawa Hidetada works to undergird his family's marriage alliance with house Date. And as Hasekura Tsunenaga returns home, one ship has an unexpected afterlife. Script and sources available at...
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Episode 127 (S4E27)- In the Way
House Date goes for broke against the Toyotomi clan in Osaka. Hasekura Tsunenaga and Luis Sotelo weather Jesuit interference as they try to lobby Pope Paul V for aid. And as the dust settles, the last of the Three Great Unifiers takes his leave of the world. Script and sources available at...
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Episode 126 (S4E26)- Hexagram Seven
A Nahua noble witnesses samurai from Sendai entering Mexico City. Tokugawa Ieyasu goes to war in Osaka to take care of one last loose end. And with one of the men he loved leading the vanguard, Date Masamune once again heads for battle. Script and sources available at...
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Episode 125 (S4E25)- The Longest of Long Shots
Two chance encounters with Spaniards in Edo leads to the longest of Date Masamune's attempted long shots. A visitor from afar praises Sendai Castle. And a man named Hasekura Tsunenaga enters our story. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 124 (S4E24)- The Great Protector
The Tokugawa Shogunate becomes hereditary, and policy toward indigenous Christians begins to shift. Meanwhile in the north, Date Masamune emerges as a great protector-- to noted Buddhist and Shinto places of worship, as well as to Christians seeking safety. Script and sources available at...
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Episode 123 (S4E23)- A Shrine Fit for a King
Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes shogun, while Date Masamune returns home to oversee the construction of a new, grand shrine to Hachiman-okami, one whose history offers us clues about Masamune's self-image. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 122 (S4E22)- The City of Immortals
"That city's name is Sendai." Date Masamune founds a new city with a name fit for the home of a Daoist immortal, while Tokugawa Ieyasu sees to the disposition of rewards and punishments after Sekigahara. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 121 (S4E21)- Going for Broke
The Tokugawa and Ishida armies stumble into each other in the misty Mino mountains at Sekigahara. But meanwhile in Michinoku, Date Masamune goes for broke on all fronts. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com Subscribe to...
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Episode 120 (S4E20)- Cleaving a Path
Tokugawa Ieyasu marches north. Date Masamune's armies descend like an avalanche on the Uesugi men. And in the west, Torii Mototada stands fast as the trap Ieyasu feared is sprung. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com Subscribe to...
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Episode 119 (S4E19)- The Middle Finger of God
Uesugi Kagekatsu builds a new castle. Tokugawa Ieyasu builds a coalition, while Date Masamune goes home to raise an army. And an Englishman from Kent, on a ship from Holland, washes ashore in Kyushu. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com...
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Episode 118 (S4E18)- If the Nightingale Sings
Ishida Mitsunari seeks refuge with a rival. Date Masamune punches a hole in Hideyoshi's system by arranging a marriage. And Tokugawa Ieyasu is biding his time ahead of...something. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com Subscribe to...
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Pausing Ahead of the Sekigahara Arc
On a brief pause to catch up with the sources on Sekigahara, the latest members' episode on http://patreon.com/riversidewings , and more. Script and sources available at http://riverside-wings.com Subscribe to...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Your favorite weekly historical romp! Hosted by Dr. Nyri A. Bakkalian
HOSTED BY
Nyri A. Bakkalian
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Friday Night History currently has 61 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Friday Night History about?
Your favorite weekly historical romp! Hosted by Dr. Nyri A. Bakkalian
How often does Friday Night History release new episodes?
Friday Night History has 61 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Who hosts Friday Night History?
Friday Night History is created and hosted by Nyri A. Bakkalian.
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