PODCAST · history
Relevant History
by Dan Toler
In Relevant History, solo podcaster Dan Toler examines the trends and ideas that shape our modern world. The second season covers the conflict between nationalism and globalism in the first half of the twentieth century. Major events include the World Wars, the Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the collapse of the great European empires, and the rise of the United States as the center of global finance.
Episodes
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Theodore Roosevelt, the Spanish-American War, and the Rise of the American Empire (Season Two, Episode Three)
Near the turn of the 20th century, the United States’ economy is an international powerhouse, but its military is, at best, a third-rate force. One man aims to leverage that small force to build an empire: Theodore Roosevelt. First as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and then as President…
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The Scramble for Africa (Season Two, Episode Two)
At the end of the 19th century, the great European empires are the most powerful nations in the history of mankind. To fuel their growing industrial economies, they expand into Africa, settling, buying, and outright seizing whatever land they can. In Britain, men like Cecil Rhodes dream of a…
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Nationalism vs. Globalism: An Introduction (Season Two, Episode One)
Dan explains that the World Wars – particularly World War II – form the founding myth of our modern era. Then, he argues that the time is right for a re-evaluation of that myth in the light of a less biased history. He’ll also provide a preview of the rest of Season 2, an overview of his research...
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Bonus Episode – Anarchism, Daoism, and Dead Malls: A Conversation
I sat down with my friend Jordyn [Last Name Redacted] to discuss the history of anarchism, an important subject that’s tangential to the 20th century’s struggle between nationalism and globalism. We also talked a bit about the history of Daoism, as well as the subject of Jordyn’s upcoming…
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Season One Finale – Peak Nationalism, Peak Civilization?
Season One Finale – Peak Nationalism, Peak Civilization? In the final episode of Season One, Dan sums up what we’ve learned about nationalism and its development. He also sets the stage for Season Two of Relevant History, which will cover the World Wars and the conflict between nationalism and...
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Episode 68 – The Unification of Germany
In the year 1870, Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck engineers a war to cut France down to size. French Emperor Napoleon III is willing to oblige, and bungles his way into a war against all of Germany. The Franco-Prussian War proves to be more than he – or anyone else – bargained for. Within a...
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Episode 67 - The Brothers’ War
In 1864, the twin German powers of Austria and Prussia join together to beat up on little Denmark. In 1866, they have a falling out and beat up on each-other. The Italians, still salty over their last war with Austria, join on Prussia’s side, with the goal of seizing Venice once and for all. The...
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Episode 66 - The Unification of Italy
In part three of his series on the unifications of Germany and Italy, Dan talks about the turbulent 1850s and early 60s. In Germany, this is a time of mass industrialization. With the regional economy growing at a record pace, Prussia and Austria engage in saber-rattling diplomacy over the future...
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Episode 65 - The Revolutions of 1848
Often called the “Springtime of Nations,” the year 1848 is one of turmoil throughout Europe. Revolutions are everywhere, from France to Romania. In Germany, Prussia is ascendant. Rather than fight calls for German nationalization, savvy King Friedrich Wilhelm IV puts himself at the head of the...
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Episode 64 – The Reich and the Risorgimento
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the victorious allied powers restore Central Europe to its pre-war status: a bunch of small, semi-independent German and Italian states, dominated by more powerful neighbors. But the idea of nationalism, spread by Napoleon’s armies, is a genie you can’t put back...
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Episode 63 - The God-King of Pontus
In the first century BC, the Roman Republic is expanding rapidly across the Mediterranean basin. As the legions venture eastward into Anatolia, the Romans are able to divide and conquer all of their enemies, except for one: Mithridates VI of Pontus, also known as the Poison King. Mithridates is...
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Bonus Episode - Why Capitalists Make the Best Communists
Bonus Episode – Why Capitalists Make the Best Communists In this bonus episode, Dan delves into the nitty-gritty of far-left politics and the history of various ideologies dedicated to the establishment of communism. Then he asks the question: What if the best way to build an egalitarian utopia…
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Episode 62 – Vive L’Empereur!
In the sixth and final installment on the French Revolution, Dan takes a deep dive into one of history’s most influential and controversial figures: Napoleon Bonaparte. After winning victory for France in Northern Italy, the brilliant young general has the attention of the French Directory. A...
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Episode 61 - The Revolution Eats its Children
The Reign of Terror reaches a climax when the French Revolutionaries begin to turn on one another. Jacques Hébert and Georges Danton are executed, and Robespierre rules briefly as a dictator, verging on a god-king. After the Festival of the Supreme Being, he too will face the guillotine. A new...
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Episode 60 - The Counter-Revolution and the Reign of Terror
When the young French Republic declares war on the Netherlands, all hell breaks loose. Within a month, the French find themselves facing a coalition that includes Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, and most of Italy. At home, a counter-revolution in the rural Vendee region…
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Episode 59 - The Fall of the House of Bourbon
After the Flight to Varennes, the Parisian public turns decisively against Louis XVI. The French constitutional monarchy teeters on the brink, reliant on a war with Austria to maintain public confidence. When the war turns against France, the French people turn against their government and...
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Episode 58 - The Revolution and the Rights of Man
After the Storming of the Bastille, the French Revolution shifts into high gear. The Constituent Assembly quickly abolishes feudal reforms and promotes the foundation of a new government with a document: the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. 1790 is a quieter year, but under…
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Episode 57 - Bastille Day
The French Revolution is a watershed moment not just in the history of France, but for all of humanity. Old ideas of class, hierarchy, and the divine right of kings are being challenged. For the first time since the classical era, an urban proletariat is starting to demand its own voice in...
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Bonus Episode - The Great Man and the Briefcase
What do the Kennedy assassination, the Martin Luther King assassination, and the Iraq War all have in common? Maybe nothing. Or maybe they were all orchestrated by a shadow government that has quietly taken over the United States. In this bonus episode, Dan delves into the realm of conspiracy...
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Episode 56 – A More Perfect Union
The British surrender at Yorktown isn’t the end of the American War for Independence, but it’s the end of the war in North America, and within another year the war overseas is also finished. With peace comes an end to the bloodshed, a chance to rebuild, and a turning point in many people’s lives....
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Episode 55 – The War Turns South
In 1780, the American War for Independence is at a stalemate. The British, eager to crush the rebellion once and for all, decide to change strategies and invade the American south. There, they will face not just the Continental Army, but also the backwoods militia who dominate the inland United...
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Bonus Episode - The Perils of Presentism
In this bonus episode, Dan discusses the trend of historical presentism – judging past figures by present-day standards. Should we hold yesterday’s figures to today’s ethical norms? Or does history require a broader approach? Dan breaks down the case against presentism, along with a few points in...
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Episode 54 - Foreign Entanglements
In the years 1778 and 1779, the American revolutionaries work to keep the British army bottled up in New York City. At the same time, the British open a second offensive in the southern states, and encourage their Native American allies to open up a series of small frontier wars in the American...
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Episode 53 - The Times That Try Men’s Souls
In July of 1776, even as the ink on the Declaration of Independence is still drying, a British invasion force invades New York, forcing George Washington and the Continental Army to retreat into New Jersey and leave America’s largest port in British hands. By winter, the cause of the United...
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Episode 52 - An Accidental Revolution
In the aftermath of the French and Indian War, Great Britain struggles to manage her enlarged North American holdings. In an effort to fund necessary garrison troops, Parliament levies a series of taxes on the 13 Colonies, who have previously held the right to manage their own taxes. This leads…
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Bonus Episode – Be Careful What You Wish For…
Dan dives into current events once again, with an update on the war in Ukraine. Here’s where things stand in December 2022, along with some warnings for the future. SUBSCRIBE TO RELEVANT HISTORY, AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE! Relevant History Patreon: https://bit.ly/3vLeSpF Subscribe on Spotify:...
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Episode 51 - World War Zero: Part 4
At the dawn of 1761, Frederick the Great’s Kingdom of Prussia is on the brink of collapse. Under attack by the Russians and Swedish in the north and the Austrians in the south, it would take a miracle for Prussia to survive. Meanwhile, the war in the west spreads to the Iberian peninsula, where...
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Episode 50 - World War Zero: Part 3
In 1759, Europe is in its fourth year of war. North America is in its sixth. There, a new British commander named Jeffery Amherst partners with Native American allies to take the fight to the French. If successful, Amherst can force the French out of Canada altogether. In Europe, France and…
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Episode 49 - World War Zero: Part 2
In 1756, the French and British war over North America spills over to Europe. Prussian leader Frederick the Great, a British ally, takes the opportunity to make a pre-emptive attack on French-allied Austria, Poland, Saxony, and Russia. Soon, Sweden joins the counterattack against Prussia, and...
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Episode 48 - World War Zero: Part 1
In this episode, Dan traces the origins of the Seven Years’ War, starting with a seemingly-insignificant skirmish commanded by a young George Washington. This 1754 clash between British and French colonial forces will eventually turn into a global conflict. But what are the stakes in North…
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Episode 47 - No Stable Peace
With the War of the Austrian Succession slowed to a crawl in Europe, the conflict spreads around the globe. In North America, French and British colonists fight in battles from Nova Scotia to Upstate New York. In the plains of east India, the French and British East India Companies wage a proxy...
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Episode 46 - Prussian Roulette: Part 2
At the end of 1743, Europe is divided in two. On the one side, Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa struggles to hold on to her ancestral lands, supported by her allies in Britain, the Netherlands, and Piedmont-Sardinia. On the other side, France and Spain are trying to conquer the old Habsburg...
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Episode 45 - Prussian Roulette: Part 1
The War of the Austrian Succession marks the beginning of the transition from dynastic politics to a more modern sense of nationalism. At the time, though, it merely seems like a calamity. What begins as a personal land grab by the young Prussian King Frederick the Great turns into a general...
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Season 1 Mid-Season Roundup – In Defense of Nationalism
At the mid-point of the first season, Dan takes a breather to recap what we’ve learned, and discuss nationalism more broadly. SUBSCRIBE TO RELEVANT HISTORY, AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE! Relevant History Patreon: https://bit.ly/3vLeSpF Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/38bzOvo Subscribe on…
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Episode 44 - The Last Stand of the Samurai
Following Commodore Matthew Perry’s expedition to Japan, the floodgates to foreign trade are open. British, French, and even Russian merchants come to Japan, introducing foreign ways of life. Rebellious daimyos, worried about losing their way of life, resort to extreme measures; they overthrow…
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Episode 43 - The Southern Barbarians
In the year 1853, Japan is an isolationist, feudal society. By 1877, she’s a modern nation, with a centralized government and burgeoning national industry. This process, called the Meiji Restoration, is one of the most remarkable national transformations in all of history. But how does it happen?...
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Episode 42 - Go East, Young Man, Go East: Part 2
After the founding of Russia’s Romanov Dynasty, the settlement of Siberia is ready to begin in earnest. Intrepid explorers push east across Asia, eventually coming into contact with the Chinese Qing Dynasty. There, Russia’s land borders will be established, as both sides try to avert a major…
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Bonus Episode - Live-Streaming the Apocalypse
In a rare twist, Dan dives into current events, evaluating the Russian invasion of Ukraine from a historical perspective. In the epic showdown between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will come out victorious? Here’s the situation on the ground right now, how things might shake out…
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Episode 41 - Go East, Young Man, Go East: Part 1
Siberia is the world’s largest wilderness and last frontier. The Russian conquest this vast territory begins in the 1500s, but will take more than a century to complete. By the end of Russian expansion, the Tsar rules not just all of Siberia, but also Alaska and even parts of California. How did…
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Episode 40 - The People of the Longhouse
The Iroquois people, properly known as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, are one of the largest and most influential of Native American groups. So, who are these people? What were they doing before European colonization, and how did this affect their society? Dan starts with an overview of...
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Episode 39 - The Ghost of Cardinal Richelieu
In the ending days of the Thirty Years’ War, both sides struggle desperately for any advantage. Under First Minister Cardinal Mazarin, France is fighting a war on three fronts. But military heroes like the Prince de Condé give her an advantage over the stagnant Spanish Empire. Meanwhile, Swedish...
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Episode 38 - The Red Eminence
France’s entry into the Thirty Years’ War did not happen in a vacuum; decades of political sparring and power politics led to that point. To fully understand why and how France got into the war, it’s important to see France through the eyes of Louis XIII, or better yet, through the eyes of his…
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Episode 37 - Lion of the North
In 1626, King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway joined the Thirty Years’ War as a champion of the Protestant cause. Within four years, he would be sent home with his tail between his legs. But the Protestants would gain a new champion: the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus. In a few short years, the…
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Episode 36 - A Fire in Bohemia
At the beginning of 1618, the Holy Roman Empire is at peace. By the end of the year, there is a rebellion in Bohemia, and Protestants and Catholics throughout the empire are at each others’ throats. In the Third Defenestration of Prague, Bohemian Protestants, tired of royal abuses, have literally...
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Episode 35 - Je Maintiendrai
In the middle of the 16th century, Habsburg Spain rules over the world’s first global empire – an empire on which the sun never set. But their new king, Philip II, is dead set on centralizing his rule. All of his domains, even the newest, must submit to his taxes, his legal code, and most of all…
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Bonus Episode - Irrelevant History
American Society for Suicide Prevention (please consider donating) - https://supporting.afsp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.event&eventID=1&language=en TIMESTAMPS: EPISODE 1: BOOZE, STRYCHNINE, AND FERAL DOGS – THE STORY OF THE 1904 MEN’S OLYMPICS – 04m: 20s EPISODE 2: CORPORAL VOJTEK – 30m: 20s...
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Episode 34 - Neither Holy, Nor Roman
In the early 1500s, the Catholic Church is plagued by corruption, and the Pope is blind to his people. To fund the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, he offers to sell indulgences; money in exchange for eternal salvation. In Germany, a priest named Martin Luther takes offense. The…
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Episode 33 - The Original Martin Luther
When Bohemian priest Jan Hus begins preaching some novel theological concepts, he thinks he’s engaging in mere academic expression. Instead, he gets sucked into an ecclesiastical war between three Popes and an emperor. Against these forces, he fails. But the legacy of Jan Hus would spread beyond...
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Episode 32 - A Very Personal Union
In the 1400s, the Iberian peninsula is divided into a handful of smaller countries. By the end of the century, Spain would be one of the leading powers in Europe. By the end of the next, her colonial empire would be the greatest in the world. But what if you found out that “Spain” never even...
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Episode 31 - 1453: It's Istanbul, Not Constantinople
By the end of April, 1453, the city of Constantinople is in a desperate state. Without immediate relief from their fellow Christians, the city will surely fall. Can the defenders hold out until help arrives? In his second episode on the Fall of Constantinople, Dan brings the story to its epic...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
In Relevant History, solo podcaster Dan Toler examines the trends and ideas that shape our modern world. The second season covers the conflict between nationalism and globalism in the first half of the twentieth century. Major events include the World Wars, the Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the collapse of the great European empires, and the rise of the United States as the center of global finance.
HOSTED BY
Dan Toler
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Relevant History have?
Relevant History currently has 83 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Relevant History about?
In Relevant History, solo podcaster Dan Toler examines the trends and ideas that shape our modern world. The second season covers the conflict between nationalism and globalism in the first half of the twentieth century. Major events include the World Wars, the Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil...
How often does Relevant History release new episodes?
Relevant History has 83 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Relevant History?
You can listen to Relevant History on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Relevant History?
Relevant History is created and hosted by Dan Toler.
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