PODCAST · history
Weird, Wicked, and Wild
by James Wils and Jeremy Cayton
Welcome to Weird, Wicked, & Wild, a new hard-hitting podcast about the world we live in and how we got here. Part storytelling, part conversation, we're two old friends talking about what we've learned--or failed to learn--from our histories. In our show, we'll explore the historical record to find the weirdest, wickedest, and wildest takeaways from the great--or not-so-great--stories from the past that help us make sense of where we are now.
Episodes
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ONUG: Promised Land
Americans were sure that God was on their side. They sought to remake their world according to a new covenant. And in this new covenant, borders seemed wrong. There was land waiting for them in the West, and all they had to do was clear the way. Expansion would be a great national project, a...
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ONUG: Faith on Fire
On the heels of the American Revolution came a Second Great Awakening. It did not transform the U.S. into a Christian nation either, but it did something perhaps more volatile. In a republic with no established church, faith became a matter of choice, and with that came power. Ordinary Americans...
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ONUG: Endowed by Their Creator
The Founders did not create a Christian nation. They created something stranger. The American Revolution rejected the divine right of kings, but it did not reject sacred purpose. Instead, Americans transformed liberty, the nation, the Founders, and even the war itself into objects of…
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ONUG: No King but God??
A religiously pluralistic colonial people could never unite against an empire with a state-mandated faith, could it? Thomas Paine thought it could, and while not advocating for a religious society, he deployed explicitly Christian reasoning when he called for independence in Common Sense, the...
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ONUG: Born Again?
The Salem Witch Trials frightened people, not about witches, but about the dangers of rigid orthodoxy. The following decades into the eighteenth century saw the old Puritan guard lose its grip on New England. Religion didn't disappear, but it cooled notably. Increased trade across the Atlantic…
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ONUG: Jeremiad
A successful covenant is evidence of God's divine favor, but what if things go wrong? What does that prove? Colonialism is hard work; nothing was ever going to go precisely according to plans, but when internal dissent, chaotic relationships with Indigenous peoples, and external political…
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ONUG: A City Upon a Hill
Pilgrims and Puritans have an interesting reputation in American history. Popular culture has long flattened the truth about them to the point that they often come off as cartoon bad guys. The real story is that they were devout people under enormous pressure to establish a model Christian…
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ONUG: In The Beginning
Sometimes it's important to hear about the history before the history. That's what this episode is about -- we'll discuss the condensed history of Christianity from the time of Jesus' crucifixion until it arrives in America. That's roughly 1600 years in about in just around an hour or so. We'll...
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One Nation, Under God
Don't miss this preview of the rollercoaster season we have coming your way. We are swinging for the fences, and we'll probably gain a few enemies along the way. That's how we know we're doing our jobs right!
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The Aberration
Forty-three men between 1789 and 2017 demonstrated the awesome and growing power of the American presidency. Sometimes they were blunt, other times much more deliberate. But in 2017, something shifted, and since then we've seen how extremely fragile the presidency is, too. The two men who've held...
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The Accelerants, pt. 2
Part 2 of 2: Daddy left unfinished business in the Middle East, so Bush 43 comes to the White House in 2001 with a mission, and whether he accomplished it or not really isn't up for debate -- he didn't. That didn't stop him though, and the damage he did in the White House made his successor's...
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The Accelerants, pt. 1
Part 1 of 2: Riding his predecessor's coattails into an office that had already gone off the rails, George H.W. Bush didn’t bother asking where the brakes were. He put the pedal to the metal. He and his successors put power on a fast and dangerous track with emergency authorizations, executive...
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The Authorities
Inheriting a world reshaped by total war, nuclear brinkmanship, and nonstop mobilization demanded more than managerial skill. As the U.S. slid into the Cold War, presidents acted less like careful stewards of process and more like final judges of what counted as necessary, legitimate, and urgent....
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The Administrators
Presiding over a growing territorial and overseas empire takes a lot of power vested in the one-man office of the American presidency. The expansive scope of the President's authority had grown well beyond what a single man could control by the end of the 19th century; in the 20th century,...
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The Abdicators
If a president of the United States won't stand up and declare unwavering support for equality, then who will? Isn't that what this country was founded on? That's what Abraham Lincoln thought, but when he was murdered in 1865, what he thought no longer seemed to matter. His next nine successors...
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The Appeasers
The next eight presidents, from Martin Van Buren (#8) to James Buchanan (#15) all served only one term as president, and they spent their terms more or less trying to appease the various national factions that threatened to pull the country apart. This was, unfortunately, especially true when it...
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The Architects
There are a lot of lists that rank the presidents from best to worst (or vice versa). Scholarly lists have some consensus, usually. Popular opinion lists vary wildly. We're not going to try to rank them, but we're going to look at the damage done to American society by each of the forty-five men...
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Small Talk
Our final episode of the season tries to rescue language from the ravages of fascist Newspeak. While not invented by or used solely by fascists, Newspeak -- a term coined by George Orwell in his seminal novel, 1984 -- impoverishes vocabulary in order to limit complex and critical thought and...
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Vox Populi
In our penultimate episode of the season, we will try to make a distinction between populism—anti-establishmentarian political representation of the interests and voices of ordinary people—and the selective populism employed by fascist would-be autocrats. They claim to represent the will of the...
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It's a Man's World??
If the patriarchy promises men power, why do so many of them still feel powerless? Episode thirteen pulls apart the myths of masculinity -- all the scripts that tell men how to stand, speak, fight, and everything else. From dueling pistols to MAGA hats, the performance has always required props,...
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Death Before Dishonor
If weakness is to be despised, dying as a hero is a great way to ensure you’re never seen as weak. Episode twelve laments the victims of such a mindset. The powerful—fascist and otherwise—have forever sent idealistic young people to die in the mud over wars of words and ideas. These poor children...
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Untouchables
The fascist’s utter disdain for weakness is the topic of episode eleven. To be clear, we’re talking about weakness as perceived by the fascist. Strongmen have always legitimized their control by contrasting their ideas about strength to the weaknesses they identify in their opposition. Whether…
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Peace Was Never an Option
In episode ten, we will see that for the fascist, life is permanent warfare—we live only to struggle. All must be prepared to fight, endlessly, for the leader’s vision. If you are truly one of us, then you will destroy the enemy at every opportunity. If you are not willing to fight, then you must...
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Poisoned Blood
In our ninth episode, we try to wrap our minds around the duality of man, specifically the enemy, who is both weak and simultaneously too strong. The fascist tells us that the enemy is not only different from us, lesser than us, but that their differences—race/ethnicity, religion, political...
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Paranoia Strikes Deep
Our eighth episode reminds us that the plot is all around us. Like the ancient god-kings they try to emulate, fascists are obsessed with the external and internal conspiracies that seek their ruin. From secret assassination cabals to the burning Reichstag to the sad fate of household pets at the...
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It's the Economy, Stupid!
Allegedly, the greatest danger these dangerously different folks present is economic, and in episode seven, we will take a close look at how fascists play the middle class against both the elites and the poor. Espousing and exploiting the strange notion that there is simply not enough for us all…
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Us and Them
Episode six hones in on the fascist ability to exacerbate and exploit intrinsic fears of difference. For fascists, danger is everywhere, all the time. Ignoring it does no good because those who are unlike us are hellbent on destroying us. Luckily, for fascists, the leader knows who the bad guys...
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No Questions
You’re either with us, or you’re against us. That’s what episode five is all about. Dissent and opposition are hallmarks of a democratic society; they should result in centrist compromises to everyone’s benefit. Debate gums up the inner processes of government, though, and makes it difficult for…
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Fools Rush In
Our fourth episode examines the tendency of fascists to act for the sake of action, without any clear or deliberate objective and ignoring any intellectual discourse that might delay the action. Fascism relies on the projection of strength, and what better way to project strength than to shoot...
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Dark Enlightenment
In episode three, we’ll explore some of the basic features of the Western Enlightenment, particularly focusing on the liberal progressivism inherent in many of the new ideas of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Then, we’ll try to make sense of the threat such ideals presented to European...
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A Week in the Wild: Volume 4
Habemus Papam! Over a billion Roman Catholics worldwide celebrate the election of Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV, and that's just some of our big news for this edition of A Week in the Wild. We're back to bring you our latest thoughts on the wildest current events and human interest stories. We'll…
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Mos Maiorum
Having decided to do a season-long deep-dive into the tenets of fascism and their appearances in contemporary American government, our second episode is all about the cult of tradition. The Romans deferred to the “way of the ancestors” for guidance about the appropriate means by which to live a...
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A Week in the Wild: Volume 3
The news never ceases with the weirdness, and we're back to give you all our wildest takes on as much of it as we can think of. Silliness from the White House is always fair game on our show, but we'll also put Camping World and the papal conclave under our microscope. We even have some words…
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A Week in the Wild: Volume 2
It's been another wild week (or two) in the news, and we have our hot takes on some of the biggest stories. Stock market chicanery? Yep. Illegal deportations? We've got that, too. We've even got prehistoric wolves in the mix this time around. Join us for all of that and more on our latest edition...
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Allow me to introduce myself...
So, who are these guys anyways? What's this podcast all about? Hosts Jimmy and Jeremy take a moment to talk about who they are, what they're into, and what this whole pod is about. Enjoy :)
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A Week in the Wild: Volume 1
Welcome to our first edition of "A Week in the Wild," a mini serial within the main show wherein we discuss the most current events and up-to-date weirdness going on in the world today. Primarily U.S. news, but branching out to cover the globe whenever necessary.
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The "F" Word
In our inaugural episode, we encounter our least favorite "F" word.....Fascism. Do the authoritarian rhetoric and symbolism out of the current American executive administration remind you of anything from the past? Yes, we see it, too, and we're not prone to take it lightly. In this episode, we...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Welcome to Weird, Wicked, & Wild, a new hard-hitting podcast about the world we live in and how we got here. Part storytelling, part conversation, we're two old friends talking about what we've learned--or failed to learn--from our histories. In our show, we'll explore the historical record to find the weirdest, wickedest, and wildest takeaways from the great--or not-so-great--stories from the past that help us make sense of where we are now.
HOSTED BY
James Wils and Jeremy Cayton
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Weird, Wicked, and Wild have?
Weird, Wicked, and Wild currently has 37 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Weird, Wicked, and Wild about?
Welcome to Weird, Wicked, & Wild, a new hard-hitting podcast about the world we live in and how we got here. Part storytelling, part conversation, we're two old friends talking about what we've learned--or failed to learn--from our histories. In our show, we'll explore the historical record to find...
How often does Weird, Wicked, and Wild release new episodes?
Weird, Wicked, and Wild has 37 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Weird, Wicked, and Wild?
You can listen to Weird, Wicked, and Wild 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 Weird, Wicked, and Wild?
Weird, Wicked, and Wild is created and hosted by James Wils and Jeremy Cayton.
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