History Podcasts that I listen to

(or have listened to)

(Audio: link)

[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/Membership/M10-History-Podcasts.mp3]

Link M10-History-Podcasts.mp3

Hello Members!

I did a quick survey to you my esteemed partners in this RunRunLive venture and much to my surprise you were interested in what podcasts I listen too.  I actually listen to a lot of podcasts.  I probably download 30 – 40 hours of podcasts each week.  I don’t listen to all of them every week but I like to have enough that I never run out.

I listen to podcasts when I’m training.  Whether running or biking I find a way to kill two birds with one stone and get some brain training done while I’m getting my physical training done.

I listen to podcasts in the car when I’m driving to and from work.  I bought a, not sure what you call them in 2016, but what we would have called a ‘Stereo’ for my truck that allows me to connect my iPhone via either USB cable for charging or Bluetooth.  It’s also got the telephone mic so I can talk on the phone relatively hands free – which is important because my truck is a standard transmission.

On weekend days I’m typically doing chores like gardening, yardwork, housework and laundry.  I put my headphones in and listen all day long.  One thing I cannot do is listen to podcasts while I work.  My brain doesn’t operate that way.

In summary, anytime I’m alone and not working on something cerebral I’m listening to a podcast.  I use an app on my phone called PodCruncher because the default Apple Podcasts App I found to be entirely dysfunctional.  PodCruncher allows me to sort and filter by oldest, newest and recently downloaded and whether to auto download or not.

The app also allows me to listen to certain podcasts at different speeds.  For some of the longer podcasts or interview-based podcasts I find I can listen to them at 1.5 X speed and not lose anything.  I’m really listening to these for the content and the ideas, not the production.  Your brain adjusts to the speed rather easily.

This app also allows me to mass delete any and all downloaded podcasts – which is useful when you start running out of memory.  The thing about podcasts is that they are like a magazine subscription.  It always sounds like a great idea to subscribe to a magazine but then you never have time to read them.  They just pile up in the corner and mock you.

Podcasts do the same thing.  You get busy and soon you’ve got 50 downloaded podcasts waiting on your phone.  Every so often I just ship all the downloads off to the great electron recycling center in the sky and start fresh.  It’s ok.  There are no rules to what you listen to and when.

When I started compiling this list I was surprised at how long it was.  I’m going to break it up into sections or category of podcast.  I’ll treat these in different pieces so I can spend time on the individual shows.  Let me start with History.

I love History and I think Podcasts are perfectly designed for the telling of history.  You have these amateur historians with a passion for their art, but otherwise would be rotting away as a grad student in some backwater university.  Now they can pour that unrequited love of history into a podcast! It’s a great match because, let’s face it, even your outstanding history major is basically unemployable.

The tragedy of it is that there is so much contemporary people, especially leaders, can learn from the lessons of history.  We, as a species, have been making the same mistakes and the same triumphs for thousands of years.  We don’t learn from history.

Understanding the great histories and great men and women of history allows you to understand humanity and the human spirit writ large.

So without further waffling here are the history podcasts.

History Podcasts

The History of Rome – Mike Duncan http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/archives.html

From 2007 through 2013 Mike Duncan had the crazy idea to tell the whole story of Rome from beginning to end in a weekly podcast.  This was about the same time I got started doing a weekly podcast.

It turned out, like many things, this wasn’t an easy task.  We, the listeners had the great privilege of sitting in class each week as the story of Rome unfolded and Mike found his way in the podcasting world.

One of the other things I love about history podcasts is that it allows unique voices and people with actual senses of humor and humility to tell these stories.  Mike is like the friendly history nerd you hang out with, not some stuffy professor telling you what you should think.

I interviewed Mike for Episode 160 of the RunRunLive Podcast because his wife is a runner! See? Any excuse to talk to people you admire!  What I learned from the History of Rome podcast was that Romans 2,000 years ago were exactly the same as us.  We are them.  And yet we still refuse to learn from history!

Revolutions – http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/

Mike’s new podcast is Revolutions where he uses all the style and grace he learned in the History of Rome and attacks famous revolutions.  So far he has covered, England, America, France and Haiti.  Good stuff!

A history of the world in 100 objects – Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/a_history_of_the_world.aspx

This brilliant, professionally produced series from British radio chooses 100 objects from the British History Museum and walks you through a history of the world by placing each one in its context and telling that story.  From the Oldavi hand axe through to a solar powered lamp.  I believe it’s also a TV series.  Amazing narrative.

British History Podcast – Jamie Jeffers

http://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com/

This is an example of the newer generation of history podcasters who are building on the earlier pioneers.  Jamie is an ex-lawyer in Portland that has decided he’d rather be a history podcaster than a lawyer.

He is walking through the history of the Britains at a very detailed and culturally related level.  He’s currently making his way medieval times and the Viking age.  He takes the time to introduce you to people and cultural elements that most historians will skip over when telling the Great Man stories of history.

A History of World War II – Ray Harris

http://worldwariipodcast.net/

Another of the next generation amateur historian podcasters, Ray is walking through the leaders, battles and timelines of World War II in great detail.  We’re currently in the midst of the siege of Moscow and Leningrad.

Ray also does a good job covering some of the lesser known engagements and people of the war.  His multipart series on Winston Churchill was wonderful and his coverage of the early war battles to hold Greece and Crete were new for me.

12 Byzantine Rulers – Lars Brownworth – http://12byzantinerulers.com/

& The Norman Centuries – http://normancenturies.com/

Another of the original history podcasters is Lars Brownworth.  His is a more professorial, history lesson, style.  His original series on the byzantine rulers set the bar for history podcasters.  His follow up series on the Norman Centuries traces the impact the Northmen had as they dispersed through the kingdoms of Europe and the middle east in the middle ages.

Fascinating and informative.

Russian Rulers – Russian History Retold –

Mark Schauss – http://russianrulers.podhoster.com/

Another amateur historian walks you through the history of Russia from the beginning to modern times.  Very interesting to hear about a people and culture and history that many of us in the West don’t ever hear.

History of Podcast – Jamie Redfern

http://thehistoryofpodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whos-who.html

Jamie is another amateur history podcaster who tends to cover the topics at a much higher level.  I enjoyed his history of Alexander – although it didn’t cover much new ground for me.  His history of Hannibal and the Punic wars was quite good.  His newest effort is on the Arab spring, but I have not listened to that yet.

Hard Core History – Dan Carlin

http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/

This is probably the most popular of the history podcasts.  I haven’t really listened to many of them because I don’t particularly like Dan’s style.  It’s a bit of an AM Sports Radio approach to history.  It is a heated mix of facts and opinions that many people like, but I’d rather draw my own conclusions from history and not be shouted at. The other problem I have with Dan’s approach is that these are quite long.  He’ll go for hours at a time in an episode and the long-form content approach doesn’t mesh well with my listening habits.

I did listen to the Wrath of the Khans series and it was quite good.  I learned a lot.

History of China – Laszlo Montgomery

http://chinahistorypodcast.com/

This is a podcast I started listening too but gave up on.  Part of it is all the Chinese names sound the same to me and I couldn’t keep track of the narrative.  I may go back to it because this is an area of history and a culture I don’t know much about.

That’s the end of my first issue of “Podcasts I listen to”.  In future episiodes I’ll cover the running podcasts I listen to, which frankly is not many, the business podcasts, the more general interest stuff and the entertaining stuff.

I’m always looking for new and interesting content to fill my head and my days so feel free to make suggestions.

And thank you for being a member.

Chris,