Making sense of this crazy world
I am a student of history, a teacher of history and a writer of history. You could say history is a passion of mine. I have a website for students and I had been mulling around this idea of a podcast for some time. Would people be interested? Would I make it interesting? That’s essentially what was holding me back. But with a new year starting, the craziness still all around us, I thought what the hell – give it a go, John! The primary purpose of the podcast is to use history to help us make a little more sense of this crazy world we are living in. I aim to do this by using history. It’s not the only tool to be used, but it is my chosen tool. Everything happens in a context and that context is recent history. But that recent history is almost always the result of older history. We have to go back into our past to understand today. I could easily rattle off a hundred other aims but trust me, they will be introduced as we go along. But there are two other aims I must own up to straight away. The first is that I really want to lay it on the line that history is always about people. I think it was the great historian, Eric Hobsbawm who said unemployment is an economic statistic but a human experience. And you can’t appear to be further away from people than with dry statistics – but you’re not. And the second is that there is always more than one story to tell; more than one “truth”. History is an interpretation of the past, nothing more. There are always other interpretations. When we look at this crazy world of ours today and try to make sense of what is happening, it is so important to bear that in mind - someone else thinks differently. And if we don’t understand that other interpretation, if we don’t even know it exists, then we can’t reach an understanding of what is happening. And our truth is less secure! I hope that makes sense.
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Episodes
Sunday Feb 18, 2024
Sunday Feb 18, 2024
I’m continuing my look at Brazil and in this episode I’m going to look at Brazil post-empire, tracing the country’s path to dictatorship. We need to appreciate that democracy is not the only means of governing and if we value it, we need to nurture and protect it.
Sunday Feb 11, 2024
Sunday Feb 11, 2024
This episode continues our little soap opera looking at the royals of Brazil by looking at the reign of the much-loved (at least in this part of the world) Pedro II. A pity, then, that it didn't end too well for him.
Sunday Feb 04, 2024
Sunday Feb 04, 2024
I’m continuing my look at Brazil and in this episode I’m going to look at something that I think is unique, or if it isn’t then it is very, very unusual. For Brazil was a colony that came to be home for its emperor.
Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream:
https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad
Sunday Jan 28, 2024
Sunday Jan 28, 2024
I’m continuing my look at Brazil and my look at the lives of Afro-Brazilians, moving on from the end of slavery to today.
Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream:
https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad
Sunday Jan 21, 2024
Sunday Jan 21, 2024
I’m hitting my first birthday for this podcast and to celebrate, I’m going to turn my focus on my adopted home: Brazil. And I'll begin this little series of episodes with a look at slavery in Brazil. Not a happy subject to start off my birthday celebrations but what can I do: this is history!
Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream:
https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad
Sunday Jan 14, 2024
Sunday Jan 14, 2024
Before we really get started with 2024, before we break our resolutions, I thought let’s put out an episode with a positive spin. And I’ve been inspired by a song by Iris Dement called “Workin’ On A World as well as the lives of two extraordinary women.
Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream:
https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad
Sunday Jan 07, 2024
Sunday Jan 07, 2024
This final episode looking at the BRICS group considers its significance. BRICS countries account for just about 30% of the world’s land surface, 40% of the world’s population – that’s 3.2 billion people, and growing. Their economies have more than 25% of the world’s GDP. And between 2003 and 2007, the growth of the four initial members accounted for 65% of the expansion of world GDP. Looking ahead, it’s thought that when the new countries formally join the group, their share of the world’s population will rise to 47% and its share of GDP will rise to 36%, whilst it’s projected that they will have more than 50% by 2030bAnd its also worth comparing this to the G7s share of GDP which currently stands at 30%.
Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream:
https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad
Sunday Dec 31, 2023
Sunday Dec 31, 2023
In 1973, fifty years ago so it seems even more fitting that we should be looking at this, the first oil crisis plunged most of the world’s economies, certainly those in the developed West, into stagflation – economic stagnation coupled with high inflation. This episode looks at that impact and considers the changed relations between the developed nations, particularly those in the West, and the developing nations.
Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream:
https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad
Sunday Dec 24, 2023
Sunday Dec 24, 2023
At the same time as the world was polarising between the West and the Communist bloc, what came to be called the ‘Third World’, essentially the world emerging from the European empires, was struggling to assert itself. Some of this ‘Third World’ morphed into a non-alignment group, asserting independence and ensuring neutrality in the Cold War. But it was also a declaration that there were more important issues to address, notably the imbalance of power – economic, cultural and political power.
Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream:
https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad
Sunday Dec 17, 2023
Sunday Dec 17, 2023
This little series will trace the history that led to the formation of BRICS bloc of countries. And it will begin by looking at the impact of a conference that took place before WW2 had ended in Bretton Woods in America. For the decisions made there, and they were driven by America, would have a profound impact on the post-war world.
Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream:
https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad
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