An Unexpectedly Timely Podcast Recommendation
History rhymes in uncanny ways
Yesterday, my brother recommended the history podcast The Rest Is History. The podcast features Dominic Sandbrook, a historian with a PhD in history from Cambridge, and public historian Tom Holland (not the Spider-Man actor). Beyond my brother’s glowing recommendation, what really piqued my interest was that The Rest Is History is in the midst of kicking off a deep dive into the history of World War I. They had just released four episodes detailing the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Last night, I listened to the first episode of that cycle, which delves into what little is known about the assassin, 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip. During the podcast, Sandbrook and Holland commented on how similar a profile Princip had to what we know of many of the young men who have engaged in mass shootings across the US. Like many of those killers, Princip was ostracised during high school, had difficulty making friends, and seemed deeply unhappy and impressionable.
What made it even more striking were all the similarities between Princip and what we currently know about Trump’s attempted assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks. As usual history rhymes in unexpected and uncanny ways.
I highly recommend The Rest Is History, just be warned that it might strike a little close to home.
Tech Won’t Save Us
Amicus
Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
Mark & Carrie [Mark Blythe & Carrie Nordlund]
Blowback
Truth or Skepticism [Dylan Ratigan and Tom Sosnoff. Sosnoff created ThinkOrSwim.]
There’s a lesser known Stephen Sondheim musical called Assassins that is about all the people who, successfully or unsuccessfully, tried to assassinate a US President and one of the main themes is how despite the wildly different politics, worldviews, and upbringings among these people, there is a common thread about a person becoming disconnected from society and spiraling off into madness before lashing out in a final act of self-immolation.
It certainly doesn’t glamorize the subject characters, who all end up coming across as pathetic losers, but it does a good job of putting the audience in their shoes so you end up with a deep sense of sadness and pity.
I actually got to see a live performance of it a few months ago at the Arden Theater in Philadelphia, and there was an interesting staging change to it. The original was set at this sort of liminal version of Coney Island where these characters who lived hundreds of years apart are existing simultaneously out of time while this evil carnival barker type character is goading them into their crimes. In the new version the barker has been replaced with an Alex Jones type figure (same lines and everything, but a different characterization) as they’re all meeting up in a sort of liminal internet chat room.
@Gavin:
Assuming those are all other podcast recommendations… I’m especially intrigued by “Tech won’t save us.” That is really relevant to some writing I’m doing.
@Stormy Dragon:
Despite a lot of theater courses and training in College, Sondheim is a real gap in my knowledge. I knew of Assassins and definitely should to track it down to see it performed (or at least read). I really like the interpretation of the staging you describe.
@Matt Bernius:
There may be an unauthorized recording of particularly prominent revival from the early 2000s floating around on the tubes that are yours…
@Stormy Dragon:
TY for the tip