Questions for Dan Carlin...

# 07 Jun, 2013 15:36
Razaberry	Okay, so you've studied the greatest and most successful and world changing men in history. You've learned their philosophies, their traits, their reactions to common situations…. From what you've learned, what are the common views, traits, characteristics, whatever, that are common to all those who achieve huge and great things? What separates them from the normal people? quote

# 08 Jun, 2013 10:11
Hannibal	After listening to several of you podcasts, I noticed that parallels can be drawn between what was happening in the past and what is happening now. The classic sentiment of, “those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it,” seems to turn up again and again. Certain themes from the Death Throes of the Republic and Radical Thoughts podcasts come to mind. How much of an influence does this play when you're selecting your topics? Did you choose to talk about the end of the Roman republic because you thought it was interesting or because you thought it was pertinent to modern listeners? A bit of both? What is your favorite historical period or event? Which of your podcasts are you most proud of? How far ahead do you plan your themes? Do you know what your next multi-part series will be yet? Thanks a lot to both of you, I love your podcasts. Keep up the good work! quote

# 08 Jun, 2013 10:11

Hannibal

After listening to several of you podcasts, I noticed that parallels can be drawn between what was happening in the past and what is happening now. The classic sentiment of, “those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it,” seems to turn up again and again. Certain themes from the Death Throes of the Republic and Radical Thoughts podcasts come to mind. How much of an influence does this play when you're selecting your topics? Did you choose to talk about the end of the Roman republic because you thought it was interesting or because you thought it was pertinent to modern listeners? A bit of both?

What is your favorite historical period or event? Which of your podcasts are you most proud of?

How far ahead do you plan your themes? Do you know what your next multi-part series will be yet?

Thanks a lot to both of you, I love your podcasts. Keep up the good work!

# 08 Jun, 2013 16:53
StevenSek	Edit: Being a fairly uneducated individual in the field of history, I've found your podcast both insightful and entertaining. It's given me a desire to learn more about the past, how it relates to the present, and potentially the future. If you were to suggest 3 books, video series, or other history related resources to study that you feel had a great deal of impact in your life for someone new to the field of world history, what would you suggest to get my feet wet? Thanks and love the podcast. quote

# 08 Jun, 2013 16:53

StevenSek

Edit:

Being a fairly uneducated individual in the field of history, I've found your podcast both insightful and entertaining. It's given me a desire to learn more about the past, how it relates to the present, and potentially the future. If you were to suggest 3 books, video series, or other history related resources to study that you feel had a great deal of impact in your life for someone new to the field of world history, what would you suggest to get my feet wet?

Thanks and love the podcast.

# 08 Jun, 2013 23:58
WhySpace	Hi Dan, One topic I just heard covered on the podcast is the issue of how the FBI, under the leadership of their founder J. Edgar Hoover, treated the late, great Martin Luther King Jr. If you look at the National Archives at archives.org it shows how they blackmailed him over extra-marital affairs, and even told him to kill himself. Here's a good video on the subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FoJ0qgUozY Some people will tell you these types of things still happen today. There are certainly many lesser forms of government harassment that might include getting audited, put on a no-fly list, etc. Journalist Chris Hedges (who like Martin Luther King Jr.) has been a vocal anti-war critic. He reports being harassed by homeland security on many occasions when going through the airport and being pulled out of line and detained for up to an hour. It seems they'll go after anybody including their own, as even General Petraeus was not immune to a sex scandal. I'm wondering what do you think is the likelihood that such rogue elements exist in government today to an extent similar to the way they abused Martin Luther King? Can we assume that all the people J. Edgar Hoover had hired were actually good people, just too scared to say anything, waiting for their leader to go so they could act ethically? Or do you think the spirit of Hoover lives on in moral imbeciles that collect tax dollars today? And if this spirit does live on in the field of intelligentsia, how do you think they justify their actions internally? Do you think you have you ever been targeted or are you personally ever worried that they might harass you? quote

# 08 Jun, 2013 23:58

WhySpace

Hi Dan,

One topic I just heard covered on the podcast is the issue of how the FBI, under the leadership of their founder J. Edgar Hoover, treated the late, great Martin Luther King Jr.

If you look at the National Archives at archives.org it shows how they blackmailed him over extra-marital affairs, and even told him to kill himself. Here's a good video on the subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FoJ0qgUozY

Some people will tell you these types of things still happen today. There are certainly many lesser forms of government harassment that might include getting audited, put on a no-fly list, etc. Journalist Chris Hedges (who like Martin Luther King Jr.) has been a vocal anti-war critic. He reports being harassed by homeland security on many occasions when going through the airport and being pulled out of line and detained for up to an hour. It seems they'll go after anybody including their own, as even General Petraeus was not immune to a sex scandal.

I'm wondering what do you think is the likelihood that such rogue elements exist in government today to an extent similar to the way they abused Martin Luther King? Can we assume that all the people J. Edgar Hoover had hired were actually good people, just too scared to say anything, waiting for their leader to go so they could act ethically? Or do you think the spirit of Hoover lives on in moral imbeciles that collect tax dollars today? And if this spirit does live on in the field of intelligentsia, how do you think they justify their actions internally?

Do you think you have you ever been targeted or are you personally ever worried that they might harass you?

# 12 Jun, 2013 15:36
Brando203	My question for Dan: Dear Dan, You seem to suffer from a “condition” that allows you to see how future events will unfold. There's no doubt that you use your knowledge of history as well as great understanding of current events and some good old fashion intuition to do this. My question is with this “condition”(some may call a gift or a curse) do you see the natural progression of where our once great nation is heading? If so is there really anything we can do? Or do you feel by the time the average citizen figures out what is going on it will be too late? Also related to this topic is something you talk about and I try to promote as well which is the divide in this country between political parties. I find it fascinating that our founding fathers were against parties AND this seems to be the root of our problem today. I believe this proves the knowledge possessed by our founding fathers of people and governmental ideals hold true even up til prsent times. For the problem is not the parties themselves so much as it is the divide created by these parties. (Get out your tin foil cap)It's as if a group of monarchs, emperors and dictators had a meeting about where they went wrong in the past. They knew they could hold power for awhile through various methods of tyranny, oppression and fear , BUT eventually the people became disgruntled enough and realized they could rise up and seize power themselves. I imagine all these rulers in a room and one stands up and yells “eureka!! All we have to do is have to seperate sides take turns ruling. We can have the people vote for which side they want every few years. They will pretend to oppose each other but in reality will support us and our will(the monarchs being the Us). And just to throw off the people we will use topics such as abortion and gay marriage to really divide them around election time.” ANYWAYS where I was going with this was: I see a lot of unhappy people that have been gathering, ie the Tea Party. And it seems there is hope for people to “wake up” and see what is happening to their country. BUT I fear that if a republican wins next time around all that will go away just as the anti-war/anti-Bush era stuff did once Obama took office. I was, as I'm sure you were and still are trying to make this known to as many people as possible. The hope I do possess comes from the fact I see more people who are not buying into the 2 party system BS. So having said all that do you feel there are enough people in the “know” to effect anything? Maybe you could do a history show on political parties ) Thank You for reading this post. You can take your tin foil cap off now, I'm going to keep mine on though. Looking forward to you on the Drunken Taoist Podcast as well as any future episodes of Common Sense and Hard Core History. Thanks Again, Brandon Smith [email protected] @brandonsmith203 twitter quote

# 12 Jun, 2013 15:36

Brando203

My question for Dan:

Dear Dan,
You seem to suffer from a “condition” that allows you to see how future events will unfold. There's no doubt that you use your knowledge of history as well as great understanding of current events and some good old fashion intuition to do this. My question is with this “condition”(some may call a gift or a curse) do you see the natural progression of where our once great nation is heading? If so is there really anything we can do? Or do you feel by the time the average citizen figures out what is going on it will be too late?

Also related to this topic is something you talk about and I try to promote as well which is the divide in this country between political parties. I find it fascinating that our founding fathers were against parties AND this seems to be the root of our problem today. I believe this proves the knowledge possessed by our founding fathers of people and governmental ideals hold true even up til prsent times. For the problem is not the parties themselves so much as it is the divide created by these parties. (Get out your tin foil cap)It's as if a group of monarchs, emperors and dictators had a meeting about where they went wrong in the past. They knew they could hold power for awhile through various methods of tyranny, oppression and fear , BUT eventually the people became disgruntled enough and realized they could rise up and seize power themselves.

I imagine all these rulers in a room and one stands up and yells “eureka!! All we have to do is have to seperate sides take turns ruling. We can have the people vote for which side they want every few years. They will pretend to oppose each other but in reality will support us and our will(the monarchs being the Us). And just to throw off the people we will use topics such as abortion and gay marriage to really divide them around election time.”

ANYWAYS where I was going with this was: I see a lot of unhappy people that have been gathering, ie the Tea Party. And it seems there is hope for people to “wake up” and see what is happening to their country. BUT I fear that if a republican wins next time around all that will go away just as the anti-war/anti-Bush era stuff did once Obama took office. I was, as I'm sure you were and still are trying to make this known to as many people as possible. The hope I do possess comes from the fact I see more people who are not buying into the 2 party system BS. So having said all that do you feel there are enough people in the “know” to effect anything? Maybe you could do a history show on political parties smile

)

Thank You for reading this post. You can take your tin foil cap off now, I'm going to keep mine on though. Looking forward to you on the Drunken Taoist Podcast as well as any future episodes of Common Sense and Hard Core History.
Thanks Again,
Brandon Smith
[email protected]
@brandonsmith203 twitter

# 15 Jun, 2013 05:39
TheChairmaker	How does someone become an ‘Historical Arsonist’? Do they just wake up one day and decide “I'm going to take over the world today”? Or is it some lottery of upbringing, social pressures, life experience, and genetic luck? Do you agree with Thaddeus Russell's belief that the puritan value system is a primary mechanism for creating today's western society? Possible alternative explanations? Could humanity be united in the sake of a single goal or is that merely wishful thinking? Should the we (Humans) get the hell off the planet Earth before someone does something stupid and dooms the species?? WHERE HAVE YOU HIDDEN THE ALIEN BIBLE?? Who are the unsung hero's of history? What's the deal with Plato and Atlantis? Did he just make up an awesome story to illustrate a point or is there actually some truth there? The War of 1812? Did Canada really burn down the White House? quote

# 15 Jun, 2013 05:39

TheChairmaker

How does someone become an ‘Historical Arsonist’? Do they just wake up one day and decide “I'm going to take over the world today”? Or is it some lottery of upbringing, social pressures, life experience, and genetic luck?

Do you agree with Thaddeus Russell's belief that the puritan value system is a primary mechanism for creating today's western society? Possible alternative explanations?

Could humanity be united in the sake of a single goal or is that merely wishful thinking?

Should the we (Humans) get the hell off the planet Earth before someone does something stupid and dooms the species??

WHERE HAVE YOU HIDDEN THE ALIEN BIBLE??

Who are the unsung hero's of history?

What's the deal with Plato and Atlantis? Did he just make up an awesome story to illustrate a point or is there actually some truth there?

The War of 1812? Did Canada really burn down the White House?

# 15 Jun, 2013 19:03
wylthirsk	Question for dan does it pain you to see history constantly slanted towards the victor and missing the truth and facts for the sake of saving face and looking good wyl quote

# 19 Jun, 2013 19:00
Khan	Dan once discussed the shift in the role of the historian in a society from that of a ‘moral storyteller’ to the more modern ‘impartial witness’. How does this relate to the duties of a journalist/citizen/human? I'd love to hear him elaborate on this and get both your opinions. quote

# 20 Jun, 2013 21:32
captainbash	Would like to hear Danielle and Dan reveal if there is any actual historical evidence of anyone from the big religions ever existing. apologies if this has been covered elsewhere.Lt Ron Hubbard doesn't count. quote

# 26 Jun, 2013 03:21
ahmanthinkofaname	Hardcore History is amazing and I haven't come across anyone who knows their political stuff better than Dan has shown on Common Sense (hopefully that doesn't make me sound unlearned ;-)and obviously awareness is half the battle and thats what a lot of these podcasts are doing but that awareness is only half the battle. I think (maybe incorrectly) that the other half is the actions inspired by that knowledge gained. Besides the easy answer of passing on that knowledge to others, what are some actions you would like to see from the people who are able to hear (and hopefully learn) from your outlook? quote

# 26 Jun, 2013 03:21

ahmanthinkofaname

Hardcore History is amazing and I haven't come across anyone who knows their political stuff better than Dan has shown on Common Sense (hopefully that doesn't make me sound unlearned ;-)and obviously awareness is half the battle and thats what a lot of these podcasts are doing but that awareness is only half the battle. I think (maybe incorrectly) that the other half is the actions inspired by that knowledge gained. Besides the easy answer of passing on that knowledge to others, what are some actions you would like to see from the people who are able to hear (and hopefully learn) from your outlook?