October 7

Ep. 0188: Introducing the Dangerous History Lyceum: Rise of the American Empire

I am super-excited to announce that the first lecture of Rise of the American Empire, the first Dangerous History Lyceum course, is now available!

This podcast episode is centered on a segment from the first lecture in that course (slightly over half of the lecture, to be precise), so that DHP listeners will get a little preview of what is going to be covered in it, and (hopefully) will decide to support the show at $15 per month (or higher) in order to get access to the course as I create it.

This course will cover the growth of the United States in size & power, from Independence through the War on Terror through the analytical lens of imperial history.

Want to have access to the entirety of this, and any & all future DHL lectures & courses?

Sign up to support the DHP at Patreon or Subscribestar at the Scholar Warrior level for $15 per month (or higher), or up your pledge to that level if you’re already supporting at a lower level.

CJ’s Picks: Amazon Affiliate Links

America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History by Andrew Bacevich

Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (American Empire Project) by Andrew Bacevich

The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II (Dispatch Books) by John Dower

Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empireby Niall Ferguson

Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire (American Empire Project)by Chalmers Johnson

Dangerous Nation: America’s Foreign Policy from Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Centuryby Robert Kagan

The Forging of the American Empire: From the Revolution to Vietnam by Sidney Lens

Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State (New Perspectives in SE Asian Studies)by Alfred McCoy

Habits of Empire: A History of American Expansionism by Walter Nugent

The Contours of American History by William Appleman Williams

The Tragedy of American Diplomacy  by William Appleman Williams

Empire As A Way of Life by William Appleman Williams

Empire: A Very Short Introductionby Stephen Howe

Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Differenceby Burbank & Cooper

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September 10

Ep. 0187: DHP Villains: Woodrow Wilson, Part 2

Part 2 of CJ’s deep dive into the life & career of Woodrow Wilson covers most of Wilson’s career in academia, stopping just as he’s about to become president of Princeton University.

Join CJ as he discusses:

  • Woodrow Wilson’s time as a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University
  • Woodrow Wilson’s time as a college professor, starting at Bryn Mawr and continuing at Weselyan and Princeton

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August 16

Ep. 0186: DHP Villains: Woodrow Wilson, Part 1

Finally, after a LONG time of researching, planning, etc, here it is, the first installment in CJ’s DHP Villains hit-piece on The Worst President (So Far!) in US History, Woodrow Wilson. (And that’s no small matter considering how badly CJ thinks of most American presidents!)

In this first installment, we’re covering Wilson’s early life & education, stopping just before his entry into the Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins University in the fall of 1883.

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July 13

Ep. 0185: The Limited Hangout (w/Brett Veinotte)

This crossover episode features the conversation CJ had with Brett Veinotte of the School Sucks Project on the last day of the 2019 Midwest Peace & Liberty Fest.

Join Brett & CJ as they discuss a wide variety of topics, including (but not limited to) Harry Anslinger, conspiracy theories, critical thinking, human scale, and the rigidification of institutions over time.

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June 28

Ep. 0184: DHP Villains: Harry Anslinger (CJ’s presentation from the 2019 Midwest Peace & Liberty Fest)

At the 2019 Midwest Peace & Liberty Fest in Delton, Mich., CJ took the occasion of Michigan’s recent legalization of marijuana to do a DHP Villains feature on the man who is arguably the most important of the Founding Fathers of the US government’s war on drugs.

Join CJ as he discusses the career of Harry J. Anslinger, from his early life to working for the State Department, then the Treasury Department, culminating in his tenure as first Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930-62, during which time (among other things) he presided over the beginning of the federal government’s criminalization of marijuana and the continuous amping-up of the drug war and its penalties; along the way we’ll also cover Anslinger’s racism & xenophobia, as well as his connections to the OSS and CIA, including lending those agencies some of his top agents for shady purposes, including some of the MK-Ultra experiments.

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June 5

Ep. 0183: The 5 Year Anniversary of the Dangerous History Podcast: A Soft Reboot

On June 5th, 2014, CJ published the first episode of the Dangerous History Podcast, and while it wasn’t great, he kept plugging away at it, slowly getting better & better and now, here we are, five years later, and not only has the Dangerous History Podcast survived & endured, it’s bigger & better than ever!

Join CJ as he discusses:

  • What he means by “soft reboot”
  • Some changes he’s gone through personally since he started this podcast back in 2014 (including some relatively recent major positive changes)
  • Some of what he’s learned in 5 years of Dangerous History podcastin, and how his approach to the DHP has both stayed consistent, and evolved in some aspects & issues
  • New levels of support for the DHP on Patreon & Subscribestar
  • Introduction of the Dangerous History Lyceum, and a description of the first course CJ plans to do as part of it: Rise of the American Empire
  • Some other things in the works for the foreseeable future, including a second show CJ plans to launch by the end of the summer: the Guerrilla Scholar-Warrior podcast
  • Finally, a rebroadcasting of Vintage DHP Episode #48: Introduction to Taoism & the Scholar Warrior Ideal

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(Photo in this episode’s show notes, ‘Freedom,’ courtesy Graur Razvan Ionut at freedigitalphotos.net

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May 21

Ep. 0182: Cathal Nolan on the Allure of Battle

In this DHP episode, CJ talks with Cathal J. Nolan, associate professor of history at Boston University and author of the book The Allure of Battle: A History of How Wars Have Been Won and Lost.

Join CJ & Professor Nolan as they discuss:

  • How leaders & nations are often seduced by ‘the allure of battle’ and a ‘short war delusion’
  • The ways in which much existing historiography on warfare since ancient times have contributed to the glorification of the ideas of decisive battle and military genius, and how The Allure of Battle challenges these tendencies
  • How wars are actually won most of the time — namely, through things like logistics, attrition and endurance over relatively long time spans — in contrast to the concept of decisive battle
  • Some historical examples of alleged military geniuses who succumbed to the allure of battle, including the Duke of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, and the various German leaders of the late-nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century
  • Some of the ways in which warfare has changed (and, perhaps more importantly, not changed) since the Second World War
  • Whether or not world leaders have learned any of the important lessons about the dangers of falling for the allure of battle and the short war delusion

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May 13

Ep. 0181: Place of the Slaughter

This Dangerous History Podcast episode covers a dramatic but very little-known conflict in the early history of colonial North America, which culminated in multiple mass murders of European colonists by other, rival European colonists.

Join CJ as he discusses:

  • An overview of early Spanish attempts at colonizing La Florida, which were a series of major failures running from Ponce de Leon in 1519 to Tristan de Luna in 1559, after which the Spanish Crown ended all attempts at colonizing the region
  • The beginning of French Huguenot involvement in Florida, which renewed Spanish interest in the area
  • Spain’s decision to make one last attempt to colonize Florida, to be led by Pedro Menendez de Aviles
  • The race to Florida between Menendez’ expedition and that of Huguenot leader Jean Ribault
  • The conflict in Florida between the Spanish Catholics and French Huguenots, culminating in multiple cold-blooded massacres
  • The legacy of all this not only for the history of Florida, but the subsequent colonial history of North America

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Category: American History, Military History, Modern World History, Podcasts | Comments Off on Ep. 0181: Place of the Slaughter
April 19

Ep. 0180: A Tale of Two Shilohs (w/Chris Calton)

This episode is a tag-team collaboration with Chris Calton, host of the Historical Controversies podcast, which is published by the Mises Institute.

Join Chris & CJ as they tell the story of the Battle of Shiloh as experienced by Henry Stanley (a young Confederate soldier) and John Cockerill (a young Union soldier.)

(This episode is a crossover episode with Historical Controversies season 3 episode 53.)

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March 18

Ep. 0179: Exploring the Inward Empire with Sam Davis


This episode of the Dangerous History Podcast features CJ’s recent conversation with Sam Davis, host of the Inward Empire podcast.

Join Sam & CJ as they discuss:

  • Some thoughts on history podcasts in general, and the divide between “indie/DIY” podcasters, and “institutional” ones
  • How Sam came to be doing the Inward Empire podcast
  • The fact that the United States is, and always has been, an empire, what this means, and why so many refuse to see it
  • The role of the frontier experience (and the mythology of it) in shaping American history, even long after the ear of the Old West ended
  • The divergence between scholarly understandings of history and popular depictions and understandings of it
  • Ways in which one’s own ideology influences one’s take on history
  • The obvious-but-oft-overlooked continuity in American history between the Indian wars and the later wars of overseas empire
  • The ways in which Anglo-Saxonism and xenophobia have influenced American empire-building
  • The trickiness of trying to draw parallels between current events and historical topics
  • Some of Sam’s experiences teaching history at the high school level over the past year

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Category: American History, Interviews, Podcasts | Comments Off on Ep. 0179: Exploring the Inward Empire with Sam Davis