These are the mad political rantings of one Matthew McNeil, Liberal/Democratic radio host in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. The postings are mine, the thoughts are mine. Mostly about politics, but I will occasionally get into raising kids, cooking, gardening, the arts and my favorite sports. Bon Appetite!
I stumbled upon a podcast, and I'm smitten. History has always been a big interest of mine. I have posted great historical videos on the Friday Link multiple times, but I might have come across the best and most complete breakdown of historical events I've ever heard/seen!
The Rest is History features Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. They have an extensive historical collection of topics they cover, and every piece I've heard has been stunning. Witty and funny, but also incredibly well researched, presented, and laid out so that not only do you have history unfold in front of you, but they also do something I love: present a contrarian view to see whether or not history has been fair in certain situations.
This is the YouTube video version of their show, but I have been podcasting them like crazy. 5 Stars!
The first episode I listened to was this one about former US President Grover Cleveland. Was he really a horrible person, or was that just 1880s politics? I know, obscure, but you will be on the edge of your seat for this one.
The next episode is on from what could be one of the greatest historical presentations of all time, the eleven-part story of Custer's Last Stand. This presents a wonderful historical lead up, not only talking about who Custer, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull were, the reasons for the eventual confrontation, and a SPOT ON audio description of what exactly happened at Little Big Horn, but as well the consequences afterwards, including the tragedy of the US's treatment of the Native Americans, ending with the unforgivable slaughter at Wounded Knee.
This is the third episode, where they start talking about the Lakota and Crazy Horse. If you really want a treat, start at the beginning and listen to the whole 11-part series all the way through. I place this up on par with Ken Burns' Civil War. It really is an exceptional piece of historical programming.
Finally, tonight, Howtown is back asking the question of whether scientists just unearthed an ancient pandemic in the Arctic that will wipe us all out. Great!
Actually, the discovery is not as terrifying as it was presented!
Have a great weekend, everyone, and make sure you get your flu and COVID vaccinations!
