Esoteric Reads

An audience revolts against the proprietors at London's preeminent theatre. And what catchphrases, songs and slang might you have heard on the streets of early 19th century London? Two subjects, both described in this episode of Esoteric Reads, as taken from Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, an early study of crowd psychology by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat

John Law was a man ahead of his time. In the early 18th century, he persuaded the Kingdom of France to adopt a system of paper money, and effectively construct a parallel fiat currency. It was an emotional experience for everyone, particularly those Frenchmen and women clapped in irons and shipped overseas to Louisiana.It would be another two and a half centuries (and a couple of world wars) before the rest of the World would switch to fiat currencies, which is to say that the money of those nations would be backed not by an asset, like a pile of gold bars in a locked vault, but instead backed by... well, nothing much at all really, other than the presumption that a nation would continue to exist, to pay its bond coupons, and to hopefully not hyper-inflate the currency away to vapour. Surprisingly this system seems to be working for much of the world. Let's find out whether it worked for John Law.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat

Dating back as early as the 1300s, Thugs were a secret criminal group, partly hereditary in membership, who specialized in the murder by strangulation of travelers as a prelude to theft. Or maybe they were a fanciful invention of an overzealous Colonial administrator. Regardless, they were a subject of fascination to the early Victorians, who were regaled in both News and Fiction about these mysterious assassins of the Raj.In the penultimate episode of this season of Esoteric Reads, I'm reading the chapter on Thugs (or Phansigars) from "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay, first published in 1841.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat

In this Season of Esoteric Reads, I'm reading "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay, first published in 1841. On tonight's episode, we continue with Mackay's chapter discussing the Crusades, this time with a mega blow-out double two-for-one Crusade deal with an extra special bonus. This episode covers the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Crusades. But wait, there's more... we're also covering The Children's Crusade, which wasn't really a Crusade, and more like slavery with extra steps.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat

In this Season of Esoteric Reads, I'm reading the Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat

In this Season of Esoteric Reads, I'm reading the Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat

In this Season of Esoteric Reads, I'm reading the Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat

In this Season of Esoteric Reads, I'm reading the Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III. Bit drier than my normal material, but let's see how we get on. Personally I don't follow politics in the former colonies, but the Yanks seem pretty keen on it.  In this episode, we cover the Introduction and Executive Summary to Volume II.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat

In this Season of Esoteric Reads, I'm reading the Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat

In this Season of Esoteric Reads, I'm reading "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay, first published in 1841. On tonight's episode, we continue with Mackay's chapter discussing the Crusades, this time with a two-for-one Crusade special bonus. This time it's the 2nd Crusade, and the 3rd Crusade.Our Sponsor:On-demand voice for your commercial, promotional and interactive projects.Patronise the Cat:https://patreon.com/manwithacat