In the late 18th century in Scotland, a vagabond gained attention with a story of kidnapping, slavery, war, and immersion into native American culture. Peter Williamson became a sensation in the British Isles, but how much of his story was true? In this episode, I explore the bizarre tale of Peter Williamson. I separate fact from fiction and reveal the unlikely aspects of his story that proved to be true.

Music provided by The Conrads

Sound Effects from Pixabay.

Imagine one day waking up and being told to forget everything you had learned in school. Discovering that key industries in the economy had been eliminated. Learning that culture and history had been reset to year zero. And, worst of all learning that you and your friends and family were to be killed or sent to concentration camps.

This is the horrific reality Dr. Sara Pol-Lim was faced with as a young girl in 1970s Cambodia. The regime of the time -- a Marxist inspired junta named the Khmer Rouge created what they viewed as a utopia but the civilized world recognized as a dystopia. What followed was the Cambodian genocide which cost the lives of millions.

But what happens to those who survive such horrors? How do they move forward? How can they carry on and rebuild their loves in the shadow of unimaginable horror? 

In her powerful new book "Coming to Terms with Historical Trauma: A Memoir," Sara bravely shares her story. It is a book that is both tragic and inspiring. In this episode, I speak with Sara about her story, her trauma, and what lessons we as a society can learn from such terrible events.

Sara Pol-Lim's book is available from all major retailers including:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Dr. Pol-Lim honors include:

• “Woman of Distinction” Award from Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell in 2015. 

On the eve of launching a genocidal conflict in 1939, Adolf Hitler is reported to have asked "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" The event he was referring to was the near decade long systematic destruction of the ethnic Armenian community living in the Ottoman Empire or today's Turkiye. 

Hitler was alluding to the old adage 'History is written by the victors.' In essence, you can do the most terrible things but if you come out on top and control the narrative then no one knows or seemingly cares.  

A century later, the Armenian genocide hasn't been forgotten though, least of all in the now independent nation of Armenia which borders Turkiye. But Hitler was partially right. History and narratives pertaining to the past aren't always accurate. And today, a rival version of history exists within Turkish society in which there was no genocide. 

In this episode, I speak with Prof. Joachim J. Savelsberg author of Knowing About Genocide: Armenian Suffering and Epistemic Struggles.   We discuss how trauma and terrible events of the past come to be viewed differently through the prism of society. 

Music from Pixabay

Episode Guest: Joachim J. Savelsberg

Joachim J. Savelsberg is Professor of Sociology and Law and Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair at the University of Minnesota. He is the coauthor of American Memories: Atrocities and the Law and author of Crime and Human Rights: Criminology of Genocide and Atrocities.

Personal Website link

Faculty Page

Terminator, rogue chat bots, artificial intelligence replacing human workers ... over the last few years we have all seen numerous headlines about the existential threat posed to humanity by AI. But are these fears legitimate? Where do the fears come from? Are we really in danger from AI or something else? 

In this episode I speak with returning guest Prof. Margaret Schwartz of Fordham University. We discuss the cultural and societal impact of AI, but delve deeper than the media headlines as we try to understand how this new technology can actually impact us -- for better or worse.

Music and Sound: Pixabay

Photo: Creative Commons Attribution. Daniel Jurena from Prague, Czech Republic

We are all familiar with the Japanese Samurai: Sword wielding traditional warriors all consumed with a rigid honor code known as Bushido. But how much of this is true?

In this episode I speak with an expert Dr. Michael Wert Associate Professor of East Asian History at Marquette University. Through his work which includes the book Samurai: A Concise History, he has cast aside the Hollywood stereotypes and uncovered a real history that is much more complex. He explains the origins of the Samurai, their evolving role and shatters many of the myths most of us have come to believe.

Guest: Dr. Michael Wert

Sound & Music: Pixabay

At the end of ww1, the vast but ailing Russian empire collapsed. What followed was regicide, civil war and famine. But just a generation later, the world had changed. Russia, now part of the Soviet Union found itself uniquely positioned to itself on the global scene in a way it had done before. In this episode I speak with Russian born historian Sergey Rachenko, he Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs about his groundbreaking book To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power. We discuss the motivations and aspirations of Stalin, Krushchev and their successors as we learn how the events of the last century still cast a shadow today.

Guest: Sergey S. Radchenko

Music: Pixabay

Climate change has accelerated efforts by some theorists to develop mechanisms for controlling Earth's weather patterns and even the biosphere. But human attempts to control our these elements are nothing new. In fact, our ancestors aspired to do the same in antiquity. But what attempts have been made already to alter the weather? Were they successful? What did we learn from these efforts? Is this fantasy? madness? or something we can achieve? 

In this episode I speak with science and technology historian Prof. Jim Fleming (Ph.D. history, Princeton University) who is the Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and Society at Colby College. His published works include Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control and Inventing Atmospheric Science. 

With a mixed background covering both science and history, he is uniquely positioned to critique past and present efforts to manipulate the weather.

Guest:

Jim Fleming

Music: Pixabay

Photo Credit: Alexander Gerst public domain

WARNING: This episode includes eye witness accounts of a violent murder and subsequent execution.

Catherine Hayes was born into an unexceptional working class family at the end of the 17th century in Birmingham, England. Like so many of that era, and most of us today, she led a life that ordinarily wouldn't warrant mention in a history book. But one event caused her name to become synonymous with infamy: the murder of her husband. 

She claimed innocence up until her last breath but she was executed as a result of the crime. Was she the killer? Was she even morally responsible for the crime? And if she was -- as she claimed -- innocent, then why did she complicate the prosecution of the actual assailants? What was the true nature of her relationship with the two men?

This episode casts a light not only on the brutal world of the so-called Bloody Code era in England where 200 crimes -- many quite trivial -- could lead to the death penalty. it also casts light on our recent ancestors prejudices, negative perceptions of women, and on Catherine's own rather disturbing behavior.

Sound and Music: Pixabay

In recent years El Paso, Buffalo, Charleston, and Overland Park have joined the list of cities where right wing extremists have committed mass killings. Racial hate and fascism are not new. From slavery, into the civil war, Jim Crow, the civil rights era, onto the Oklahoma City bombing, Charlottesville and so on, right wing extremists have posed a threat to US society.

But, what happens when a violent far right extremist decides to turn their back on the movement? Many of these people engage with Life after Hate an organization dedicated to helping people break free from hate and live compassionate lives.

In this episode I speak with the CEO and Executive Director of Life After Hate Patrick Riccards. We discuss the radicalization process, the way hate groups grow, and the path to, and challenges faced on the road to redemption.

If you are seeking to exit an extremist group contact Life after Hate online at lifeafterhate.org or call/text 612-888-EXIT (3948). 

By the mid Nineteenth century Europeans had conquered or explored all of the Americas, Asia and even remote Pacific outposts that we know today as Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti. But bizarrely one area remained largely unexplored and it was right on Europe's doorstep: Sub Saharan Africa. 

As you might expect, explorers, missionaries and of course colonialists soon made their way down South. They encountered new languages, customs, ethnic groups and evidence of previously unknown (to Europeans) civilizations. But more surprisingly, they also encountered a group of people who identified as Jews. These were not converts to the religion but rather African people who claimed they were ethnically the descendants of Abraham, and perhaps even one of "The Lost Tribes of Israel." More remarkably, they also had an explanation for what had happened to the Ark of the covenant. It wasn't in Ethiopia, Israel,  or in a huge CIA operated warehouse full of crates. No, it was in their own backyard.

British Scholar Tudor Parfitt who has specialized in studying Jewish history decided to investigate these seemingly outlandish claims. Had these people in Zimbabwe merely adopted a form of Judaism introduced by Christian missionaries? Was there any evidence aside from oral tradition to substantiate their claims? The results of his research stunned the world.

In this episode I speak with Tudor Parfitt.

Guest: 

Tudor Parfitt Bio

Music: Pixabay