History on Fire

“And it was fast cars and whiskey

Long legged girls and fun

I had everything that money could bring

And I took it all with a gun” from the song I’ve Never Picked Cotton

“Johnson did not care. He had no use for the bourgeois values of thrift and respectability.” Randy Roberts

“You don’t catch Jim Jeffries losing to a colored man.” Jim Jeffries

“Quite conceivably there had never been a more important athletic event in American history.” Randy Roberts

“Even those who have an absurdly exaggerated horror of prize fighting as a ‘brutal’ sport should gently warm in their sensitive minds a little hope that the white man may not lose, while the rest of us will wait in open anxiety the news that he has licked the—well, since it must be in print, let us say the negro, even though it is not the first word that comes to the tongue’s tip.” New York Times

By 1900, the federal government had long abandoned Reconstruction, and white supremacy was returning to the South with a vengeance. Jim Crow was in full swing. Segregation was the law of the land. And Fifty years before Jackie Robinson challenged segregation in baseball, there was Jack Johnson.

Lynching was a weekly event. Any black man in the South not acting subservient could find himself dangling from a tree. Even African American leaders like Booker T. Washington preached that accepting segregation, keeping one’s head down, and working hard were the best options for black people.

Jack Johnson clearly didn’t get the memo.

At this time when simply looking a white man in the eyes, or talking to a white woman, could get one lynched, Jack Johnson made a living beating the hell out of white men in the ring. Living defiantly as if prejudice didn’t exist—he felt—was the best way to defeat racism.

It would be easy to mistake Jack Johnson’s story simply as a tale of standing up to racism. It’s about that—sure. But it’s also about a lot more. Because as much Jack Johnson stared down white supremacy, he also battled those black people who insisted that he behaved like a hard-working, God-fearing role model. But JJ wasn’t about to trade a cage for another. He wouldn’t be anyone’s puppet. He would have no master telling him how to live—not white ones, but no black ones either. His story is the tale of a man who, in spite of a time and place that would not allow it, was on a defiant quest to be free, and live life on his own terms.

In this episode:

-Public Enemy Number One

-At home in the integrated criminal underworld

-Ladies and fast cars

-Jack Johnson’s intellectual side

-The Great White Hope

-Knocking out and befriending Stanley “The Assassin” Ketchel

-“I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a negro.” Jim Jeffries

-Why the Governor of California prohibited the fight

-Death threats and attempted poisonings

-Jack Johnson’s eerie calm under pressure

-A spectator: “He’ll kill you, Jack.”

Jack Johnson: “That’s what they all say.”

-The verbal fight with Jim Corbett

-Triumph and riots in over 50 cities

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Back in the day when you could still pay your ticket on the spot in cash, a cop pulled over Jack Johnson for speeding.

“Hey boy—said the cop—This is going to cost you $ 50!”

Johnson handed him $ 100. The cop tried to protest he didn’t have change, but Johnson waved him off.

“I will be coming back this same way, and I’ll be driving at the same speed, so I’m just paying you in advance.”

“His story is one of the great dramas not just of American sports, but of all American history.” New York Times

 “This fellow Johnson is a fair fighter, but he is a black. And for that reason, I will never fight him.” Heavyweight Champion Jim Jeffries

By 1900, the federal government had long abandoned Reconstruction, and white supremacy was returning to the South with a vengeance. Jim Crow was in full swing. Segregation was the law of the land. And Fifty years before Jackie Robinson challenged segregation in baseball, there was Jack Johnson.

Lynching was a weekly event. Any black man in the South not acting subservient could find himself dangling from a tree. Even African American leaders like Booker T. Washington preached that accepting segregation, keeping one’s head down, and working hard were the best options for black people.

Jack Johnson clearly didn’t get the memo.

At this time when simply looking a white man in the eyes, or talking to a white woman, could get one lynched, Jack Johnson made a living beating the hell out of white men in the ring. Living defiantly as if prejudice didn’t exist—he felt—was the best way to defeat racism.

It would be easy to mistake Jack Johnson’s story simply as a tale of standing up to racism. It’s about that—sure. But it’s also about a lot more. Because as much Jack Johnson stared down white supremacy, he also battled those black people who insisted that he behaved like a hard-working, God-fearing role model. But JJ wasn’t about to trade a cage for another. He wouldn’t be anyone’s puppet. He would have no master telling him how to live—not white ones, but no black ones either. His story is the tale of a man who, in spite of a time and place that would not allow it, was on a defiant quest to be free, and live life on his own terms.

In this episode:

-How a man who would be among the best fighters in the world grew up as a wimp having his sisters protecting him

-The color line in boxing

-The 1900 Galveston Flood

-Joe Choynski: first KOs Jack Johnson and then teaches him how to fight… in jail

-JJ’s complicated fascination with white women

-The curious story of Saverio Giannone (aka Joe Grim): “I am Joe Grim and I fear no man”

-Chasing Tommy Burns around the world

-Jack Johnson’s defiant smile

-“Jim Jeffries must emerge from his alpha alpha farm, and remove that golden smile from Jack Johnson’s face. Jeff, it’s up to you. The White Man must be rescued.” Jack London

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Mike Duncan is one of the pioneers of historical podcasting. His “History of Rome” is iconic. And his current “Revolutions” is equally compelling. In this episode, we sit down to chat about Roman history, Rome in cinema, the inevitable comparisons between Ancient Rome and the United States, the factionalism and corruption that brought down the Republic, the connection between ‘The Walking Dead’ + ‘Game of Thrones’ and Roman history, his upcoming book “The Storm Before the Storm,” and the future of his “Revolutions” podcast.

PATREON NEWS: I have just started a Patreon account!!!! If you feel in a generous mood, please, check it out at www.patreon.com/historyonfire

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“I never planted wheat and never will, so long as there are other harvests to be reaped with the sword.” Robert E. Howard (from ‘Beyond the Black River’)

“In the rough and violent world of seafaring, mariners could not afford to always abide by the niceties of the law or proper etiquette.” Robert J Anthony

“There is no greater calamity than not knowing what is enough”. Tao Te Ching

At the very beginning of the 1800s, a Chinese woman went from being employed as a prostitute in the floating brothels close to Canton to becoming the leader of the biggest pirate confederacy in modern history. Despite ending up as one of the most successful pirates ever, little is known about her. Today, we dive into the mystery and explore her story.

In this episode:

-The three waves of piracy

-Piracy as a family business

-The boat people

-“People are not born sea bandits, but drift into brigandage because they can no longer support themselves.” Wang Zhiyin governor of Fujian

-The Tay-Son rebellion

-Death by a thousand cuts

-The seven pirate bosses and the creation of the biggest pirate confederacy in modern history

-When pirates invite you to join their crew, saying ‘no’ is not an option

-A pirate’s life for me: opium, prostitutes, gambling, fights

-The rise of Cheng I Sao, and her saving the Confederacy

-Chang Pao

-Cheng I Sao’s law: “Off with his head!”

-Former prostitute, full time pirate leader and part time shaman

-Straight out of Game of Thrones: fireboats

-Cheng I Sao and the Taoist talent of knowing when to stop

PATREON NEWS: I have just started a Patreon account!!!! If you feel in a generous mood, please, check it out at www.patreon.com/historyonfire

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“After getting this information, he had the arms, feet, and heads of our unfortunate companions cut off, and sent them round to various towns of our allies and those who had made peace with us, with the message that he did not think one of us would be left alive to return to Texcoco. Then he offered their hearts and blood to his idols.” Bernal Diaz

“Eat the flesh of your brothers, for we are full. You can stuff yourselves with our leftovers.” Mexica warriors addressing the Spaniards

“It is better that we should all die fighting in the city than see ourselves in the power of those who would enslave us and torture us for gold.” From a speech attributed to a Mexica captain

“The people of the city had to walk upon their dead while others swam or drowned in the waters of that wide lake… so great was their suffering that it was beyond our understanding how they could endure it.” Hernan Cortes

In the 1500s, two highly militaristic peoples fueled by religious ideologies requiring bloodshed clashed with one another. This is the tale of what happened when a band of Spaniards run into the Mexica (Aztec) empire. By the time the dust will settle, out of the 25 million indigenous inhabitants of Mexico, little over a million will be left standing. 

In this fourth episode:

-Cortes’ charge at the battle of Otumba

-The Tlaxcalan fateful choice

-Branding POWs in the face with the letter G for Guerra

-Smallpox was better than any army for the Spaniards

-Cortes holds a rape auction

-The master carpenter Martin Lopez, and his ships sealed with boiling human fat taken from dead Mexica warriors

-A plot against Cortes ends with a hanging

-Cortes on top of the pyramid at Xochimilco sees 2,000 canoes coming to kill him

-Xicotenga and Led Zeppelin’s Gallows Pole

-The siege of Tenochtitlan

-Cortes flirting with death

-The human sacrifice that gave Bernal Diaz permanent PTSD

-Eating the plaster off your walls and still fighting on

-The city of the dead

-The Mexica emperor being introduced to the expression “holding the feet to the fire”

-Ramsay Bolton would have loved both Mexica and Spaniards

-The aftermath of the Conquest

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“And when we saw all those cities and villages built in the water, and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Mexico, we were astounded. These great towns and cues and buildings rising from the water, all made of stone, seemed like an enchanted vision from the tale of Amadis. Indeed, some of our soldiers asked whether it was not all a dream. It is not surprising therefore that I should write in this vein. It was all so wonderful that I do not know how to describe the first glimpse of things never heard of, seen or dreamed of before… But today all that I then saw is overthrown and destroyed; nothing is left standing.” Bernal Diaz

“Have confidence, Montezuma. Fear nothing. We love you greatly.” Hernan Cortes

“What is the use of all these words? Either we take him or we knife him.” Juan Velazquez de Leon

“They ran in among the dancers, forcing their way to the place where the drums were played. They attacked the man who was drumming and cut off his arms… Some attempted to run away, but their intestines dragged as they ran; they seemed to tangle their feet in their own entrails… So great was the bloodshed that blood ran through the courtyard like water in a heavy rain.”

In the 1500s, two highly militaristic peoples fueled by religious ideologies requiring bloodshed clashed with one another. This is the tale of what happened when a band of Spaniards run into the Mexica (Aztec) empire. By the time the dust will settle, out of the 25 million indigenous inhabitants of Mexico, little over a million will be left standing. 

In this third episode:

-The massacre at Cholula

-The drunken man’s vision

-The splendor of Tenochtitlan

-Kidnapping an emperor

-Burning people at the stake in front of the Great Pyramid

-Why the Stockholm Syndrome should be renamed Tenochtitlan Syndrome

-A battle between Spaniards and Spaniards

-Alvarado’s bloody choices

-La Noche Triste: the end of the Spaniards?

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“My advice is not to allow into your house someone who will put you out of it.” Cuitlahuac

“He added that we could look for no help or assistance except from God, for now we had no ships in which to return to Cuba. Therefore we must rely on our own good swords and stout hearts.” Bernal Diaz

“We knew that they had come determined to leave none of us alive except those who were to be sacrificed to their idols.” Bernal Diaz

In the 1500s, two highly militaristic peoples fueled by religious ideologies requiring bloodshed clashed with one another. This is the tale of what happened when a band of Spaniards run into the Mexica (Aztec) empire. By the time the dust will settle, out of the 25 million indigenous inhabitants of Mexico, little over a million will be left standing. 

In this second episode:

-The first battle ever featuring horses in Mexico

-Enormous, angry dogs wearing armor and trained to eat human flesh

-Malintzin and her choices

-From slavery to becoming one of the most important women in Mexico

-The tale of Quetzalcoatl

-“If the Spaniards want to eat you, let them”

-Apparently, the Spaniards don’t appreciate food sprinkled with a sauce of human blood

-Rescuing five sacrificial victims before returning them to be sacrificed

-Cortes deserved an Academy Award for best political theater

-The Fat Chief

-Cortes and his ships

-Moctezuma and his Blues Brothers excuses

-War and peace in Tlaxcala

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“We came to serve God and get rich”—Bernal Diaz

“Behold this torch which we will light and place between our armies. If you do not make haste and retreat before the torch is burned, you will die. We do not want you as guests.” Maya warning to the Spaniards in 1518

“Do not lose your soul for the sake of an Indian woman” Geronimo de Aguilar to Gonzalo Guerrero

In the 1500s, two highly militaristic peoples fueled by religious ideologies requiring bloodshed clashed with one another. This is the tale of what happened when a band of Spaniards run into the Mexica (Aztec) empire. By the time the dust will settle, out of the 25 million indigenous inhabitants of Mexico, little over a million will be left standing. 

In this first episode:

-The development of Mesoamerican civilizations leading up to the Mexica

-An unfortunate misunderstanding between the Mexica and their neighbors involving a flayed princess

-The toughest mercenaries in the Valley of Mexico

-Serving the God of War

-A ballgame to settle a dispute on the meaning of creepy omens

-The Cordoba expedition

-The Grijalva expedition

-Pedro de Alvarado and his gangsta rap taste in jewelry

-Hernan Cortes and his playboy ways

-If you drop out of law school, at least conquer an empire

-The ballad of Gonzalo Guerrero

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"If I can add some nuance and complexity and some context and compassion. If I can get people to think about walking a mile in the other guy's moccasins, or pretend like you want to, I can feel like I'm adding something that is unusual. And it's a little bit shocking and upsetting to me that it is unusual. When people say it's so refreshing, you wonder why it's refreshing to try to see the other person's viewpoint? Shouldn't that just be how we are?" Dan Carlin

“It’s an uplifting story with millions of dead people” Dan Carlin

My favorite podcaster and one of my favorite humans joins me for an epic chat ranging across topics including:

-Nuanced Thinking

-Ideological Prisons

-Understanding vs. justifying

-Judging the past

-Hitler & Genghis Khan, Nazis & Communists

-Spaniards, Aztecs, human sacrifice

-Taoism

-Twisted SOBs

-Why do we focus so much on war?

-The three elements of Hardcore History

-Conflict-driven story

-Sex

-Gladiators for World Peace as the antidote to a nuclear holocaust

-Hunting and gathering peoples

-Graham Hancock and history before history

-Gobekli Tepe

-Old school toughness and the arc of civilizations

-Dan Carlin for President!

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“It made my heart bad. After that, I killed my enemies with the hatchet.” Lakota leader Gall, upon finding out his family had been killed

 “If we’ve got to die, let’s die here like men.” Lieutenant Luther Hare

 “We were terribly alone on that dangerous hilltop. We were a million miles from nowhere. And death was all around us.” Charles Windolph

“Only Earth and the Heavens last long, Uncle. If we four can stop the soldiers from taking our camp, our lives will matter little.” Bobtail Horse

“Hokahey, brother! This life will not last forever” White Bull addressing Crazy Horse

“I am a Fox. I am supposed to die.

If there is anything difficult,

If there is anything dangerous,

It is mine to do.” Kit Fox warrior society song

To the Lakota people, the Black Hills of South Dakota were—and still are—‘the heart of everything that is.’ To the United States, they were a goldmine, and Manifest Destiny’s next target. It was for the Black Hills that the Lakota went to war against the United States for the last time.

In this episode:

-Reno’s attack

-Moving Robe Woman gets her revenge

-Bloody Knife and his nieces

-The Throwing-Them-Off-Their-Horses game

-Equine sexual passion can’t be restrained by humans and their battles

-Benteen’s choices

-The long night

-A handful of Cheyenne warriors and the meaning of bravery

-White Bull, Crazy Horse and the ‘suicide boys”

-The one who (almost) got away

-Cheyenne women helping Custer to improve his hearing

-Custer’s smile

-Setting up Custer

-Defiant smile and raised middle finger

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