History on Fire

“Jeet Kune Do favors formlessness so that it can assume all forms and since Jeet Kune Do has no style, it can fit with all styles. As a result, Jeet Kune Do utilizes all ways and is bound by none and, likewise, uses any techniques or means which serve its ends.” Bruce Lee

“1. Research your own experience.

2. Absorb what is useful.

3. Reject what is useless.

4. Add what is specifically your own.” Bruce Lee’s methodology

“I maintain that truth is a pathless land and you cannot approach it by any religion. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others.” Jiddhu Krishnamurti

“This doesn’t look like success to me.” Sovannahry Em

“A martial artist is a human being first. Just as nationalities have nothing to do with one’s humanity, so they have nothing to do with the martial arts.” Bruce Lee

Ask anyone for one name they associate with martial arts, and odds are they will mention Bruce Lee. Because of his career, millions of people were introduced to martial arts. Thanks to his movies, Lee achieved enduring, worldwide fame, broke plenty of box office records, and forever changed the aesthetics of action films. Not bad for a skinny kid from Hong Kong who arrived in United States with the proverbial shirt on his back. The image of his hyper-muscular body in combat pose has become iconic. But there was a lot more to Bruce Lee than meets the eye. He could have been a rock star or a spiritual leader or anything else he had wished… Martial arts was just a channel for his energy. Had he put that same energy anywhere else, he’d have probably had similar success. Despite Hollywood turning him down time and time again due to racial prejudices, Lee refused to take no for an answer and more or less single-handedly changed the way in which Asian people were perceived in the West. His philosophical insights also changed the face of martial arts training, and introduced masses of people to Taoism and Zen Buddhism. His creative & anti-authoritarian approach to life captured the best of the essence of the 1960s. Get ready for a ride because this is an incredible story I have wanted to tell since I first started podcasting.

This episode covers Bruce Lee’s philosophy and life from 1965 through his death in 1973.

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“Energy is eternal delight.” William Blake

 “Hong Kong in the 1950s was a depressed place. Post–World War II Hong Kong had suffered from unemployment, a poor economy, over-crowding, homelessness, and people taking advantage of each other. Gangs roamed the street, and juvenile delinquents ran rampant.” Hawkins Cheung

“Teachers should never impose their favorite patterns on their students—he said—They should be finding out what works for them, and what does not work for them. The individual is more important than the style.” Bruce Lee

“I feel I have this great creative and spiritual force within me that is greater than faith, greater than ambition, greater than confidence, greater than determination, greater than vision. It is all of these combined…” Bruce Lee

Ask anyone for one name they associate with martial arts, and odds are they will mention Bruce Lee. Because of his career, millions of people were introduced to martial arts. Thanks to his movies, Lee achieved enduring, worldwide fame, broke plenty of box office records, and forever changed the aesthetics of action films. Not bad for a skinny kid from Hong Kong who arrived in United States with the proverbial shirt on his back. The image of his hyper-muscular body in combat pose has become iconic. But there was a lot more to Bruce Lee than meets the eye. He could have been a rock star or a spiritual leader or anything else he had wished… Martial arts was just a channel for his energy. Had he put that same energy anywhere else, he’d have probably had similar success. Despite Hollywood turning him down time and time again due to racial prejudices, Lee refused to take no for an answer and more or less single-handedly changed the way in which Asian people were perceived in the West. His philosophical insights also changed the face of martial arts training, and introduced masses of people to Taoism and Zen Buddhism. His creative & anti-authoritarian approach to life captured the best of the essence of the 1960s. Get ready for a ride because this is an incredible story I have wanted to tell since I first started podcasting.

This episode covers Bruce Lee’s life from birth to his famous fight with Wong Jack Man in 1964.

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“I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” John Brown

 “If you seek my blood, you can have it at any moment without the mockery of a trial.” John Brown

“John Brown, and a thousand John Browns, can invade us, and the Government will not protect us. To secure our rights and protect our honor we will dissever the ties that bind us together, even if it rushes us into a sea of blood." Mississippi congressman Reuben Davis

“John Brown began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic.” Frederick Douglass

"I looked at the traitor with unlimited, undeniable contempt."  John Wilkes Booth

“Had I interfered in the manner which I admit… in behalf of the rich, the powerful… the so-called great… every man in this Court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.” John Brown

The subject of this series is easily one of the most divisive individuals in U.S. history. The man we are talking about is Mr. John Brown. Many, in fact, see Brown’s actions as the spark that ignited the Civil War. He has been described as a civil rights hero, a terrorist, and everything in between. Some have argued he was clinically insane. Others believe he was the most principled man of his age. Regardless of how we interpret his story, certain facts are beyond dispute. Throughout his life, slavery was the law of the land in much of the United States. With hardly any abolitionist willing to do more than use words against slavery, while pro-slavery forces demonstrated they were quite skilled at using violence to further their worldview, it seemed inevitable that slavery would last for the foreseeable future. To John Brown, that was an unacceptable option. Allowing it to continue for one more second was cowardly and evil. If pacifist means weren’t enough to bring about the end of slavery, then John Brown was more than ready to speak the language of violence. For the sake of destroying slavery, he would shed the blood of his enemies, the blood of his family, and his own blood.

In this final episode of this series, we’ll cover: John Brown’s meeting with Harriet Tubman, a raid to free slaves and bring them to Canada, the loyalty of Shields Green, Dangerfield Newby dying to save his family, the attack on Harpers Ferry, stealing George Washington’s sword, drunkards shooting corpses, Silas Soule’s jailbreaking skills, the trial of John Brown, the dangers posed by Zombie John Brown, guest appearances by Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, John Wilkes Booth and Jeb Stuart, and much more.

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content.

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at https://linktr.ee/danielebolelli 

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Thank you to today’s sponsor, Fabric by Gerber Life, a term life insurance. If you are interested in life insurance, please check them out at https://meetfabric.com/HISTORYONFIRE

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“I think he [God] has used me as an instrument to kill men; and if I live, I think he will use me as an instrument to kill a good many more.” John Brown

“I had reached the point at which I was not afraid to die. This spirit made me a freeman in fact, while I remained a slave in form.” Frederick Douglass

 “I have only a short time to live, only death to die and I will die fighting for this cause.  There will be no peace in this land until slavery is done for.” John Brown

“We will continue to tar and feather, drown, lynch, and hang every white-livered abolitionist who dares to pollute our soil.” Dr. John H Stringfellow

“Caution!? Caution!?—he exploded—I am eternally tired of hearing that word Caution! It is nothing but the word of cowardice!” John Brown

“To know and not to act is not to know.” Wang Yangming

“Behind them lay five twisted, red and mangled corpses. Behind them rose the stifled wailing of widows and little children… but before them rode a man, tall, dark, grim-faced and awful. His hands were red and his name was John Brown. Such was the cost of freedom.” DuBois

The subject of this series is easily one of the most divisive individuals in U.S. history. The man we are talking about is Mr. John Brown. Many, in fact, see Brown’s actions as the spark that ignited the Civil War. He has been described as a civil rights hero, a terrorist, and everything in between. Some have argued he was clinically insane. Others believe he was the most principled man of his age. Regardless of how we interpret his story, certain facts are beyond dispute. Throughout his life, slavery was the law of the land in much of the United States. With hardly any abolitionist willing to do more than use words against slavery, while pro-slavery forces demonstrated they were quite skilled at using violence to further their worldview, it seemed inevitable that slavery would last for the foreseeable future. To John Brown, that was an unacceptable option. Allowing it to continue for one more second was cowardly and evil. If pacifist means weren’t enough to bring about the end of slavery, then John Brown was more than ready to speak the language of violence. For the sake of destroying slavery, he would shed the blood of his enemies, the blood of his family, and his own blood.

In this second episode of a three-part series, we see John Brown meeting Frederick Douglass & visiting Europe, the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law, the experiment at North Elba, Bleeding Kansas, the pathetic story of the Border Ruffians, revising the notion of abolitionist pacifism, blood on the floor of the Senate, the Pottawatomie massacre, guerrilla in Kansas, and much more.  

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content.

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at https://linktr.ee/danielebolelli 

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“You know what John Brown did? He went to war. He was a white man who went to war against white people to help free slaves. White people call John Brown a nut. Go read the history, go read what all of them say about John Brown. They’re trying to make it look like he was a nut, a fanatic… But they depict him in this image because he was willing to shed blood to free the slaves. And any white man who is ready and willing to shed blood for your freedom… So when you want to know good white folks in history where black people are concerned, go read the history of John Brown.” Malcolm X

 “When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property.” Exodus 21:20–21

“Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery!” John Brown

The subject of this series is easily one of the most divisive individuals in U.S. history. The man we are talking about is Mr. John Brown. Many, in fact, see Brown’s actions as the spark that ignited the Civil War. He has been described as a civil rights hero, a terrorist, and everything in between. Some have argued he was clinically insane. Others believe he was the most principled man of his age. Regardless of how we interpret his story, certain facts are beyond dispute. Throughout his life, slavery was the law of the land in much of the United States. With hardly any abolitionist willing to do more than use words against slavery, while pro-slavery forces demonstrated they were quite skilled at using violence to further their worldview, it seemed inevitable that slavery would last for the foreseeable future. To John Brown, that was an unacceptable option. Allowing it to continue for one more second was cowardly and evil.  If pacifist means weren’t enough to bring about the end of slavery, then John Brown was more than ready to speak the language of violence. For the sake of destroying slavery, he would shed the blood of his enemies, the blood of his family, and his own blood.

In this first episode of a three-part series, we’ll introduce the early part of John Brown’s life and his crusade against slavery. Among today’s topics, we’ll have the ethics of punching a Nazi, how the beating of an enslaved child set Brown on his path, how both pro and anti-slavery forces used Christianity to justify their stances, racism masquerading as philanthropy, the Nat Turner rebellion, grief & PTSD, the Underground Railroad, the murder of Elijah Lovejoy, and much more.

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content.

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at https://linktr.ee/danielebolelli 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“He must be handed over to a tribunal of the people so it can judge him quickly. We want this, even though we think an execution platoon is too much of an honor for this man. He would deserve to be killed like a mangy dog.” Future Italian President Sandro Pertini about Benito Mussolini

“The world unfortunately continues to be a battlefield where different egos clash, repeating the mistakes of the past.” Federigo Giordano

“Death to the Nazi-Fascists.” The closing quote of most letters written by Federigo Giordano during WWII

I am not done with stories of resistance from Italy during WW II. Today, I’ll tell the story of a friend, one of the very last partisan commanders to still be alive—Federigo Giordano (battle name “Gek.”) His name is still recognized in some towns in Northern Italy since he was the one to lead his men to liberate them from Fascists and Nazis. In this episode we’ll tackle the growth of racism within Fascist ideology, becoming a partisan in the mountains of Northern Italy, rejecting the Alexander Proclamation, saving American aviators, participating in the capture of Benito Mussolini, Mussolini ‘hanging’ in Piazzale Loreto, drunk Nazis in one room while partisans hide in the attic, having to explain to a 90+ year old lady why you killed her sister over 70 years earlier, and much more.

Here's the link to my daughter’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@isabellahan-bolelli

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content.

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at https://linktr.ee/danielebolelli 

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“Women must obey… My opinion of women’s role within the state is against any kind of feminism. In our state, women must not count.” Benito Mussolini

“Yes, I participated in the actions. I usually had the task of carrying the weapons and would hand them to our shooters. As soon as they had used them, I’d get them back from them—still hot.” Liana Germani

“I was mostly afraid of torture had they captured me, of the terrible suffering on the way to the concentration camps. Death seemed simple, something quick, liberating. Fear was a constant element of our daily lives.” Liana Germani  

This is a tale of Italian Resistance during WW II. Unlike nearly all History on Fire episodes, this is not a story I researched in books. It’s a much more personal one—these are my grandparents’ experiences. The starring role goes to my grandmother, Liana Germani, who as a teenager was a combat partisan active against the Fascist regime and the Nazi occupation. What I remember of her... there was a constant hint of sadness and pessimism hanging around her. It may have to do with the fact that during WW II, she found her boyfriend murdered--cut into pieces by fascists. She spent the rest of her teenage years smuggling guns & bombs, and doing what she could to kill them all.

Honorable mention also to my paternal grandparents—in particular my grandfather Stelio Bolelli, who found his way into fighting alongside Allied troops all the way through the Gothic Line.

In the course of this episode we’ll talk about a brief history of Fascism, DMX & the Matteotti murder, the collusion between fascist leaders and Sinclair Oil, the Badoglio government, the Nazi occupation, the massacre of St. Anna di Stazzema, guerrilla in the streets of Milan, gender roles in fascist Italy, my grandma’s friends being executed, PTSD, carrying bombs & smuggling weapons, my grandfather avoiding execution, the Gorla massacre, and much, much more.

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content.

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at https://linktr.ee/danielebolelli 

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