Breaking news: The Soviet Union has collapsed! The Berlin Wall has crumbled! Communism has fallen! Capitalism wins! USA! USA!

But wait… what’s this? Russia has been overtaken by oligarchs and an authoritarian dictator. Oh no… Well, at least that could never happen in the United States. Right?

This is the climactic Part Three of our three-part series on the history of the left/right political spectrum.

After the youth protests of the 1960s failed to topple governments, left-wing radicalism shifted its focus—from revolution to championing social equality through pop culture. But as culture wars raged, neoliberalism—liberalism and capitalism’s love child—conquered the globe, fueling deregulation, rising corporate power, and deepening economic divides that hollowed out democracy itself.

Just three decades after the Cold War, the old adversaries—Russia and the U.S.—found themselves on eerily parallel paths, ushering in a new era of oligarchy and a return to right-wing rule—like the one the French Revolution fought against all those years ago.

Join us as we trace how the world drifted from dreams of liberation to authoritarian control—and how a new generation began planting the seeds of liberty and equality once again.

If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com.

Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes.

CITATIONS

“Vietnam War.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

“Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics.” National Archives. 

Thatcher, Margaret. Speech to the Conservative Women’s Conference. May 21, 1980.

Wong, Edward. “China’s Black Cat, White Cat Diplomacy.” Foreign Policy, July 10, 2009. 

Reagan, Ronald. Speech at Reagan-Bush Rally in Warren, Michigan. October 10, 1984.

“Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989.” Federal Reserve. 

Davidson, Amy. “Exploring Occupy Wall Street’s Adbusters Origins.” NPR, October 20, 2011.

“Youth Voting in 2016 Primaries and Caucuses.” CIRCLE, Tufts University. 

Kestenbaum, David. “How Shock Therapy Created Russian Oligarchs and Paved the Path for Putin.” NPR, March 22, 2022.

Steele, Jonathan. “How Football Conquered Russia.” The Guardian, July 2, 2003.

Harding, Luke. “Roman Abramovich: The Billionaire Oligarch with a Backstory Shrouded in Secrecy.” The Guardian, March 21, 2022.

Keats, Jonathon. “Design of Dissent.” Forbes, October 28, 2019. 

Birnbaum, Michael. “Occupy Wall Street Protests Go Global.” The Washington Post, October 15, 2011. 

Jojo Rabbit. 2019. Directed by Taika Waititi.

Music: Celestial Soda Pop

By: Ray Lynch

From the album: Deep Breakfast

Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI 

All rights reserved.

In the The King Is Dead, Now What? we're exploring the history of the left / right political spectrum and the 250 year struggle for democracy.

In Part 1 we started telling the story that began with the French Revolution of 1789, when those in favor of monarchy sat on the right wing of the national assembly room and those in favor of revolution sat on the left wing. 

In the wake of the 1848 revolutions, the struggle between left and right gave rise to three major political ideologies—conservatism, liberalism, and radicalism—each offering a distinct vision for society. These competing forces would ignite a global struggle for power.

In this episode, we trace the ongoing clash between these ideologies, imagining them as bickering gods, each vying for control of the human realm. From the Russian Revolution and the collapse of monarchies after World War I to the rise of fascism, the global conflict of World War II, the Cold War standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union, and the global youth protests of 1968, we explore how these powerful ideas collided, evolved, and continue to shape the struggle for power, equality, and freedom.

If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com.

Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes.

Articles

Narewska, Elli. “Tsar Nicholas II Abdicates.” The Guardian, March 3, 2017.

Hoffmann, David L. "The October Revolution in Russia" Ohio State University Origins, 2017 “The Paris Riots of 1968, Part 1.” CBC Radio, April 24, 2018.

Keats, Jonathon. “Design of Dissent.” Forbes, October 28, 2019.

Baker, Peter. “CIA Helped Arrest Mandela.” Time, February 2023.

Statista. 2022. “Second World War: Share of Total Population Loss.” BBC Bitesize. “The Vietnam War: Casualty Statistics.” U.S. National Archives. “Vietnam War Casualty Statistics.” ECPAT International. “How Many Vietnamese Died in the Vietnam War.” Horner, Sam. “The Birth of the Soviet Union and the Death of the Russian Revolution.” JSTOR Daily, 2021.

YouTube

“Days That Shook The World: Russia's Two Revolutions of 1917” Epic History. Mar 8, 2022

Films

Jojo Rabbit. 2019. Directed by Taika Waititi.

Music: Celestial Soda Pop

By: Ray Lynch

From the album: Deep Breakfast

Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI 

All rights reserved.

How many people are happy with the way society is headed? There seems to be a general consensus - maybe the one thing we all agree on - that things are not right. 

But our different opinions on what’s wrong and what directions could be better too often fall on either side of a left vs right political spectrum.

Where did we get this idea of a left wing and a right wing anyway? How is it in a world of such diversity of languages and traditions and religions there’s just two freakin’ wings? What are we, a bird? 

Well, it all started… during the French Revolution. And if we want to expand our map and chart a better direction, that’s where our story needs to begin.

In this episode, we journey back to the French Revolution, where revolutionaries and monarchists first split into left and right wings—and the world has never been the same. Out of the chaos emerged ideals of liberty, the terror in the streets, and a fierce battle of ideas that spread across Europe, sparking revolutions from Sicily to Poland. The 1848 uprisings shook monarchies to their core, as liberals, conservatives, and radicals fought over society’s future. Most of the revolutions were crushed—but none left the world unchanged.

Join us for a deep dive into political ideologies, French accents, guillotines,  and the struggle for democracy.

If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com.

Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes.

CITATIONS

Websites and Articles

Britannica. France: Peasant Insurgencies.

Yale University Library. French Revolution Political Cartoons: The Guillotine.

Fine Dining Lovers. 2022. “Dining with King Louis XVI.”

Chastain, James. The Two Sicilies. Ohio University.

Statista. 2024. Global Elections in 2024.

Hincks, Joseph. 2024. “More Voters Than Ever Will Vote in 2024.” TIME. 

Reuters. 2024. “What Are the Key Issues in Mozambique’s 2024 Elections?” 

World History Encyclopedia. French Republican Calendar. 

Britannica. Reign of Terror.

Prothero, Stephen. 2016. “Culture War Is an American Tradition.” Los Angeles Times, February 14.

Chastain, James. The European Revolutions of 1848 and 1989: A Comparative Analysis. 

Tocqueville, Alexis de. “Speech to the French Chamber of Deputies, January 29, 1848.” Speeches USA. 

Books

Arasse, Daniel. 1987. The Guillotine and the Terror.

Bussiek, Dagmar. 2002. Mit Gott für König und Vaterland: Die Neue Preußische Zeitung (Kreuzzeitung) 1848–1892. Münster: LIT Verlag, p. 18.

Clark, Christopher. 2023. Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World.

Kirchner, Emil J. 1988. Liberal Parties in Western Europe.

Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. 1848. The Communist Manifesto.

Terwecoren, Edouard. 1870. Collection de Précis historiques. J. Vandereydt, p. 31.

Podcasts and YouTube

The Rest Is History. 2023. “The Year of Revolutions: 1848.” Podcast audio, April 30, 2023.

Duncan, Mike. Revolutions podcast season 7

Green, John. Crash Course: European History #26. YouTube playlist. 

Additional Music

Track: Symphony no. 41 in C 'Jupiter', K. 551 - I. Allegro vivace

Music provided by Classical Music Copyright Free [https://tinyurl.com/visit-cmcf]

Music: Celestial Soda Pop

By: Ray Lynch

From the album: Deep Breakfast

Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI 

All rights reserved.

1.  Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop 

https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI    

2.  iTunes: 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425

3.  Spotify:  

https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

You are listening to a bonus episode of Human Nature Odyssey. This is a conversation with bible teacher and author J Snodgrass about his book "Genesis and the Rise of Civilization."

You may remember from Episode 5 "Adam, Eve, and the Agricultural Revolution" that author Daniel Quinn theorized that the story of the Garden of Eden and Cain and Abel were originally told by hunter gatherers as a way to mythologically explaining the agricultural revolution they were witnessing around them. J Snodgrass, as you’ll hear, was struck by this idea as well, exploring this theory further. It's a wealth of research, interpretation, and insights.

This is a bonus episode that will exist for one month and one monthly only before returning to its Patreon home. The next feature episode of Human Nature Odyssey will be released in May.

You can find John's work at: j-snodgrass.com 

You are listening to a bonus episode of Human Nature Odyssey. This is a conversation I had a little bit ago with D. Firth Griffith: farmer, author, and host of the Unshod podcast. Together we talk about the Tower of Babel as a metaphor for civilization, our relationship with technology, and whether humanity is the hero, victims, or villain of our global story. 

As Daniel wrote for the episode description:

"The metaphor of the Tower of Babel serves as a philosophical lens through which we examine civilization's complexities and our relationship with technology. Are we building a society without understanding its true purpose, and how does this impact our local engagements? Alex and I also reimagine classic narratives, pondering if true heroism lies not in saving the world, but in developing a reciprocal relationship with nature and ourselves. This is a candid exploration of humanity's environmental role, challenging the notion that we're merely defenders of a world in peril." "Inspired by Daniel Quinn’s “Ishmael,” our conversation turns to humanity’s impact on Earth, from ancient health paradigms to modern civilization's paradoxes. The conversation dives into embracing diverse worldviews, especially indigenous perspectives, and exploring the cultural narratives shaping our interactions with nature."

Daniel's new book The Plain of Pillars: A Celtic Story is available now.

If you are reading this that means you are about to listen to a special and temporary episode that in a month will only exist on the HNO Patreon.

On our odyssey, we're going to need friends to help us along the way. Jake and Maren are exactly that - as well as hosts of their own podcast Death in the Garden.  All you have to do is visit their website and you'll immediately know why I wanted to talk with them. In their own words, DITG is a "quest for ecological & cultural regeneration." In it they "question the direction of industrial civilization." 

Here's their origin story:

"Feeling dislocated and helpless to make the world a better place, despair took over. Jake and Maren met each other at just the right time, and emboldened within each other a shared passion to do somethingabout the wrongness they had always felt. They began with a hypothesis of how to solve the problems of the world, and found themselves on a quest that shocked and surprised them as they began to untangle the web of interconnected problems that we face as a species. Instead of coming to a conclusion about what can be done to solve the problems of the world, their path follows the questions and quandaries they faced in making this film, and instead have arrived at a thesis as to how we got here, and what we do about it, well, that remains to be seen."

This was a fun conversation. You'll certainly learn a lot about them and their story - and you'll also learn more about mine.

Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes.

If you are reading this that means you are about to listen to a special and temporary episode that in a month will only exist on the HNO Patreon. Why? Well for two reasons. The first is I have a good announcement to make about the podcast and the second is because I needed to give myself a little more time to finish the next couple episodes I’m working on right now before releasing them soon. I figured it’d be nice to share something in the meantime.

In this episode I share my reflections and feelings on the fires raging in Los Angeles and living through difficult times. Then I play a conversation with Asher Miller, Executive Director, of the Post Carbon Institute. We discuss zombie apocolypses, whether the bat signal should be replaced with the gorilla signal, and the possibility of shifting our culture's mindset and creating a livable (and just) future. 

Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes.

What will happen to our scientific knowledge if civilization collapses? Will astrophysics survive a future stone age?

In this episode, we rest from our journey to talk with astrophysicist Tom Murphy, who’s been on an odyssey of his own—moving from academia to a growing concern about the collapse of civilization, to an ever expanding appreciation of the cosmos.

Together we’ll gaze at the grandeur of the stars and marvel at the complexity of one of our oldest cousins: the amoeba. If you’re seeking a moment to marvel at the interconnectedness of life on Earth and the universe its interwoven with, this is the episode for you.

Tom Murphy is an Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy/Astrophysics at the University of California, San Diego.  After a career studying colliding galaxies and testing General Relativity using lasers to the moon, Murphy retired early to shift focus onto Planetary Limits and the intrinsic incompatibility between modernity and ecological longevity.  Creator of a textbook on energy, the Do the Math blog, and the Metastatic Modernity video series, his main plea is that you bypass these resources and read the book Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn.

Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes.

More from Tom:

Do the Math blog

Metastatic Modernity

Music: Celestial Soda Pop

By: Ray Lynch

From the album: Deep Breakfast

Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI 

All rights reserved.

1.  Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop 

https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI    

2.  iTunes: 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425

3.  Spotify:  

https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

Looking for a game to play over the holidays? Why not try the real world global economy? Too late, you’re already playing it! 

Have you ever noticed how the most popular board games just so happen to reflect core components of our civilization? Settlers of Catan involves the extraction of raw materials. Risk is the imperialism and war between nations. Monopoly demonstrates the pitfalls of capitalism.

Now in the real world, I rarely celebrate resource extraction, imperialism, or capitalism. But the board game versions are so much fun. Maybe that’s why we’re all playing it at a global level. As horrible as the side effects of these things are, enough people are having so much fun playing. 

And not just those winning. Sure, winning is awesome. But don’t count out how much fun it is to be down just enough to think if you keep trying you can get back in it. Your competitiveness takes over and you can’t put the game down. 

And then for even more people, they have no choice in the matter, they have to play, even though there’s no hope for winning, they’re just trying to survive and stay in the game. 

At this point, most of the world has been roped into this game of conquering, exploitation, and finance. We’re so convinced this is just normal life, most people don’t even think they’re playing a game. But unlike most board games, it doesn't come with an instruction manual. That is… until now. 

In this episode, we use sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein’s seminal text, World-Systems Analysis, as our instruction manual to the game of colonization and exploitation. We explore how dominant countries rise and fall, the dance between capitalism and the state, and the unexpected truth about what real power looks like. 

Join us for a deep dive into empires, markets, mafias, and everyone’s favorite Monopoly piece: the thimble. Macro-economics has never been this entertaining and fun for the whole family.

If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com.

Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes.

CREDITS

Additional Writer ... Weslie Lechner

Voice Acting ... Patrick Boylan and Weslie Lechner

CITATIONS

World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction [book] by Immanuel Wallerstein (2004)

The Emergence of France [article] by Gabriel Fournier and John Frederick Drinkwater (2024)

The secret history of Monopoly: the capitalist board game's leftwing origins [article] by Mary Pilon (2015)

Music: Celestial Soda Pop

By: Ray Lynch

From the album: Deep Breakfast

Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI 

All rights reserved.

1.  Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop 

https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI    

2.  iTunes: 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425

3.  Spotify:  

https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

Gather around the campfire for a ghost story about the most destructive monster in history: civilization itself. 

In this episode, we delve into the countercultural writings of Fredy Perlman, whose strange 1983 book “Against His-Story, Against-Leviathan”—riddled with grammatical errors and misspellings—blends myth and history to explore the nature of power, subjugation, and the struggle between the rulers and the ruled.

Our journey takes us back to ancient Sumer, where egalitarian hunter-gatherer communities transformed into peasants and slaves bound by a mysterious force even the rulers couldn’t control. 

We trace the rise of the first Lugals, the original kings of Mesopotamia, from Urukagina of Lagash, whose reforms sowed the seeds of his downfall, to Sargon of Akkad, who conquered all of Sumer only to become part of the Leviathan’s vast machinery.

Together, we’ll explore how power and control first took root in the world's earliest cities—and how those ancient systems still shape our world today.

This is a spooky episode. The hair on the back of your neck might stand up. But we can stay seated and relax. It is just a story after all. A fairytale, as Fredy would call it.

If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com.

Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes.

CITATIONS

Against His-Story, Against Leviathan [book] by Fredy Perlman (1983)

Sargon of Akkad [article] by Joshua J. Mark (2009)

Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles [book] by Albert Kirk Grayson (1975)

Akkadian Empire victory stele circa 2300 BC from Louvre Museum

Music: Celestial Soda Pop

By: Ray Lynch

From the album: Deep Breakfast

Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI 

All rights reserved.

1.  Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop 

https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI    

2.  iTunes: 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425

3.  Spotify:  

https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

Additional Credits

Vanhan ajan sota, taistelu, miekkailu / Ancient, old time battle, combat, horses snorting and galloping, men shouting and barking, fencing, swords clanging, mix by YleArkisto -- https://freesound.org/s/258207/ -- License: Attribution 4.0