Snakes & Otters Podcast

Third Friday of the month means another "Our Heroes" episode. We started with Thomas More, went through film director and writer John Milius, and now we tackle general and president Ulysses S. Grant.

Martin starts with some of the newer biographies such as Grant by Ron Chernow from 2018, Ulysses S. Grant: Soldier & President by Geoffrey Perrett from 1998 and Grant by Jean Edward Smith from 2002 to lead the guys through why Grant is a hero and should be thought of as a great figure in US history. Francis recommends The Complete Personal Memoirs of General Ulysses S. Grant, written by the man himself which is still regarded as a relevant, useful source on the 19th century.

In the first of a recurring series publishing every second Friday, the guys discuss some 'words to live by'. Martin kicks it off with a great PJ O'Rourke line that has become his motto. Francis goes Star Trek, and Robert of course brings it full circle with humanism and faith. 

Our quotes this time are:

"It's one thing to burn down the outhouse, its another to install plumbing" by P. J. O'Rourke in his book Holidays In Hell;

"It has always been easier to destroy than to create", spoken by Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan but written by Gene Roddenberry, Harve Bennett, Jack B. Sowards and Nicholas Meyer (with some help from Samuel L. Peeples), and,

"Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." by Napoleon Hill.

In Part 1 of our planned four-part series on Rome, Robert kicks us off with an exploration of the virtues and vices of the Roman Republic. It becomes a cautionary tale on the 21st century with help from Francis and Martin.

Tom Holland's Rubicon from 2005 and Adrian Goldsworthy's Caesar: Life of a Colossus from 2007 and The Punic Wars from 2001 serve as launching points. 

Martin leads the guys through a consideration of the cinematic genre of Film Noir and what it says about the duality and desolation of the human soul, justice and redemption. Yeah, it gets that deep. Robert and Francis provide some optimism for humanity though. Martin figures, eh, why bother?

While there are literally tons of books on the subject of film noir, the guys recommend starting with The Film Noir Encyclopedia by Alain Silver and others from 2010.

Also they highly endorse watching Double Indemnity from 1944 starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck . . . featuring the uncredited but amazing cameo appearance of Barbara's Stanwyck's towel.

Conan, what is best in life? To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!

We take on the life and career of one of our heroes, the rugged individualist and Zen anarchist, John Milius. And Martin loves the smell of napalm in the morning.

And for further reading (although it is a little pricey) the guys recommend The Cinema of John Milius by Alfio Leotta from 2018 which goes deep into Milius' many contributions to modern American Cinema.

Martin captains an episode examining the life and reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II's father, Frederick III. He reigned only 99 days, but if he had lived, could he have transformed the nascent German empire from Prussian militarism to a model constitutional monarchy? Would that have transformed Europe and prevented (or mitigated) the cataclysm of World War I? 

Although they don't mention it in the episode, the guys highly recommend Our Fritz: Emperor Frederick III and the Political Culture of Imperial Germany by Frank Lorenz Muller from 2011 as an excellent source not only about Frederick's life, but also about all of the many cultural considerations that they guys discuss here as well.

Francis wants us to consider Christina Croft's The Innocence of Kaiser Wilhelm II: and the First World War and exonerate the Kaiser of his exclusive historical blame for WWI. Martin says "well the damn Russians were to blame anyway". Robert reminds us that history is always complicated. 

Martin reaches back to our Voltaire discussion to highlight another key figure, James Madison. We talk through Madison's formation and career as an Enlightenment figure and a giant among the Founding Fathers. 

Although the guys didn't mention a particular book about James Madison in the episode proper, they all agree that perhaps the newest book on him, The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President by Noah Feldman from 2017 is well worth reading. Martin further recommends Richard Brookhiser's James Madison. He has an extra copy in fact if anyone is interested in purchasing it. 

Francis leads the guys through a personal reflection on the life of St. Thomas More and why he's a hero worth emulating. Get out some tissues everybody. 

And while there are tons and tons of works out there, both about and by Thomas More, Francis recommends grabbing first A Thomas More Source Book by renowned More scholar Gerard Wegemer from the University of Dallas, written in 2004.

Martin challenges the guys to think beyond the politics and explore the strategic options for British intervention in the American Civil War in 1862. Robert's up to the challenge and gives Martin all the argument he can handle. 

For a good resource on the Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads and all the related materials that the guys discuss in this episode, check out Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack by James L. Nelson from 2004.