TOPICS
The Design of Crap: Ever wonder why some products look like crap? There are good reasons for it. Sometimes, you don’t want to look too good.
Alcohol Percentage (Retraction): So 100 proof alcohol is actually only 50%. That’s the way the system works. So for alcohol to be 90%, you need 180 proof. Not something you can easily find, btw.
The Franco-Prussian War: What happens when a war lasts less than a year? Well, it has some serious implications for the future. How can anyone discuss WW1, let alone it’s sequel, without really talking about this conflict. [1]
Crimean War: Can you imagine the idea of former enemies becoming allies to stop Russia? Well, this kind of thing seems to happen a lot. And this has caused some pretty bad blood between Europe and Russia that’s never really been resolved. If you’re nerdy, you might like this talk. [2]
The “Stability” of Turkey: As we were recording this, Turkey was going through some tough times, including the government shutting down a number of public institution in order to purge them, while the military was announcing a takeover. Yep, just the kind of ally you want in a war! [3]
The Siege of Paris: The Paris Commune was actually a consequence of Paris being sieged by the Germans, who had out-mobilized their enemies and reached the capital before real resistance could be met. While there was a secret armistice being signed, the french National Guard (basically a group of thugs) were preparing to suppress the rebellion of their own people to the conditions of the peace treaty. This was to influence Karl Marx and lead to a similar and far more successful revolt after a civil war in Russia many decades later.[4][5]
The Powerhouse that was Otto von Bismark: Shaping the world tends to cause a lot of problems in the long run, but you can’t deny the fascinating power of Bismarck is not be to ignored. I strongly suggest you watch this great talk about the man [6]
The King that Never Was – Prince Leopold: The “He” I was referring to was Prince Leopold. He was offered the crown by Spain’s government, but France was pretty scared about being surrounded by its enemies. So a conflict seemed inevitable. Poor guy was basically a pawn of history. And you people think prices are cool…[7]
The Secret Weapon “La Mitrailleuse”: Before the machine gun, there was the super secret weapon of the French: the mitrailleuse. Check out this cool article all about it’s history and even a video with a replica.[8]
Napoleon’s Family as Nobels: it’s not just modern presidents who do a lot of appointments. It’s also wannabe Emperors! And in this case, Napoleon had to refill about 2,000 positions. So needless to say, his immediate family got the premium posts! [9]
Note on Brief Ending: The Show was originally much longer, but the subject matter we discussed did not age well, and seems petulant in the long run. It was omitted for the podcast version.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqik0WDMDco&t=1543s
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEUj7AFAZy0
[3] https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/07/turkey-government/491579/
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paris_(1870%E2%80%9371)
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xie5_WJD5E
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold,_Prince_of_Hohenzollern
[8] http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a18459/forgotten-weapon-mitrailleuse/
[9]http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a18459/forgotten-weapon-mitrailleuse/