Years of Lead Pod

Alexander, your work is wonderful. As an very amateur historian I am fascinated by the Red Brigades…. Your podcast has been a must listen, I love it. Many thanks Richard

If you’re going to title your podcast “the Years of Lead Pod,” you better make sure you get your basic facts right. Like the basic question of where Aldo Moro was headed on March 16, 1978 when he was ambushed, kidnapped, and ultimately murdered. Alex maintains that it’s a “myth” that he was headed to Parliament for the final parliamentary touches on the Historic Compromise- he instead asserts that Moro was headed to his teaching job at the University to hear a student’s thesis defense (which thereby allows him to pooh-pooh assertions that the kidnapping was related to the ushering in of the Historic Compromise). His assertion is not supported by any major primary source I’ve ever come across - not any of the parliamentary or judicial commissions, not Richard Drake, not Sergio Flamigni- NONE of them. Rather, they’re unanimous in saying he was, in fact, headed to the parliamentary affairs of the day, which were to start at 10AM. Perhaps Alex read the bit where Moro arranged for tickets to allow some of his students to join him in the Parliamentary vote on the Historic Compromise that day, and somehow innocently misconstrued it…but even if so, it’s an inexcusable error, particularly in the face of unanimous primary (and secondary) sources. This was the Brown M&M test for me, and Alex grossly failed it. If you’re interested in the Years of Lead, you’re better off getting books on it in Italian and Google Translating them. They’re more accurate than this podcast.

Pretty basic liberal scolding type analysis , not much attempt to grapple with the politics or the stakes. Truly tortuous lack of charisma and production. Kind of a bummer this guy was the first to do Anglophone years of lead podcast.

Great depth of info on this time in Italy.