The Living Past: Current events explained through history.

Herman Forwood

To understand the present, look at the past. The Living Past is a history and current events podcast that connects today’s politics, business, culture, and global events with the historical patterns that came before them. Each episode explores modern issues through historical parallels — not to predict the future, but to give context, perspective, and a clearer way to understand the world we’re living in. Because most things we think are new… aren’t. Current events through the lens of history. More at: hermanforwood.com

  1. 5d ago

    Preview: Our Strange Relationship With the Truth

    Every Christmas, loving parents deliberately deceive their children. They eat the cookies. Move the presents. Invent the evidence. And everyone calls it magic. That may tell us something important about human nature. We say we want the truth—but when truth threatens comfort, identity, religion, politics, family, or power, we often choose the story instead. In this episode, we explore why humans cling to comforting narratives, why institutions protect certain beliefs while punishing others, and why we are always shocked when reality finally breaks through. Because maybe the real question isn’t: Why do people believe lies? Maybe it’s: What does the lie protect? Subscribe to be notified when the next episode is released. More at: www.hermanforwood.com

    Preview: Our Strange Relationship With the Truth

  2. Aug 12

    Episode 15: The Maxxing Economy: When Good Enough Is Never Enough

    We live in a culture obsessed with improving the final 2% while millions of people still haven't secured the first 80%. From peptides, sleep trackers, greens powders, luxury water, recovery devices, and celebrity wellness routines to credit-card debt, lifestyle imitation, and the endless pursuit of the “optimized” self, this episode explores how marginal improvements became a massive consumer economy. We look at why wealthy people chase tiny gains, how influencers turn those habits into aspiration, and what happens when ordinary people begin treating expensive extras as substitutes for the basics: sleep, exercise, nutrition, preventive healthcare, financial stability, and time. Because the real problem with over-optimization isn't that it's ridiculous. It's that it teaches us to confuse sophistication with importance, and to spend more and more fixing things that may not matter while ignoring the things that do. Subscribe to be notified when the next episode is released. More at: www.hermanforwood.com

    Episode 15: The Maxxing Economy: When Good Enough Is Never Enough

  3. Aug 11

    Preview: The Maxxing Economy: When Good Enough Is Never Enough

    We’ve somehow reached a point where people worry about sleep scores, peptides, special water, and recovery gadgets while barely sleeping, barely exercising, or carrying credit-card debt. This episode asks how that happened. How did the final 2% become more interesting than the first 80%? And why have we built an entire economy around convincing people that good enough is never actually good enough? Subscribe to be notified when the next episode is released. More at: www.hermanforwood.com

    Preview: The Maxxing Economy: When Good Enough Is Never Enough

  4. Aug 4

    Episode 14: Why Did American Christianity Change

    How did a faith centered on loving your neighbor become so closely associated with political power and cultural conflict? Jesus spoke constantly about caring for the poor, loving your enemies, welcoming the stranger, forgiving others, and warning about the dangers of wealth. Yet today, for many Americans, the public image of Christianity is dominated by culture wars, political loyalty, megachurches, and fierce ideological battles. What happened? In this episode, we trace the remarkable evolution of American Christianity, from the abolitionists who fought to end slavery, to the churches that fueled the Civil Rights Movement, to the rise of the Moral Majority, televangelism, prosperity theology, and the culture wars that transformed religion into one of America's most powerful political identities. But this isn't a story about villains. It's a story about human nature. Why do moral movements become institutions? Why do institutions seek power? Why does fear change our priorities? And how can a movement built on humility slowly become consumed by winning? Most importantly, we ask a question that challenges every one of us: Are we following Jesus... or are we asking Jesus to follow us? Whether you're a Christian, belong to another faith, or have no religious beliefs at all, this episode explores a timeless question about how ideals change, how institutions drift, and whether it's ever possible to return to the values that inspired them in the first place. Subscribe to be notified when the next episode is released. More at: www.hermanforwood.com

    Episode 14: Why Did American Christianity Change

  5. Jul 31

    Preview: Why Did American Christianity Change

    "Love your enemies." "Blessed are the poor." "Judge not." "Sell what you have and give to the poor." Those are some of Jesus' most famous teachings. So how did a faith built on compassion, humility, and caring for the least among us become so deeply associated with political power, culture wars, and public outrage? In this episode, we explore the history of American Christianity—from abolition and the Civil Rights Movement to Reagan, the Moral Majority, megachurches, and the prosperity gospel—to understand not just what changed, but why. Because this isn't just a story about Christianity. It's about what happens to every movement when identity replaces purpose... and when winning becomes more important than becoming the kind of people we claim we want to be. Subscribe to be notified when the next episode is released. More at: www.hermanforwood.com

    Preview: Why Did American Christianity Change

  6. Jul 29

    Episode 13: Why America Is So Angry

    The working class feels forgotten. The middle class feels squeezed. Young people feel locked out of the future. Older Americans feel like the country they grew up in is disappearing. Immigrants are angry. Native-born Americans are angry. Billionaires complain that the system is broken, while people living paycheck to paycheck say the exact same thing. But how can people with such different lives end up feeling the same emotion? In this episode, we go beyond politics to explore the psychology, sociology, and history of anger in America. We examine why disappointment so often turns into rage, why people look for villains instead of complex explanations, and how childhood experiences, personal trauma, identity, and unmet expectations shape the way we see the world. We also explore how modern media, social media algorithms, and political incentives have transformed anger into one of the most profitable commodities in America. Why do politicians increasingly campaign by naming enemies instead of solving problems? Why do facts so rarely change minds? And why do so many of us excuse behavior from our own side that we'd never tolerate from the other? This isn't an episode about Republicans or Democrats. It's about something much deeper. It's about why millions of people who disagree on almost everything share one powerful feeling—that someone stole the future they were promised. And perhaps the most important question of all: Who benefits when an entire country stays angry? Subscribe to be notified when the next episode is released. More at: www.hermanforwood.com

    Episode 13: Why America Is So Angry

  7. Jul 28

    Preview: Why America Is So Angry

    Why does it seem like everyone in America is angry? The poor are angry. The middle class is angry. The wealthy are angry. Young people, retirees, immigrants, conservatives, liberals... everyone seems convinced that someone else ruined the country. But what if anger isn't the real story? What if anger is just the surface of something much deeper—disappointment, fear, humiliation, loneliness, and broken expectations? In this episode, we explore the psychology behind America's anger, why we're so quick to blame one another, and how media, social platforms, and politicians have learned to turn that anger into one of the most valuable products in modern society. Because the greatest danger isn't that we're angry. It's that someone always profits when we stay that way. Subscribe to be notified when the next episode is released. More at: www.hermanforwood.com

    Preview: Why America Is So Angry

  8. Jul 24

    Episode 12: Why We Accept Bad Behavior

    Why do good people stay silent when they see bad behavior? Why do families excuse the child who keeps crossing the line? Why do companies protect toxic employees? Why do churches cover up abuse? Why do political parties defend conduct they once condemned? And why do we act shocked when the consequences finally arrive? In this episode, we explore one of the most powerful—and dangerous—forces in human psychology: normalization. Using the recent controversy surrounding Argentina as the starting point, we examine how bad behavior rarely appears overnight. Instead, it becomes accepted one small compromise at a time. Along the way, we dive into the psychology of conformity, the bystander effect, and why speaking up is often much harder than we imagine. We also explore history—from NASA's Challenger disaster and Enron to FIFA, the Catholic Church, Watergate, and modern politics—to understand how ordinary people, not just bad actors, help create cultures where unacceptable behavior becomes ordinary. This isn't an episode about soccer. It's about all of us. Because the greatest threat to any family, company, church, democracy, or civilization isn't that bad people exist. It's that good people slowly get used to them. Subscribe to be notified when the next episode is released. More at: www.hermanforwood.com

    Episode 12: Why We Accept Bad Behavior
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About

To understand the present, look at the past. The Living Past is a history and current events podcast that connects today’s politics, business, culture, and global events with the historical patterns that came before them. Each episode explores modern issues through historical parallels — not to predict the future, but to give context, perspective, and a clearer way to understand the world we’re living in. Because most things we think are new… aren’t. Current events through the lens of history. More at: hermanforwood.com

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