History Impossible

Alexander von Sternberg
  • 4.5 (239)
  • HISTORIA
  • CADA DOS MESES
History Impossible

History Impossible covers some of the less-known, strange, and supposedly impossible events, people, and ideologies throughout history that are all nonetheless true. The settings and time periods range from the Second World War to ancient Japan to medieval Europe, and many more. The show engages with difficult ideas and impossible decisions that were made by human beings like you or me, always to significant effect. It goes out of its way to grant agency to all of its subjects and does its best to present the most nuanced approach one can, all while acknowledging any personal biases that may exist. You will not find a more honest attempt at presenting difficult and controversial historical topics.

  1. The Original Donald Trump (Throwback Thursday!)

    HACE 22 H

    The Original Donald Trump (Throwback Thursday!)

    Hello all, hope you are doing well. For a long time, I was skeptical of doing “re-runs” of History Impossible’s earlier episodes. I didn’t think that I had the “right” to do so, or something along those lines. Obviously, that’s a silly way of looking at things and, to be honest, it’s counterproductive. Many of you reading or hearing this have been with me since Day One (or near Day One) and many of you have likely gone through the entire show archive, and I love you all to pieces for it. But then I look at the calendar and I remember that it’s been nearly SIX YEARS since I started this little show. Six years is wild to think about. I was just breaking into the time period known as “real adulthood” in my early 30s. It’s certainly wild to think about where the time has gone and all the crazy things that have happened since then, both in my life and in the world around me. That includes a historic presidential election this year, in which for only the second time in American history, a man has been elected for a non-consecutive term. It’s also historic because of his convicted criminal status (putting aside how one might feel about the validity of those convictions or the trials that produced them; this is historically significant no matter how you slice it or how much your mileage may vary). I have had several people ask me for my take on everything that has happened, and I have given it in small doses, but I’ve also had people ask me how I feel about the man—that is, Donald Trump—himself. I don’t have an answer that has pleased many people, but only a fair few likely know it has not changed since 2019, when I started History Impossible. When I started this show, I came very close to beginning it with the “Muslim Nazis” series. But thanks to the advice of my good friend and guru Daniele Bolelli, I came to realize that I would be essentially imposing myself on the historical podcasting audience by asking them to commit to a series that, at the time, I assumed would take a few years (and boy was I right on that estimate, more than I knew). So I went with one-off’s for a while, occasionally foraying into thematic trilogies and two-parters. Some of these were my favorite stories to delve into, even until this very day. But my very first episode was one where I tried to unpack my feelings on Donald Trump from a historically comparative perspective, and looking back on that first episode, I think most of my feelings have remained consistent. I have never liked the “fascism” comparison, much less the “Nazi” comparisons (I think that should just be obvious by now). But historian Niall Ferguson, many years ago now, helped break down just what kind of historical figure Donald Trump is. It inspired me, and, after a couple months of frantic research into the period of time Ferguson discussed in his above-linked talk, I was able to pull together a story about a next-to-unknown man from American history; the “Original Donald Trump,” if you will. And the first episode of History Impossible was born. Because that was so long ago, and because I realized the idea of re-releasing episodes is really no big deal, I figured I would re-release that episode. Also, to be honest, because it has been a while since I released an audio episode for the podcast. Being trapped by a looming thesis prospectus in graduate school and the ongoing writing and research I am doing for my proper class has eaten up large amounts of my time, as has other projects to which I have committed. We still have some episodes coming before the end of the year and—god willing—an interview or two (though those are less certain), but I wanted to give something to those of you who have only recently found my work and just have not found the time to work your way back through six years of content. Now like I said, I...

    2 h y 48 min
  2. Revisionism and Misplaced Empathy: The Darryl Cooper - Tucker Carlson Situation

    2 OCT

    Revisionism and Misplaced Empathy: The Darryl Cooper - Tucker Carlson Situation

    I have, for many years, recommended Darryl Cooper’s hit podcast Martyr Made to the relative handful of people kind enough to listen to my own show and read my thoughts on various publications, including my own Substack. And not to fully bury the lede, I still do, though admittedly with a little more reservation than I might otherwise have only a month earlier. This comes from the piece I wrote for the good folks at Merion West which takes a close look at the claims made last month by my podcasting comrade Darryl Cooper while he was being interviewed on Tucker Carlson’s X show. This is the podcast version, with some tweaks and expansions, but I highly recommend you go read the polished piece over on Merion West. Thank you all for reading and listening.

    1 h y 25 min
  3. The Elites Who Would Play God (w/ CJ Killmer of Dangerous History)

    9 SEPT · CONTENIDO EXTRA

    The Elites Who Would Play God (w/ CJ Killmer of Dangerous History)

    In this newest special episode of History Impossible, I sat down to discuss a super-light topic, one not fraught with intense controversy and tragedy, with my long time friend and podcasting comrade, CJ Killmer, of the Dangerous History Podcast: that is, the topic of eugenics! More accurately, we discussed a particular man in that noteworthy field who CJ discussed on his second-most recent episode (as of this writing; the 12th and newest epic installment of the Woodrow Wilson series he’s been working hard on just released), Dr. Edwin Katzen-Ellenbogen. This man’s storied career included being a pioneer in promoting the pseudo-scientific field that gripped the hearts and minds of American and European elites in the early 20th century, as well as having the worst luck in escaping the Nazis as their reach expanded across Europe while placing Jews like him in the crosshairs. This ultimately worked out for him, in a sick sense, because shortly after being captured and tossed into a camp, he began working with them on some of their notorious human experiments. It has been alleged that he personally murdered at least 1,000 human test subjects by lethal injection. Unlike many of the other Nazis’ collaborators, he was purely in it for himself, and, based on his activities before the war, likely agreed with many of their conclusions. CJ and I spoke not just about this man, and not just about eugenics, but how they—especially eugenics—fit into the broader schema that is the philosophy of progress, that is, Progressivism. It’s at once obvious and shocking. And to help hammer the point home, we close by discussing an underrated piece of 1990s cinema that not only remains great nearly 30 years later, but eerily prescient. So please sit back and enjoy this conversation with CJ Killmer. … History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon, Substack, and PayPal. Please consider donating today to help keep me free and this show alive: David Adamcik Rajan Athul Robert Babeon Michael Beach Benjamin Johannes Breitsameter Carol ABC Charles C Clayton Connell Cliffydeuce CR daddygorgon Danny Lynda Davis Paul DeCoster Neil Dickens Nathan Diehl Bob Downing Dramicas Rob Duval Gavin Edwards Howie Feltersnatch Pierre Ghazarian Jayson Griesmeyer Nathan Grote Benjamin Hamilton Peter Hauck Eric Hodges Carey Hurst Mike Jarulic Joe6245 Russell Johnson Lionel Joseph Thomas Justesen Mike Kalnins Bryn Kaufman Leah Kodner Benjamin Lee Constance Loucks Maddy Mounty of Madness Jose Martinez Mike Mayleben Judy McCoid Kyle Mohney Kostas Moros Ryan Mortenson Cameron Needham Skip Pacheco David Page Molly Pan Jeff Parrent Jean Peters Sr. Powell Brian Pritzl AnaR737 PJ Rader Gleb Radutsky Aleksandr Rakitin Reptilycus Phillip Rice Terry Rosen Chris Rowe Dan S Jon Andre Saether Alison Salo Jake Scalia Emily Schmidt Julian Schmidt Andrew Seeber Joshua Simpson Cameron Smith Jerry Spangler Thomas Squeo Brian Steggeman Pier-Luc St-Pierre Athal Krishna Sundarrajan Jared Cole Temple ChrisTX Ward Van Roy Robert VS Jonny Wilkie Ricky Worthey Michael Wroblewski F. You Greg Zink

    1 h y 34 min
  4. The Yasuke Conspiracy (w/ Sebastian Major of Our Fake History)

    27 AGO · CONTENIDO EXTRA

    The Yasuke Conspiracy (w/ Sebastian Major of Our Fake History)

    To say historians can be pedantic is like saying water is wet. To say gamers and gaming commentators can be pedantic is yet somehow even more of an obvious understatement. So what happens when these two communities clash and/or blend? You get what we could charitably call the Yasuke Conspiracy. As many gamers likely know by now, the insanely popular and long-running Assassin’s Creed series of games has explored multitudes of time periods, aesthetics, and characters from across history, ranging from Renaissance Italy, to Revolutionary America, to Victorian London, to Roman Empire-era Egypt, to, most recently, Viking England. The newest, upcoming game in the series, Assassins Creed Shadows, promises more of this trend, this time taking us to medieval Japan during the Sengoku Jidai, or Warring States period. Sounds all well and good, right? There was one problem, at least in the eyes of many gamers: that one of the two playable characters was not, in fact, Japanese, but African. And not only was he African, he was a purportedly real person from history (a first for the series, whose protagonists have always been fictional). This person was the so-called “African samurai,” Yasuke. And what followed was a firestorm of controversy, bad corporate crisis management, and a historian’s credibility being thrown in the direction of a woodchipper. Being a gamer, and one who enjoys the Assassin’s Creed series, I was aware of the Yasuke controversy, and I was also aware of Yasuke, having come very close several years ago to covering him, but opting instead to cover the far less vague and mythological-seeming story of William Adams, the supposed British samurai. Part of the reason for this choice was due to the fact that there was indeed only one secondary source on Yasuke, and it didn’t seem completely reliable. And sure enough, it was that source that, four years later, became the source of the controversy at hand. To help me make sense of this story, I needed to reach out to someone far more familiar with the material and, more importantly, someone who understood the power of historical myth. I could not find anyone better than my comrade-in-historical-podcasting-arms, Sebastian Major, the host of the phenomenal Our Fake History podcast. Sebastian had indeed covered Yasuke before, so I picked his brain and we discussed the true story of Yasuke and the controversy itself as well as the writer at its center, the now-unfortunately-controversial Thomas Lockley. So please enjoy, as we are joined by Sebastian Major, and attempt to plumb the depths of our fake (impossible) history. … History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon, Substack, and PayPal. Please consider donating today to help keep me free and this show alive: David Adamcik Rajan Athul Robert Babeon Michael Beach Benjamin Johannes Breitsameter Charles C Clayton Connell Cliffydeuce CR daddygorgon Danny Paul DeCoster Neil Dickens Nathan Diehl Bob Downing Dramicas Rob Duval Gavin Edwards Howie Feltersnatch Pierre Ghazarian Jayson Griesmeyer Nathan Grote Benjamin Hamilton Peter Hauck Eric Hodges Carey Hurst Mike Jarulic Joe6245 Russell Johnson Thomas Justesen Mike Kalnins Bryn Kaufman Leah Kodner Benjamin Lee Constance Loucks Maddy Mounty of Madness Jose...

    1 h y 54 min
  5. Why Hajj Amin Matters

    12 AGO · CONTENIDO EXTRA

    Why Hajj Amin Matters

    The following is the audio version of the recent essay addendum to the most recent episode of History Impossible, “The German Voice of Islam.” Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and listen and, when at all possible, support my work. Please consider becoming a patron or paid subscriber to History Impossible at whatever level you feel comfortable. History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon, Substack, and PayPal. Please consider donating today to help keep me free and this show alive: David Adamcik Rajan Athul Robert Babeon Michael Beach Benjamin Johannes Breitsameter Charles C Cliffydeuce CR daddygorgon Danny Paul DeCoster Neil Dickens Nathan Diehl Bob Downing Dramicas Rob Duval Gavin Edwards Howie Feltersnatch Pierre Ghazarian Jayson Griesmeyer Nathan Grote Benjamin Hamilton Peter Hauck Eric Hodges Carey Hurst Mike Jarulic Joe6245 Thomas Justesen Mike Kalnins Bryn Kaufman Leah Kodner Benjamin Lee Constance Loucks Maddy Mounty of Madness Jose Martinez Mike Mayleben Judy McCoid Jim Miller Kyle Mohney Kostas Moros Ryan Mortenson Cameron Needham Skip Pacheco David Page Molly Pan Jeff Parrent Jean Peters Sr. Powell Brian Pritzl AnaR737 PJ Rader Gleb Radutsky Aleksandr Rakitin Reptilycus Phillip Rice Chris Rowe Dan S Jon Andre Saether Alison Salo Jake Scalia Emily Schmidt Julian Schmidt Andrew Seeber Joshua Simpson Cameron Smith Jerry Spangler Thomas Squeo Brian Steggeman Pier-Luc St-Pierre Athal Krishna Sundarrajan Jared Cole Temple ChrisTX Ward Van Roy Robert VS Jonny Wilkie Ricky Worthey Michael Wroblewski F. You Greg Zink

    37 min
  6. The Muslim Nazis: The German Voice of Islam

    22 JUL

    The Muslim Nazis: The German Voice of Islam

    The Third Reich’s so-called war on the Jews was not one that they fought alone. In fact, their war had been being fought for decades before Hitler even took power, perhaps even a full generation. The fight began in the late 19th century in Jerusalem, within the office of the mufti of that city. He was an elderly, serious man who, unlike everyone around him, believed he could read the tea leaves and explain where these land sales to an ever-increasing number of Jews was supposedly heading (despite the fact that he himself was also taking part in these land sales). By the early 1900s, a young boy—the elderly, serious man’s son—was sitting in this office with his father, taking all of this in. No one at the time could have possibly known that this man would come to represent one of the most controversial parts of the Third Reich’s war three quarters of a century after its conclusion, thanks almost entirely to the words he spoke and wrote. This episode of History Impossible returns to the first long-form series, “The Muslim Nazis”, that started it all, three years ago. In this episode, we’ll be looking at what happened when the Nazis began to craft a nearly unprecedented propaganda campaign directed primarily at the world’s Arabs, but also the world’s Muslims as a whole. The propaganda itself—filled with unparalleled invective, racism, and conspiracy-mongering—was not invented whole-cloth by the Nazis. Indeed, it was fine-tuned by the Nazis’ growing cast of Islamic allies, most of whom from embattled nations struggling under the weight of empire and civil war. This cast included that young boy all grown up: the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. Not only is the Grand Mufti’s role in the propaganda campaign examined in this episode, but so are the most consequential claims ever made about the man—namely, his alleged role in the Shoah, which does not cease to cause massive, angry debates around the world. With claims ranging from those made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2015 when he alleged that Hajj Amin is who inspired Hitler to commit the Holocaust, all the way to the Grand Mufti’s dwindling handful of apologists, who either ignore his time spent with the Axis or even outright minimize its importance; this part of our story endeavors to get to the bottom of it all. History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon, Substack, and PayPal. Please consider donating today to help keep me free and this show alive: David Adamcik Rajan Athul Robert Babeon Michael Beach Benjamin Johannes Breitsameter Charles C Cliffydeuce CR daddygorgon Danny Paul DeCoster Neil Dickens Nathan Diehl Bob Downing Dramicas Rob Duval Gavin Edwards Howie Feltersnatch Pierre Ghazarian Jayson Griesmeyer Nathan Grote Benjamin Hamilton Peter Hauck Eric Hodges Carey Hurst Mike Jarulic Joe6245 Thomas Justesen Mike Kalnins Bryn Kaufman Leah Kodner Benjamin Lee Constance Loucks Maddy Mounty of Madness Jose Martinez Mike Mayleben Judy McCoid Jim Miller Kyle Mohney Kostas Moros Ryan Mortenson Cameron Needham Skip Pacheco David Page Molly Pan Jeff Parrent Jean Peters Sr. Powell Brian Pritzl AnaR737 PJ Rader Gleb Radutsky Aleksandr Rakitin Reptilycus Phillip Rice Chris Rowe Dan S Jon Andre Saether Alison Salo Jake Scalia Emily Schmidt Julian Schmidt Andrew Seeber Joshua Simpson Cameron Smith Jerry Spangler Thomas Squeo Brian Steggeman Pier-Luc St-Pierre Athal Krishna Sundarrajan Jared Cole...

  7. Assassinations and Stoic Optimism (w/ The Eastern Border)

    16 JUL · CONTENIDO EXTRA

    Assassinations and Stoic Optimism (w/ The Eastern Border)

    Considering what happened…some thoughts needed to be shared. I’m already working on something for the Substack, and believe it or not, the next episode of the “Muslim Nazis” will actually be up and available for paid supporters of the show within the next day or so. However, given what indeed has happened, involving the former president almost getting his head taken off, a lot of conversation has appeared. My dear friend Kristaps Andrejsons and I decided to sit down to add our voices to this choir (after overcoming some tech-related SNAFU’s that finally resolved themselves). This conversation is also on the Eastern Border feed, but please make sure to subscribe to his podcast because it is among the best out there. Much of what has been said here is likely to change over time, but those in the history and politics space have nothing else to talk about. Please enjoy (as much as one can) this discussion, and consider becoming a paid sub or Patron in order to access an ad-free version of this and the newest proper History Impossible episode. Thank you all for listening.

    1 h y 11 min
  8. Questioning Anti-Zionism, Colonizing Gaza, and Revealing Lenin (w/ David Josef Volodsko)

    11 JUN · CONTENIDO EXTRA

    Questioning Anti-Zionism, Colonizing Gaza, and Revealing Lenin (w/ David Josef Volodsko)

    For this next special installment of History Impossible, we’re joined by the journalist, writer, and fellow podcaster David Josef Volodsko, one of the most well-traveled individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure of speaking to (both in and out of the United States). He is the man behind The Radicalist Substack (which I encourage all of you to subscribe to), but he has also contributed to the Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, Foreign Policy Magazine, The Nation, Bari Weiss’ The Free Press, and most famously (thanks to his abrupt 2023 ouster, which he explained here), the Seattle Times, where he served on the Editorial Board. His sole article under his own byline—“Dear Fremont: We need to talk about Lenin and your statue of the genocidal tyrant”—ignited a firestorm of a historical debate on, where else, Twitter/X, where Washington tankies decided to make it their mission to cost David his job, and for which they ultimately succeeded. He has thankfully bounced back, founding The Radicalist, and appearing on other, far more prestigious podcasts than my own, and spending his time doing deeper dives on political extremism throughout history, as well as provocative examinations of present events, particularly lately Israel’s war in Gaza. David and I spent a little time discussing his ouster, but we spent the majority of the three hours we spoke discussing the deeper themes of some of his essays—namely, his essay discussing how anti-Zionism has, in practice, become anti-Semitism, and his even more provocative but well-considered essay, why colonizing (or occupying) Gaza is likely the only solution moving forward. Much more came up naturally during the conversation, including where the consistently anti-Zionist Christopher Hitchens might have landed in this political moment of ours, the casual and performative cruelty of Briahna Joy Gray and leftists like her, the anti-Israel leftist tradition and the different varieties of protester, and, of course, the legacy of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin al-Husseini. This was a thoroughly enlightening, at times depressing and upsetting, but ultimately productive conversation that I was more than thrilled turned into a three hour epic (after assuming it would likely be less than 90 minutes). Many thanks to David for being so generous with his time and being willing to engage with such difficult subjects. History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon, Substack, and PayPal. Please consider donating today to help keep me free and this show alive: David Adamcik Rajan Athul Robert Babeon Michael Beach Benjamin Johannes Breitsameter Charles C Cliffydeuce CR daddygorgon Paul DeCoster Neil Dickens Nathan Diehl Bob Downing Dramicas Rob Duval Gavin Edwards Howie Feltersnatch Pierre Ghazarian Jayson Griesmeyer Nathan Grote Benjamin Hamilton Peter...

    2 h y 58 min
Ver todo (75)

4.5
de 5
239 calificaciones

Acerca de

History Impossible covers some of the less-known, strange, and supposedly impossible events, people, and ideologies throughout history that are all nonetheless true. The settings and time periods range from the Second World War to ancient Japan to medieval Europe, and many more. The show engages with difficult ideas and impossible decisions that were made by human beings like you or me, always to significant effect. It goes out of its way to grant agency to all of its subjects and does its best to present the most nuanced approach one can, all while acknowledging any personal biases that may exist. You will not find a more honest attempt at presenting difficult and controversial historical topics.

Información

  • Creador
    Alexander von Sternberg
  • Años de actividad
    2019 - 2024
  • Episodios
    75
  • Clasificación
    Explícito
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Alexander von Sternberg
  • Mostrar sitio web
    History Impossible

También te podría interesar

Para escuchar episodios explícitos, inicia sesión.

Mantente al día con este programa

Inicia sesión o regístrate para seguir programas, guardar episodios y enterarte de las últimas novedades.
Elige un país o región

Africa, Oriente Medio e India

Asia-Pacífico

Europa

Latinoamérica y el Caribe

Estados Unidos y Canadá