Podcasts about eurasian

1/8. The Deep History of North American Mammals and the Arrival of Human Predators — Dan Flores — Flores's book Wild New World examines North American fauna spanning 66 million years, detailing the evolutionary processes and intercontinental migration patterns that created the diverse Pliocene animal assemblage. Flores argues that Eurasian animals including deer and elk possessed significant adaptive advantages over indigenous species because they possessed millennia of evolutionary experience with humans functioning as apex predators. Flores emphasizes that humans emerged as a distinctive carnivorous mammalian species possessing unprecedented hunting capabilities, ultimately driving them across continents and oceans in search of prey.

4/8. The Second Eurasian Invasion: Herding Culture, Wolves, and the Birth of the Global Market Economy — Dan Flores — European colonists expressed astonishment regarding the extraordinary abundance of American wildlife following the catastrophic population decline of Native American societies. Flores explains that European settlers possessed a distinctive herding culture and ideology of human exceptionalism—the conviction that animals lack souls and exist solely as human resources. Flores documents that colonists immediately targeted apex predators, particularly wolves, for systematic elimination. Flores argues that this predator-eradication philosophy, combined with the emergence of the global market economy and Adam Smith's ideas of rational self-interest, transformed wild animals into commodities, exemplified by the systematic fur trade targeting beaver populations.

This episode we look at many of the natural events and talk about those observing and writing things down, and why they may have wanted to do so. For more, check out our podcast blogpage:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-139   Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 139: Observing the "Natural" World. Members of the Onmyou-ryou, dressed in the official robes of their office, sat around in their observation tower, measuring the location of the stars.  They kept their light to a minimum, just enough so that they could write down their observations, but not so much that it would destroy their vision.  As they looked up, suddenly they saw a strange movement: a streak through the sky.  They waited, and observed, and then there was another, and another after that.  It was as if the stars themselves were falling from the heavens.  They watched as it seemed that the constellations themselves were melting and falling apart.  Quickly they scribbled down notes.  Tomorrow, with the light of day, they would consult various sources to see just what it could mean.  For now, their role was simply to observe and record.   Welcome back, everyone.  It is the height of holiday season in the US as I record this, and in our narrative we are in the middle of the reign of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, who came to power in 672 and who has been shoring up the Ritsuryo state instigated by his late brother, Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tennou.  We have talked in recent episodes about how Ohoama put a lot of the state under the control of members of the royal family, or at least those with claims to royal blood, and how he had also begun work on the Chronicles—the very works that we have been using to try and understand the history of this and earlier periods.   It seems clear that Ohoama and his cohorts were doing their best to solidify their control and, in the process, create what they felt was a modern state, leveraging the continental model, but not without their own local flavor.  After all, they were also investing in the kami based rituals of state and specifically in Ise shrine, which they claimed as an ancestral shrine for their lineage. This episode, let's dig into another thing that was getting reported around this time.  And that is… science!  Or at least observations of the world and indications of how people were interacting with it. Before going into the subject, I want to acknowledge that "science", or "Kagaku" in modern Japanese, may not look like what we think of as "science" today.  The word "Kagaku" itself appears to come about in the late Edo period, and became associated with the western idea of "Science" in the Meiji period.  Today we think of it as observations, yes, but also testing via the scientific method. I think it might be more appropriate to categorize a lot of earlier science under a term like "learning" or "study", and it seems to have encompassed a wide range of topics of study, some of which we would include as "science" and some which we might refer to more as "arts".  There is also a very fine line with religion and philosophy as well. From a modern perspective, I think one could fairly argue that "science"—particularly the so-called "hard" sciences—refers to something that can be empirically tested via the scientific method.  So you can see something, form a hypothesis, create a test, and then that test should produce the same results no matter who conducts it, assuming you account for the variables. And please don't @ me about this… I know I am simplifying things.  This isn't a podcast about science unless we are talking about the social sciences of history and archaeology. In contrast to our modern concept of science, much of what we see in the Asuka era is built around using our reasoning to arrive at the truth of something.  In cases where we are dealing with clearly physical phenomena that have observable causes and effects, this can lead to remarkably reliable results.  One example of this is calendrical science—it isn't that hard to observe the passing of days and seasons.  Even the rotation of the earth and the movements of stars and even something with as large a period as comets could be observed and tracked, especially if you had centuries of data to comb through.  In fact, they often would predict things that it turns out they couldn't, themselves, see.  They could predict that an eclipse would occur, for example, even when that eclipse was only visible somewhere else.  And they didn't have to calculate gravitational pull, mass, or distances between different heavenly bodies for that to occur. Similarly, in the agricultural sphere: you had so many people who observed the seasons and would figure out new ways of doing things.  It doesn't take an understanding of chlorophyl to know that plants generally do better when exposed to sunlight. I believe the leap happens when you get to things that go beyond purely observable means.  Sickness, for example—how do you explain viruses or germs without equipment like microscopes to see what our eyes alone cannot?  And if such "invisible" things could cause so much damage, then why could there not be other "invisible" elements, such as kami and boddhisatvas?  And as humans we are driven to make connections.  It is one of the things that has driven our technological innovation and rise, but it is also something that can easily go awry.  Like when you are sitting in a dark house, alone, and you hear a noise.  Rationally, you might know that houses settle and creak, but that doesn't necessarily stop your brain from connecting it with thoughts that someone must be in the house making that noise. Or even how we make judgments based on nothing more than how someone talks or what they look like, because our brains have made connections with those things, for good or ill. A large part of the rationalization that was accomplished in Asian thought had to do with concepts of Yin and Yang, the negative and the positive, the dark and the light.  This was thought of as a kind of energy—qi or ki—that was embedded in things.  We discussed this somewhat back in episode 127, because yin yang theory, along with the five element theory, known as Wuxing or Gogyou in Japanese, became embedded in the idea of the calendar.  Why was summer hot, except that it was connected with an excess of fire energy?  And the cold, dark days of winter would be associated with an excess of water, naturally. I should note that while this is one of the more comprehensive philosophical systems in use, it was not the only means by which various phenomena and effects were rationalized.  After all, it had to be imposed on a framework of how the world otherwise worked, and descriptions of the world came from a variety of places.  There was, for example, the Classic of Mountains and Seas, or Sanhaijing, which detailed the world as envisioned in the period before the Qin dynasty, although there were occasional updates.  The Sanhaijing  described regular plants and animals in the same breath as gods and monsters.  There were also various buddhist sutras, which brought their own cosmological view of the universe that had to be squared with other visions, including those passed down locally describing the archipelago as the "Reed Plain" and giving particular importance to eight of the islands—though which eight depends on which variant of the creation myth you are referencing. To categorize the study of the natural—and what we would consider the supernatural—world around them, the Ritsuryou set up specific bureaus.  One of these was the Onmyou-ryou, the Bureau of Yin-yang, also known as the Onyo no Tsukasa.  This Bureau oversaw divination, astronomy, time, and calendars.  At its head was the Onmyou-no-kami.  Below them were the various scholars studying the core subjects, as well as technical practitioners to carry out the rites and divination. On the continent, priority was generally given to astronomical and calendrical studies, and many of the more magical practices or rituals would fade away, likely because there were local Taoist institutions who could take up much of that work.  In Japan, however, it seems that the calendrical studies tended to ossify, instead, while onmyoji came to fill a role not just for the state but also among the population for divination and other such practices.  Even into the Edo period one could find private onmyoji, and the Bureau itself lasted until the very beginning of the Meiji period. Another important institution of the Ritsuryo government for learning was the Daigakuryou, the Bureau of Great Learning.  Students of Japanese may recognize the term "Daigaku" referring, today, to universities. The original concept for the Daigaku-ryou, or Daigaku no Tsukasa, was focused on the study of those things that were considered perhaps a bit more practical and necessary to anyone who might want a political career.  Since this was founded on concepts of Confucian government, it is little wonder that it was originally designed to focus on Confucian studies, among other things.  This fits into the idea of a supposed meritocracy, where one's education was part of the examination.  You may recall from Episode 115 we talked about the National University in Chang'an, which is likely something that the Daigaku Ryou could only ever dream of becoming. Early arts taught at the Daigaku Ryou included the Confucian classics, mathematics, writing, and Chinese pronunciation.  These were all things that you would need to know to become a part of the bureaucracy The idea of a school may have been born along with the early institution of the government, with mention as early as 671, in the last year of Naka no Oe's reign, but we don't have it clearly established in the code until later.  Full operations may have been somewhat delayed due to the tumultuous events of Ohoama's accession to power in 672, but we do see it explicitly mentioned in the year 675.  On the first day of the year we are told that Students from the Daigaku Ryou, along with students from the Onmyou-Ryou and from the Gaiyaku Ryou, the Bureau of External Medicine; along with the Woman of S'ravasti, the Woman of Tara, Prince Syeonkwang of Baekje, and Silla labourers offered presents of drugs and various rarities. We talked about the first two, the Daigaku-ryou and the Onmyou-ryou, but the Gaiyaku Ryou doesn't seem to have a lot of information out there beyond this mention.  Later there would a "Ten'yaku Ryou", or Bureau of Medicine, established in the code.  Since we don't have any extant codes from this period beyond what was written down in the Nihon Shoki, we don't know for certain what the Gaiyaku-ryou was , and it is possible that the Gaiyaku-Ryou was a precursor to the Ten'yaku Ryou.  "GAI" means "outside" or "external", leading me to wonder if this referred to external medicine in contrast to internal medicine, or if it meant medicine or drugs from outside teh archipeloago. I would point out that these students are found with the Woman of S'ravasti, or Shae; the Woman of Tara; a Baekje prince and Silla labourers.  In other words, they were all people from outside of the archipelago.  This is not entirely surprising as it was from outside that much of the learning was coming into the country. "Yaku" or "Kusuri", which can be translated as either "Drugs" or "medicine", could refer to a number of things.  How effective they were is somewhat questionable. Almost certainly some of them had confirmed medicinal efficacy, but others may have been thought to have been effective due to things like their connection to the five elements, or wuxing, theory. For example, something red might be assumed to have a warming effect because of the presumed presence of the fire element.  And the power of the placebo effect no doubt made them seem at least partially effective.  Consider, for example, how many people will swear by certain remedies for the common cold when all it really does is distract you, or perhaps make you a bit more comfortable, until the symptoms pass on their own. A more certain science was probably that of Astronomy, which we've mentioned a few times.  The passage of the stars through the sky was something that could be easily observed.  There is a theory that some of the first lines in the Yijing, or book of changes, may actually be a description of the changing of seasons as different aspects of a given constellation rise over the horizon, and the placement of certain stars would help in the adjustment of the lunar calendar, since the moon's orbit does not match up exactly with the solar year, and year the solar year was quite important to things like agriculture and even sailing to the mainland. This all makes 675 a seemingly banner year for science, as four days after the presentation of medicine to the throne, the government erected a platform by which to observe the stars.  This wouldn't need to be much—it could have been an earthen mound, or just a tower, from which one could get above the ground, presumably see over any buildings, to the horizon.  Granted, Asuka might not be the best place for such observations, with the nearby mountains meaning that the true horizon is often obstructed.  Nonetheless, it may have been enough to make calculations. Astronomy platforms, or Tenmondai, would continue to be used up until at least the Meiji period.  Without a telescope, observations were somewhat limited—though they also didn't have the same level of light pollution that we have today.  Remember, many woke just before dawn and went to sleep not too long after the sun went down, which only makes sense when you are living in a place where creating light, while doable, also ran the risk of burning your entire house to the ground. It is worth noting that the sky for the ancient Japanese was likely quite different than what most of us see when we look up, unless you are fortunate enough to live in a place with very little light pollution.  For many of those living today in the cities and suburban landscape, go outside at night and you might see the moon and some of the brightest stars, but for most of the ancient Japanese, they would look up and see the heavenly river, the Amakawa, or Milky Way.  They would have looked up at a sky glittering with myriad dots of light, as well as planets and more.  It was both familiar and strange—something one saw regularly and yet something that was also extremely inaccessible. Astronomical observations would have been important for several reasons, as I've mentioned.  They would have been used to keep the calendar in check, but they would also have likely been used to help calibrate the water clock, which helped to tell time.  Of course, going back to the five elements and yin yang theory, it is also believed that the energy, the qi or ki, changed with the seasons and the movements of the stars and planets—planets were not known as such, of course, but their seemingly erratic movements compared to bright lights in the sky meant they were noticed and assigned values within the elemental system. One of the things that came with the changing seasons, the heavenly movements, and the flow of ki was a concept of "kata-imi", literally directional taboos.  There were times when certain directions might be considered favorable or unfavorable for various actions.  This could be something as simple as traveling in a given direction.  In the centuries to come this would spawn an entire practice of kata-tagae, or changing direction.  Is the north blocked, but you need to travel there, anyway?  Well just go northwest to say hello to a friend or visit your local sake brewery, and then travel due east.  Ta-da!  You avoided going directly north!  There were also mantra-like incantations that one might say if they had to travel in an inauspicious direction to counteract the concept of bad influences. This also influenced various other things, and even today you will often see dates where a year and month might be followed by simply the character for "auspicious day" rather than an actual day of the month. So observing the heavens was important, and it was also important that they tostudy the works of those on the continent, whose records could help predict various astronomical phenomena.  Except that there was one tiny problem:  I don't know if you've noticed, but Japan and China are in two different locations.  Not all astronomical phenomena can be observed from all points of the globe.  The Northern Lights, for example, are rarely seen in more southerly latitudes, and while eclipses are not too rare, a total eclipse only impacts certain areas of the earth, along relatively narrow paths. I mention this because it isn't always clear if the records we get in the Nihon Shoki are about phenomena they directly observed or if they are taking reports from elsewhere and incorporating them into the narrative.  One such event is the comet of 676. The entry in the Nihon Shoki tells us that in the 7th lunar month of the 5th year of Temmu Tennou, aka 676 CE, a star appeared in the east that was 7 or 8 shaku in length.  It disappeared two months later. We've mentioned some of this before, but the sky was divided up into "shaku", or "feet", though how exactly it was measured I'm not entirely sure.  It appears to be that one foot was roughly 1.5 degrees of the sky, give or take about a quarter of a degree, with 180 degrees from horizon to horizon.  So it would have been about 10 to 12 degrees in the sky.  Another way to picture it is if you hold out your arm towards the object, and spread your index and little finger, it would probably fit between those two points.  This comet hung around for some time, and a great part about a comet like this is that it was viewable from multiple locations.  After all, as the earth turned, different areas were exposed to the comet as it passed through our part of the solar system.  Thus we have records of it from not just the Nihon Shoki:  We also find it in the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, where it was thought to have foretold the end of Bishop Wilfred's control of Northumbria.  We also see it in Tang, Silla, and Syrian sources. These sources aren't always in complete agreement.  For one thing, they noted when they first saw it, which might have been impacted by local conditions.  And then conversion between lunar and solar calendars can also sometimes get in the way.  Roughtly speaking, we have the Nihon Shoki providing dates of somewhere from about August or September of 676, on the Western calendar, to October or November. Tang sources put it from 4 September to 1 November.  Silla Chronicles claim that it first appeared in the 7th lunar month, so between August and September.  A Syrian Chronicle notes a comet from about 28 August to 26 October in the following year, 677, but this is thought to have been a mistake.  European sources generally seem to claim it was seen in August and lasted for three months.  All of these sightings put it at roughly the same time. Working with that and with known comets, we think we actually know which comet this is:  The Comet de Cheseaux also known as the Comet Klinkenberg-Cheseaux.  And I should mention this is all thanks to a research paper by M. Meyer and G. W. Kronk.  In that paper they propose that this is the comet with the designation of C/1743 X1, or the common names I just mentioned.  If so, based on its trajectory, this comet would have been visible in 336, 676, 1032, 1402, 1744, and is next predicted to show up in 2097.  And no, those aren't all exactly the same amount of time.  It is roughly every 350 years or so, but with the movements of the solar system, the planets, and various gravitational forces that likely slow or speed up its movement, it doesn't show up on exactly regular intervals.  Still, it is pretty incredible to think that we have a record of a comet that was seen the world over at this time, by people looking up from some very different places. Comets were something interesting for early astronomers.  They may have originally been seen as particularly ominous—after all, in the early eras, they were hardly predictable, and it would take years to get enough data to see that they were actually a somewhat regular occurrence.  In fact, it is likely that early astronomers were able to figure out eclipse schedules before comets.  Still, they seem to have come to the realization that comets were in fact another type of natural and reoccurring phenomenon.  That isn't to say that they didn't have any oracular meaning, but it did mean they were less of an obvious disturbance of the heavenly order. We have another comet mentioned in the 10th lunar month of 681, but that one seems to have had less attention focused on it, and we don't have the same details.  Then in the 8th lunar month of 682 we have an entry about a Great Star passing from East to West—which was probably a shooting star, rather than a comet.  Comets, for all that they appear to be streaking across the sky thanks to their long tails, are often relatively stable from an earthbound perspective, taking months to appear and then disappear again. Then, on the 23rd day of the 7th month of 684 we get another comet in the northwest.  This one was more than 10 shaku in length—about 15 degrees, total, give or take.  Given the date, we can be fairly confident about this one, as well: it was the famous Halley's comet.  Halley's comet is fascinating for several reasons.  For one, it has a relatively short period of about 72 to 80 years, though mostly closer to 75 to 77 years in between sightings.  The last time it visited the earth was in 1986, and it is expected back in 2061.  Halley's comet has been recorded since the 3rd century BCE, and, likely because of its short period, it was the first periodic comet to be recognized as such.  There are other periodic comets with short periods, but many of them are not visible with the naked eye.  Halley's comet is perhaps the most studied comet, given its regular and relatively short periodicity.  It is also connected to the famous writer, humorist, and essayist, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, aka Mark Twain.  He was born only a few days after the comet reached perihelion in 1835 and died a day after it reached the same point again in 1910, and while he may not have visited Japan in his lifetime, it was a period of great change both in his home country of America and in Japan.  America, of course, would undergo a Civil War over the issue of slavery in the early 1860s, and shortly after that Japan would have its own civil war in the form of the Meiji Revolution.  And while he never visited—and translation could only do so much to capture the art of his prose—Mark Twain's works were apparently quite influential in Japan in the early 20th century. Of course, comets were just one of the celestial phenomena to be observed.  The astronomers were interested in just about anything happening in the sky.  We have accounts of both solar and lunar eclipses, and not necessarily full eclipses either.  We even have notice of the movement of some planets, such as in 681, when they noted that the planet mars "entered" the moon. Obviously the astronomers weren't recording every raincloud that came through—at least not in the main chronicles—but they did capture a fair number of events.  They did record particularly memorable storms.  For instances, in the 8th lunar month of 675 there was a storm that is said to have caused sand to fly and which then damaged houses.  This sounds like a wind storm without rain—after all, if there was rain, you would expect that the sand would have been wet and tamped down.  It is possible to have hurricane level winds without the rain.  While typhoons typically bring rain, especially as they usually build up their strength at sea, it is possible to have the winds alone, as I've experienced, myself, in Tokyo.  This most likely happens in an isolated area—there is water and rain somewhere, but the typhoon can be large, so parts of it may only get the wind and little or no rain.  I wonder if something like that happened in this instance.  It is also possible that this record refers to actual sand being brought across from the continent.  In some instances, sand can be lifted up from as far away as Mongolia and carried all the way to Japan, though it is pretty rare. And it wasn't just wind and sand.  We get accounts of hail coming down as large as peaches, torrential rainstorms, and even ash, likely from a volcanic eruption that was otherwise unrecorded.  There are also accounts of snow, though typically recorded in times where you wouldn't expect to see it, such as the third lunar month, which would mean snow in late April or early May. Mostly these storms are mentioned in terms of how they affected the immediate fortunes of the living, but sometimes storms did even more damage.  In 682, for example, a hoar-frost was reported in both Shinano and Kibi in the 7th lunar month.  On its own, this probably wouldn't have been worth mentioning, but the chroniclers add that because of storms the "five grains had not formed".  So storms had diminished the crops and the hoar-frost was apparently the killing blow.  The harvest that year would be lean, and it would not be a happy time for many that winter. And then, just as important as what was happening was what was not.  There are several mentions of droughts, particularly towards the end of Spring, early Summer.  This is traditionally a drier period, and if it is too dry it could harm the harvest.  And so the government was expected to find a way to bring the rain—a tall order, the general resolution to which seems to be prayers and rituals designed to bring rain.  In a place like Japan, I suspect that it was usually just a matter of time before the prayers were "successful", thus reinforcing their presumed efficacy. Some of the things that they recorded were a bit more mysterious.  For example, in the second lunar month of 680 we are told that a sound like drums was heard from the East.  There are many things this could theoretically be, from rumbles of thunder to some other phenomenon, though the following year we have a note about thunder in the West, so theoretically they knew the difference between thunder and drums.  Later that same year, 680, we are told that there was a "brightness" in the East from the hour of the dog to the hour of the rat—about 8pm to midnight.  Was this some kind of aurora?  But wouldn't that have been in the north, rather than the east?    Could it have been some kind of lightning?  But that is a long time for a lightning storm to hang around.  And there are other strange things, some of which seem impossible and we have to doubt.  For example, in 684 they said that, at dusk, the seven stars of the Big Dipper drifted together to the northeast and sank.  Unless they are just recording the natural setting of the stars of the big dipper.  Certainly, over time the constellation appears to rotate around the north star, and it dips down to or below the horizon in the autumn months.  So were they just talking about the natural, yearly setting of the stars, or something else? There may be some clues in that the 11th lunar month, when that was recorded, we see several other heavenly phenomena recorded.  Two days after the Big Dipper set, at sunset, a star fell in the eastern quarter of the sky that we are told was as large as a jar.  Later, the constellations were wholly disordered and stars fell like rain.  That same month, a star shot up in the zenith and proceeded along with the Pleiades until the end of the month.  While this sounds like shooting stars and a possible meteor shower, a later commenter suggested that this was all a heavenly omen for the state of the court, showing the "disordered" state of the nobility at this time.  Of course, this was also a year and change before the sovereign's eventual passing, so there is also the possibility that the Chroniclers were looking at events later and ascribing meaning and importance after the fact. In another account of something seemingly wonderous: in 682 we are told that something shaped like a Buddhist flag, colored like flame, was seen by all of the provinces and then sank into the Japan sea north of Koshi.  A white mist is also said to have risen up from the Eastern mountains. There are various things that could be going on here.  It strikes me that the white mist could be a cloud, but could also be something volcanic.  And the flame colored prayer flag makes me think about how a high cloud can catch the light of the rising or setting sun.  That could look like a flag, and can seem extremely odd depending on the other conditions in the sky. Or maybe it was aliens. Okay, it is unlikely that it was aliens, but I think that these do give an idea of the kinds of records that were being made about the observed phenomena.  Obviously the Nihon Shoki is recording those things that were considered particularly significant for whatever reason.  This could just be because it was something odd and unexplained, or perhaps it was more well known but rare.  It may have even had religious connotations based on some aspect, like evoking the image of Buddhist flags.  And it is possible that it was thought to have had significant impact on events—perhaps even an impact that isn't clear to us today, many centuries removed from the events. Some things were clear, however.  Lightning strikes are often mentioned specifically when they strike something of note.  In 678, we are told that a pillar of the Western Hall of the New Palace was struck by lightning, though apparently the building itself survived.  Then, in 686, Lighting appeared in the southern sky with a large roar of thunder.  A fire broke out and caught the tax cloth storehouse of the Ministry of Popular affairs, which immediately exploded in flames.  After all, a thatched roofed, wooden building filled with kindling in the form of cloth—and likely a  fair amount of paper and writing supplies to keep track of it all—sounds like a bonfire waiting to happen.  There were reports that the fire had actually started in Prince Osakabe's palace and then spread to the Ministry of Popular Affairs from there. It is also worth noting that recording of such events was still somewhat new to the archipelago as a whole. They were learning from the continent, but also defining their own traditions. Observations of natural phenomena weren't just relegated to celestial occurrences or weather.  After all, there was something else that one could observe in the sky:  birds.  Now this wasn't your average bird-watching—though I'm not saying that there weren't casual birders in ancient Japan, and if we ever find someone's birding diary from that era I think that would be so cool.  But there were some things that were significant enough to be mentioned. For example, in 678 we get a report of "atori", or bramblings.  Bramblings are small songbirds which are found across Eurasia.  Notably they are migratory, and are known to migrate in huge flocks especially in the winter time, and sure enough on the 27th day of the 12th month we are told that the bramblings flew from the southwest to the northeast, covering the entire sky.  This makes me think about some of the other mass migrations that used to occur that have largely been reduced significantly due to habitat loss, disruption to traditional migratory routes, and other population pressures on various bird species.  Still, having so many birds that it blocked out the sky certainly seems a significant event to report on.  We later see a similar account in 680, with the flock moving from southeast to northwest.  Given the location of Asuka it sounds like they were flocking in the mountains and heading out over the Nara Basin, perhaps seeking food in another mountainous area. In 682, the birders were at it again.  This time, around midday on the 11th day of the 9th lunar month, several hundreds of cranes appeared around the Palace and soared up into the sky.  They were there for about two hours before they dispersed.  Once again, cranes are migratory and known to flock.  Cranes are also known as a symbol of long life and joy—and I can understand it.  Have you ever seen a flock of cranes?  They are not small birds, and they can be really an incredible sight.  Flocks of cranes themselves were probably not that rare, and it was no doubt more about so many gathering around the palace which made it particularly special. It wasn't just birds in the sky that were considered important symbols, though.  Birds often are noted as auspicious omens.  Usually strange birds, plants, or other such things are found in various provinces and presented to the throne.    So in 675, Yamato presented auspicious "barn-door fowl", likely meaning a fancy chicken.  Meanwhile, the Eastern provinces presented a white falcon and the province of Afumi presented a white kite.  Chickens are associated with the sun and thus with the sun goddess, Amaterasu, and albino versions of animals were always considered auspicious, often being mentioned in Buddhist sources.  Later, in 680, we see a small songbird, a "Shitodo", also described as white, and probably albino, sent to the court from nearby Settsu. Then, in 681 there is mention of a red sparrow.  Red coloration is not quite the same as albinism, though it is something that does occur at times, when the brownish coloration comes out more red than brown, and I suspect this is what we are talking about.  This is most likely just a recessed gene or genetic mutation, similar to causes for albinism, but just in a different place in the DNA.  As for why it was important:  I'd first and foremost note that anything out of the ordinary (and even some ordinary things) could be considered a sign.   Red was also seen as an auspicious color, so that may have had something to do with it as well.  And then there is the concept of Suzaku, the red bird of the south.  Suzaku is usually depicted as an exotic bird species of some kind, like how we might depict a phoenix.  But it was also just a "red bird", so there is that, and perhaps that was enough.  Not that this red sparrow was "Suzaku", but evoked the idea of the southern guardian animal.  A year prior, in 680, a red bird—we aren't told what kind—had perched on a southern gate, which even more clearly screams of the Suzaku aesthetic. It is probably worth noting here that in 686, towards the end of the reign, not that anyone knew it at the time, Ohoama decided to institute a new nengo, or regnal period.  It was called Shuuchou—red or vermillion bird—and it likely referred to Suzaku.  This nengo was cut short, however, with Ohoama's death that same year.  Nengo were often chosen with auspicious names as a kind of hope for the nation, so clearly "red bird" was considered a good thing. A month after the red sparrow, Ise sent a white owl, and then a month after that, the province of Suwou sent a red turtle, which they let loose in the pond at the Shima palace.  Again, these were probably just examples of animals seen as auspicious, though they would have likely been recorded by the Onmyou-ryou, who would have likely combed through various sources and precedents to determine what kind of meaning might be attached to them. Color wasn't the only thing that was important.  In 682, the Viceroy of Tsukushi reported that they had found a sparrow with three legs.  There are numerous reasons why this could be, but there is particular significance in Japan and Asia more generally.  A three legged bird is often associated with the sun Andusually depicted as a black outline of a three legged bird inside of a red sun.  In Japan this was often conflated with the Yata-garasu, the Great Crow, which is said to have led the first mythical sovereign, Iware Biko, to victory in his conquest of Yamato.  Thus we often see a three legged crow depicted in the sun, which was an object of particular veneration for the Wa people from centuries before.  And I suspect that the little three-legged sparrow from Tsukushi  I suspect that this had particular significance because of that image. Animals were not the only auspicious things presented to the throne.  In 678, Oshinomi no Miyatsuko no Yoshimaro presented the sovereign with five auspicious stalks of rice.  Each stalk, itself, had other branches.  Rice, of course, was extremely important in Japan, both from a ritual and economic sense, so presenting rice seems appropriate.  Five stalks recalls things like the five elemental theory—and in general five was consider a good number.  Three and five are both good, prime numbers, while four, pronounced "Shi", sounds like death and is considered inauspicious.  Three, or "San" is sometimes associated with life, and five is associated with the five elements, but also just the fact that it is half of ten, and we have five fingers on one hand and in so many other ways, five is regarded as a good number in much of Asia. That the stalks had multiple branches likely referred to them bearing more than the usual amount of rice on them, which seems particularly hopeful.  Certainly the court thought so.  In light of the auspicious gift, all sentences of penal servitude and lower were remitted.  In 680, Officials of the Department of Law gave tribute of auspicious stalks of grain, themselves.  I'm not sure, in this case, that it was all that they hoped, however, as that began three days straight of rain and flooding. A year earlier, in 679, we are told that the district of Ito, in Kii, immediately south of Yamato, sent as tribute the "herb of long life".  We are told that it "resembled" a mushroom—probably meaning it was a mushroom, or maybe something formed into a mushroom shape.  But the stem was about a foot long and the crown was two spans, about 6 feet in diameter.  This is pretty incredible, and I have to wonder if there is a bit of exaggeration going on here. Another tribute was a horn found on Mt. Katsuraki.  It branched into two at the base, was united at the end, and had some flesh and hair still attached, about an inch in length.  They claimed it must be horn or a Lin, or Kirin, sometimes referred to as an Asian unicorn—a mythical creature considered to be quite auspicious and benevolent.  This was on the 26th day in the 2nd lunar month of the year 680, probably around March or April.  I highly suspect that what they found was an oddly shaped bit of antler from  a buck whose antlers had begun to come in and which might have been taken out by wolves or bears or something else altogether.  The fact that the ends were said to be fused together could just be referring to some kind of malformation of the antlers.  The fur and flesh could mean that the antlers were still growing—antlers would probably just be coming in around early spring time.  Still, there is no telling how long it was there, so it could have been from the previous year as well.  Attributing it to a kirin seems a bit of a stretch, but it was clearly something unusual. Animals and plants were recorded in tribute, but also when something odd happened.  Fruiting out of season was one such occurrence, which we've seen elsewhere in the chronicles as well.  There was even a record when the famous Tsuki tree outside of Asukadera had a branch fall down.  Presumably it was a large and noticeable branch, and by now this appears to have been a tree with a bit of age to it that had seen a lot, so it makes sense it got a mention. Finally, we go from the heavens to the earth.    Perhaps the most numerous observations in the Chronicles were the earthquakes.  We've noted in the past that Japan is extremely active, volcanically speaking, so it makes sense that there are multiple accounts of earthquakes each year, especially if they were compiling reports from around the country.  Most of these are little more than just a note that there was an earthquake, but a few stand out. The first is the 12th lunar month of 678.  We are told that there was a large earthquake in Tsukushi—modern Kyushu. The ground split open to the width of about 20 feet for more than 30,000 feet.  Many of the commoners' houses in the area were torn down.  In one place there was a house atop a hill, and though the hill crumbled down the house somehow remained intact.  The inhabitants had apparently been home and must have been oblivious, as they didn't realize anything had happened until they woke up the next morning. Again, probably a bit of hyperbole in here, but if we think back to things like the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, where large areas of land shifted noticeably along the fault lines, it is likely that this was a similar or even more catastrophic event.  And here I'll give a quick plug for Kumamoto, which is still working to rebuild from the earthquake, and if you ever get a chance, I recommend a visit to the Kumamoto Earthquake Memorial Museum or Kioku, where you can see for yourself just how powerful mother nature can be. Another powerful earthquake was mentioned in the 10th lunar month of 684.  If the earthquake in Tsukushi had hit mostly agricultural areas, based on the description, this seems to have hit more populated regions.  We are told that it started in the dark of night, the hour of the boar, so about 10pm, give or take an hour.  The shaking was so bad that throughout the country men and women cried out and were disoriented—they could not tell east from west, a condition no doubt further hindered by the dark night sky.  There were mountain slides and rivers changed course, breaking their banks and flooding nearby areas.  Official buildings of the provinces and districts, the barns and houses of the common people, and the temples, pagodas, and shrines were all destroyed in huge numbers.  Many people and domestic animals were killed or injured.  The hot springs of Iyo were dried up and ceased to flow.  In the province of Tosa, more than 500,000 shiro of cultivated land sank below sea level.  Old men said that they had never seen such an earthquake.  On that night there was a rumbling noise like that of drums heard in the east—possibly similar to what we had mentioned earlier.  Some say that the island of Idzu, aka Vries Island, the volcanic island at the entrance of Edo Bay, increased on the north side by more than 3,000 feet and that a new island had been formed.  The noise of the drums was attributed to the gods creating that island. So here we have a catastrophic quake that impacted from Iyo, on the western end of Shikoku, all the way to the head of Edo Bay, modern Tokyo.  This appears to be what seismologists have labelled a "Nankai Trough Megathrust Earthquake".  Similar quakes have occurred and are predicted to occur in the future., along a region of Japan from the east coast of Kyushu, through the Seto Inland Sea, including Shikoku, through the Kii peninsula and all the way to Mt. Fuji.  The Nankai Trough, or Southern Sea Trough, is the area where the continental shelf drops down, and where the Philippine tectonic plate slips underneath the Eurasian—or more specifically the Amuric—plate.  As these plates move it can cause multiple events all along the trough at the same time.  Since being regularly recorded, these quakes have been noted every 100 to 150 years, with the last one being the Showa Nankai quakes of 1944 and 1946. For all of the destruction that it brought, however, apparently it didn't stop the court.  Two days after this devastating quake we are told that Presents were made to the Princes and Ministers.  Either they weren't so affected in the capital, or perhaps the date given for one of the two records is not quite reliable.  Personally, I find it hard to believe that there would be presents given out two days later unless they were some form of financial aid.  But what do I know?  It is possible that the court itself was not as affected as other areas, and they may not have fully even grasped the epic scale of the destruction that would later be described in the Chronicles, given the length of time it took to communicate messages across the country. Which brings us back to the "science" of the time, or at least the observation, hoping to learn from precedence or piece out what messages the world might have for the sovereign and those who could read the signs.  While many of the court's and Chronicler's conclusions may give us pause, today, we should nonetheless be thankful that they at least decided to keep notes and jot down their observations.  That record keeping means that we don't have to only rely on modern records to see patterns that could take centuries to reveal themselves.  Sure, at this time, those records were  still a bit spotty, but it was the start of something that would be remarkably important, and even though these Chronicles may have been focused on propaganda, the fact that they include so many other references are an incalculable boon to us, today, if we can just see to make the connections.  And with that, I think I've rambled enough for this episode.  We still have a couple more to fully cover this period. Until then, if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  

How can a golf course become a place for nature and people to thrive? Ajay Tegala visits Sandilands in Lincolnshire over its first year as the once manicured lawns transform into a wetland habitat. But with one of the driest springs on record, can Sandilands go from one birdie to another? Will there be enough water for wading birds return?   [Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure. Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more. Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/      Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust's YouTube channel:   https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts        Production  Presenter: Ajay Tegala  Producer: Marnie Woodmeade  Sound designer: Jesus Gomez   Contributors  Carl Hawke  Kirsty James  Dave Miller Special Credit: A big thanks to Jannis Bonner, composer student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, for their collaboration to this episode with the track "Breath of the Canopy". Eurasian booming bittern sfx: Author: Niels Krable  Link: https://xeno-canto.org/100296  Discover more If you want to visit Sandilands or keep up to date with their progress you can find them here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/sandilands  Follow us @wildtalesnt Instagram account  Image credit: ©National Trust Images/Rob Coleman If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk 

David Sakurai is a Eurasian actor, writer and producer. He's best known for playing The Dragon in Ghost of Yotei. In this episode David and I discuss his career, Ghost of Yotei, The Dragon, samurai films, avoiding burnout, his toughest role, loving your craft, and creating your own opportunities. David's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidsakurai/

In 2016, Ludovic Orlando, a genetics researcher, embarked on the Pegasus Project, an ambitious endeavor to use genetics to discover the origin of the modern horse. There were plenty of theories as to who domesticated horses first–but Ludovic's team came up with their answer: They emerged on the western Eurasian steppe around 4200 years ago. But that revelation was only the beginning of Ludovic's work, as he dug into the genetic origins of different kinds of horses, like the Arabian horse, as well as charted how the horse's genetic diversity changed over time. His research is collected in his new book Horses: A 4,000-Year Genetic Journey Across the World (Princeton UP, 2025) Ludovic Orlando is a CNRS Silver Medal–winning research director and founding director of the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse at the University of Toulouse in France. His work has appeared in leading publications such as Nature, Science, and Cell. He is a recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Newcomb Cleveland Prize. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Horses. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In 2016, Ludovic Orlando, a genetics researcher, embarked on the Pegasus Project, an ambitious endeavor to use genetics to discover the origin of the modern horse. There were plenty of theories as to who domesticated horses first–but Ludovic's team came up with their answer: They emerged on the western Eurasian steppe around 4200 years ago. But that revelation was only the beginning of Ludovic's work, as he dug into the genetic origins of different kinds of horses, like the Arabian horse, as well as charted how the horse's genetic diversity changed over time. His research is collected in his new book Horses: A 4,000-Year Genetic Journey Across the World (Princeton UP, 2025) Ludovic Orlando is a CNRS Silver Medal–winning research director and founding director of the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse at the University of Toulouse in France. His work has appeared in leading publications such as Nature, Science, and Cell. He is a recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Newcomb Cleveland Prize. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Horses. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon.

Trees for Life is to launch a pioneering Missing Species Programme to bring back four of Scotland's lost keystone animals - lynx, beavers, red squirrels, and modern-day aurochs - to the Scottish Highlands. The plans aim to tackle the nature and climate emergencies while generating significant benefits for communities, including through nature tourism, says the rewilding charity. This ambitious programme will require £3.6m to fund its first five years and achieve its aims, including for detailed habitat assessments and community engagement to meet Scotland's strict licensing requirements. Aurochs will benefit landscapes Alongside a supporter appeal launched this month to raise an initial £25,000 to kickstart the initiative, Trees for Life is reaching out to major funders - including individuals, businesses, foundations and grant-making bodies - to help resource the ambitious new programme. Keystone species play a vital role in healthy living ecosystems. Many such species are now fully or mostly missing from Scotland, one of the world's most nature-depleted countries, where centuries of persecution and habitat destruction have caused localised extinctions or serious declines. "By bringing back the forest-planting red squirrel, flood-preventing beaver, deer-managing lynx, and landscape-shaping aurochs through their modern-day descendant the tauros, we can restore nature at scale and breathe new life into the Highlands, so people and wildlife can thrive together," said Trees for Life's chief executive Steve Micklewright. "Returning these four important, carefully-chosen architects of the wild is about restarting the natural engines of Scotland's ecosystems - boosting biodiversity, climate action and local economies, and giving people the chance to discover the wonder of a wilder landscape. The Highlands can become a beacon of hope in the fight against extinction and wildlife loss." Ensuring successful coexistence between wildlife and people is crucial, says Trees for Life. This includes thorough community discussions, management measures, and ensuring local people can enjoy the social and economic benefits. Successful species reintroductions in Scotland require extensive technical work, including habitat assessments and engagement with stakeholders, meeting the standards set by NatureScot, Scotland's nature agency. This allows nature to recover, while promoting coexistence between people and wildlife, and ensuring each species finds its rightful place. Beavers create wetlands that support wildlife, purify water, and reduce flooding. Sometimes the species can cause issues for farmland, although these can usually be managed. Officially reintroduced to Scotland in 2009 after being hunted to extinction 400 years ago, beavers have only been restored to a few sites, and are missing from much suitable habitat. A Trees for Life and Forestry and Land Scotland partnership project led to the historic reintroduction of beavers to Glen Affric in October. A community discussion by Trees for Life and Beaver Trust is looking at the potential for returning beavers to the Loch Ness area. Elusive and no threat to humans, the forest-dwelling Eurasian lynx preys on deer, complementing other methods of managing deer numbers - enabling more young trees to survive and woodlands to regenerate. Scotland - where lynx were made extinct in the Middle Ages - is one of a few countries of the species' range from which it remains missing. Research shows the Highlands has the habitat to support a breeding population of 250 lynx. Through the Lynx to Scotland partnership, Trees for Life has worked for five years with diverse stakeholders to assess what an official reintroduction might involve, from sheep predation to eco-tourism benefits, and is preparing for further local discussions in 2026. Tauros are classified as domestic cattle, but have no equivalent breed. They have been 'back-bred' by scientists in the Netherlands to be as similar as possible to the anci...

In 2016, Ludovic Orlando, a genetics researcher, embarked on the Pegasus Project, an ambitious endeavor to use genetics to discover the origin of the modern horse. There were plenty of theories as to who domesticated horses first–but Ludovic's team came up with their answer: They emerged on the western Eurasian steppe around 4200 years ago. But that revelation was only the beginning of Ludovic's work, as he dug into the genetic origins of different kinds of horses, like the Arabian horse, as well as charted how the horse's genetic diversity changed over time. His research is collected in his new book Horses: A 4,000-Year Genetic Journey Across the World (Princeton UP, 2025) Ludovic Orlando is a CNRS Silver Medal–winning research director and founding director of the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse at the University of Toulouse in France. His work has appeared in leading publications such as Nature, Science, and Cell. He is a recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Newcomb Cleveland Prize. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Horses. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-review

In 2016, Ludovic Orlando, a genetics researcher, embarked on the Pegasus Project, an ambitious endeavor to use genetics to discover the origin of the modern horse. There were plenty of theories as to who domesticated horses first–but Ludovic's team came up with their answer: They emerged on the western Eurasian steppe around 4200 years ago. But that revelation was only the beginning of Ludovic's work, as he dug into the genetic origins of different kinds of horses, like the Arabian horse, as well as charted how the horse's genetic diversity changed over time. His research is collected in his new book Horses: A 4,000-Year Genetic Journey Across the World (Princeton UP, 2025) Ludovic Orlando is a CNRS Silver Medal–winning research director and founding director of the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse at the University of Toulouse in France. His work has appeared in leading publications such as Nature, Science, and Cell. He is a recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Newcomb Cleveland Prize. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Horses. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2016, Ludovic Orlando, a genetics researcher, embarked on the Pegasus Project, an ambitious endeavor to use genetics to discover the origin of the modern horse. There were plenty of theories as to who domesticated horses first–but Ludovic's team came up with their answer: They emerged on the western Eurasian steppe around 4200 years ago. But that revelation was only the beginning of Ludovic's work, as he dug into the genetic origins of different kinds of horses, like the Arabian horse, as well as charted how the horse's genetic diversity changed over time. His research is collected in his new book Horses: A 4,000-Year Genetic Journey Across the World (Princeton UP, 2025) Ludovic Orlando is a CNRS Silver Medal–winning research director and founding director of the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse at the University of Toulouse in France. His work has appeared in leading publications such as Nature, Science, and Cell. He is a recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Newcomb Cleveland Prize. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Horses. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/animal-studies

Around the globe, and here in the United States, energy markets face huge uncertainties. They include everything from rising geopolitical tensions to a wave of new liquefied natural gas supply, and from concentrated critical mineral supply chains to growing demand for electricity. These uncertainties are reflected by the International Energy Agency in this year's World Energy Outlook, which explores a range of possible energy futures — particularly around oil and gas demand.  So how have energy policies at the country level, growing economic warfare, and rising prices impacted the IEA's outlook? How should we understand the role of energy security and geopolitical risk? Here in the US, how have energy policy shifts impacted the outlook? And what role do the transition to electric mobility and the pace of energy innovation play? This week, Jason Bordoff talks to Tim Gould about this year's World Energy Outlook, the IEA's flagship annual report. It projects a world with as much as 3 degrees of warming by 2100, under current policies, or with as little as 1.5 degrees of warming by 2100 if global energy systems quickly decarbonize. Tim is the International Energy Agency's chief energy economist. As part of this role, he co-leads the World Energy Outlook. Tim joined the IEA in 2008 as a specialist on Russian and Caspian energy. Before joining the agency, Tim worked on European and Eurasian energy issues in Brussels. Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Gregory Vilfranc.  

An interview with Lindsey Ford, a Senior Fellow at ORF America, formerly Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South Asia at the National Security Council from 2024-2025. See “The New Eurasian OrderAmerica Must Link Its Atlantic and Pacific Strategies”Julianne Smith and Lindsey FordNovember/December 2025Published on October 21, 2025https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/new-eurasian-order-smith-ford

The Decline of Democracy: Autocracy and Oligarchy on the Rise. Gaius and Germanicus discuss Michael McFaul's hypothesis that democracy is in recession and autocracy is ascendant. Germanicus concurs, blaming "Blue" (Democrats) for pursuing steps that strip the nation of its Republican character, including efforts to control media and censor, which he terms "creeping authoritarianism." He cites examples like a two-tier justice system and the pursuit of "thought crimes" (e.g., silent praying outside an abortion clinic) in the US and UK. Germanicus believes the US is heading toward a "brutal oligarchy" controlled by a ruling class, rather than a classic autocracy. Gaius asks if autocratic models, such as Chinese capitalism, are appealing to allies. Germanicus confirms that certain nations (like the expanding BRICS) view China and Russia as providing a better model for societal progress, especially given the US's poor global reputation since 2001. Furthermore, neoliberalism benefits only the very wealthy, creating devastating wealth inequality akin to the ancien régime before the French Revolution. Projecting 100 years ahead, Germanicus believes the US will likely be an "oligarchic autocracy" and an empire competing as a trans-Pacific/transatlantic block against a Eurasian block. They agree that modern technology, capable of tracking thoughts and speech, is an "enormously powerful instrument" supporting this autocratic trend. Germanicus notes that moralizing about dictators and "saving democracy" will persist, but merely as a means to keep the population passive and quiet, labeling modern censorship as highly Orwellian. They conclude they are living through a transformation from kingship to democracy, now moving toward autocracy. 80 BCE. SULLA 

2. From Raiders to Rulers: The Danelaw and the Eastern Expansion of the Norse Eleanor Barraclough Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age The discussion highlights the transformation of Vikings from raiders—who famously plundered Paris for 7,000 pounds of gold—to military conquerors. The Great Heathen Army arrived in England around 865, conquering East Anglia, Northumbria, and Mercia. The subsequent stalemate led to an agreement between King Alfred and the Norse leader Guthrum toward the end of the ninth century. This accord established the Danelaw, granting the Norse political and legal control over vast swathes of England, evidenced today by Old Norse influences in place names. The Norse cultural sphere was enormous, characterized by a diaspora that spread east and west. People from what is now Sweden moved down Eurasian waterways, becoming known as the Varangians, or Russ (rowers), and settled Novgorod in 862.

In Western Europe, we typically associate Vikings with the storm-tossed waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic, the deep Scandinavian fjords and the attacks on the monasteries and settlements of north-western Europe. This popular image rarely includes the river systems of Russia and Ukraine, the wide sweep of the Eurasian steppe, the far shores of the Caspian Sea, the incense and rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the high walls and towers of the city of Constantinople. Yet for many Viking raiders, traders and settlers, it was the road to the East that beckoned. These Viking adventurers founded the Norse–Slavic dynasties of the Rus, which are entangled in the bitterly contested origin myths of Russia and Ukraine. The Rus were the first community in the region to convert to Christianity – in its Eastern Orthodox form – and so they are at the heart of the concept of ‘Holy Russia'. Russian rulers have frequently referenced these Norse origins when trying to enhance their power and secure control over the Ukrainian lands, most recently demonstrated by Vladimir Putin as his justification for seizing Crimea and invading Ukraine. In Vikings in the East: From Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin – The Origins of a Contested Legacy in Russia and Ukraine (BiteBack Publishing, 2025), historian Martyn Whittock explores the important but often misunderstood and manipulated role played by the Vikings in the origins of Russian power, the deadly consequences of which we are still living with today. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

In Western Europe, we typically associate Vikings with the storm-tossed waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic, the deep Scandinavian fjords and the attacks on the monasteries and settlements of north-western Europe. This popular image rarely includes the river systems of Russia and Ukraine, the wide sweep of the Eurasian steppe, the far shores of the Caspian Sea, the incense and rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the high walls and towers of the city of Constantinople. Yet for many Viking raiders, traders and settlers, it was the road to the East that beckoned. These Viking adventurers founded the Norse–Slavic dynasties of the Rus, which are entangled in the bitterly contested origin myths of Russia and Ukraine. The Rus were the first community in the region to convert to Christianity – in its Eastern Orthodox form – and so they are at the heart of the concept of ‘Holy Russia'. Russian rulers have frequently referenced these Norse origins when trying to enhance their power and secure control over the Ukrainian lands, most recently demonstrated by Vladimir Putin as his justification for seizing Crimea and invading Ukraine. In Vikings in the East: From Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin – The Origins of a Contested Legacy in Russia and Ukraine (BiteBack Publishing, 2025), historian Martyn Whittock explores the important but often misunderstood and manipulated role played by the Vikings in the origins of Russian power, the deadly consequences of which we are still living with today. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In Western Europe, we typically associate Vikings with the storm-tossed waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic, the deep Scandinavian fjords and the attacks on the monasteries and settlements of north-western Europe. This popular image rarely includes the river systems of Russia and Ukraine, the wide sweep of the Eurasian steppe, the far shores of the Caspian Sea, the incense and rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the high walls and towers of the city of Constantinople. Yet for many Viking raiders, traders and settlers, it was the road to the East that beckoned. These Viking adventurers founded the Norse–Slavic dynasties of the Rus, which are entangled in the bitterly contested origin myths of Russia and Ukraine. The Rus were the first community in the region to convert to Christianity – in its Eastern Orthodox form – and so they are at the heart of the concept of ‘Holy Russia'. Russian rulers have frequently referenced these Norse origins when trying to enhance their power and secure control over the Ukrainian lands, most recently demonstrated by Vladimir Putin as his justification for seizing Crimea and invading Ukraine. In Vikings in the East: From Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin – The Origins of a Contested Legacy in Russia and Ukraine (BiteBack Publishing, 2025), historian Martyn Whittock explores the important but often misunderstood and manipulated role played by the Vikings in the origins of Russian power, the deadly consequences of which we are still living with today. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/central-asian-studies

In Western Europe, we typically associate Vikings with the storm-tossed waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic, the deep Scandinavian fjords and the attacks on the monasteries and settlements of north-western Europe. This popular image rarely includes the river systems of Russia and Ukraine, the wide sweep of the Eurasian steppe, the far shores of the Caspian Sea, the incense and rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the high walls and towers of the city of Constantinople. Yet for many Viking raiders, traders and settlers, it was the road to the East that beckoned. These Viking adventurers founded the Norse–Slavic dynasties of the Rus, which are entangled in the bitterly contested origin myths of Russia and Ukraine. The Rus were the first community in the region to convert to Christianity – in its Eastern Orthodox form – and so they are at the heart of the concept of ‘Holy Russia'. Russian rulers have frequently referenced these Norse origins when trying to enhance their power and secure control over the Ukrainian lands, most recently demonstrated by Vladimir Putin as his justification for seizing Crimea and invading Ukraine. In Vikings in the East: From Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin – The Origins of a Contested Legacy in Russia and Ukraine (BiteBack Publishing, 2025), historian Martyn Whittock explores the important but often misunderstood and manipulated role played by the Vikings in the origins of Russian power, the deadly consequences of which we are still living with today. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/russian-studies

In Western Europe, we typically associate Vikings with the storm-tossed waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic, the deep Scandinavian fjords and the attacks on the monasteries and settlements of north-western Europe. This popular image rarely includes the river systems of Russia and Ukraine, the wide sweep of the Eurasian steppe, the far shores of the Caspian Sea, the incense and rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the high walls and towers of the city of Constantinople. Yet for many Viking raiders, traders and settlers, it was the road to the East that beckoned. These Viking adventurers founded the Norse–Slavic dynasties of the Rus, which are entangled in the bitterly contested origin myths of Russia and Ukraine. The Rus were the first community in the region to convert to Christianity – in its Eastern Orthodox form – and so they are at the heart of the concept of ‘Holy Russia'. Russian rulers have frequently referenced these Norse origins when trying to enhance their power and secure control over the Ukrainian lands, most recently demonstrated by Vladimir Putin as his justification for seizing Crimea and invading Ukraine. In Vikings in the East: From Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin – The Origins of a Contested Legacy in Russia and Ukraine (BiteBack Publishing, 2025), historian Martyn Whittock explores the important but often misunderstood and manipulated role played by the Vikings in the origins of Russian power, the deadly consequences of which we are still living with today. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

In Western Europe, we typically associate Vikings with the storm-tossed waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic, the deep Scandinavian fjords and the attacks on the monasteries and settlements of north-western Europe. This popular image rarely includes the river systems of Russia and Ukraine, the wide sweep of the Eurasian steppe, the far shores of the Caspian Sea, the incense and rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the high walls and towers of the city of Constantinople. Yet for many Viking raiders, traders and settlers, it was the road to the East that beckoned. These Viking adventurers founded the Norse–Slavic dynasties of the Rus, which are entangled in the bitterly contested origin myths of Russia and Ukraine. The Rus were the first community in the region to convert to Christianity – in its Eastern Orthodox form – and so they are at the heart of the concept of ‘Holy Russia'. Russian rulers have frequently referenced these Norse origins when trying to enhance their power and secure control over the Ukrainian lands, most recently demonstrated by Vladimir Putin as his justification for seizing Crimea and invading Ukraine. In Vikings in the East: From Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin – The Origins of a Contested Legacy in Russia and Ukraine (BiteBack Publishing, 2025), historian Martyn Whittock explores the important but often misunderstood and manipulated role played by the Vikings in the origins of Russian power, the deadly consequences of which we are still living with today. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summary: This episode delves into the world of invasive birds, exploring their ecological impact and culinary potential. Justin and Adam discuss various species, including rock doves, Eurasian collared doves, songbirds, and waterfowl like snow geese and mute swans. They share insights on cooking techniques, flavor profiles, and sustainable practices for harvesting these birds. The conversation emphasizes the importance of viewing invasive species as a resource and encourages listeners to experiment with historical recipes and modern cooking methods. - ⁠⁠⁠Leave a Review of the Podcast⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠Buy our Wild Fish and Game Spices⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠The Art of Venison Sausage Making⁠⁠⁠ Recipes: Breaking Up with Dove Poppers: Why It's Time to Move On Buttermilk Fried Dove & Waffles with Spicy Bourbon Maple Syrup Retro Recipe: Sous Vide Peking Dove with Pickled Veggies Sweet and Spicy Jalapeño Quail or Doves Roasted Doves and Maitake with Poblano Cream Sauce on Grits Tandoori Dove with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce Takeaways: Invasive species can be a resource if harvested responsibly. Rock doves and Eurasian collared doves are common invasive birds in North America. Both doves are edible and can be prepared in various ways. Cooking techniques vary based on the age and type of bird. Songbirds like house sparrows and starlings are often overlooked as food sources. Mute swans are invasive and can be managed through hunting. Snow geese are abundant and provide high-quality meat. Cooking methods for waterfowl include roasting, braising, and grinding for sausage. Upland birds like pheasants are often introduced and considered game birds. Historical recipes can provide inspiration for cooking invasive species. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Invasive Species and Their Culinary Potential 02:53 Doves: The Rock Dove and Eurasian Collared Dove 05:55 Flavor Profiles and Cooking Techniques for Doves 08:44 Exploring Other Invasive Birds: Songbirds and Their Edibility 11:25 Harvesting and Cooking Techniques for Songbirds 14:36 Creative Recipes for Dove and Songbird Dishes 17:27 Culinary Traditions and Historical Context of Eating Invasive Birds 32:05 Exploring Urban Wildlife: Pigeons and Sparrows 34:03 The Invasive Mute Swan: A Threat to Native Species 34:29 Snow Geese: Conservation and Culinary Delights 38:20 Canada Geese: The Resident vs. Migratory Debate 41:31 Flavor Profiles of Waterfowl: Snow Geese vs. Canada Geese 46:07 Cooking Techniques for Waterfowl: From Plucking to Braising 51:17 Upland Birds: A Culinary Perspective 53:49 Peacocks: The Ornamental Bird with Culinary Potential 57:39 Final Thoughts on Invasive Birds and Cooking Techniques Keywords: Invasive species, hunting, cooking, doves, pigeons, songbirds, waterfowl, recipes, ecological impact, sustainable eating Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ralph R. "Rick" Steinke - Vital Mission: A Jake Fortina Series Love Story. This is episode 790 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast. Ralph Richard “Rick” Steinke is the award-winning author of a memoir, Next Mission: US Defense Attaché to France (to be republished in 2026). He is also an award-winning author of the Major Jake Fortina series, which includes Major Jake Fortina and the Tier One Threat (2022), Jake Fortina and the Roman Conspiracy (2023), and Change of Mission: A Jake Fortina Series Novel (2024). All Jake Fortina books have received awards, individually and as a series. Steinke has spent a lifetime in US national security roles, including twenty-eight years in the US Army and fourteen in the Department of Defense. His official duties have taken him from the US Military Academy at West Point to over thirty countries on the Eurasian landmass, including Afghanistan and Ukraine. Steinke holds master's degrees in West European studies and diplomacy from Indiana and Norwich Universities, respectively, as well as post-graduation certificates in national and international security affairs from Harvard and Stanford Universities. His passions include faith, family, fly fishing, and travel. Our focus today is Rick's book - Vital Mission: A Jake Fortina Series Love Story. Excellent story! Incredible talk! Jake is AWESOME! Thanks for listening! Thanks for sharing! Before you go... You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee. This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.  Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you! You are AWESOME! Connect & Learn More: https://ricksteinke.com/ fortunatiquatro@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralph-rick-steinke-8071376/ https://www.facebook.com/people/Rick-Steinke-Author-2/61553494599866/ Length - 50:02

Wildlife Photography in the Heart of New York with Jacqueline Emery and David Lei.Jacqueline Emery and David Lei are wildlife photographers and authors of Finding Flaco: Our Year with New York City's Beloved Owl. In this episode, we explore what it meant to follow Flaco day after day over the course of a year, the lessons his story holds for photographers and wildlife lovers, and how one bird captured the imagination of an entire city.On February 2, 2023, Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl escaped from his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo and took to the skies of Manhattan. Captive his whole life, he seemed doomed in a city of glass towers, poisons, and noise. Yet against all odds, Flaco learned to hunt, fly, and thrive. For one improbable year, he became more than an owl. He became a symbol of freedom, resilience, and the fragile line between captivity and wildness.Notable Links:Finding Flaco: Our Year with New York City's Beloved OwlJacqueline Emery InstagramDavid Lei Instagram*****This episode is brought to you by Lexar.For almost 30 years, Lexar has been trusted as a leading global brand of memory solutions so they know firsthand just how quickly content is transforming our world. Their award-winning lineup performs second to none and includes professional memory cards, card readers, and solid state drives for creators of all skill levels. So  - Whether shooting photos, capturing video, or transferring content on the go, Lexar provides the reliability and performance you can rely on to get the shot with confidence.I certainly do. I've been using Lexar Professional CFexpress 4.0 Type B GOLD memory cards with my Canon mirrorless cameras for years and years. And they deliver the blazing speed and the durability for the extreme weather conditions I encounter all over the world.To learn more about Lexar Memory Solutions, please visit lexar.com*****This episode is brought to you by Kase Revolution Plus Filters. I travel the world with my camera, and I can use any photography filters I like, and I've tried all of them, but in recent years I've landed on Kase Filters.Kase filters are made with premium materials, HD optical glass, shockproof, Ultra-Low Reflectivity, zero color cast, round and square filter designs, magnetic systems, filter holders, adapters, step-up rings, and everything I need so I never miss a moment.And now, my listeners can get 10% off the Kase Filters Amazon page when they visit. beyondthelens.fm/kase and use coupon code BERNABE10Kase Filters, Capture with Confidence.

In this episode of History 102, 'WhatIfAltHist' creator Rudyard Lynch and co-host Austin Padgett explore Eurasian steppe nomads from Aryans to Mongols, analyzing how small mobile populations repeatedly conquered and influenced much larger sedentary civilizations. -- SPONSOR: ZCASH | NETSUITE | ORACLE The right technology reshapes politics and culture toward freedom and prosperity. Zcash—the "machinery of freedom"—delivers unstoppable private money through encryption. When your wealth is unseen, it's unseizable. Download Zashi wallet and follow @genzcash to learn more: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/genzcash⁠⁠⁠⁠ More than 42,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, the #1 cloud financial system bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR, into ONE proven platform. If you're looking for an ERP platform, get a one-of-a-kind flexible financing program on NetSuite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://netsuite.com/102⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Download your free CFO's guide to AI and machine learning. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): Oracle's next-generation cloud platform delivers blazing-fast AI and ML performance with 50% less for compute and 80% less for outbound networking compared to other cloud providers. OCI powers industry leaders like Vodafone and Thomson Reuters with secure infrastructure and application development capabilities. New U.S. customers can get their cloud bill cut in half by switching to OCI before March 31, 2024 at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://oracle.com/cognitive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. -- FOLLOW ON X: @whatifalthist (Rudyard) @LudwigNverMises (Austin) @TurpentineMedia -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Introduction and Philosophy of History (12:18) The Eurasian Steppe Geography (12:22) Sponsors: Zcash | Netsuite (18:07) Water Analogy for Steppe Peoples (23:34) Two Generative Cores of the Steppe (26:31) Sponsors: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (27:39) Aryan Origins and Population Mixing (31:00) Horse Technology Evolution (36:17) Aryan Invasions and European Myths (46:01) Cimmerians and Bronze Age Impact (52:00) Xiongnu vs Han Dynasty (1:01:00) Scythians and Persian Conflicts (1:11:00) Sarmatians in the Roman Period (1:14:00) Hun Empire and Attila (1:19:00) Post Hun Peoples and Hungary (1:25:00) Chinese Barbarian States Period (1:30:00) Turkic Migrations and Slave Soldiers (1:34:00) Understanding Turkish Identity (1:48:00) Mongol Universal Empire (1:55:00) End of Steppe Power (2:01:00) Future of Inner Asia (2:08:57) Wrap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Crazy Wisdom, host Stewart Alsop talks with Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P Foundation, about the rise of peer-to-peer dynamics, the historical cycles shaping our present, and the struggles and possibilities of building resilient communities in times of crisis. The conversation moves through the evolution of the internet from Napster to Web3, the cultural shifts since 1968, Bauwens' personal experiences with communes and his 2018 cancellation, and the emerging vision of cosmolocalism and regenerative villages as alternatives to state and market decline. For more on Michel's work, you can explore his Substack at 4thgenerationcivilization.substack.com and the extensive P2P Foundation Wiki at wiki.p2pfoundation.net.Check out this GPT we trained on the conversationTimestamps00:00 Michel Bauwens explains peer-to-peer as both computer design and social relationship, introducing trans-local association and the idea of an anthropological revolution.05:00 Discussion of Web1, Web3, encryption, anti-surveillance, cozy web, and dark forest theory, contrasting early internet openness with today's fragmentation.10:00 Bauwens shares his 2018 cancellation, deplatforming, and loss of funding after a dispute around Jordan Peterson, reflecting on identity politics and peer-to-peer pluralism.15:00 The cultural shifts since 1968, the rise of identity movements, macro-historical cycles, and the fourth turning idea of civilizational change are unpacked.20:00 Memories of 1968 activism, communes, free love, hypergamy, and the collapse of utopian experiments, showing the need for governance and rules in cooperation.25:00 From communes to neo-Reichian practices, EST seminars, and lessons of human nature, Bauwens contrasts failed free love with lasting models like kibbutzim and Bruderhof.30:00 Communes that endure rely on transcendence, religious or ideological foundations, and Bauwens points to monasteries as models for resilience in times of decline.35:00 Cycles of civilization, overuse of nature, class divisions, and the threat of social unrest frame a wider reflection on populism, Eurasian vs Western models, and culture wars.40:00 Populism in Anglo vs continental Europe, social balance, Christian democracy, and the contrast with market libertarianism in Trump and Milei.45:00 Bauwens proposes cosmolocalism, regenerative villages, and bioregional alliances supported by Web3 communities like Crypto Commons Alliance and Ethereum Localism.50:00 Historical lessons from the Roman era, monasteries, feudal alliances, and the importance of reciprocity, pragmatic alliances, and preparing for systemic collapse.55:00 Localism, post-political collaboration, Ghent urban commons, Web3 experiments like Zuzalu, and Bauwens' resources: fortcivilizationsubstack.com and wiki.p2pfoundation.net.Key InsightsMichel Bauwens frames peer-to-peer not just as a technical design but as a profound social relationship, what he calls an “anthropological revolution.” Like the invention of writing or printing, the internet created trans-local association, allowing people across the globe to coordinate outside of centralized control.The conversation highlights the cycles of history, drawing from macro-historians and the “fourth turning” model. Bauwens explains how social movements rise, institutionalize, and collapse, with today's cultural polarization echoing earlier waves such as the upheavals of 1968. He sees our era as the end of a long cycle that began after World War II.Bauwens shares his personal cancellation in 2018, when posting a video about Jordan Peterson triggered accusations and led to deplatforming, debanking, and professional exclusion. He describes this as deeply traumatic, forcing him to rethink his political identity and shift his focus to reciprocity and trust in smaller, resilient networks.The episode revisits communes and free love experiments of the 1970s, where Bauwens lived for years. He concludes that without governance, rules, and shared transcendence, these communities collapse into chaos. He contrasts them with enduring models like the Bruderhof, kibbutzim, and monasteries, which rely on structure, ideology, or religion to survive.A major theme is populism and cultural polarization, with Bauwens distinguishing between Anglo-Saxon populism rooted in market libertarianism and continental populism shaped by Christian democratic traditions. The former quickly loses support by privileging elites, while the latter often maintains social balance through family and worker policies.Bauwens outlines his vision of cosmolocalism and regenerative villages, where “what's heavy is local, what's light is global.” He argues that bioregionalism combined with Web3 technologies offers a practical way to rebuild resilient communities, coordinate globally, and address ecological and social breakdown.Finally, the episode underscores the importance of pragmatic alliances across political divides. Bauwens stresses that survival and flourishing in times of systemic collapse depend less on ideology and more on reciprocity, concrete projects, and building trust networks that can outlast declining state and market systems.

An ancient city of stones and bricks has revitalized through openness and connectivity in the heart of the Eurasian continent. Western headlines would have you believe that the region is reeling under surveillance and suppression, and people are unhappy. But what's conveniently missing from those narratives are real stories from people on the ground, those with firsthand experiences. In 2024, Xinjiang welcomed nearly 300 million arrivals, with 5 million from overseas, marking a 55% increase compared with the previous year. What exactly is attracting all these visitors? What is Xinjiang really like today? And where is it headed going forward?

An ancient city of stones and bricks has revitalized through openness and connectivity in the heart of the Eurasian continent. Western headlines would have you believe that the region is reeling under surveillance and suppression, and people are unhappy. But what's conveniently missing from those narratives are real stories from people on the ground, those with firsthand experiences. In 2024, Xinjiang welcomed nearly 300 million arrivals, with 5 million from overseas, marking a 55% increase compared with the previous year. What exactly is attracting all these visitors? What is Xinjiang really like today? And where is it headed going forward?

HEADLINE: India-China-Russia Axis Dismissed as Propaganda Despite Modi-Xi Handshake GUEST NAME: Sadanand Dhume SUMMARY: Sadanand Dhume dismisses speculation of an India-China-Russia "Eurasian axis" following Modi-Xihandshake at SCO summit as "nonsense." Relations remain hostile due to border disputes with tens of thousands of troops deployed. China's ties with Pakistan, supplying 80% of arms and investing through CPEC, further strain India relations. 1904 INDIA

Beijing issued a white paper outlining the CPC's Xinjiang strategy, highlighting economic growth, stability, cultural heritage protection, and its role as a Eurasian gateway, as the region marks its 70th founding anniversary (01:13). The Beijing Xiangshan Forum closed with calls for multilateralism, dialogue, and respect for sovereignty, stressing cooperation in global governance to advance peace, and address shared international security challenges (10:40). China has condemned another U.S. veto of a UN Gaza resolution demanding ceasefire, aid access, and hostage release (20:50).

In this episode of Ethnocynology, host David Ian Howe sits down with archaeologist and anthropologist Dr. William Taylor (University of Colorado Boulder), author of Hoofbeats: How Horses Shaped Human History.While this show usually focuses on dogs, today we shift to the other animal that transformed humanity: the horse. Dr. Taylor walks us through the evolutionary history of horses, their domestication on the Eurasian steppe, and their reintroduction to the Americas after the Ice Age. Together we explore how humans first interacted with horses—as prey, symbols in cave art, sources of milk and meat, and eventually as partners in transport, warfare, and belief systems.Topics include:The origins of domestic horses around 2000 BC in the Caucasus steppesHorses evolving in North America, going extinct, and being reintroduced by the SpanishHunting evidence from sites like Schöningen in Germany and Bluefish Caves in the YukonHorses in Paleolithic cave art (Lascaux, Chauvet) and the Vogelherd ivory carvingEvidence for early horse riding and chariot use in Egypt, Assyria, and beyondThe role of horses in indigenous North and South American societies before widespread European contactEthno-equine parallels in Mongolia, Australia, and Patagonia, where horses shaped cultural, spiritual, and economic lifeThis is Part 1 of a two-part series: next time, David speaks with Cassidy Thornhill of the University of Wyoming, who researches the protohistoric introduction of horses into the Americas.If you enjoy the episode, please rate and review Ethnocynology on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It helps more people discover the show and supports the entire Archaeology Podcast Network.Links:Hoofbeats: How Horses Shaped Human History by Dr. William Taylor — available on Amazon and other retailers.davidianhowe.comDavidianhowe.com/storeArchPodNetAPN Website: https://www.archpodnet.comAPN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnetAPN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnetAPN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnetAPN ShopAffiliatesMotion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Keir Giles has spent his career watching, studying, and explaining Russia. Keir's work has appeared in a wide range of academic and military publications across Europe and in North America, and he is a regular contributor and commentator on Russian affairs for international print and broadcast media. He works with the Conflict Studies Research Centre (CSRC), a group of deep subject matter experts on Eurasian security formerly attached to the British Ministry of Defence. He is a regular contributor to research projects on Russian security issues in the U.S., UK, and Europe.----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER - A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's frontline towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------DESCRIPTION:Analyzing Russian Drone Incursions in Poland: Intentional Act or Accident?In this episode, we delve into the recent incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace, a significant event post-World War II. The discussion examines the implications of such actions, including NATO's response and the invocation of Article Four. Our expert guest provides insights into the potential motivations behind Russia's actions, the role of Belarus, and the complexities of electronic warfare. We also explore the broader context of Russia's provocations against Western resolve, the potential for escalatory steps, and the future of NATO's response strategy. This episode offers a comprehensive look at the geopolitical tensions and the strategic calculations involved.----------CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Background00:54 Recent Drone Incursion in Poland02:17 NATO's Response and Article Four04:24 Kremlin Signaling and Intent12:17 Electronic Warfare and Drone Behavior16:02 Potential Escalation and Western Response20:30 Belarus' Role and Sanctions22:53 Conclusion and Final Thoughts----------BOOKS:Who Will Defend Europe? An Awakened Russia and a Sleeping Continent (2024)Order Keir's new book: https://amzn.to/4cFI1b6Russia's War on Everybody: And What it Means for You (2022)Moscow Rules: What Drives Russia to Confront the West (2019)The Turning Point for Russian Foreign Policy (2017)The State of the NATO-Russia Reset (2011)Potential Challenges to Public Order and Social Stability in the Russian Federation (2011)----------LINKS:Order Keir's new book: https://amzn.to/4cFI1b6https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/our-people/keir-gileshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keir_Gileshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/keir-giles-499a489/----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.org----------

James Nixey was lead at the Russia-Eurasia programme at Chatham House, and his principal expertise concerns the relationships between Russia and the other post-Soviet states. He has published papers and articles in books and journals and commented extensively in the national and global media. He has also organised hundreds of private expert round tables on Russian and Eurasian affairs while at Chatham House. Publications include The Long Goodbye: Waning Russian Influence in The South Caucasus and Central Asia, Putin Again: Implications for Russia and the West, and many others.----------LINKS:https://x.com/jamesnixey?lang=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/james-nixey/----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------DESCRIPTION:Understanding Russia's Intentions: A Deep Dive with James NixeyIn this episode, Jonathan chats with James Nixey, former head of the Russia Eurasia program at Chatham House. They delve into Russia's relations with post-Soviet states, the miscalculations made by Western leaders about Russia's aims, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The conversation also touches on the cultural, political, and even psychological factors driving Russian policy. Additionally, Jonathan highlights the importance of the 'Kyiv of Mine' film series, which chronicles life in Ukraine from before the war to the present day. This insightful discussion sheds light on the broader implications of Russia's actions for global stability and Western values.----------CHAPTERS: 03:06 The Russian Perspective on Winning04:03 Russia's Endless Campaign06:31 Ukraine's Struggle and Western Response09:04 Personal Recommendation: Kiev of Mine12:17 Trump and Putin: A Comparison15:10 Russia's Influence and Global Perception23:28 Lessons from the Cold War25:43 Questioning Our Values and Convictions27:45 Escalation and Boundaries28:41 The Threat of Authoritarianism in Europe29:43 The Role of Culture and Nationalism33:53 Long-term Strategies of Russia and China42:41 The Weaponization of Russian Culture48:27 Concluding Thoughts and Call to Action----------

Gray-headed Chickadee is certainly one of the most enigmatic species of breeding birds in the ABA Area. Though it is found broadly across northern Eurasian it was, until very recently, also known from an isolated breeding population in northern Alaska and far northwestern Canada. Those bird, long a bucket list objective for ABA Area birders, might be gone, and the reasons for that are unclear. Alaska birder and conservationist Brad Meiklejohn explores their disappearance in the Lost on the Frontier: The Mysterious Disappearance of North America's Rarest Breeding Bird, published in the July 2025 issue of Birding magazine, and he joins us to talk more about this avian mystery. Stay tuned for a publicly accessible version of this article.  Also, the auction featuring some of our past Bird of the Year cover art is up and running! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

In this episode of History 102, 'WhatIfAltHist' creator Rudyard Lynch and co-host Austin Padgett examine Inner Asia as the overlooked crossroads between China, Islam, Europe, and India, tracing ancient migrations through modern geopolitics in this forgotten spine of Eurasian civilization. -- SPONSOR: ZCASH | NETSUITE | ORACLE The right technology reshapes politics and culture toward freedom and prosperity. Zcash—the "machinery of freedom"—delivers unstoppable private money through encryption. When your wealth is unseen, it's unseizable. Download Zashi wallet and follow @genzcash to learn more: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/genzcash⁠⁠⁠ More than 42,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, the #1 cloud financial system bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR, into ONE proven platform. If you're looking for an ERP platform, get a one-of-a-kind flexible financing program on NetSuite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://netsuite.com/102⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Download your free CFO's guide to AI and machine learning. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): Oracle's next-generation cloud platform delivers blazing-fast AI and ML performance with 50% less for compute and 80% less for outbound networking compared to other cloud providers. OCI powers industry leaders like Vodafone and Thomson Reuters with secure infrastructure and application development capabilities. New U.S. customers can get their cloud bill cut in half by switching to OCI before March 31, 2024 at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://oracle.com/cognitive⁠⁠⁠⁠. -- FOLLOW ON X: @whatifalthist (Rudyard) @LudwigNverMises (Austin) @TurpentineMedia -- TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) Introduction: Defining Inner Asia as the Forgotten Crossroads (1:37) Geographic Scope: From Transoxiana to Tibet and Zomia (3:25) James C. Scott and "The Art of Not Being Governed" (5:05) Zomia: Southeast Asian Anarchist Borderlands (9:24) Burma's Capital Move and State Control Strategies (13:00) Reframing Inner Asia as Central Hub vs. Periphery (14:33) The Continental Divide of Eurasia (18:00) Sponsors: Zcash | NetSuite (19:54) Lord Miles and the Wakan Corridor Adventure (23:42) Rudyard Kipling and "The Man Who Would Be King" (28:00) Marx vs. Kipling: Comparing Views on Race and Colonialism (31:24) World War I's Impact on European Colonial Prestige (35:07) Sponsor: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (36:34) Prehistoric Settlement: East Asian Population Formation (40:22) The Aryan Invasions and Bronze Age Civilizations (47:24) Genetic Mixing: Europeans, Persians, and Indians (57:15) Scythians vs. Persian Empire: Cyrus the Great's Death (1:02:00) Alexander the Great: Conquering Beyond Persia (1:08:04) The Hubris Trap and Christianity's Solution (1:10:53) Chinese Discovery of the Western World (150 BC) (1:15:05) Central Asian Christianity and Nestorian Civilization (1:20:48) Islamic Conquest and Religious Transformation (1:27:00) Tibet's Warrior Empire vs. China (1:30:30) Amira Ghurko's Journey: Meeting Tibet's Buddhist Elite (1:38:00) Islamic Golden Age: Arab Cotton Boom in Transoxiana (1:44:53) Genghis Khan's Destruction of Central Asian Civilization (1:51:01) The Great Game: British vs. Russian Imperial Competition (1:58:00) Modern Central Asian Dictatorships and Soviet Legacy (2:02:34) Belt and Road Initiative: China's Failed Infrastructure Push (2:06:00) Contemporary Challenges: MMA Fighters and Cultural Impact (2:07:33) Wrap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A dangerous new alliance could push the United States out of power. Are Russia, China, and others planning a future where America is no longer in charge?✅ I can be your speaking partner https://brentspeak.as.me/ Use Code SUMMER10 for 10% off your conversationEurasian – about both Europe and Asia. : The leaders talked about Eurasian trade between Europe and Asia.Stable – steady, not changing quickly. : China wants a stable friendship with India and Russia.Upend – to turn over or change completely. : The summit could upend the old system led by the West.Elaborate – detailed or fancy. : Xi gave an elaborate plan for new projects.Might – strength or power. : The summit showed the might of these big countries.Intentions – plans or goals. : Modi's intentions were to grow trust and trade.Disarray – confusion or disorder. : Some experts said the group might fall into disarray.Military Bloc – a group of countries joined for defense. : The SCO is not just a military bloc, but also for trade.Count On – to depend on. : Russia can count on China's support.Be At Odds – to disagree. : India and China have been at odds about their border.Clash – to fight or argue strongly. : The leaders did not want to clash during the meeting.Beats Up On – to hit again and again (real or in words). : Modi's message beats up on the need for trust.Reached Out – tried to connect or talk. : Putin reached out to India for closer ties.Embraced – accepted gladly. : The leaders embraced the idea of more energy trade.Crude Oil – oil in its natural form. : They spoke about selling crude oil to each other.Hypocritical – saying one thing but doing another.Some people said it was hypocritical for leaders to talk about peace while selling more weapons.Levying – charging a tax or fee. : The group warned against levying high trade taxes.Manifesting – showing clearly. : Smiles were manifesting friendship at the summit.Roll Out The Red Carpet – give a very special welcome. : China rolled out the red carpet for Putin's visit.Sacrifices – things given up for something else. : India may make sacrifices to keep peace in the region.Comparison – looking at how things are alike or different. : In comparison to Western meetings, this one felt different.Underdog – the weaker side. : Smaller countries in the group feel like underdogs.

The US government has long tried to divide China, India, and Russia, but Washington's aggressive actions have only brought them together. Donald Trump's tariffs, in particular, angered Indian PM Modi, who visited the Chinese city Tianjin for the 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, where the Eurasian countries deepened their relations. Ben Norton analyzes the important results of this historic meeting, and how the US empire's aggression has blown back. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsFGCUtzzQ8 Topics 0:00 US imperial overstretch 1:25 China, Russia, India unite 3:38 Shanghai Cooperation Org (SCO) summit 4:48 Global Governance Initiative 6:50 New multipolar order 8:08 Members of SCO 9:29 Population of SCO 10:07 Economy of SCO 11:01 US empire seeks to divide Eurasia 12:49 Trump attacks India 13:37 Donald Trump's tariffs 14:52 India moves closer to China 16:23 Views India and China share 18:59 Modi meets with Xi Jinping 21:33 US war hawks are furious 22:02 (CLIP) John Bolton on India-China ties 23:20 US war hawks are furious 24:05 (CLIP) Jake Sullivan on India-China ties 25:17 USA alienates its "allies" 25:53 Trump makes China great again (川建国 Chuan Jianguo) 26:50 Trump accelerates US imperial decline 29:09 Dedollarization 30:48 CBDCs 32:42 Dedollarization 33:30 China proposes SCO development bank 33:48 SCO Tianjin Declaration 35:51 Need for UN reform 40:20 Multipolarity 41:07 International financial system 42:53 Xi Jinping's speech 46:43 Open-source artificial intelligence (AI) tech 47:38 Oppose the new cold war 48:15 Global South vision of multipolar world 50:45 Outro

Today's host was Michael Wear, Founder, President and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life.  Thanks for listening to The Morning Five! Please subscribe to and rate The Morning Five on your favorite podcast platform. Learn more about the work of the Center for Christianity and Public Life at www.ccpubliclife.org. Scripture: John 3 Top Headlines: 1) Eurasian Leaders Appear Together 2) Trump EO Pulls Back Union Rights for Federal Employees 3) Rep. Nadler to Retire Today's host was Michael Wear, Founder, President, and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life.  Join the conversation and follow us at: Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@michaelwear⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, @ccpubliclife Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@MichaelRWear⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, @ccpubliclife and check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@tsfnetwork⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music by: King Sis #politics #faith #prayer #Nadler #2026 #House #Democrats #Xi #Modi #Putin #China #Russia #India #Ukraine #ForeignPolicy #unions #WhiteHouse #executiveorders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a white actor was recently announced to replace Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending, it sparked a fresh wave of debate over racial casting on Broadway. For Asian Americans like playwright David Henry Hwang and actor B.D. Wong, it felt like déjà vu, echoing a controversy they had spoken out against more than 30 years ago with Miss Saigon. That blockbuster musical became the center of a storm back in 1990 when Jonathan Pryce was chosen to reprise his Eurasian character from the London production when it transferred to Broadway. This decision ignited protests, ultimatums, and the first major reckoning with yellowface in American theater. In this episode, we look back at Miss Saigon, the clash between producer Cameron Mackintosh and Actors' Equity, and how that moment set the stage for Hwang's satirical play Face Value—and continues to reverberate today. --- Click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a transcript and list of all resources used. Produced by Patrick Oliver Jones and WINMI Media with Dan Delgado as co-producer. Theme music created by Blake Stadnik. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ghost unpacks the latest global power plays, starting with Russia's surprising move to recognize the Taliban government and its pledge to support Afghanistan in fighting terrorism and drug trafficking. He ties this shift to Trump's Doha Agreement and exposes how U.S. interventions fueled the opium trade and destabilized the region. From there, Ghost examines Afghanistan's central role in pipeline politics, Pakistan's decades-long entanglement with U.S. intelligence, and the broader fight over Eurasian sovereignty. The episode then pivots to Trump's dominance in Ukraine peace talks, his tariffs strategy, and Europe's fragile position in the conflict. Ghost also breaks down U.S. influence operations in Greenland, Denmark's pushback, and the Pentagon's plan to shift Greenland into NORTHCOM, raising questions about sovereignty and strategy in the Arctic. Wrapping up with Venezuela, he analyzes Maduro's standoff with Trump's naval buildup, narco-subs, and the coming showdown with cartels. Packed with sharp analysis, historical context, and bold predictions, this episode shows how sovereignty and geopolitics are colliding worldwide.

Nancy Matsumoto is the author of Reaping What She Sows: How Women Are Rebuilding Our Broken Food System, which will be released in October but is available for pre-order now. The book is a collection of stories about women that are creating alternative food networks. They are building out local and regional supply chains in the face of overwhelming odds and the destructiveness of industrial agriculture. While the book traces how broken our global food system is, it's quite hopeful. All of the women featured are doing something about it. They are making changes. They are building something.We talk a lot about supply chains, how long they are and the work that it takes to shorten them. We talk about how an obscure Eurasian grass called kernza is having a positive impact on landscapes in the north central US while being used to create beer. How cacao producers in Belize and Guatemala are getting organized to better their situation. If you want to be inspired in making the changes you want to see in the world, read this book. We also talk with Nancy about the art of writing. We actually have the same agent and have faced a lot of the same challenges in the media industry, which has become nearly impossible to navigate. Putting non-fiction narrative books like this together require tremendous amounts of time and patience, yet we do it because these are important stories to tell. Nancy has also written the books Exploring the World of Japanese Craft Sake and By the Shore of Lake Michigan, a translation of WWII-era Japanese concentration camp poetry. Again, the latest book is Reaping What She Sows: How Women Are Rebuilding Our Broken Food System. Order a copy or follow Nancy on her just launched Substack, Reaping, which follows some of the stories from the book. --Host: Nicholas GillCo-host: Juliana DuqueProduced by Nicholas Gill & Juliana Duque Recording & Editing by New Worlder https://www.newworlder.com Read more at New Worlder: https://www.newworlder.com

The Grayzone and friends held a day of discussion about the Ukraine proxy war, Greater Israel and its genocide in Gaza, and US empire in the Trump era at Icarus Fest 2025 in Rutherford, NJ.Panel 2 (the featured video above) brought together Max Blumenthal, Katie Halper, and Jeremy Loffredo to discuss the disastrous impact of Israel on the region and inside the United States with host Sabby Sabbs. Next, Judge Andrew Napolitano hosted Max Blumenthal, Aaron Maté, Christian Parenti and Anya Parampil for a wide ranging discussion of US empire in the second Trump term, from China to Venezuela, and the future of the antiwar movement in challenging its maximalist agenda.Earlier in the day in Panel 1 (below), Glenn Diesen, Wyatt Reed and Kit Klarenberg joined host Thaddeus Russell to discuss the Ukraine proxy war, the role of the UK in guiding it, and the historical resonance of the semi-official ideology of Russophobia in the West.Highlights include:• Wyatt's frontline reporting from Donbass revealing strong pro-Russian sentiment and the extensive destruction caused by Western-backed forces, challenging mainstream narratives.• Panelists' experiences of harsh repression, including smear campaigns, financial bans, and state harassment aimed at silencing dissent.• Glenn Diesen's analysis of enduring Western Russophobia as a strategic elite tool to prevent Eurasian unity and maintain maritime dominance.• Kit Klarenberg's account of British state repression targeting journalists and activists, illustrating authoritarian crackdowns on anti-war and pro-Palestine voices.• Discussion of limited public awareness of imperialist projects, contrasted with emerging grassroots resistance and skepticism in Europe and pockets of the US.• Audience questions address Nordstream sabotage, shifting Ukraine war dynamics, and prospects for diplomatic change.

"History 102" with WhatifAltHist's Rudyard Lynch and Erik Torenberg: Read the notes at at podcastnotes.org. Don't forget to subscribe for free to our newsletter, the top 10 ideas of the week, every Monday --------- In this episode of History 102, 'WhatIfAltHist' creator Rudyard Lynch and co-host Austin Padgett do a deep-dive into the Mongol Empire's rise, conquests, and civilizational impact, examining how Genghis Khan's brutal campaigns reshaped Eurasian politics and accelerated Western Europe's ascendancy. -- SPONSOR: ZCASH | SHOPIFY | NETSUITE | ORACLE The right technology reshapes politics and culture toward freedom and prosperity. Zcash—the "machinery of freedom"—delivers unstoppable private money through encryption. When your wealth is unseen, it's unseizable. Download Zashi wallet and follow @genzcash to learn more: ⁠https://x.com/genzcash⁠ Shopify is the world's leading e-commerce platform, offering a market-leading checkout system Shoppay and exclusive AI apps. Nobody does selling better than Shopify. Get a $1 per month trial at https://shopify.com/momentofzen More than 42,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, the #1 cloud financial system bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR, into ONE proven platform. If you're looking for an ERP platform, get a one-of-a-kind flexible financing program on NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/102 - Download your free CFO's guide to AI and machine learning. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): Oracle's next-generation cloud platform delivers blazing-fast AI and ML performance with 50% less for compute and 80% less for outbound networking compared to other cloud providers. OCI powers industry leaders like Vodafone and Thomson Reuters with secure infrastructure and application development capabilities. New U.S. customers can get their cloud bill cut in half by switching to OCI before March 31, 2024 at https://oracle.com/cognitive -- FOLLOW ON X: @whatifalthist (Rudyard) @LudwigNverMises (Austin) @TurpentineMedia -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (03:04) Polygamous Imperial Cycles and Genghis Khan's Genetic Legacy (05:43) Sponsors: ZCash | Shopify (09:27) Genghis Khan as Totalitarian Figure and Step Empire Dynamics (15:25) Academic Debates About the Mongols - Left vs Military Historians (28:40) Major Mongol Military Campaigns - Badger's Mouth and Khwarezmid (33:27) Sponsors: NetSuite | Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (46:14) Genghis Khan's Rise - Childhood, Unification of Mongols (56:59) Conquest of Northern China - 30 Million Dead (1:11:28) Destruction of Central Asia and the Islamic World (1:20:16) Conquest and Transformation of Russia (1:28:59) Mongol Empire Splits - Four Khanates and Kublai Khan (1:43:21) Pax Mongolica and Failed Invasions of Japan/Java (1:52:30) Fall of the Mongol Empire - Black Death and Ming Dynasty (2:06:52) Long-Term Impact - Europe's Rise Over Asia (2:11:42) Mongol Role in Spreading Black Death and Closing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“How could this owl, who was born in captivity, lived his whole life in a cage, how could he possibly survive? He's going to be dead in a few days. That's what everybody thought.” – Christine Mott   In February 2023, a Eurasian eagle-owl named Flaco made headlines—and captured hearts—when he escaped from his small enclosure at the Central Park Zoo. Born in captivity and unable to fly or hunt, Flaco defied every expectation. In just weeks, he taught himself to soar across the Manhattan skyline, hunt for his own food, and live as freely as an owl could in a city of concrete and glass. For more than a year, New Yorkers spotted him perched in Central Park, on high-rises, even outside apartment windows—cheering him on as a symbol of resilience and freedom. Today's guest, attorney and lifelong animal advocate Christine Mott, has immortalized Flaco's story in her new children's book, Free Bird: Flaco the Owl's Dreams Take Flight. Told from Flaco's perspective, the book celebrates courage, hope, and the right of all animals to live free—without cages or confinement—while gently encouraging young readers to see captivity through an animal's eyes. This conversation is about Flaco's extraordinary journey, the lessons he left behind, and how one small owl sparked big changes for animals in New York and beyond.   Links: https://lanternpm.org/book/free-bird/

No animal is so entangled in human history as the horse. The thread starts in prehistory, with a slight, shy animal, hunted for food. Domesticating the horse allowed early humans to settle the vast Eurasian steppe; later, their horses enabled new forms of warfare, encouraged long-distance trade routes, and ended up acquiring deep cultural and religious significance. Over time, horses came to power mighty empires in Iran, Afghanistan, China, India, and, later, Russia. Genghis Khan and the thirteenth-century Mongols offer the most famous example, but from ancient Assyria and Persia, to the seventeenth-century Mughals, to the high noon of colonialism in the early twentieth century, horse breeding was indispensable to conquest and statecraft. Scholar of Asian history David Chaffetz tells the story of how the horse made rulers, raiders, and traders interchangeable, providing a novel explanation for the turbulent history of the “Silk Road,” which might be better called the Horse Road. Drawing on recent research in fields including genetics and forensic archeology, Chaffetz presents a lively history of the great horse empires that shaped civilization. David Chaffetz is an independent scholar with a lifelong passion for Middle Eastern and Inner Asian history. His 1981 book, several times republished, A Journey through Afghanistan, earned praise from Owen Lattimore, the then doyen of Inner Asian studies in America and the UK. He is a regular contributor to the Asian Review of Books, and has written for the South China Morning Post and the Nikkei Asian Review. His most recent book, Three Asian Divas, describes the important role of elite women entertainers in the transmission of traditional Asian culture. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Artificial intelligence has been a frequent topic on Sinica in recent years — but usually through the lens of the two countries that have produced the leading models and companies: the United States and China. We've covered generative AI, national strategies, governance frameworks, and the geopolitical implications of AI leadership.This webinar, broadcast on the morning of August 14, broadens that lens to explore how other countries — and especially Ukraine — are approaching AI in the public sector. Around the world, governments are experimenting with AI well beyond chatbots and text generation: China's “City Brain” optimizes traffic, energy use, and public safety; U.S. agencies are streamlining services and automating benefits processing; and elsewhere, smart grids, predictive infrastructure planning, and AI-enabled e-governance are reshaping public administration. These projects reveal both the promise and the complexity of bringing AI into government — along with valid concerns over privacy, fairness, and inclusiveness.We'll look at what lessons Ukraine might draw from U.S. and Chinese experiences, the opportunities and challenges of adapting these practices, and the strategic risks of sourcing AI solutions from different providers — especially in the context of Ukraine's eventual postwar reconstruction.Joining us are three distinguished guests:Dmytro Yefremov, Board Member of the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists, with deep expertise in China's political and technological strategies and Ukraine's policy landscape.Wang Guan, Chairman of Learnable.ai in China, bringing extensive experience in AI applications for public administration and education.Karman Lucero, Associate Research Scholar and Senior Fellow at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center, whose work focuses on Chinese law, governance, and the regulation of emerging technologies.Thanks to the Ukrainian Platform for Contemporary China, the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists, and the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill for organizing and sponsoring today's event. Special thanks to Vita Golod for putting together the panel and inviting me to moderate.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join me for a conversation with four fantastic panelists about nuclear safety and security issues brought on by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and more broadly on the state of nuclear security globally during this era of dramatic change.This program was made possible by the Ukrainian Platform for Contemporary China and the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.Nickolas Roth is Senior Director for Nuclear Materials Security at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). Nickolas works at the intersection of arms control, risk reduction, and institutional resilience, and previously directed nuclear security work at the Stimson Center and contributed to Harvard's Project on Managing the Atom.Mariana Budjeryn is a Senior Research Associate with Managing the Atom at Harvard's Belfer Center and author of Inheriting the Bomb, a definitive study of Ukraine's post-Soviet disarmament and the limits of the Budapest Memorandum. Her scholarship grounds today's debates about guarantees, coercion, and nuclear restraint.Pan Yanliang is a Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). He studies the Russian and Chinese nuclear industries and the nuclear fuel cycle, and works on CNS engagement with Chinese counterparts—giving him a distinctive cross-regional vantage.Lily Wojtowicz is a Research Fellow at the Hertie School (Berlin) and a USIP–Minerva Peace & Security Scholar, whose work focuses on extended deterrence credibility, European security, and alliance adaptation under great-power rivalry.5:19 - The Gap Between Coercive Rhetoric and First-use Thresholds11:26 - The Implication of Ukraine's allies regarding weapons 17:26 - Golden Dome21:30 - China's Position on Nuclear Weapons29:25 - How Belarus Altered European Debates 31:13 - Civilian Nuclear Power 38:32 - North Korea's Support for Russia40:59 - Beijing on NATO and Asian Security43:09 - Europe's Reaction to Nuclear Risk45:44 - Nuclear Risk in the Russia-Ukraine War52:56 - Trump's Impact on Kremlin Nuclear Thinking1:01:52 - US-China Nuclear Relations1:04:49 - Ukraine's Nuclear DisarmamentSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The one-sided trade agreement that Donald Trump imposed on the EU illustrates how the US empire exploits its "allies" in Europe as vassals to benefit the American oil/gas industry, Big Tech corporations, and the military-industrial complex. This did not start with Trump, but he has accelerated the vassalization of the European Union. Political economist Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpf6ZeABP1I Topics 0:00 Intro 1:04 US empire doesn't have allies, only vassals 2:14 US-EU trade deal & tariffs 5:19 China defended itself in trade war 6:19 Ursula von der Leyen on US energy 7:28 (CLIP) Trump on US-EU trade deal 7:54 USA benefits 8:15 (CLIP) Trump: "the biggest of all the deals" 8:28 Europe gets nothing 9:11 (CLIP) US makes no concessions to EU 9:57 (CLIP) Trump on US fossil fuel exports 10:20 US gets everything, EU gets nothing 11:02 Vassalization of Europe 12:27 BRICS expansion 13:22 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte 14:03 (CLIP) NATO chief calls Trump "daddy" 14:17 Trump addresses "daddy" comment 14:42 (CLIP) Trump: I'm NATO's "daddy" 15:03 Trump leaks humiliating text messages 16:26 Failure of EU "strategic autonomy" 17:18 NATO demands military spending at 5% of GDP 18:42 US military-industrial complex benefits 20:14 Paying imperial tribute 20:48 Replacing welfare state with warfare state 21:44 EU spending on education 22:08 EU spending on healthcare 22:33 Trump & MAGA take off the mask 23:26 VP JD Vance attacks Europe 23:40 Kissinger: "to be America's friend is fatal" 24:20 Trump boasts of ending Nord Stream 25:39 (CLIP) Trump: "I ended Nord Stream 2" 25:59 US targets European infrastructure 26:26 (CLIP) Trump: US wants to sell oil/gas 26:53 US attacks European "allies" 27:27 Sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines 28:05 Who blew up Nord Stream? 29:20 West opposed UN investigation 30:06 Polish official said US blew up Nord Stream 30:47 Historical amnesia 31:17 Why Germany wanted Nord Stream 32:34 (CLIP) Trump: Europe must buy US oil/gas 32:48 Trump pressured Angela Merkel on Russia 33:15 (CLIP) Trump: Europe must cut Russia ties 34:12 Trump sanctioned Nord Stream 34:55 USA seeks to divide Europe & Russia 35:39 Biden threatened Nord Stream 36:02 (CLIP) Biden: We will end Nord Stream 36:36 Bipartisan vassalage 37:30 US energy exports to Europe 38:08 EU imports of oil 39:25 EU imports of natural gas 39:56 EU imports of LNG 40:45 Climate change catastrophe 41:20 Germany re-opens coal plants 42:00 Germany's pro-war "Greens" 43:19 US imperial strategy: divide Europe 44:56 Imperialist Mackinder's heartland theory 45:28 US fears of Europe-Russia alliance 46:23 NATO's goal: keep US on top 47:24 Deindustrialization of Europe 47:59 EU attacks top trading partner China 48:40 Why are EU leaders Atlanticists? 49:01 EU leaders are literally crying 49:26 EU elites invest in US financial assets 51:57 US Big Tech corporations 52:35 Comprador bourgeoisie 53:48 Western oligarchies 55:00 US empire fears Eurasian integration 56:15 Trump tries to divide Russia & China 56:33 Europe is at a geopolitical crossroads 58:36 Outro

PREVIEW: DETERRENCE: COLLEAGUE PETER HUESSY OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR DETERRENCE STUDIES OUTLINES THE OVERWHELMING NUKE MISSILE THREAT OF THE EURASIAN BAD ACTORS. MORE NOVEMBER 1951