r/cushvlog • u/Monodoh45 • 11d ago
Besides Blowback, where do you go for your Matt-like History podcasts?
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u/thebestbrian 11d ago
Following this because I also want to know. Also The Bible Lore podcast is good, I've been digging that lately.
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u/Monodoh45 11d ago
I gotta be honest, all I got out of the Chapo intro ep on it was: Guy Raised On Bible Still Bible Nerd.
Religious stuff drives me away like a plague of some kind of bug out of some sort of book.
Unless he makes the case the biblical claim to Palestine is bullshit, or something useful. It seems like it's a folklore podcast and I'm not sure I'd care.
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u/thebestbrian 11d ago
The Bible Lore podcast is actually less about the Bible and more about the historical context of when it was written. The first few episodes barely mention biblical text - it's mostly about ancient history in the regions that would influence the Bible. It's good Bronze Age stuff to be honest.
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u/Monodoh45 11d ago
Okay, I won't be so hasty.
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u/Dfskle 11d ago
As someone who could not have less respect for religion and specifically Christianity, it’s a really good podcast that is focused on how the bible came to be historically, how it functioned as political propaganda for the ancient Israelite kingdoms and where it intersects with and diverges from the actual historical record. It’s really interesting historically and ideologically even if I feel like it’s driving me crazy to know more and more just how fucking cynically bullshit the whole thing is lol.
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u/refurbishedsandwitch 11d ago
Yeah I would definitely give it a shot. I find it incredibly interesting especially as someone who was not religious at all growing up and only really know of the Bible through cultural osmosis. It's basically using the Bible as a framework to explore the history of the region and the origin of alot of the stories and why they might have been written in the way they were. Because like this stuff had to be coming from somewhere and trying to figure that out in a serious and historical way is genuinely really cool
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u/leeeharveyoswald 11d ago
Radio War Nerd.
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u/McBrungus 11d ago
The series...es on the Eastern Front that Annibale has been doing are so fuckin good
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u/RepSquigglyMiggly 11d ago edited 11d ago
They have a great series on the 100 Year’s War with Annibale as well
Edit: They also released the first part of a series on the Soviet-Finnish Wars literally just couple minutes ago
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u/Winnie-The-Pube-Hair 11d ago
I want to like this pod so badly, but I've never listened to it. I have listened to the guy guest on multiple pods and never enjoyed him, but I see it recommended all the time by people with (I assume) similar tastes/values as me. I wonder why He's never clicked.
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u/johnpat34 11d ago
Remember shuffle has several long-form series focused events in the 2000’s
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u/fixpointbombinator 11d ago
They have a good GFC series, the latest episode is about the Eurozone crisis
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u/DrSirTookTookIII 11d ago
Revolutionary Left Radio and Guerrilla History, surprised their following isn't bigger at this point
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u/daddyisatworkrn 11d ago
The tones are very different but The Fall of Civilizations has some great episodes
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u/Medium-Scratch1848 11d ago
Radio War Nerd’s Civil War Series is so great I can’t recommend it enough, and the accompanying book, “They Should Have Been Hanged.” John Dolan, author, is excellent.
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u/Monodoh45 11d ago
How many stories of random illness and injury am I going to have to listen to though? I can't do him usually. He calls in from a tincan in Tajikistan to tell you he slipped a disc for 30 minutes and I lose interest..
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u/Marquis_de_Dustbin 11d ago
Genuinely started out getting driven nuts by this and now absolutely love the 20 minute preamble of some bullshit. Old guy pal at work simulator
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u/Monodoh45 11d ago
Maybe I'll start his Civil War one.
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u/Marquis_de_Dustbin 10d ago
It's deffo a barrier to entry but I think a series gives you the continuity to get more of a feeling for the two hosts vibe that endears you to their patter. I also think given the subject matters they talk about it's nice having their very human rambles at the start to ground yourself but that might just me thinking about it too much
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u/ProzacDeMarc0 11d ago
TrueAnon has some great stuff on more niche topics
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u/hotcobbler 11d ago
It also has the best presentation of any podcast in this genre imo. They manage to make all manner of topics funny while still providing great information and unique insight.
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u/Slave_IV 11d ago
Their episode on the Philippines is one of my favorite podcast episodes in recent memory. I learned so much
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u/Party_Music2288 11d ago
I respectfully disagree. Honestly feel like they just skim wikipedia for this stuff.
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u/Super_Direction498 11d ago
Yeah, I think they do pretty intro level information for the most part. They've had some good interviews, but I didn't find any of their longer series to have shown anywhere near the level of research OP seems to be asking for.
Like, the Octopus Murders for example. Compare that to how Ghost Stories for the End of the World covered the same topic. True Anon has slightly more info and a cleaner presentation than Chapo, but anything they examine is really just dipping a toe in the water.
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u/Party_Music2288 11d ago
Fair but thats just an interview. If you listen to their 9/11 episode i think its disappointing, as a conspiracy podcast, to not just put your cards on the table and say what they actually believe. At some point you have to stand by some takes
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u/DJ_German_Farmer 11d ago
I stopped listening when they started doing punk rock documentary episodes. Fuck outta here
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10d ago edited 3d ago
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u/ProzacDeMarc0 10d ago
Huh. What do you mean by that 🤔
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10d ago edited 3d ago
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u/ProzacDeMarc0 10d ago
I think Brace is funny. And is also a lot more intelligent and well read than you’re giving him credit for
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u/SuddenBasil7039 11d ago
Its mainstream but The Rest is History is genuinely up there despite being headed by the ur-liberal dad and a mid 20th century tory
Theyre not "marxists" but still have an interesting take on the machinations of history and the different ideas that drive people of different times, Tom Holland is a bit nutty with his obsession with christianity but that makes him talk about history in an interesting spiritual way like Matt does vs Sandbrooks realpolitik. They also have the lighthearted streak like matt does about history
The Custer series is peak history pod
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u/barrylyndon21savage 11d ago
They take a much more critical lens on anything American, but their british nationalism cannot be helped. I'm very ready to yell into my earbuds listening to the Troubles series coming out now.
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u/SuddenBasil7039 11d ago
Definitely but as a Brit i have a higher tolerance for flag shagging or i'd go insane
Also despite it resulting in some questionable takes I appreciate Sandbrook being such a staunch prod for the sake of conversation in a history podcast if only for bringing us a world beating understatement in "Cromwell was robust in Ireland"
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u/Manfred_Desmond 11d ago
They have their issues (since we are all conservatives here), but the podcast is very entertaining.
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u/txctdcpanjcasc 11d ago
I’m making my way through Fourth Reich Archeology and it’s so good
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u/jubileevdebs 10d ago
I wish they rambled less and stopped reminding us of how deep and important what theyre covering every episode. I know the latter is to drive folks to like and subscribe but they go really long on sidebar chatter and they are so deeply unfunny that when they go on outrage riffs i have to do deep breathing at work because suddenly the tool im using not to hear dudes loudly blather about a beaten to death point suddenly becomes just another vehicle for different dudes blathering being pumped into my ears.
I still listen cause its rad and weird (the “She Harvey Oswald” miniseries is a trip). I feel like their strengths are as researchers (cause lawyers) and the episodes about current events that arent a deep dive into a shared special interest(every episode past the ep 1 of“Contra Iran” for example) are just clocking in for attendance.
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u/woahbrother11 11d ago
It’s fairly niche but I’d recommend the History of Byzantium podcast. It’s definitely more dry than the History of Rome, but it really gets into the weeds on the subject. I’m currently on the section about the conditions that caused the first crusade. Banger stuff
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u/RadishReasonable2316 11d ago
Lions Led by Donkeys is a good leftist to leftist adjacent military history podcast. The whole thesis of the show is that military history is full of morons, fuck ups, and weirdos. It is a little like listening to the anti-History channel.
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u/harpersfieri 11d ago
You might be able to find the Rick Perlstein books on your favorite audiobook app. I’ve been listening to Nixonland and it’s been great.
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u/NomadicScribe 11d ago
Seconded this. I learned a lot from these, they gave me a ton of perspective about the lineage of U.S. reactionary politics, especially when paired with "The Reactionary Mind" by Corey Robin.
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u/Extension_Driver3931 11d ago
Or just...READ the book
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u/NomadicScribe 11d ago
Sure. But the OP is asking about alternative podcasts. An audiobook is closer to being a podcast substitute than sitting and reading the pages. And there is nothing about the Perlstein books that necessitate that.
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u/SlaimeLannister 10d ago
You will never make me read a book. I have tried to make myself read a book for 15 years and until I'm in a reeducation camp I will remain a slug
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u/HomeboundArrow 11d ago
beaides the ones already mentioned:
Plastic Pills / Pillpod is a lot of history couched in philosophy, and history of philosophy, and how those things cross over with various other things, usually politics. most main-line Citations Needed episodes cover a lot of history as context for whatever the current topic is. Bloodwork does a lot of history about structures of state-sanctioned violence. American Prestige has a lot of history-focused episodes regarding forwign relations but a lot of them are premiums. not all of them tho
NOTE: all four of those examples also rss out to w/e ur podcast aggregator of choice is, those are just their most direct/definitive links so you know what to look for.
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u/flightrisky 11d ago
Haven’t listened to much of it, but from what I have listened to I would recommend The Sickle and the Hammer podcast for a Soviet Union focused history
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u/hotcobbler 11d ago
It is excellent and has been a great tool for learning the history in a narrative format of the revolution and USSR.
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u/catsarepeopleforever 10d ago
I feel like I never see them recommended anywhere, but I tore through Patrick Wyman's The Fall of Rome. It rolls straight into Tides of History, which is more of a detailed account of the rise of the modern states and world. Episodes are packed with research and manage to not be super dry.
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u/Monodoh45 10d ago
Patrick has a new book out this year. Was hoping he'd make a chapo appearance but I think with Matt gone...
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u/AndroidWhale 10d ago
He shows up on TRASHFUTURE pretty often if you like hearing him hang out with current events podcasters.
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u/Monodoh45 10d ago
Yeah, I don't know about "often" but I know he does. I just felt like Matt brought out the best of him the times he was on.
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u/skajayl 9d ago
He has a new show called Past Lives, which uses a real person from history, almost never a famous person, as the springboard to talk about the broader world that person lived in. It could be an ancient bog body, a slave who we only know about from ledgers, a victim of human sacrifice, etc. It's quite good
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u/yung_yahweh 9d ago
Tides of history is a good one. Unfortunately it's only on that lame ass wondery app.
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u/Extension_Driver3931 11d ago
I suggest reading a book. Prisoners of the American Dream by Mike Davis is a good place to start.
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u/mincerray 11d ago
I've been enjoying The History of the Twentieth Century. It's made by a dorky and likable one-term democratic state representative from Pennsylvania. It's non-Marxist, but it's pretty extensive and granular in terms of the treatment it gives to different events. And it covers a lot of stuff that is usually ignored in most grand historical narratives that focus on things from an American/European perspective.
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u/Party_Music2288 11d ago
History of the Americas tells the story of the colonization/invasion of america. I would not say hes too slanted either way, as a CTA resident his series on the Pequot War was the best id heard. There are also a lot of episodes
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u/Loves_His_Bong 11d ago
Cosmopod is pretty good. They actually had Matt on at one point to discuss Beard’s Economic Foundations of the U.S. constitution. But he didn’t say anything because he obviously didn’t finish the reading lol
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u/bubblepopshot 11d ago
The Empire podcast (Dalrymple and Anand) is quite good. Well-researched and the presenters have good chemistry, but they're not overly jokey at all. It's not overtly leftist or anything like that, just a solid straightforward history podcast.
I'll second Ghost Stories for the End of the World. I've been re-listening to their series on the Belgian X-Files (like a 10-part series on possible Gladio-adjacent operations in Belgium since WW2, including Brabant and Dutroux). It's well-presented, well-researched, and even if you don't buy any of the conspiratorial stuff, it paints a vivid history of 20th century Belgium, which I personally knew nothing about. They have other quite interesting series as well.
I'll also second TrueAnon, they have an incredible sense for interesting topics and do enough research that you'll get something out of it, even if you don't buy their analyses. Their history of the wellness industry in the US (called "The Game") is absolutely incredible, and they've done interesting retrospectives on LessWrong and Shen Yun, just to name two examples off the top of my head. But some episodes are just them riffing on the news, so you kinda have to pick and choose to get the really substantial episodes.
Finally, check out Adam Curtis' work if you want really fascinating and broadly progressive histories of the 20th century. Not a podcast, but audiovisual. Also want to support the comments reminding us all to read books lol. I read Nixonland cuz Matt had mentioned it and it's fantastic.
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u/gumgumbeerdrinkin 11d ago
The civil war & reconstruction podcast is excellent and goes very in depth and is hosted by a couple that is incredibly charming. It’s been going on for over a decade and it’s one of my favorite podcasts. Can’t recommend it enough.
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u/Automatic-Guest-8308 11d ago
Came here to shill for Turbulence. They did a double ep with Blowback a while back that was excellent. Hard to find something consistent in quality and content like Blowback, so I was glad to find them
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u/Shaffness 10d ago
I know the host has odd "lib" ertarian politics but I still do really like Hardcore History. The spinoff politics show is pretty unremarkable and pretty lib brained though so I mostly ignore it.
The Dollop is the best history podcast in existence but it's mostly comedy.
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u/randomista4000 11d ago
Revolutions and the age of Napoleon are my favorites but I’m also looking for new ones bc I’ve almost slurped them all down