Today's Top Episodes
The Sunday Daily: Hollywood’s A.I. Moment
Is AI about to write the next Hollywood blockbuster and replace your favorite stars? Dive into the ethical battle raging in Tinseltown!
#634 - Fiona Cauley
Discover how dark humor becomes a superpower for Fiona Cauley as she navigates life with a rare disability and fights for agency.
TIP785: My Reflections on Money, Life, and Happiness w/ Stig Brodersen
Beyond the billions: Unlock the secrets to lasting happiness and make your money work for your true self, not against it.
Will AI Make Bitcoin More Valuable Than Ever? | Jordi Visser
Is Bitcoin the ultimate AI play? Explore how the rise of artificial intelligence could redefine the value of digital assets and your career.
Defending the Disabled
A simple act of bullying, a powerful wave of kindness: Discover how students rallied to defend a disabled classmate.
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Part Two: Behind the Bastards Q&A: 2026 Edition
- The discussion highlights that identifying false information requires digging into historical work and being skeptical of claims that sound too good to be true or overly sensational.
- Recognizing commonalities among "bastards" involves looking beyond superficial traits like poverty and abuse, and instead focusing on a pervasive desperation to matter and a yearning to be close to power.
- The podcast touches on the challenging and underappreciated nature of journalism, particularly when reporting on conflict, and how early exposure to significant world events or impactful media can shape career aspirations.
Part One: Behind the Bastards Q&A: 2026 Edition
- The discussion explores tactics for identifying false information, emphasizing the need to look beyond easily spread inaccuracies and consult reputable historical sources, including checking for historian critiques of popular history books.
- The conversation touches on the enduring problem of power and individual greed throughout human history, suggesting that struggles against "bastards" and those who seek excessive power have always existed, even in prehistoric societies.
- The podcast delves into the motivations for becoming a journalist, highlighting early exposure to conflict reporting and a growing frustration with media shortcomings as key influences.
Part Three: X-Mas Special: The Heroes Who Ended The Slave Trade
- The podcast episode focuses on the origins and brutality of the Atlantic slave trade, highlighting its profitability and the profound dehumanization involved.
- A significant discussion point is the pivotal role of the Zong massacre and subsequent court case in galvanizing the organized abolitionist movement in Britain.
- The conversation emphasizes that while slavery existed in various forms throughout history, the Atlantic slave trade was uniquely horrific and spurred specific abolitionist efforts.
Part Two: X-Mas Special: The Heroes Who Ended The Slave Trade
- The episode discusses the origins and brutal realities of the Atlantic slave trade, highlighting its deep ties to the pursuit of profit through sugar cultivation and the subsequent dehumanization of enslaved Africans.
- It reveals how European powers, particularly the Portuguese, Spanish, and eventually the British, became central figures in fostering and profiting from the slave trade by providing weapons in exchange for enslaved people captured in African wars.
- The discussion of the Zong massacre and the subsequent legal case is presented as a pivotal event that galvanized the organized abolitionist movement in Britain, demonstrating how a horrific act of human cruelty can spark a fight for legal and moral change.
Part One: X-Mas Special: The Heroes Who Ended The Slave Trade
- The podcast episode discusses the horrific beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade, highlighting the brutal conditions on ships and the initial profit-driven motivations of European powers like Portugal and Spain with sugar plantations.
- The conversation details how the slave trade became deeply embedded in British society, with fortunes built on human trafficking, and how the legal system treated enslaved people as property, making the abolitionist movement a radical and groundbreaking fight for the rights of others.
- A pivotal event that fueled the abolitionist movement was the infamous Zong massacre, where enslaved Africans were thrown overboard, leading to a court case that solidified a precedent for insuring human lives as property and sparked outrage that galvanized the fight against the slave trade.
Part Two: Lord Haw-Haw: Hitler's Favorite Anglo Propagandist
- The episode details the early life and radicalization of William Joyce, tracing his Irish roots and developing anti-British sentiment into extreme loyalty to England and a burgeoning interest in fascism.
- Joyce's formative years were marked by a strong embrace of British imperialism and a deep-seated hatred for Irish nationalism, fueled by his upbringing and education in a pro-British Catholic school system.
- The discussion highlights Joyce's early involvement with pro-British paramilitary groups in Ireland, where he acted as an informant and showed an early aptitude for extremist ideologies, foreshadowing his later embrace of fascism.
Part One: Lord Haw-Haw: Hitler's Favorite Anglo Propagandist
- The podcast episode features a reverse "Behind the Bastards" format where a guest researcher discusses historical figures who embody extreme malevolence.
- The primary subject of this episode is the early life and development of William Joyce, a figure who, from a young age, displayed intense loyalty to the British Empire and a fervent hatred of Irish republicanism and other minority groups.
- The discussion highlights Joyce's formative years in Ireland, his early involvement with British paramilitary forces, and his burgeoning fascination with fascism as he transitioned into adulthood.
Part Five: The Men Who Might Have Killed Us All
- The current global nuclear threat is as potent as during the Cold War, with systems designed for launch-on-warning and imperfect information posing a constant risk of accidental escalation.
- The development of strategic bombing theory, stemming from WWI's flawed assumptions, paved the way for the concept of mutually assured destruction and the targeting of civilian populations.
- Early nuclear strategists, influenced by the perceived necessity of deterring enemy powers, grappled with the moral implications of creating and deploying weapons of planetary destruction, a debate that continues today.
Part Four: The Men Who Might Have Killed Us All
- The development and evolution of strategic bombing theory, particularly the theories of Giulio Douhet and their implementation by figures like Curtis LeMay, significantly shaped twentieth-century warfare, leading to devastating firebombing campaigns in both Europe and the Pacific.
- The creation and use of nuclear weapons, while initially perceived by some military leaders as a decisive resolution to traditional strategic bombing's limitations, solidified the grim concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) as a cornerstone of global security.
- The podcast critically examines the logic of pre-emptive strikes and deterrence, arguing that the "first strike" mentality, evident from Pearl Harbor to contemporary nuclear strategy, is a dangerous and flawed approach that escalates conflict.
Part Three: The Men Who Might Have Killed Us All
- The current global nuclear arsenal is a "planetary killing doomsday device" that has not been made safer since the Cold War and could wipe out civilization in minutes due to escalating tensions and imperfect information.
- The development of strategic bombing theories, starting with Giulio Douhet and evolving through actions like area bombing, laid the groundwork for the concept of mutually assured destruction and the systematic targeting of civilian populations.
- The creation of the atomic bomb and subsequent nuclear strategies were influenced by a complex mix of perceived necessity in the face of existential threats (like Nazi Germany), scientific advancements, and military deterrence theories that have, in retrospect, proven to be flawed.