Premodernist

What if Canada had joined the American Revolution?

When the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence in 1776, some British colonies to the north refused to join and 90 years later they formed the country of Canada. How would things have played...

Does trick-or-treating have American origins?

Fun followup to my video here about the origins of Halloween – another channel on YouTube, Chris Spargo, recently posted a video looking specifically at the origins of trick-or-treating.

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Does Halloween have pagan origins?

I might eventually turn this question into a YouTube video someday. This represents where I stand on the question after just beginning my research. It is not as simple to answer as I had at first i...

New second channel

I've started a side channel to put content that doesn't fit on the main channel. Sometimes I want to answer someone's question really quick without spending a lot of time producing something that's...

Myths of Scottish identity

People of Scottish descent enjoy learning about the history and culture of their ancestral home, but some aspects of "traditional" Scottish heritage turn out to be largely a modern fabrication.

Review of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Continuing the series on Indiana Jones

These are the main sources I used for the making of the movie:

• Douglas Brode, The Films of Steven Spielberg (New York: Citadel, 1...

  2025-08-28 16:06:52 +0000 UTC View Post

Could the Chinese have colonized Europe?

China was a powerful empire for most of its history, and had the largest and most capable ships in the late Middle Ages. Was colonization of Europe possible?

India and Pakistan

This month I'm giving general background for understanding the tensions between India and Pakistan.

What if the Schism of 1054 had not happened?

The split between Rome and Constantinople is considered one of the most significant events in the history of Christianity, and it has defined the contours of the Christian communities in Eastern Eu...

Review of Les Visiteurs

Les Visiteurs is a French comedy from 1993 about two people from the Middle Ages transported to the modern world.

CORRECTION: In the video I say they visit 1993, but they actually arri...

What should I podcast about?

I've been wanting to do a lecture course in podcast form. It'll be a limited run podcast, a few dozen episodes long, and will be more or less equivalent to the lectures one would get in a universit...

Could there have been an industrial revolution in Ancient Rome?

The more I thought I about this question, the more philosophical I got…

Why I don't believe in "golden ages"

It's common in popular discourse to talk about one period or another as being a Golden Age, but I don't think it's a useful or interesting concept.

Quick update on the Patreon content

I was going to record and post the Patreon video this week, but I've been sick with a cold since last weekend. So it's going to be in the latter part of month. Sorry for the wait. I hope everyone's...

Rename the $3 tier?

I've been wondering lately if the name of the $3 tier should be changed.

When I set up the tiers, one name that I considered was "Hardcore Alaska Purchase Fans." I didn't end up using it beca...

Why didn't the Ottomans colonize the Americas?

The Ottomans were one of the most powerful empires in the world during Europe's Age of Exploration. So why weren't they also involved in colonizing the Western Hemisphere?

Raiders of the Lost Ark: historical accuracy

Wait, you mean it isn't an archaeology documentary??

My main sources for the background and making of the movie are

• Brian Jay Jones, George Lucas: A Life (New York...

  2024-12-23 23:25:08 +0000 UTC View Post

A brief history of Islamic expansion

Summary of when, where, and how Islam expanded from its beginning to the present day.

There were three main factors in the spread of Islam:
1) Military conquest followed by the population ...

Human-animal relations in history

Human societies have always depended on animals in their economies and warfare. I discuss some of the ways that relationships between humans and animals have affected history.

Ranking the historical significance of different crusades

My first tier list video! I rank ten different crusades based on how historically significant I think each one was.

Comparing the Mongol Empire and the British Empire

It's often said that the Mongol Empire of the 13th century and the British Empire of the 20th century were the largest empires in world history. How do they compare to each other?

Race in the European Middle Ages

I mentioned in one of my videos that modern anti-Black racism did not exist in medieval Europe in the form we know it today. But what sorts of racism/prejudice did they have?

Did the U.S. political parties switch sides?

It is sometimes claimed that the two major political parties in U.S. politics, the Democrats and the Republicans, used to be on opposite ends of the political spectrum. It's actually more complicat...

Video late this month

The Patreon video is running late this month (and also the extra video for presidential electors). The last couple of weeks I was rushing to finish a video for YouTube. That will be up later this m...

Other empires to think about besides the Romans

This is in reference to the trend that was going around last year about how men apparently always think about the Roman empire. I give five suggestions of other empires that are also worth thinking...

Review of the Bill & Ted movies

I review the three Bill & Ted movies: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), and Bill & Ted Face the Music 2024-04-06 17:10:21 +0000 UTC View Post