anarchism 2022! Book Updates! Vampires! Oh my! We talk about my upcoming book and a few portrayals of vampires that have largely slipped under the radar.
anarchism Special Post: EDMONTON! We talk about land reform, witchcraft and proto-anarchism in Ye Olde England to help people appreciate an upcoming (and much anticipated) play by Sewer Rats Productions!
Venice Venice Episode 8 (Finale) Napoleon Ruins Everything, end of the Republic of Venice. Napoleon ruins everything, Venetians dither and the costs of oligarchy and inequality are realized at last.
Venice Intermezzo: Venice, double-entry book-keeping and capitalism. Venice invents capitalism through a handy hack involving double entry of numbers. This has some serious consequences for the world.
Venice Limited History of Venice Episode 7: Neutrality and Neurosis In which pigheadedness and a desire to live in a time capsule mingle with diplomatic cunning!
Venice Venice and the Islamic World Venice and the Islamic world: frenemies, or best of frenemies? We also discuss the Renaissance, Piri Reis and how powerful the position of middleman can be.
Venice Venice Ep 6: Francesco Morosini, WAP We cover the whacky and murderous antics of Francesco Morosini in brief along with his more funny insecurities.
Venice Intermezzo: That Time A Horse Blew Up the Venetian Arsenal Turns out stacking tons of gunpowder in the middle of a crowded city wasn't a bright idea and here is why.
Venice Episode Five: Andrea Gritti and the End of the Italian Wars In which we talk about failure, the angriest pope, and Gritti's incredibly cynical but effective Fabian strategy.
Venice Venetian Intermezzo: "I think we can call that a bribe." In which we talk a little about trade, misadventures, the perils of investing and the joys of glass 'jewels'.
Venice Venice Episode 4: The Lock-In to Oligarchy (1297) In which the Venetian oligarchs harden the barriers to social advancement, secure their own positions and profits, and Genoa decides to really show Venice what for a century later. Good times.
Venice Intermezzo: 1261, the Mongols and the Fall of the Latin Empire. The Byzantine Empire roars back to life, the Genoans get snooty and Venice gets worried as their operations in the Black Sea are threatened. Also: Mongols!
Venice Doge Enrico Dandalo, the Fourth Crusade and the Birth of the Venetian Empire (1200-1205) In which art is stolen, a blind man sees his way clear to making Venice an empire and various crimes are committed.
Venice Intermezzo: The Venetian/Byzantine relationship We talk about the Byzantines, hubris, and how Venice figured out how to profit off of the first three Crusades while trying to stick it to Genoa. Also, foreshadowing.
Venice Ep. 2: Antenori Bros attempt to make the Dogeship a Family Business (800-810) Things go badly, coups are attempted, the Antenori fail to learn the lessons of history and as usual the Venetians pitch a mostly-defeat as a glorious unifying victory.
Venice Intermezzo: Venice, the slave trade and Carolingians Turns out that empire building ain't pretty, and the Venetians profited off the slave trade for quite some time before whitewashing it out of their history.
Venice Episode 1: Venetian Concepts of Power in the Office of the Doge (or): Yo, Fuck Monarchies! In which we discuss the office of the doge, the importance of grabbing children from market places to count votes, and at least in part why the Venetians loathed monarchies so much. Also, a surprise tongue twister cameo from Danny Kaye!
Venice Saint Mark, Corpse Theft and Lions In which we talk about Saint Mark's 700 year long nap, abduction by the Venetians and the explosion of winged lion statues in Venice!
Nestor Makhno A Review of Moorcock's THE STEEL TSAR Another world, with robots, nukes and Nestor Makhno's quest for an anarchist society.
omnibus 2020 in Review and 2021 Plans In which we discuss what we've talked about in 2020 and tease some new projects for next year.
history How to Rob A House Using Only a Turtle and Candle: An Excerpt from the Book of Charlatans by Al Jawbari Lets learn some 13th century tradecraft with the help of a friendly ex-con man, Al Jawbari!
anarchism The Murder of the Anarchist Pinelli and the Beginning of the Years of Lead in Italy in 4 Videos In which we discuss the beginning of the Years of Lead, Piazza Fontana bombing by fascists and the murder of the anarchist Pinelli by Milanese police with musical accompaniment.
anarchism "A las Barricadas" (1792-2020) in 6 Songs We cover the history of revolutionary anarchist songs with some surprising origins--and catchy beats about smashing fascism.
steamed hams Thanksgiving Post: Steamed Hams! In which we examine the cavalcade of memes set around a 1996 sketch that is relevant to today's garbage fire of a world.
