Month: November 2017

097: The Banana Wars I

Mark Podcast
1904 political cartoon mocking the “Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.” Note US warships puckishly named “Receiver” and “Sheriff” and “Debt Collector.”

 
By the early twentieth century, the United States had substantial economic interests in Central America, notably in banana cultivation, most of which was intended for export to the US. American companies owned or controlled the plantations, the railways, the ports, and sometimes the local governments, derisively termed “banana republics.”

Listen:

Download.

Transcript.

 

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Carnaval – Latin Rhythms
Recorded at the 2015 Carnaval Grand Parade in San Francisco by RTB45, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

 

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

096: The Rape of Belgium

Mark Podcast
1915 political cartoon from the New York Tribune. Columbia, the personification of the USA, is shown mourning Lusitania, while a grieving Belgium comments, “At least they only DROWN your women.”

 

During the initial offensive in the West, the German Army committed numerous war crimes in Belgium, including rape, firing on civilians, arbitrary executions, and property destruction, including the burning of the library at the Catholic University of Leuven. The Allies would take maximum propaganda advantage of these crimes, sometimes exaggerating them.

Listen:

Download.

Transcript.

 

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Poème élégiaque
Composed in 1893 by Eugène Ysaÿe. Public domain.
Performed by Jean-Claude Féret, violin, and Christine Féret, piano, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

 

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

095: The Far Seas

Mark Podcast
SMS Emden, shown here in Qingdao harbor just a few weeks before the Great War began.

 

At the moment the Great War began, there were a number of German cruisers stationed all over the world. Though they were outnumbered by the Royal Navy, they attempted to interfere with British shipping, causing the Allies a lot of grief in the opening weeks of the war.

Listen:

Download.

Transcript.

 

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
Composed in 1912 by Frederick Delius. Public domain.
Performed by Jeff Manookian, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

 

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5. Photograph of Emden used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 DE license.