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Labor unrest broke out in China after the Great War, as it did in many places, but in China it had a strong nationalist component. As the warlords fought each other to exhaustion, the United Front was ready to make its move to take control of the country.

But Sun Yat-sen’s death complicated the picture. Who would lead the Kuomintang? Candidates included party chair Wang Jingwei and KMT military commander Chiang Kai-shek, who had the added advantage of being Sun’s brother-in-law.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

醉漁唱晚 (The Evening Song of the Drunken Fisherman)
Composed in 1876 by 天聞閣琴譜 (Tianwen Ge Qinpu). Public domain.
Performed by Charlie Huang. Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

二泉映月 (The Moon Reflected in the Second Spring)
Composed c. 1950 by 阿炳 (Abing). Public domain.
Performed by 张沛坚 (Zhang Peijian). Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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As President of the United States, Warren Harding made some very good Cabinet appointments, and some very bad ones. His best was Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, who surprised the world by calling for substantial reductions in the sizes of the Allied navies.

Meanwhile, in the city of Tulsa, an accident in an elevator becomes the worst incident of racial violence in US history: The Tulsa Massacre.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Ain’t We Got Fun?”
Composed in 1920 by Richard Whiting, lyrics by Raymond Egan and Gus Kahn.
Performed by Billy Jones. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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In 1915, Gandhi returned to India. He needed some time to get acquainted with his home country, after living abroad for two decades.

The British government spoke of granting India more self rule, but in 1919, when a British officer ordered a massacre of hundreds of peaceful, unarmed Indian civilians in Amritsar, it was for many people in India the last straw. The nationalist movement would settle for no less than full independence.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Moonlight and Daybreak

Closing Theme 

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Mohandas Gandhi went to South Africa to represent an Indian business in a court case there. In South Africa, he became involved in the fight for equal rights for Indians.

It was during this time that Gandhi developed his philosophy of non-violent resistance, called satyagraha, and published Hind Swaraj, a call for Indian self-rule.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Instrumental Oriental Music of India
By Michael Burkard. Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 

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By the beginning of the twentieth century, astronomers had a rough idea of the size and shape of our galaxy. Our solar system was believed to be located at or near the center.

Three decades later, after advances in astronomy, it was determined that our solar system is nowhere near the center of the galaxy. Far more surprising were the discoveries that our galaxy is only one of many such collections of stars, and that the Universe is expanding.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Four Pieces for Clarinet and Orchestra, No. 1
Composed in 1913 by Alban Berg. Public domain.
Performed by Carol McGonnell, clarinet; Steven Beck, piano. Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5. Car horn sound effect from Wikipedia user Magicallwiz and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

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By the early twentieth century, a new generation of Indian nationalists was emerging, one more radical and less patient than its elders, who sought new ways to pressure the British for increased home rule, even outright independence.

Muslim Indians created their own association, the Muslim League, to rival the Hindu-dominated Indian National Congress. And a quiet barrister named Mohandas Gandhi traveled to South Africa on behalf of a client.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Eastern Musings

Closing Theme 

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The United Kingdom was the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth for most of the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution powered the British rise, but after other Western nations began to catch up, Britain’s unique ability to extract wealth from India kept it ahead of its competition for decades longer than would otherwise have been possible. But British supremacy came at a terrible cost to the people of India.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Raga Number One

Closing Theme 

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In 1858, the British government took direct control over India. This was in response to the Rebellion of the previous year and concerns over East India Company misrule.

British rule led to some benefits, but it also produced famine and a collapse in per capita income. By the late 19th century, Indian nationalists were organizing for more Indian say in the governance of their own country.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Instrumental Oriental Music of India
By Michael Burkard. Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 

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At the beginning of the 18th century, Mughal India was the largest economy in the world, renowned for its cotton textiles.

But as the Mughal Empire weakened, its trade partner, the British East India Company picked up the slack, until the Emperor was a mere figurehead and India came under the rule of a multinational corporation, a development without parallel in world history.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Rondeau from Suite of Symphonies No. 1
Composed in 1729 by Jean-Joseph Mouret. Public domain.

“Mumbai Meditation”

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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No matter how highly you might regard Woodrow Wilson’s peacetime policies, no matter how happy you might be that the Allies won the war, it was indiputable that the two years since the Armistice had been difficult ones for the United States.

The Republican field was divided in the 1920 primary season, and at the convention emerged the improbable candidacy of Warren G. Harding, who had articulated American voters’ hopes when he promised a return to normalcy.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“I’ll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time”
Composed in 1920 by Albert Von Tilzer and Neville Fleeson. Public domain.

“Swanee”
Composed in 1919 by George Gershwin and Irving Caesar. Public domain.
Performed by George Gershwin. Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.