Mid-week Update

Mark Update

I write the scripts for The History of the Twentieth Century podcast months ahead of time. This week, I’m working on an episode about dreadnoughts and the naval arms races of the early 20th century. Best known is the Anglo-German arms race, but the Americans and the Japanese were also eyeing each other uneasily. And then there was the surprising South American naval arms race between Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. Tentative title is “Dreadnought!” With a “!”

I’ve also been doing some reading on the Ottoman Empire. The podcast needs a backgrounder on the Ottomans.

As promised, this Sunday’s episode will be about the early days of the unexpected Roosevelt administration. The title will be “Such a Bully Pulpit.” I plan to put some Scott Joplin into the episode, and am working on getting that to sound right.

016: Assassin’s Creed

Mark Podcast
President McKinley speaks at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY, on September 5, 1901. Leon Czołgosz is somewhere in the crowd, but he will not find his opportunity until tomorrow.
President McKinley speaks at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY, on September 5, 1901. Leon Czołgosz is somewhere in the crowd, but he will not find his opportunity until tomorrow.

The course of American history changes when the staid, conservative William McKinley is shot and killed by an anarchist assassin, and the improbable Theodore Roosevelt becomes President of the United States.

Listen.

Download.

Transcript.
Transcript provided by listener Josh.

Playlist:

 

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”
Composed in 1896 by Theodore August Metz. Public domain.

Symphony No. 3 in E♭ Major (“Eroica”)
Composed in 1804 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain. Source.

Closing Theme

 

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

015: Taels I Win

Mark Podcast
Samuel Clemens, who wrote under the pen name "Mark Twain."
Samuel Clemens, who wrote under the pen name “Mark Twain.”

Western reinforcements pour into China and the tide turns in their favor. But can they reach their embassies in Beijing in time?

Listen.

Download.

Transcript.
Transcript provided by listener Josh.

Playlist:

 

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”
Composed in 1896 by Theodore August Metz. Public domain.

“Liuyang River”
Traditional. Public domain.
Recording by David290 licensed under a Creative Commons license. Details.

Closing Theme

 

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

014: The Righteous and Harmonious Fists

Mark Podcast

A French political cartoon of the period. Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm, Emperor Nikolai, and a samurai representing Japan are depicted as carving up China. Marianne (the personification of France) looks on, not participating herself, but backing up her ally, Russia. A Chinese government official in the background protests, apparently to no avail.
A French political cartoon of the period. Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm, Emperor Nikolai, and a samurai representing Japan are depicted as carving up China. Marianne (the personification of France) looks on, not participating herself, but backing up her ally, Russia. A Chinese government official in the background protests, apparently to no avail.

The outrage of the common Chinese peasants against foreign powers and their missionaries boils over into a violent anti-Western uprising.

Listen.

Download.

Transcript.
Transcript provided by listener Josh.

 

Playlist:

 

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Spring Blossoms on a Moonlit River”
Traditional. Public domain.

“Jasmine Flower”
Traditional. Public domain.

Closing Theme

 

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

013: The Christian Century

Mark Podcast

Cyrus Scofield.
Cyrus Scofield.

A schism emerges in Protestantism, between those who would adapt their understanding of Scripture to a modern understanding of the world, and those who will have none of it.

Listen.

Download.

Transcript.
(Thanks to listener Tom B. for providing the transcript.)

Playlist:

Fanfare

“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”
Composed in 1793 by Oliver Holden. Public domain.

“Blessed Assurance”
Composed in 1873 by Frances J. Crosby. Public domain.

“It Is Well with My Soul”
Composed in 1876 by Philip Bliss. Public domain.

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

012: The Empire Strikes Back

Mark Podcast

Caricature of Joseph Chamberlain
Caricature of Joseph Chamberlain

The British marshal the resources of their Empire in an all-out war to defeat the Boer states once and for all.

Listen.

Download.

Transcript.
(Thanks to listener Tom B. for providing the transcript.)

 

Playlist:

 

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Enigma Variations, Opus 36
Composed in 1899 by Sir Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain. Source.

Closing Theme

 

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

011: Moving Like the Wind

Mark Podcast

Winston Churchill in 1900
Winston Churchill in 1900

The Second Anglo-Boer War erupts, following the British ultimatum and the Boer counter-ultimatum. In the opening weeks of the war, the Boers have everything their own way, and the British are stymied.

Listen.

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Transcript.
(Thanks to listener Joseph M. for providing the transcript.)

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Closing Theme

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

010: Lest We Forget

Mark Podcast

Lord Salisbury
Lord Salisbury

A look at the Britain and her Empire at the end of the nineteenth century, with a special emphasis on Ireland and South Africa because, [spoiler alert] things are going to happen in both of those countries.

Listen.

Download.

Transcript.
(Thanks to listener Joseph M. for providing the transcript.)

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Rule, Britannia!”
Composed in 1740 by Thomas Arne. Public domain.

“Eternal Father, Strong to Save”
Composed in 1860 by William Whiting. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Navy Band. Public domain. Source.

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

009: Dark Clouds

Mark Podcast

X-ray photograph of Mrs. Röntgen's hand, made by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895.
X-ray photograph of Mrs. Röntgen’s hand, made by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895.

A look at some of the biggest physical science puzzles at the beginning of the twentieth century. Electrons, x-rays, radioactivity. And a look at the most important scientist of the time, Marie Curie.

Listen.

Download.

Transcript.
(Thanks to listener Joseph M. for providing the transcript.)

 
 
 

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

First Suite in E♭ for Military Band
Composed in 1909 by Gustav Holst. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain. Source.

Closing Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are
© and ℗ 2015 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved.

008: J’Accuse…!

Mark Podcast

'J'accuse...!',_page_de_couverture_du_journal_l’Aurore,_publiant_la_lettre_d’Emile_Zola_au_Président_de_la_République,_M._Félix_Faure_à_propos_de_l’Affaire_Dreyfus
The Dreyfus Affair pits the French Right against the Republic in a political struggle that threatens to tear the country apart, and tells us something about the new face of antisemitism.

Listen.

Download.

Transcript.
(Thanks to listener Joseph M. for providing the transcript.)

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Valse de Paris

Closing Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved.