Hi everybody. This is the audio version of a six-part essay series called Blacks and Jews. I wrote it for my Substack a while back, so if it sounds like I’m reading instead of speaking naturally, it’s because in this case I am. I decided to release this to everyone on the main feed because, in light of the recent uproar and brewing Democratic Party civil war over the Israel-Palestine conflict, it’s suddenly become quite timely. Black and Jewish Americans were uniquely united until the late 1960s, when the civil rights movement was subsumed by a Third Worldist outlook that caused the Black Panthers and other activists to turn on the State of Israel, and then on American Jews. It precipitated a split in the so-called Black-Jewish alliance which had been the backbone of the civil rights movement during its glory years, and led to some of the worst outbursts of public antisemitism in American history. The intra-left wing conflict over the current conflict in Gaza is not a new story, and in fact is an example of scabs being torn off old wounds that had barely begun to heal. I wrote this series as I was preparing the most recent episode of Whose America, Inner City Blues, so those of you who’ve heard that will be familiar with some of the material, but there’s also a lot of material that wasn’t in that episode.As I said, this was previously released on my Substack, so if you enjoy this kind of content maybe you’ll show a little holiday cheer and help support the podcast by becoming a subscriber for just $5 p/month or $50 p/year. This is a 100% listener-funded show, I don’t have sponsors or any other kind of funding except what you guys contribute, so your generosity is greatly appreciated.

I'm re-uploading all the podcasts from a new hosting service, so I thought I'd go ahead and put the full Epstein series up while I was at it. This series deals with some very dark material. It is not for listening with kids in the car or where other people can hear it at work. If you appreciate this podcast, please consider helping to support it by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack for $5 p/month or $50 p/year. The Substack includes subscribers-only essays, and a subscribers-only podcast feed w/exclusive episodes and audio versions of all Substack essays. This is a 100% listener-funded show, so your support is greatly appreciated. It’s available on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. *Correction* A few people have informed me that my description of how a hedge fund manager calculates his cut is off in Part 1. I meant to correct it in the show, but I forgot. The general point remains, however: there is no way Jeffrey Epstein made the kind of money he was showing by managing one guy’s account over the years.

This episode will cover the period from 1948 - the year of Israeli independence and the Palestinian Nakba - to the Lebanon War of 1982. It is not meant to be a thorough history of that period, as Fear & Loathing was of the pre-1948 period - to do that justice would require another ten episodes, not just one. This one has a narrower focus. The story we’re gonna hear today is not about every figure, and event, and motivation relevant to the conflict, but is specifically about how the level of savagery escalated over the years, the steps by which those escalations occurred, to bring us up to the where we are now, with virtually unrestrained violence completely normalized on both sides. It’s not a pretty story, and several sections of this podcast are not going to be for the faint of heart. Please consider subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack page. The show is 100% listener supported, and Substack subscribers is the only way I'm able to keep doing this. Thanks for everything.

SUPPORT THE SHOW! I don't use sponsors for this show. I work for you guys. If you'd like to help out, become a subscriber to the MartyrMade Substack. It's just $5 p/month or $50 p/year, and you'll have access to subscribers-only podcasts, essays (w/audio versions), interviews, and more. New subscribers will have some catching up to do. If anyone would like to be a subscriber, but can't swing it right now, just shoot me an email and we'll get you hooked up. I appreciate you guys letting me do this show. And this one is a doozy: The Great Migration of 1915-1960 saw over six million African Americans move from the rural South to the big cities of the North and West. It was one of the largest mass migrations in human history, and one whose consequences defined American domestic politics throughout the 20th century. But it wasn’t the first time the industrial cities of America had experienced massive demographic transformation, and the black migrants would run smack into the immigrants of previous generations. In the 1960s, frustration and anger turned to conflict, as race riots drove what was left of the white ethnics out of the inner cities. Today we tell the story of the battle for control of the Ocean Hill-Brownsville school district in New York City - a topic which might sound a bit dull, but was one of the most intense periods of racial conflict in recent American history. The conflict captured the attention of the country for months, and led to a split in the alliance between American blacks and American Jews that had powered the civil rights movement until the late 1960s.

Hey everybody.  I just wanted to touch base. I'm over here working on the next episode of the labor series (Whose America?), and it's coming along nicely, but I thought I'd give you something to tide you over. Some of you may have already heard this since I released it on the MartyrMade Substack, but I figured it’s approaching the holiday season, so why not give this one to the whole family. Like I said, this episode has been on the Substack for a while, along with a lot of other written and recorded content you won’t find anywhere else. Those of you who are already subscribed, for just $5 p/month or $50 p/year, thank you. You are literally the reason I’m able to do this. You know, a couple years ago, after the Jonestown series, I was thinking about calling it quits. I was spending my early mornings, my lunch hours, my evenings and my weekends working on the podcast, and I thought that there was no way I’d be able to keep that up once I had a family, so I really was thinking about wrapping it up. Jocko changed my mind, and those of you who decided to subscribe to the Substack have helped me helped me take a few breaths and every once in a while forget the fact that I don’t have the financial safety net I did when I was working for the DOD. So when I say that you make this possible, I really mean it. Thank you. If anyone out there is not yet subscribed to the Substack, and you can spare $5 p/month or $50 p/year, please consider subscribing so we can keep this thing going. I know it's not easy out there right now, and everything seems to be getting more expensive by the day, so if you really can't swing it, I understand, I've been there, so just shoot me an email at martyrmade @ gmail and we'll work something out. This is the third episode of the series I put together on Jeffrey Epstein. You might have heard the first two on this main feed, but I thought it was time to release this one into the wild. Bring your own torches and pitchforks, I'll bring the flamethrower.

Hey everybody. I just wanted to touch base. I'm over here working on the next episode of the labor series (Whose America?), and it's coming along nicely, but I thought I'd give you something to tide

In August 1921, 10,000-20,000 armed coal miners marched on Mingo County, West Virginia to lift the martial law imposed there, free their jailed brethren, and avenge the assassination of one of their local heroes. At least 20,000 more wives, young boys and other civilians followed the army providing medical, logistical and other services. Before it was over, they would storm a mountainside under fire from entrenched machine guns, and while being bombed from the air. It was the largest and most serious armed insurrection in US history since the Civil War. This episode is going to discuss the West Virginia Coal Mine Wars, and The Battle of Blair Mountain. These episodes are out a week or two early on the Substack feed. If you enjoy this content or want more essays and podcasts not available here, please consider becoming a subscriber over at Substack, it's how I manage to be able to do this at all. Here’s the link to Jocko’s company, Origin, that I mention in the intro. Go there and check out the high-end clothing, boots, jiu jitsu gis, hunting gear and more, all hand-made in the United States. Here's the link to Daniele Bolelli's History on Fire podcast (also available wherever you get your podcasts).

In August 1921, 10,000-20,000 armed coal miners marched on Mingo County, West Virginia to lift the martial law imposed there, free their jailed brethren, and avenge the assassination of one of their local heroes. At least 20,000 more wives, young boys and other civilians followed the army providing medical, logistical and other services. Before it was over, they would storm a mountainside under fire from entrenched machine guns, and while being bombed from the air. It was the largest and most serious armed insurrection in US history since the Civil War. This episode is going to discuss the West Virginia Coal Mine Wars, and The Battle of Blair Mountain. These episodes are out a week or two early on the Substack feed. If you enjoy this content or want more essays and podcasts not available here, please consider becoming a subscriber over at Substack, it’s how I manage to be able to do this at all. Here’s the link to Jocko’s company, Origin, that I mention in the intro. Go there and check out the high-end clothing, boots, jiu jitsu gis, hunting gear and more, all hand-made in the United States. Here’s the link to Daniele Bolelli’s History on Fire podcast (also available wherever you get your podcasts).

Here are Parts 1 & 2 of a series exploring potential truth about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Part 3 is available on The Martyr Made Substack, so if you aren't tapped out on this topic by the end of two episodes, head over to martyrmade.substack.com and become a subscriber for just $5 p/month or $50 p/year to hear that, as well as other subscribers-only MartyrMade podcasts and written content. Thanks again everyone for listening. *Correction* A few people have informed me that my description of how a hedge fund manager calculates his cut is off in Episode 1. I meant to correct it in the show, but forgot. The general point remains, however: there is no way Jeffrey Epstein made the kind of money he was showing by managing one guy’s account over the years.

Here are Parts 1 & 2 of a series exploring potential truth about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Part 3 is available on The Martyr Made Substack, so if you aren't tapped out on this topic by the end of t

Hi everyone. Here is the first episode - well, the prologue - for a brand new Martyr Made series called Whose America?, on the American labor wars. This is a series I've been working on for a while, and a story very close to my heart. I appreciate the patience and support you guys have shown me. I have a habit of over-burdening myself until work grinds to a crawl, then I panic and work myself nearly insane to catch up. Well, the good news is that I only decided to do this prologue at the last minute to set the tone and get the ball rolling, when the *actual* first episode of this series, on the largest insurrection in American history before or since the Civil War, was already almost done. I've got another two books to read before I'm ready to release it into the wild, but it won't be too long. This episode has already been available to Substack subcribers for a week. I will be doing that from now on, so you can add that to the list of benefits available to subscribers for just $5 p/month or $50 p/year. If you enjoy this episode, or even if you don't but just want to keep my cats from starving, please consider supporting the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber to the MartyrMade Substack. Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone. Here is the first episode – well, the prologue – for a brand new Martyr Made series called Whose America?, on the American labor wars. This is a series I’ve been working on for a while, and a story very close to my heart. I appreciate the patience and support you guys have shown me. I have a habit of over-burdening myself until work grinds to a crawl, then I panic and work myself nearly insane to catch up. Well, the good news is that I only decided to do this prologue at the last minute to set the tone and get the ball rolling, when the *actual* first episode of this series, on the largest insurrection in American history before or since the Civil War, was already almost done. I’ve got another two books to read before I’m ready to release it into the wild, but it won’t be too long. This episode has already been available to Substack subcribers for a week. I will be doing that from now on, so you can add that to the list of benefits available to subscribers for just $5 p/month or $50 p/year. If you enjoy this episode, or even if you don’t but just want to keep my cats from starving, please consider supporting the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber to the MartyrMade Substack. Thanks for listening!

Hey everyone. After the recent Thoughts On Ukraine episode, I thought it would be a good idea to bring someone on the show who has a different perspective. Kristaps Andrejsons is a Latvian journalist, writer, and the host of The Eastern Border podcast - one of my go-to podcasts for Russian, Soviet, and Eastern European history for many years. He is a fluent Russian speaker, and provides insight that you’re simply not going to get on CNN or Fox News. That said, he and I have very different interpretations of the recent history between the West & Russia, and this discussion was a great start at getting to the bottom of our disagreements. So, those of you who have been pining to see me get my ass handed to me by someone on this issue, maybe now’s your chance! This is a preview of a Substack subscribers-only episode, so if you can spare $5 a month to help me buy kibble, I'm sure my cats, and certainly I, would really appreciate it. Follow him on Twitter for regular updates on the current Russian-Ukrainian war, and check out his website and podcast for longer form analysis.

Hey everyone. After the recent Thoughts On Ukraine episode, I thought it would be a good idea to bring someone on the show who has a different perspective. Kristaps Andrejsons is a Latvian journalist,

Hey everybody. Many of you have asked for my thoughts on the crisis in Ukraine, so here they are. I re-recorded it because the audio was trash the first time around. Sorry about that. This is the kind of content I usually put on the Substack subscribers-only feed, so if you like this and can spare $5, please consider supporting the podcast by subscribing at martyrmade.substack.com. Here are some links I mention in the show: The Snipers Massacre On Maidan How the West Sowed the Seeds of War in Ukraine, by Pedro Gonzalez My Twitter thread on the Rand Corporation’s strategy white paper Scott Horton’s recent speech on the Ukraine crisis Thanks for listening.

Hey everybody. Many of you have asked for my thoughts on the crisis in Ukraine, so here they are. I re-recorded it because the audio was trash the first time around. Sorry about that. This is the kind of content I usually put on the Substack subscribers-only feed, so if you like this and can spare $5, please consider supporting the podcast by subscribing at martyrmade.substack.com. Here are some links I mention in the show: The Snipers Massacre On Maidan How the West Sowed the Seeds of War in Ukraine, by Pedro Gonzalez My Twitter thread on the Rand Corporation’s strategy white paper Scott Horton’s recent speech on the Ukraine crisis Thanks for listening.

This is a preview of my discussion with longtime Los Angeles radio host Bryan Suits about the 1992 LA Riots. Bryan is an Army veteran of both Iraq Wars, the Bosnian peacekeeping mission, and was on the ground as a National Guardsman during the LA Riots in 1992. The full episode is available for subscribers on the MartyrMade Substack.

This is a special announcement from The MartyrMade Podcast. I have been doing this podcast for several years now, and I think we probably have between 80-100 hours of material up. The kind of podcasts I do take a lot of work. I don't have research assistants, I don't have editors (obviously), and I don't have anyone helping with the back-end, website, sound, or business operations (such as they are). This is a one-man show. For years, I was using pretty much every free moment I had - before work, during lunch, waiting for meetings to start, and late into the night - to work on these episodes. Well, recently I made the plunge to start doing this full-time. I left behind a very secure job with good benefits and a solid retirement plan, and I am officially out in the wild. That means I am going to be able to do a lot more things than I've been able to do in the past, but it also means that it's time to professionalize this operation. Podcasting doesn't come with health insurance or a retirement plan, and so my future and the future of this podcast is now a matter of my relationship to all of you. And so to that end, here is the announcement: I am going to be moving over to Substack, and will use that website as my one-stop shop for podcasting, writing, and listener interaction. The regular podcast feed will be available on all the normal platforms, free of charge, same as always, but I'm going to be doing a lot of subscribers-only content at Substack. There will be regular, subscribers-only podcast episodes, as well as written content from myself and some (carefully curated) guest writers. The subscriber-only episodes will come in all shapes and sizes - segments based on notes that don't make it into a regular episode, commentary on current events and social issues, answering listener questions, as well interviews (also carefully curated). Subscribers will also get a discount on all MartyrMade t-shirts and other gear. Oh, and subscribers will be able to comment on posts, and I'm going to be moving a lot of my online activity away from social media and into the Substack comments and other tools. If you'd like to help support the show, it is just $5 p/month, or $50 p/year, BUT anyone who signs up by October 31 will pay only $4 p/month or $40 p/year forever. That's not a first-month, or first-year offer, you will pay the lower rate as long as you keep your subscription. I know the world is a crazy place right now, and not everyone can contribute. I also know that there is a mountain of amazing content available for free on the internet. I even know that, probably, someone will pirate the subscriber-only episodes and post them somewhere you can find them with a little work. I understand all of these things, and yet nevertheless, if you can manage it without trouble, and if you've enjoyed this podcast up to now, I hope you'll consider subscribing. If you do, and it's before October 31, don't forget to use the special offer link in the show notes. I'll also put it on the website, and on Twitter and Facebook. If you don't care about the $1 p/month discount, you can just head over to martyrmade.substack.com and sign up there. Link to subscription discount: https://martyrmade.substack.com/ce198d71

There's a quote always attributed to Winston Churchill - falsely, I think? - that goes something like, "If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by 30, you have no brain." I've got a different version that I like a lot better, and it goes, "If you're not reading Nietzsche at 20, you have no heart. But if you haven't transitioned to Dostoevsky by 30..." In this episode, I look through the lives and work of the two 19th century existentialist authors, who have a great deal in common, but who, in the end, couldn't be more different. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack.

There’s a quote always attributed to Winston Churchill – falsely, I think? – that goes something like, “If you’re not a liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by 30, you have no brain.” I’ve got a different version that I like a lot better, and it goes, “If you’re not reading Nietzsche at 20, you have no heart. But if you haven’t transitioned to Dostoevsky by 30…” In this episode, I look through the lives and work of the two 19th century existentialist authors, who have a great deal in common, but who, in the end, couldn’t be more different. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack.

History is replete with examples of leaders, nations, and empires who left a trail of blood behind them. But with the Bolshevik takeover of Russia after the First World War, something new crawled from the depths of the earth onto the surface of the world. Never before had a government shown such uninhibited savagery toward its own people, during peacetime, as a matter of policy and in the name of scientific management. After Nazi Germany was defeated in the Second World War, Stalin's Soviet Union unleashed hell on the devastated nations of Eastern Europe, leaving behind an unmatched record of sadism and brutality. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack.

History is replete with examples of leaders, nations, and empires who left a trail of blood behind them. But with the Bolshevik takeover of Russia after the First World War, something new crawled from the depths of the earth onto the surface of the world. Never before had a government shown such uninhibited savagery toward its own people, during peacetime, as a matter of policy and in the name of scientific management. After Nazi Germany was defeated in the Second World War, Stalin’s Soviet Union unleashed hell on the devastated nations of Eastern Europe, leaving behind an unmatched record of sadism and brutality. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack.

This is a short piece I did for Daniele's History on Fire podcast. Many of you may have already heard it, but I thought I'd put it on the main feed just in case. It was a fun break from Jim Jones, and nice to be a little less serious for once. Hope you enjoy. More short episodes like this will be available to subscribers only at the MartyrMade Substack.

This is a short piece I did for Daniele's History on Fire podcast. Many of you may have already heard it, but I thought I'd put it on the main feed just in case. It was a fun break from Jim Jones, and nice to be a little less serious for once. Hope you enjoy. More short episodes like this will be available to subscribers only at the MartyrMade Substack.

Jim Jones and Peoples Temple follow the remnants of the 1970s radical left into the fire. WARNING: Extreme language and disturbing content. Thank you to www.campuspress.com for sponsoring this series. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack. Huge thanks to the folks behind the Alternative Considerations of Jonestown Project. This podcast wouldn't have been possible without their indispensable hard work recording, organizing, and transcribing the Peoples Temple tapes and other source materials. For further information about Jonestown, you can't do better than their website. I did my best to tell the story here as I understand it, but if you ask me the work they're doing will lead to a fundamental future reassessment of what happened.

Jim Jones and Peoples Temple follow the remnants of the 1970s radical left into the fire. WARNING: Extreme language and disturbing content. Thank you to www.campuspress.com for sponsoring this series. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack. Huge thanks to the folks behind the Alternative Considerations of Jonestown Project. This podcast wouldn't have been possible without their indispensable hard work recording, organizing, and transcribing the Peoples Temple tapes and other source materials. For further information about Jonestown, you can't do better than their website. I did my best to tell the story here as I understand it, but if you ask me the work they're doing will lead to a fundamental future reassessment of what happened.

This was originally intended to be part of the previous episode, but I decided to break them up. Warning: EXTREME LANGUAGE AND GRAPHIC CONTENT The student movement is dead. The Black Panther Party is torn apart by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. Activism devolves into struggle sessions and terrorism, as the movement for civil rights and social justice is left to "drunks, hypes, freaks, and madmen." Treason drives Jim Jones off a cliff. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack. This series brought to you by the kind folks at CampusPress.

This was originally intended to be part of the previous episode, but I decided to break them up. Warning: EXTREME LANGUAGE AND GRAPHIC CONTENT The student movement is dead. The Black Panther Party is torn apart by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. Activism devolves into struggle sessions and terrorism, as the movement for civil rights and social justice is left to "drunks, hypes, freaks, and madmen." Treason drives Jim Jones off a cliff. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack. This series brought to you by the kind folks at CampusPress.

This episode begins where the '60s end, when the radicalism of that decade crash headlong into the diminishing expectations of 1970s America. The Weather Underground veers off toward its explosive climax. As the idealism of the student movement is shunted into self-help fads and therapy sessions, what remaining energy of the radical left is drained into increasingly bizarre and violent channels. I broke this episode up into two parts, so it ends a bit abruptly. The second segment will be available a few hours after this is released. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack. This series brought to you by the good folks at CampusPress.

This episode begins where the '60s end, when the radicalism of that decade crash headlong into the diminishing expectations of 1970s America. The Weather Underground veers off toward its explosive climax. As the idealism of the student movement is shunted into self-help fads and therapy sessions, what remaining energy of the radical left is drained into increasingly bizarre and violent channels. I broke this episode up into two parts, so it ends a bit abruptly. The second segment will be available a few hours after this is released. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack. This series brought to you by the good folks at CampusPress.

This episode discusses the beginning of Peoples' Temple's slide into radicalism after Jim Jones leads his people to California. We also talk about the development of 1960s radical political movements, and Jonestown conspiracy theories. I had to record this episode in a hotel bathroom while on travel for work. The audio quality has some issues at various points. Hopefully, it's not too bad. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack.

This episode discusses the beginning of Peoples' Temple's slide into radicalism after Jim Jones leads his people to California. We also talk about the development of 1960s radical political movements, and Jonestown conspiracy theories. I had to record this episode in a hotel bathroom while on travel for work. The audio quality has some issues at various points. Hopefully, it's not too bad. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack.

In this episode I trace the trajectory of the civil rights movement through the 1960s, and the gradual shift in emphasis and leadership from the stoic southern marchers following Martin Luther King, Jr to the militant Black Power soldiers of the northern ghettos. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack.

In this episode I trace the trajectory of the civil rights movement through the 1960s, and the gradual shift in emphasis and leadership from the stoic southern marchers following Martin Luther King, Jr to the militant Black Power soldiers of the northern ghettos. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack.

This is part 2 of a podcast series on Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple movement. An eccentric loner as a child, Jim Jones finds purpose in the fight for racial and economic justice. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack!

This is part 2 of a podcast series on Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple movement. An eccentric loner as a child, Jim Jones finds purpose in the fight for racial and economic justice.

This is the first episode of a series exploring Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. This episode is only a prologue, a few stories and ideas to serve as a backdrop for everything to come. The next episode will be along in the next few weeks, and every few weeks after that until we figure out why over 900 people committed suicide in a South American jungle in 1978. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack! Listen on iTunes!

This is the first episode of a series exploring Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. This episode is only a prologue, a few stories and ideas to serve as a backdrop for everything to come. The next episode will be along in the next few weeks,

This is part 2 of a series I've been working on with Daniele Bolelli. In part 1, he covered the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre carried out by the US Army. I was working on my next major series when Daniele asked me to do a companion episode on My Lai, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. From his description: "Because I felt like I was ordered to do it, and it seemed like that, at the time I felt like I was doing the right thing." —Private First Class Paul Meadlo explaining his role in the My Lai Massacre. "How do you shoot babies?" Meadlo was then asked. His reply... "I don't know. It's just one of them things." "I felt then and I still do that I acted as I was directed, and I carried out the order that I was given and I do not feel wrong in doing so." — Lieutenant William Calley Jr. addressing his own leadership during the action. "Every Day/ On our fellow man we prey/ Dog eat Dog/ To Get by/ Hope you like my genocide” — The Offspring “Hello darkness, my old friend…” — Simon and Garfunkel “I believe now it is but the commencement of war with this tribe, which must result in their extermination.” — Major Jacob Downing “Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.” — Quote attributed to Colonel John Chivington “They were so honorable and so strong, but I felt like they were alone and sometimes when you want to do the right thing, the people that want to do the right thing suffer… even today.” —Lorraine Waters about Silas Soule and Joseph Cramer “It was hard to see little children on their knees… having their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized.” — Silas Soule I’m not going to lie. This is one of the darkest episodes of History on Fire. But there are reasons for this journey into the heart of darkness. The stories of Sand Creek and My Lai offer an opportunity to explore human agency, the choices separating good and evil, and how some individuals can choose to become sources of light even in the most horrible circumstances. In part B, I hand the microphone to my friend and master podcaster Darryl Cooper (from The Martyrmade Podcast.) Darryl explores the context of the Cold War in order to come to terms with what happened at My Lai, in Vietnam, in 1968. Horror abounds, but if you are looking for heroes in the midst of the horror, you can do a lot worse than hear about the story of Hugh Thompson. Listen on iTunes! Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack!

This is part 2 of a series I’ve been working on with Daniele Bolelli. In part 1, he covered the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre carried out by the US Army. I was working on my next major series when Daniele asked me to do a companion episode on My Lai, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. From his description: “Because I felt like I was ordered to do it, and it seemed like that, at the time I felt like I was doing the right thing.” —Private First Class Paul Meadlo explaining his role in the My Lai Massacre. “How do you shoot babies?” Meadlo was then asked. His reply… “I don’t know. It’s just one of them things.” “I felt then and I still do that I acted as I was directed, and I carried out the order that I was given and I do not feel wrong in doing so.” — Lieutenant William Calley Jr. addressing his own leadership during the action. “Every Day/ On our fellow man we prey/ Dog eat Dog/ To Get by/ Hope you like my genocide” — The Offspring “Hello darkness, my old friend…” — Simon and Garfunkel “I believe now it is but the commencement of war with this tribe, which must result in their extermination.” — Major Jacob Downing “Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! … I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God’s heaven to kill Indians. … Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.” — Quote attributed to Colonel John Chivington “They were so honorable and so strong, but I felt like they were alone and sometimes when you want to do the right thing, the people that want to do the right thing suffer… even today.” —Lorraine Waters about Silas Soule and Joseph Cramer “It was hard to see little children on their knees… having their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized.” — Silas Soule I’m not going to lie. This is one of the darkest episodes of History on Fire. But there are reasons for this journey into the heart of darkness. The stories of Sand Creek and My Lai offer an opportunity to explore human agency, the choices separating good and evil, and how some individuals can choose to become sources of light even in the most horrible circumstances. In part B, I hand the microphone to my friend and master podcaster Darryl Cooper (from The Martyrmade Podcast.) Darryl explores the context of the Cold War in order to come to terms with what happened at My Lai, in Vietnam, in 1968. Horror abounds, but if you are looking for heroes in the midst of the horror, you can do a lot worse than hear about the story of Hugh Thompson. Listen on iTunes!

"Mexica 'beliefs' have been discussed confidently enough, but academics being natural theologians, usually at an unnaturally abstract pitch. My interest is not in belief at this formal level, but in sensibility: the emotional, moral, and aesthetic nexus through which thought comes to be expressed in action, and so made public, visible, and accessible to our observation." -Inga Clenninden | Aztecs: An Interpretation Human sacrifice is not a human universal. The institution emerges at a specific stage of human sociopolitical development, and recedes when the transition is complete. Rarely found among nomadic hunter-gatherers, ritual homicide is also nearly absent in archaic civilizations (except for a few residual instances such as royal burials). But human beings didn't make the leap from nomadic foragers to pyramid builders overnight. Nestled between was a transitional stage, when newly-settled people faced the monumental task of ditching the ancient kinship system, sacrificing their freedom to kings, and reorganizing themselves into the first states. This fraught transition was imposed by violence, as primitive egalitarianism was replaced by class oppression, and human sacrifice was employed to define social boundaries and to stave off panic with brutal acts of self-assertion. Kings gloried in their total freedom, the less fortunate were terrorized into submission, and the gods looked on with dripping fangs and growling stomachs. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack! Check out History on Fire! Listen to this episode on iTunes! Listen to this episode on Stitcher!

“Mexica ‘beliefs’ have been discussed confidently enough, but academics being natural theologians, usually at an unnaturally abstract pitch. My interest is not in belief at this formal level, but in sensibility: the emotional, moral, and aesthetic nexus through which thought comes to be expressed in action, and so made public, visible, and accessible to our observation.” -Inga Clenninden | Aztecs: An Interpretation Human sacrifice is not a human universal. The institution emerges at a specific stage of human sociopolitical development, and recedes when the transition is complete. Rarely found among nomadic hunter-gatherers, ritual homicide is also nearly absent in archaic civilizations (except for a few residual instances such as royal burials). But human beings didn’t make the leap from nomadic foragers to pyramid builders overnight. Nestled between was a transitional stage, when newly-settled people faced the monumental task of ditching the ancient kinship system, sacrificing their freedom to kings, and reorganizing themselves into the first states. This fraught transition was imposed by violence, as primitive egalitarianism was replaced by class oppression, and human sacrifice was employed to define social boundaries and to stave off panic with brutal acts of self-assertion. Kings gloried in their total freedom, the less fortunate were terrorized into submission, and the gods looked on with dripping fangs and growling stomachs. If you would like to donate to help put some kibble in my bowl, you can do it at Patreon, or PayPal (email: martyrmade at gmail.com). Thank you to those of you who have donated, I really don’t know what to say other than that. Thank you. Check out History on Fire! Listen to this episode on iTunes! Listen to this episode on Stitcher!

Who's hungry? Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack! Listen on iTunes! Listen on Stitcher! (seems to be some issue here... will try to fix) Visit MartyrMade Facebook page!

Who’s hungry? Listen on iTunes! Listen on Stitcher! (seems to be some issue here… will try to fix) Visit MartyrMade Facebook page!

In which I take a break from banging out my human sacrifice episode to check in with my patient listeners. I'm working on a series of companion episodes to go along with Daniele Bolelli's History on Fire series on the Spanish conquest of Mexico. If you haven't heard the first episode of his series (available on iTunes and everything else) and the bonus episode he put out (available on his website), you really need to listen to them before you get into what I'm doing here. Cheers, everyone. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack!

In which I take a break from banging out my human sacrifice episode to check in with my patient listeners. I’m working on a series of companion episodes to go along with Daniele Bolelli’s History on Fire series on the Spanish conquest of Mexico. If you haven’t heard the first episode of his series (available on iTunes and everything else) and the bonus episode he put out (available on his website), you really need to listen to them before you get into what I’m doing here. Cheers, everyone.

Modern Zionism began in the late 19th century with idealistic calls for spiritual renewal; by 1939, it had transformed into a desperate play for bare survival. Young revolutionaries do combat with Zionist elder statesmen for the soul of the movement. Hitler's German Reich and Stalin's Soviet Union do battle for Europe while everything between them is ground into the mud. Victims become victimizers, and the wider world gets an introduction to the dispute that has been confounding the British Empire for 20 years. Our episode begins with desperate Jews in Nazi Europe, it ends with the realization of the Zionist dream, for the first time in 2,000 years, a sovereign state of Israel. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack! Listen on iTunes! Listen on Stitchr!  

Modern Zionism began in the late 19th century with idealistic calls for spiritual renewal; by 1939, it had transformed into a desperate play for bare survival. Young revolutionaries do combat with Zionist elder statesmen for the soul of the movement. Hitler’s German Reich and Stalin’s Soviet Union do battle for Europe while everything between them is ground into the mud. Victims become victimizers, and the wider world gets an introduction to the dispute that has been confounding the British Empire for 20 years. Our episode begins with desperate Jews in Nazi Europe, it ends with the realization of the Zionist dream, for the first time in 2,000 years, a sovereign state of Israel. Listen on iTunes! Listen on Stitchr!  

New Decline of the West Podcast here. Didn’t plan this, but had to get at you after the madness of the last couple days. Didn’t plan on posting any more to the MartyrMade feed, but I liked this discussion so I thought I’d share it. If you like it, please subscribe to The Decline of the West. If not, tell me to get lost and wait for the next MartyrMade, which is on its way! On July 26, 2016, two young French Arabs announcing themselves as “Soldiers of ISIS” burst into a French church during morning Mass. You know the rest. On the same day, a 26-year-old Japanese man stalked through the halls of a Japanese hospital for the mentally disabled to carry out a plan he had outlined to the Japanese government in February letter. Something has shifted beneath our feet, and we might be cracking up. Listen on iTunes. Get John’s book, The Age of Catastrophe, to read about the Aum Shinrikyo attack on the Tokyo subway system, the Columbine spree killers, the sinking of the Titanic, the Bhopal chemical disaster, and much more.

*NOTE* I jacked up the audio levels on this episode. Sorry about that. It is straightened out for the next episode. This is the last time I’ll push The Decline of the West through my MartyrMade feed, at least until something changes, but I wanted to speak directly to you guys and gals one last time as I get this thing started. We hadn’t planned to release another episode for two weeks, but with the recent events in Dallas, TX (for future readers of this post, it’s July 10, 2016, and a black nationalist gunman recently murdered five police officers, wounded seven more, who were protecting a Black Lives Matter protest march in the city), we had a few thoughts we wanted to share. I won’t give it away, but I will say that we hardly skimmed the surface of all the dark pools we could have, and probably will eventually, dive into as this hot summer slouches toward the 2016 US presidential election. If you like The MartyrMade Podcast, I really think you should head over to The Decline of the West website and subscribe to the new one I’m doing. The Decline of the West will be a bi-weekly (for now, maybe more later) podcast in collaboration with my friend John David Ebert, and it is going to be an opportunity for me to connect with everyone on a more regular basis. As I’m stuck in my dark and dingy apartment researching and preparing MartyrMade, it can get pretty lonely, and I would love the opportunity to be able to reach out and interact with my MartyrMade listeners in a looser, more informal manner on a regular basis. On The Decline of the West, I will be providing regular updates on my progress on the next MartyrMade, and I’ll be able to break down issues and questions you send my way as they come in, rather than trying to load them into a MartyrMade episode that comes out only every couple of months. We’re getting our feet under us a bit in these early shows, but just wait until we get a-rockin’ and a-rollin’… Things are happening, and we’re gonna get to the bottom of it all. So seriously, subscribe to MartyrMade, because it’s a cool show and we all love it, etc etc, but MartyrMade is so research intensive that it’s going to keep a schedule somewhat similar to Hardcore History (although, to be honest, I match Dan’s schedule despite having a full-time day job and  90 minute commute, so I don’t know what time he’s getting out of bed!). Subscribe to Decline of the West and we’ll be able to talk about contemporary issues and current events in real time. Thanks again, it still blows me away that I’m typing these words and there are some of you out there who are actually looking forward to reading them. It feels undeserved, but I’ll continue to work my ass off to earn your attention as best I can. Listen on iTunes here! Other listening options coming as soon as I get a spare half hour from work!

I told you guys I had a surprise coming up. It’s not the one some of you might have been hoping, but it’s just as good and the other surprise is almost ready! I’ve started a second podcast with an author and friend, John David Ebert. This will be a looser, biweekly (and maybe more frequent in the future) podcast that will give me an opportunity to connect with you on a more regular basis to discuss current events and contemporary trends with an eye toward the broader issues and historical dynamics you’re used to hearing in MartyrMade. (MartyrMade remains my priority, of course, and will not be affected. The point of this podcast is that I can do it over a few drinks without the kind of research and preparation I put into MartyrMade… it’s an opportunity to chat!) It’s called The Decline of the West, a title taken from one of the great non-fiction works of the interwar period by German author Oswald Spengler. In his magnum opus, The Decline of the West, interwar German author and philosopher of history Oswald Spengler sketched out a cultural physiognomy which traced humanity’s major civilizations along an arc resembling the life cycle of a biological organism. From a violent birth out of a dark, atavistic past, through stages of growth and mastery, on to a final period of decadent sclerosis, echoes of this general form can be found in the great civilizations as reliably as the stages of birth, growth, maturity, and decay follow one another in an individual life. Earlier civilizations, lacking access to comprehensive histories of those who had traveled the path before them, could only understand their momentary circumstances in the general terms of myth and ritual. But we do not have to settle for slotting our era into general Ages of Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Iron. Uniquely in history, the contemporary West can understand its predicament in terms of historical analogy, looking to what we know of the past to find clues to our present and future. What does Donald Trump have to do with Julius Caesar? Are there constants in the way civilizations respond to a refugee crisis? What can contemporary film tell us about the unconscious anxieties of our age? What is mythological meaning of al Qaeda and the Islamic State, and can the West generate compelling myths to compete with violent millenarianism? Does resurgent nationalism portend an approaching crackup of the nation state system? Nothing is off-limits, so buckle up, we’re going in! My co-host, John David Ebert, is the author of several books on topics ranging from science & religion, contemporary art & philosophy, film, new media, and more. Follow him at his two sister blogs, Cinema Discourse and Cultural Discourse. Cinema Discourse takes a look at film as the archetypal art form of the West in the 20th century, and explores its implications from an art historical standpoint. Cultural Discourse hosts essays exploring current events and contemporary social trends through lenses varying from ancient mythology to postmodern philosophy. Listen on iTunes! Other listening options coming soon!

  My laptop literally died a horrible death as I was uploading this episode, and I'm at a Kinkos finishing this post. Once I have a computer, I'll get the stuff up. The things I do for y'all... Riots. Massacres. The end of the world and everything in it. Palestinian Arabs finally find a voice in the wake of the 1929 massacres. Unable and unwilling to find a place for the Jews, Europe's autoimmune disorder begins to tear the host apart. Desperate European Jews seek escape from Nazi persecution just as Palestinian resistance stiffens and the British become skeptical of the Zionist project. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack! Listen on iTunes Listen on Stitchr  

Riots. Massacres. The end of the world and everything in it. Palestinian Arabs finally find a voice in the wake of the 1929 massacres. Unable and unwilling to find a place for the Jews, Europe's autoimmune disorder begins to tear the host apart. Desperate European Jews seek escape from Nazi persecution just as Palestinian resistance stiffens and the British become skeptical of the Zionist project.

  Hi everyone. Been a long time. My day job has been downright abusive the last 2-3 months, but we're back with Episode 4 of Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem. As the Middle Eastern regional order is hammered into place by the Entente powers, Zionism goes underground. Prosperity abroad and security in Palestine make the 1920s a relatively quiet period in this story. It's been chaos behind us and nothing but chaos in front, but we're in the eye of the storm. The British try a more inclusive approach toward the Arabs, but as the real effects of the Zionist project begin to be felt, tensions rise until the decade ends as it began... in violence. Download or listen below, or get this episode via iTunes or Stitchr. Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack!

Hi everyone. Been a long time. My day job has been downright abusive the last 2-3 months, but we’re back with Episode 4 of Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem. As the Middle Eastern regional order is hammered into place by the Entente powers, Zionism goes underground. Prosperity abroad and security in Palestine make the 1920s a relatively quiet period in this story. It’s been chaos behind us and nothing but chaos in front, but we’re in the eye of the storm. The British try a more inclusive approach toward the Arabs, but as the real effects of the Zionist project begin to be felt, tensions rise until the decade ends as it began… in violence. Download or listen below, or get this episode via iTunes or Stitchr.

We're halfway through Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem, the history of Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (If you haven't listened to the first two episodes, you might want to do that for background, but this episode is an exploratory aside that can stand on its own as well.) I decided to throw something together to answer a few questions and get down in the weeds to talk about Arab tribal dynamics, honor culture, religion, and the mutual incomprehension that helped construct the Middle Eastern mousetrap a century ago, and remains an obstacle to progress in the region today. Support the podcast by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack! Check it out on iTunes! Check it out on Stitcher!

We’re halfway through Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem, the history of Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (If you haven’t listened to the first two episodes, you might want to do that for background, but this episode is an exploratory aside that can stand on its own as well.) I decided to throw something together to answer a few questions and get down in the weeds to talk about Arab tribal dynamics, honor culture, religion, and the mutual incomprehension that helped construct the Middle Eastern mousetrap a century ago, and remains an obstacle to progress in the region today. Check it out on iTunes! Check it out on Stitcher!

  The Arabs and the Zionists in Palestine struggle to get their bearings in a ruined world. The smell of gunsmoke still lays thick over the landscape, and the ink is still wet on the Balfour Declaration and the several new international agreements. The First World War is over, and people around the world are demanding their independence in the new world order. But building a national identity takes more than just drawing lines on a map or running a rag up a flagpole. (Catch up on Episode #1 here.) Click here to listen on iTunes! Click here to listen on Stitcher! Support the show by subscribing to the MartyrMade Substack!

The Arabs and the Zionists in Palestine struggle to get their bearings in a ruined world. The smell of gunsmoke still lays thick over the landscape, and the ink is still wet on the Balfour Declaration and the several new international agreements. The First World War is over, and people around the world are demanding their independence in the new world order. But building a national identity takes more than just drawing lines on a map or running a rag up a flagpole. (Catch up on Episode #1 here.) Click here to listen on iTunes! Click here to listen on Stitcher!

  The conflict between Israel and Palestine can often seem like a permanent feature of the global order. The wars, intifadas, refugees camps, suicide vests, UN resolutions, and peace talks have been painfully burned into our collective consciousness. But how could this have happened? Was it always this way? That's what we'll seek to find out in this three-part series on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Episode #1, nations are rallying to throw off the yoke of the Great Powers, and demanding the sovereign right to rule their homelands. A group calling themselves Zionists puts out a call to awaken the oppressed Jews of Europe from their thousand-year slumber. The time had come, after two thousand years of homeless wandering, to return to Palestine, the land longed for in so many psalms and lamentations. But there was a problem. While the Jews were in exile, another people had moved into the land, and they had been living there for 1300 years. Click here to listen on iTunes Or here for Stitcher! Oh, and a review would be appreciated! Subscribe to the MartyrMade Substack for exclusive content! Thanks for listening. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section or via e-mail. Part Two of this series will be along shortly, and I encourage you to subscribe so you'll be the first to know. Enjoy!

The conflict between Israel and Palestine can often seem like a permanent feature of the global order. The wars, intifadas, refugees camps, suicide vests, UN resolutions, and peace talks have been painfully burned into our collective consciousness. But how could this have happened? Was it always this way? That’s what we’ll seek to find out in this three-part series on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Episode #1, nations are rallying to throw off the yoke of the Great Powers, and demanding the sovereign right to rule their homelands. A group calling themselves Zionists puts out a call to awaken the oppressed Jews of Europe from their thousand-year slumber. The time had come, after two thousand years of homeless wandering, to return to Palestine, the land longed for in so many psalms and lamentations. But there was a problem. While the Jews were in exile, another people had moved into the land, and they had been living there for 1300 years. Click here to listen on iTunes Or here for Stitcher! Oh, and a review would be appreciated! Thanks for listening. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section or via e-mail. Part Two of this series will be along shortly, and I encourage you to subscribe so you’ll be the first to know. Enjoy!