Episodes

For our third Holiday Special, Dave walks us through the evolution of Santa Claus as we know him today – in particular, how modern Santa was the result of an increasingly globalized and industrialized world.

A quick introduction to the Second Industrial Revolution.

In the mid-19th Century, scientists would upend everything human beings understood about themselves and the world around them, and they would drive that world forward into a second industrial revolution.

This time it’s the folk music made about the Industrial Revolution. (The first of what will probably be several similar bonus episodes in the next few years.)

In an age of expanding railroads, steam-driven ocean liners, transnational telegraphs, and more, the world experienced its “First Wave of Modern Globalization.” In this episode, we discuss the ways it played out in the mid-19th Century.

In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, human beings were becoming increasingly aware of the things that united them and the things that divided them, as they identified themselves more and more along the lines of nationhood. In this episode, we discuss that push-and-pull as it started in the 19th Century, with special attention paid to Italy, Germany, and India.

In this episode, we talk about the super-deadly conflicts that happened between the First and Second Industrial Revolutions: The Crimean War, the U.S. Civil War, the Paraguayan War, and the Taiping Rebellion.

Dave interviews Dave Amos, a city planning professor at Cal Poly and host of the YouTube channel City Beautiful.

In the mid-19th Century, cities across the industrializing world began to modernize. New infrastructure was added, new layouts of streets and city resources were devised, and greater emphasis was placed on improving the quality of life for all people.

The 19th Century was fraught with public health challenges – many of them spurred by the Industrial Revolution. In this episode, we look at environmental health, alcoholism, and cholera, in particular. And we see how the scientists, policymakers, and mass movements of the age addressed these challenges.

Dave reads Part 1 of the Communist Manifesto, in which Marx describes the history of the First Industrial Revolution through his own lens.

This month we explore the life, times, and ideas of one of history’s most controversial figures. The Industrial Revolution marked a turning point in history, and Karl Marx used a combination of philosophy, economics, politics, and history to try to explain it – and what comes next.

For this year's Holidays bonus episode, we discuss the origins of two of the most popular Christmas traditions: Christmas trees and Christmas cards. Both came out of the First Industrial Revolution thanks to a couple of our old friends.

Now that the First Industrial Revolution is wrapped up, Dave takes some more questions in this "Ask Me Anything" episode.

A look back on all the incredible changes the world saw in the First Industrial Revolution, and some looking forward to the future.

In 1848, the effects of the industrialization and financial modernization combined with the forces of burgeoning ideologies and class and national identities to create a year of revolutions. Uprisings against the existing order swept across Continental Europe – although these missions failed almost everywhere. It marked a turning point in world history – a flashpoint in the political and economic transitions underway – and for us, it will mark the end of the First Industrial Revolution.

To supplement this month's chapter on Victoria and Albert, Dave talks with Chris from the Age of Victoria Podcast to learn more about the long-ruling queen and Great Britain in the 19th Century. (Available until November 2020.)

Telling the story of the Industrial Revolution would not be complete without spending some time on Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert. Her long reign came at the height of British power and, together with her hard-working husband, she forged a legacy that embraced change. Under her rule, the economy was modernized, the constitution became more democratic, and the country promoted new learning and new technology.

The second of two episodes devoted to the cultural changes underway in the 18th and 19th Centuries, thanks (at least in part) to the Industrial Revolution. First we’ll explore the so-called Second Great Awakening, which spurred a diversity of religious traditions in the United States. Then we’ll discuss the impact of industrialization on fashion trends (and vice versa). Next, we’ll talk about the changing diets of ordinary people in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. Finally, we’ll wrap up with the history of football.

Dave reviews four television programs set in Great Britain during the First Industrial Revolution: “Gentleman Jack”, “The Mill”, “Blackadder the Third”, and “Victoria”.