Snakes & Otters Podcast
Episodes
Friday Oct 11, 2019
Friday Oct 11, 2019
Martin captains an episode examining the life and reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II's father, Frederick III. He reigned only 99 days, but if he had lived, could he have transformed the nascent German empire from Prussian militarism to a model constitutional monarchy? Would that have transformed Europe and prevented (or mitigated) the cataclysm of World War I?
Although they don't mention it in the episode, the guys highly recommend Our Fritz: Emperor Frederick III and the Political Culture of Imperial Germany by Frank Lorenz Muller from 2011 as an excellent source not only about Frederick's life, but also about all of the many cultural considerations that they guys discuss here as well.
Friday Oct 04, 2019
Episode 019 "Kaiser Wilhelm II: Douche or Unjustly Vilified?"
Friday Oct 04, 2019
Friday Oct 04, 2019
Francis wants us to consider Christina Croft's The Innocence of Kaiser Wilhelm II: and the First World War and exonerate the Kaiser of his exclusive historical blame for WWI. Martin says "well the damn Russians were to blame anyway". Robert reminds us that history is always complicated.
Friday Aug 09, 2019
Episode 012 "Franz Ferdinand: Martyr, Visionary, or Doofus?"
Friday Aug 09, 2019
Friday Aug 09, 2019
Martin leads a "reach back" episode about Franz Ferdinand and why the Serbs thought he was worth shooting. Shoot a guy in a funny hat, start a war. Damn 1914 was weird. The story includes a juicy sex scandal, so be sure to download and give a listen.
Although the guys don't mention it by name, perhaps the best and most recent works about Franz Ferdinand is The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance That Changed the World by Greg King and Sue Woolmans from 2014. It's worth checking out.
Friday Jul 19, 2019
Episode 009 "Woodrow Wilson Screws the Pooch"
Friday Jul 19, 2019
Friday Jul 19, 2019
Francis has us digging into Ronald Pestritto's Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism. Martin, Robert and Francis all agree, Wilson made a huge mess. So much for all those great American Ideals from Franklin and Voltaire. Wilson don't need them.
Saturday Mar 02, 2019
Episode 003 "World War I: Who's To Blame, Part 2"
Saturday Mar 02, 2019
Saturday Mar 02, 2019
The guys continue their discussion about who really should get the blame for World War I, using Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 as a springboard.
Saturday Feb 16, 2019
Episode 002 "World War I, Who's To Blame, Part 1"
Saturday Feb 16, 2019
Saturday Feb 16, 2019
Martin, Robert and Francis take on the big question about who really should get the blame for World War I, using Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 as a springboard.
Bonus Feature - Martin calls the Russians "dicks" in the process!