History Impossible

Written by: Alexander von Sternberg
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  • Summary

  • History Impossible covers some of the less-known, strange, and supposedly impossible events, people, and ideologies throughout history that are all nonetheless true. The settings and time periods range from the Second World War to ancient Japan to medieval Europe, and many more. The show engages with difficult ideas and impossible decisions that were made by human beings like you or me, always to significant effect. It goes out of its way to grant agency to all of its subjects and does its best to present the most nuanced approach one can, all while acknowledging any personal biases that may exist. You will not find a more honest attempt at presenting difficult and controversial historical topics.
    Copyright Alexander von Sternberg
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Social Sciences True Crime World
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Episodes
  • Revisionism and Misplaced Empathy: The Darryl Cooper - Tucker Carlson Situation

    Revisionism and Misplaced Empathy: The Darryl Cooper - Tucker Carlson Situation
    Oct 2 2024
    I have, for many years, recommended Darryl Cooper’s hit podcast Martyr Made to the relative handful of people kind enough to listen to my own show and read my thoughts on various publications, including my own Substack. And not to fully bury the lede, I still do, though admittedly with a little more reservation than I might otherwise have only a month earlier.

    This comes from the piece I wrote for the good folks at Merion West which takes a close look at the claims made last month by my podcasting comrade Darryl Cooper while he was being interviewed on Tucker Carlson’s X show. This is the podcast version, with some tweaks and expansions, but I highly recommend you go read the polished piece over on Merion West.

    Thank you all for reading and listening.
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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • The Elites Who Would Play God (w/ CJ Killmer of Dangerous History)

    The Elites Who Would Play God (w/ CJ Killmer of Dangerous History)
    Sep 9 2024
    In this newest special episode of History Impossible, I sat down to discuss a super-light topic, one not fraught with intense controversy and tragedy, with my long time friend and podcasting comrade, CJ Killmer, of the Dangerous History Podcast: that is, the topic of eugenics! More accurately, we discussed a particular man in that noteworthy field who CJ discussed on his second-most recent episode (as of this writing; the 12th and newest epic installment of the Woodrow Wilson series he’s been working hard on just released), Dr. Edwin Katzen-Ellenbogen.

    This man’s storied career included being a pioneer in promoting the pseudo-scientific field that gripped the hearts and minds of American and European elites in the early 20th century, as well as having the worst luck in escaping the Nazis as their reach expanded across Europe while placing Jews like him in the crosshairs. This ultimately worked out for him, in a sick sense, because shortly after being captured and tossed into a camp, he began working with them on some of their notorious human experiments. It has been alleged that he personally murdered at least 1,000 human test subjects by lethal injection. Unlike many of the other Nazis’ collaborators, he was purely in it for himself, and, based on his activities before the war, likely agreed with many of their conclusions.

    CJ and I spoke not just about this man, and not just about eugenics, but how they—especially eugenics—fit into the broader schema that is the philosophy of progress, that is, Progressivism. It’s at once obvious and shocking. And to help hammer the point home, we close by discussing an underrated piece of 1990s cinema that not only remains great nearly 30 years later, but eerily prescient. So please sit back and enjoy this conversation with CJ Killmer.

    …

    History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon, Substack, and PayPal. Please consider donating today to help keep me free and this show alive:

    David Adamcik
    Rajan Athul
    Robert Babeon
    Michael Beach
    Benjamin
    Johannes Breitsameter
    Carol ABC
    Charles C
    Clayton Connell
    Cliffydeuce
    CR
    daddygorgon
    Danny
    Lynda Davis
    Paul DeCoster
    Neil Dickens
    Nathan Diehl
    Bob Downing
    Dramicas
    Rob Duval
    Gavin Edwards
    Howie Feltersnatch
    Pierre Ghazarian
    Jayson Griesmeyer
    Nathan Grote
    Benjamin Hamilton
    Peter Hauck
    Eric Hodges
    Carey Hurst
    Mike Jarulic
    Joe6245
    Russell Johnson
    Lionel Joseph
    Thomas Justesen
    Mike Kalnins
    Bryn Kaufman
    Leah Kodner
    Benjamin Lee
    Constance Loucks
    Maddy
    Mounty of Madness
    Jose Martinez
    Mike Mayleben
    Judy McCoid
    Kyle Mohney
    Kostas Moros
    Ryan Mortenson
    Cameron Needham
    Skip Pacheco
    David Page
    Molly Pan
    Jeff Parrent
    Jean Peters
    Sr. Powell
    Brian Pritzl
    AnaR737
    PJ Rader
    Gleb Radutsky
    Aleksandr Rakitin
    Reptilycus
    Phillip Rice
    Terry Rosen
    Chris Rowe
    Dan S
    Jon Andre Saether
    Alison Salo
    Jake Scalia
    Emily Schmidt
    Julian Schmidt
    Andrew Seeber
    Joshua Simpson
    Cameron Smith
    Jerry Spangler
    Thomas Squeo
    Brian Steggeman
    Pier-Luc St-Pierre
    Athal Krishna Sundarrajan
    Jared Cole Temple
    ChrisTX
    Ward Van Roy
    Robert VS
    Jonny Wilkie
    Ricky Worthey
    Michael Wroblewski
    F. You
    Greg Zink
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    1 hr and 34 mins
  • The Yasuke Conspiracy (w/ Sebastian Major of Our Fake History)

    The Yasuke Conspiracy (w/ Sebastian Major of Our Fake History)
    Aug 27 2024
    To say historians can be pedantic is like saying water is wet. To say gamers and gaming commentators can be pedantic is yet somehow even more of an obvious understatement. So what happens when these two communities clash and/or blend? You get what we could charitably call the Yasuke Conspiracy.As many gamers likely know by now, the insanely popular and long-running Assassin’s Creed series of games has explored multitudes of time periods, aesthetics, and characters from across history, ranging from Renaissance Italy, to Revolutionary America, to Victorian London, to Roman Empire-era Egypt, to, most recently, Viking England. The newest, upcoming game in the series, Assassins Creed Shadows, promises more of this trend, this time taking us to medieval Japan during the Sengoku Jidai, or Warring States period. Sounds all well and good, right? There was one problem, at least in the eyes of many gamers: that one of the two playable characters was not, in fact, Japanese, but African. And not only was he African, he was a purportedly real person from history (a first for the series, whose protagonists have always been fictional). This person was the so-called “African samurai,” Yasuke. And what followed was a firestorm of controversy, bad corporate crisis management, and a historian’s credibility being thrown in the direction of a woodchipper.Being a gamer, and one who enjoys the Assassin’s Creed series, I was aware of the Yasuke controversy, and I was also aware of Yasuke, having come very close several years ago to covering him, but opting instead to cover the far less vague and mythological-seeming story of William Adams, the supposed British samurai. Part of the reason for this choice was due to the fact that there was indeed only one secondary source on Yasuke, and it didn’t seem completely reliable. And sure enough, it was that source that, four years later, became the source of the controversy at hand. To help me make sense of this story, I needed to reach out to someone far more familiar with the material and, more importantly, someone who understood the power of historical myth. I could not find anyone better than my comrade-in-historical-podcasting-arms, Sebastian Major, the host of the phenomenal Our Fake History podcast. Sebastian had indeed covered Yasuke before, so I picked his brain and we discussed the true story of Yasuke and the controversy itself as well as the writer at its center, the now-unfortunately-controversial Thomas Lockley. So please enjoy, as we are joined by Sebastian Major, and attempt to plumb the depths of our fake (impossible) history.…History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon, Substack, and PayPal. Please consider donating today to help keep me free and this show alive:David AdamcikRajan AthulRobert BabeonMichael BeachBenjaminJohannes BreitsameterCharles CClayton ConnellCliffydeuceCRdaddygorgonDannyPaul DeCosterNeil DickensNathan DiehlBob DowningDramicasRob DuvalGavin EdwardsHowie FeltersnatchPierre GhazarianJayson GriesmeyerNathan GroteBenjamin HamiltonPeter HauckEric HodgesCarey HurstMike JarulicJoe6245Russell JohnsonThomas JustesenMike KalninsBryn KaufmanLeah KodnerBenjamin LeeConstance LoucksMaddyMounty of MadnessJose MartinezMike MaylebenJudy McCoidKyle MohneyKostas MorosRyan MortensonCameron NeedhamSkip PachecoDavid PageMolly PanJeff ParrentJean PetersSr. PowellBrian PritzlAnaR737PJ RaderGleb RadutskyAleksandr RakitinReptilycusPhillip RiceChris RoweDan SJon Andre SaetherAlison SaloJake ScaliaEmily SchmidtJulian SchmidtAndrew SeeberJoshua SimpsonCameron SmithJerry SpanglerThomas SqueoBrian SteggemanPier-Luc St-PierreAthal Krishna SundarrajanJared Cole TempleChrisTXWard Van RoyRobert VSJonny WilkieRicky WortheyMichael WroblewskiF. YouGreg Zink
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    1 hr and 54 mins

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