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History Impossible

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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Episodes
  • The Soviet Who Saved the World (w/ The Eastern Border)

    The Soviet Who Saved the World (w/ The Eastern Border)
    Apr 29 2024
    In this special conversational episode of History Impossible, we’re joined again by friend of the show and friend of mine, Kristaps Andrejsons of The Eastern Border podcast (which will also host this conversation on its feed!), who was kind enough to grace the shores of the United States for a visit, specifically Texas. Specifically, we turned to his recent special wedding episode where he discussed the eponymous “man who saved the world,” Stanislav Petrov, who, according to erroneous headlines from publications like the Atlantic a number of years ago, saved the world by “doing absolutely nothing.” Kristaps is here to disabuse us all of such a ridiculous notion.

    In 1983, the Cold War was at its most tense since the early 1960s, particularly during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was during this time that the monitoring station where Stanislav Petrov was station picked up signals indicating that a handful of nuclear missiles launched from the United States had been launched in the direction of the Soviet Union. While he could have responded without thinking, leading to missiles being launched back at the United States, Petrov opted to wait for visual confirmation of the incoming missiles, putting both he and potentially hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens in jeopardy. His rationality paid off and it turned out that there had indeed been an error in the detection equipment. No missiles had been fired.

    Why was this so extraordinary? This is what Kristaps is here to tell us about for us to discuss, along with scatterings of news from Ukraine as well as the eternal debate over American involvement overseas, as well as the proliferation of nuclear weaponry. It’s actually a fairly light episode, considering the subject matter, so enjoy!

    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
    Babeonbobby
    Michael Beach
    Benjamin
    Elias Borota
    Johannes Breitsameter
    Charles C
    Cliffydeuce
    CR
    daddygorgon
    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
    Carey Hurst
    Joe6245
    Thomas Justesen
    Mike Kalnins
    Bryn Kaufman
    Leah Kodner
    Benjamin Lee
    Constance Loucks
    Maddy
    Mounty of Madness
    Jose Martinez
    Mike Mayleben
    Judy McCoid
    Jim Miller
    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
    Chris Rowe
    Jon Andre Saether
    Alison Salo
    Jake Scalia
    Emily Schmidt
    Julian Schmidt
    Andrew Seeber
    Joshua Simpson
    Cameron Smith
    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
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Oppenheimer and the Nuclear Question

    Oppenheimer and the Nuclear Question
    Mar 31 2024
    Hey all, I hope you’re doing well.

    I have for all of you the audio adaptation of the essay I wrote last year in response to my seeing the magisterial Oppenheimer, and given its newly Oscar-anointed status, I figured now would be the best time to get this out as a bonus as you all patiently await the return of the Muslim Nazis series (it’s still coming, worry not!).

    In this, we cover, mostly from my own memory (but supported by sources), the various reasons the United States might have dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To say this is a complicated question is an understatement. To say there is a consensus, even almost 80 years later, is impossible. So we’re going to get into the weeds with this question while also showing the love Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus deserves.

    And as always, 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
    Babeonbobby
    Dave Baxter
    Michael Beach
    Benjamin
    Elias Borota
    Johannes Breitsameter
    Charles C
    Cliffydeuce
    CR
    daddygorgon
    Paul DeCoster
    Neil Dickens
    Nathan Diehl
    Bob Downing
    Dramicas
    Rob Duval
    Gavin Edwards
    Pierre Ghazarian
    Jayson Griesmeyer
    Nathan Grote
    Benjamin Hamilton
    Peter Hauck
    Carey Hurst
    Joe6245
    Thomas Justesen
    Mike Kalnins
    Bryn Kaufman
    Leah Kodner
    Benjamin Lee
    Constance Loucks
    Maddy
    Mounty of Madness
    Jose Martinez
    Mike Mayleben
    Judy McCoid
    Jim Miller
    Kyle Mohney
    Kostas Moros
    Ryan Mortenson
    Cameron Needham
    Skip Pacheco
    David Page
    Molly Pan
    Jeff Parrent
    Jean Peters
    John Pisano
    Sr. Powell
    Brian Pritzl
    AnaR737
    PJ Rader
    Gleb Radutsky
    Aleksandr Rakitin
    Reptilycus
    Phillip Rice
    Chris Rowe
    Jon Andre Saether
    Alison Salo
    Jake Scalia
    Emily Schmidt
    Julian Schmidt
    Andrew Seeber
    Joshua Simpson
    Cameron Smith
    Thomas Squeo
    Brian Steggeman
    Pier-Luc St-Pierre
    Athal Krishna Sundarrajan
    Jared Cole Temple
    ChrisTX
    Robert VS
    Jonny Wilkie
    Ricky Worthey
    Michael Wroblewski
    F. You
    Show more Show less
    55 mins
  • Closing the Holocaust Knowledge Gap

    Closing the Holocaust Knowledge Gap
    Mar 7 2024
    Hey everyone. The following is an ad-free bonus audio essay that follows up on the recent conversation I had with the History Underground's J.D. Huitt, where I make some corrections and then provide some deeper context to my thinking about how we might fix the Holocaust Knowledge Gap via education. I will let the episode speak for itself, but I want to thank all of you for your constant support of the show and your patience as I work on the longer episodes.

    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
    Babeonbobby
    Michael Beach
    Benjamin
    Elias Borota
    Johannes Breitsameter
    Charles C
    Cliffydeuce
    CR
    daddygorgon
    Paul DeCoster
    Neil Dickens
    Nathan Diehl
    Bob Downing
    Dramicas
    Rob Duval
    Gavin Edwards
    Pierre Ghazarian
    Jayson Griesmeyer
    Nathan Grote
    Benjamin Hamilton
    Peter Hauck
    Carey Hurst
    Joe6245
    Thomas Justesen
    Mike Kalnins
    Bryn Kaufman
    Leah Kodner
    Benjamin Lee
    Constance Loucks
    Maddy
    Mounty of Madness
    Jose Martinez
    Mike Mayleben
    Judy McCoid
    Jim Miller
    Kyle Mohney
    Kostas Moros
    Ryan Mortenson
    Skip Pacheco
    David Page
    Molly Pan
    Jeff Parrent
    Jean Peters
    Sr. Powell
    Brian Pritzl
    AnaR737
    PJ Rader
    Gleb Radutsky
    Aleksandr Rakitin
    Reptilycus
    Phillip Rice
    Chris Rowe
    Jon Andre Saether
    Alison Salo
    Jake Scalia
    Emily Schmidt
    Julian Schmidt
    Andrew Seeber
    Joshua Simpson
    Cameron Smith
    Thomas Squeo
    Brian Steggeman
    Pier-Luc St-Pierre
    Athal Krishna Sundarrajan
    Jared Cole Temple
    ChrisTX
    Robert VS
    Jonny Wilkie
    Ricky Worthey
    Michael Wroblewski
    F. You
    Greg Zink
    Show more Show less
    47 mins
True Crime World Social Sciences
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