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History ImpossibleHistory: Impossible is exactly what it sounds like: impossible history. People, events, ideologies, STORIES--all that sound impossible. But all true. Author: Alexander von Sternberg
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.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support. Language: en Genres: History, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Understanding the Abyss: Holocaust Scholarship into the 21st Century
Thursday, 21 May, 2026
Hey again everybody. I know I just dropped a big essay on all of you adapted from my final research paper in grad school, and many of you might still be working through it, but I wanted to give everyone another little bonus for all of your patience waiting for the proper big historical episodes of History Impossible. It’s been a while since I’ve done an episode based purely on historiographical analysis, but the paper/essay I wrote a couple of years ago that covers the trajectory of Holocaust scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st centuries seemed thematically appropriate with what I’ve been doing lately.I will spare you the TL;DR on this one since it’s not a very long episode, but I think it’s important to map this out so no one is mistaken in thinking that Holocaust scholarship is purely one-dimensional, moralistic, and remaining static since 1945. It’s a constantly-changing field, with historians still trying to puzzle out certain aspects of one of modern history’s most unthinkable crimes. It only scratches the surface of the literature that exists out there, but it broadly reflects the thematic shifts that have occurred over the last thirty five years of study. We seem to be entering a new phase of that scholarship, so consider this a (hopefully) handy primer....History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon, Substack, and PayPal. Please consider donating today if you want to show some love for what I do and make and what to help keep the show and all my written content going:David AdamcikMonica AlmirallDavid AlsbachGregg Andersonapproso1999Rajan AthulRobert BabeonMichael BeachBenjaminGreg BosaiJohannes BreitsameterCarol ABCCarol ChappelleCharles CChomo the ClownCurtis ChristiansenJason ColemanClayton ConnellClickCliffydeuceCRCraig CrawfordB.CyrdaddygorgonDannyLynda DavisPaul DeCosterRegina Dick-EndrizziNeil DickensNathan DiehlBob DowningDramicasMartin E.EastoneGavin EdwardsSnow FarmerHowie FeltersnatchMatt GassnerPierre GhazarianJosh GoedertSam GrahamJayson GriesmeyerNathan GroteBaronness GunnoraMatt GassnerBenjamin HamiltonPeter HauckJack HennemanEric HodgesMike JarulicJoe6245Tomás JonssonLionel JosephThomas JustesenMike KalninsRobbie KaplanBryn KaufmanLeah KodnerConstance LoucksMaddyMounty of MadnessJose MartinezMike MaylebenS.M. McAvoyJudy McCoidMikeKyle MohneyKostas MorosRyan MortensonJohn MullerCameron NeedhamSean PSkip PachecoDavid PageMolly PanPhilip PomerantzSr. PowellBrian PritzlAnaR737PJ RaderGleb RadutskyAleksandr RakitinReptilycusMatthew M. RicePhillip RiceCheryl RobertsonTerry RosenAndrew S.Dan S.Jon Andre SaetherJake ScaliaEmily SchmidtJulian SchmidtScryptarAndrew SeeberShiranJoshua SimpsonCameron SmithJerry Spanglertimetosuccedd1995Thomas SqueoAthal Krishna SundarrajanJared Cole TempleAnn ToutMike USWard Van RoyPierre VorupuniRobert VSNate WadeweaverapJonny WilkieChristian WilsonJanora WinsorF. YouBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.
