Historical Blindness

In this episode, I address some false historical claims about pandemics and focus in on a devastating and mysterious plague in 16th century Mexico in an effort to find some historical perspective on our current global health crisis. WARNING: many may find the content of this episode disturbing, especially during the current public health emergency.  Background tracks "Seeker," "Comatose," "Dayligh...

In this episode, I tell the story of a legendary artifact and the drama surrounding its purported discovery in the 1930s. This is a sequel of sorts to the last episode because the revived Clampers play a central role in this story.  Featuring a promo for The History of Malls. "Scenery," "Global Warming," "Meekness," "Anxiety," and "daedalus" by Kai Engel are licensed under an International Attribu...

In this episode, I look at the long and storied history of a California Gold Rush era secret society with roots all the way back to the beginning of time! It's a scarcely credible tale that includes a sex slave mutiny, lusty monks massacred by well-endowed Native Americans, and the Chinese discovery of California! It's so crazy, it's hard to believe! Background tracks "Headway," "Meekness," "Salue...

In this episode, the first in likely numerous eventual episodes on apocryphal texts and doctrines, I look at Gnosticism, a school of thought within early Christianity that inverted Judeo-Christian norms with its creation mythology. Background tracks "Sentinel," "Seeker," "July," "Passages," "Global Warming," "Plague," "Comatose," and "Periculum" by Kai Engel, licensed under a Creative Commons Inte...

In this episode, I embark on a journey into the arcane and esoteric, investigating the history of magic as an ongoing series to which I plan to frequently return. In the first volume of my Encylopedia Grimoria, I start at the end, with an entry for Z, to understand the beginning. I look at the figure of Zoroaster, or Zarathustra, as the supposed originator of all things magical.  Background music...

In the conclusion of the season premiere, we find that all is not what it seemed with the death of King Edward II. Indeed, there is ample evidence that Edward II did not die in Berkeley Castle at all, but escaped to live out the remainder of his life as a hermit. So what is to be believed about Edward II's end?  Background music tracks entitled "daedalus," "Meekness," and "Nothing (Bonus Track)" b...

In the premiere full-length episode of the 2020 season, I dig into the historical mystery of Edward II's demise, examining the context of his reign and the circumstances of his death, asking who was responsible and whether the grisly details of his murder were accurate or mere legend. "daedalus" and "Nothing (Bonus Track)" by Kai Engel are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.  Le...

This year, I look at various personifications of the Christmas holiday, from the mock kings of antiquity to the very complicated evolution of the holiday's modern poster boy, Santa Claus. It's a story of ancient gods and goddesses, mischievous elves, and a legendary saint, and how they all got mixed up and baked into one colorful holiday treat!  Much of the Christmas music on this episode, includi...

This is a re-release of a patron exclusive mini-episode that I produced as a companion to my episode on Holocaust denial earlier this year. If you want access to an ad-free feed and extra content like this, visit Patreon.com/HistoricalBlindness and pledge at whatever tier you can. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the conclusion of my Halloween series on werewolves and the 2019 pre-hiatus finale, I go further into the lore, considering the connection between werewolfery and insanity and the influence of Early Modern witch hunts on the conception of the werewolf. Be sure to visit the website at historicalblindness.com for images and links. Hope this one makes you howl... Learn more about your ad choices....

In the first part of my especially spooky Halloween series, I begin a hunt for the true nature of the werewolf, looking at its roots in antiquity and mythology and the evolution of the notion through folklore and etymology. In this first installment, I explore werewolf claims in relation to real wolf attacks, trace the idea of their vulnerability to silver, and suggest that the werewolf may have f...

In the final installment of this in-depth series, I move away from modern Russian revisionists to look at some classical revisionists who were otherwise highly respected as scholars but whose revised timelines and claims of vast conspiracy reflect poorly on their legacies. This episode leads me more into the science denial of revisionists, the mythological and religious basis of much chronology, a...

In Part Two of my chronicles, I discuss another Russian theorist who in the '50s and '60s challenged not only historical chronology but establishment astronomy and physics as well with his claims of ancient interplanetary collision. Be sure to visit the blog at historicalblindness.com for images, academic citations, and links to further reading.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

A look at conspiracism and "alternate history" as a genre in Russian scholarship, and the theories of one Russian mathematician who would rewrite all of history using science. Be sure to visit the website at HistoricalBlindness.com for a full transcript, images, citations, and links to further reading.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a coda to my series on Nazis and the occult, I felt compelled to address the modern myth that the Holocaust didn't happen or was exaggerated. In this episode, I examine Holocaust deniers and their fallacious arguments. Visit the blog at HistoricalBlindness.com for images, citations, and links to further reading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final installment of my series on Nazi Occultism, I finally get to the weird Nazi obsessions with lost civilizations and mythical artifacts. Like a true-life Indiana Jones villain, Himmler dedicated his pseudo-archaeological expeditions to proving misguided theories of anthropogenesis and cosmogenesis and to finding artifacts that may never have existed. Some legends, it seems, are true. Be...

In Part Two of my series, I question how involved in the occult Adolph Hitler was and look to the SS and Heinrich Himmler as the neo-pagan and mystical influence at the heart of Nazism. Be sure to visit historicalblindness.com and find the blog post for this episode to view images, follow links to further reading, and review my citations.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

Here is the episode whose release I delayed by a week. In it, I explore the dark roots of Nazism, from a neo-paganism preoccupied with the Nordic Pantheon, to a folksy back-to-the-land movement that evolved into a nationalist sentiment, to an ideology of racial supremacy all tied up with contemporary myths and pseudoscience. This will be the first in a series. As always, visit the blog at Historic...

Continuing from my series on the Great Sea Serpent, I examine another supposed aquatic monster, for a study of whether dinosaurs survived in the deep waters of the earth wouldn't be complete without an examination of the Loch Ness Monster legend. This one started out as a Blind Spot coda to the Leviathan series, but Nessie demanded her (his?) own full-length episode. Instead, as a coda to the last...

Here's part two of my series on sea serpents! In this episode, much like the mythological motif of a god wrestling against a serpent that represents chaos at the dawn of creation, we see science struggling against the notion of sea serpents in the 19th century, which would throw their scientific worldview into chaos. Be sure to visit the website at historicalblindness.com to view images and find l...

Without further delay, please enjoy this first installment in a series on the myths and mysterious sightings of sea serpents. In the last episode we discussed the extinction of the the dinosaur, but did all of them die off? Could there be some surviving dinosaurian species that has was the basis of our foundational sea monster and dragon myths, creatures that have been encountered by sailors throu...

In this episode, I examine another massive extraterrestrial impact, this one prehistoric and blamed for ending most life on earth. But what really caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? Do we know, or is it a blind spot in prehistory? Be sure to visit the website at historicalblindness.com to view the blog post with images and further reading.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

In this episode, I look at the Tunguska Event. This is a cosmic horror story about an explosion of mysterious origins in a remote wilderness. I tell the tale of the blast, its aftermath, its investigation over several decades, and the mystery that continues to surround it. Visit the blog at historicalblindness.com for images, links to further reading and citations for academic sources.  Learn more...

As a companion piece to my episode on the Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, I look at another influential but dubious anti-Catholic book. In The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop crafts a far reaching conspiracy theory founded on a questionable understanding of history to claim that Roman Catholicism has a secret pagan core. But pseudohistory, while academic sounding enough to convince many, is just f...

In this episode, as a response to the growing nativism in our our own time, I look at early 19th century anti-Catholic narratives, specifically escaped nun stories and convent exposes, and hoaxes that in some cases led to riots. Check out the blog at historicalblindness.com for images to go with this story, as well as a list of citations and some links to further reading.  Learn more about your ad...