Dan Carlin, host of the Hardcore History podcast, joins us to discuss the history of the future, the origins of the centaur legend, and what the Black Death can teach us about postapocalyptic fiction. Dave and John get medieval on your assumptions about historical fantasy.
Introduction
0:00 Introduction by Tor.com
0:38 Dave and John introduce the show
Interview: Dan Carlin
04:56 Interview begins
05:02 Some of Dan’s science fiction and fantasy influences, and the connection between science fiction and history
06:23 How Dan got interested in history and his favorite history resource: Will Durant’s History of Civilization
07:45 The dinner table idea that became the podcast, and Dan’s philosophy on making history interesting
10:24 The origin of Centaurs
11:54 Imagining a distant post-racial future, and using that perspective to reexamine history
13:45 Controversial history!
14:49 The Black Death as a source of post-apocalyptic fiction
18:00 Dan’s view of some of the historical blockbuster films of recent years
20:53 Hollywood has nothing on reality: the untouchable violence of history
23:56 The imaginary histories of fantasy fiction
26:25 Time travel and “counterfactual” history
28:52 Dan speculates on the people of the past, and whether humans are becoming ‘better’
33:42 Audience feedback on the Hardcare History podcast
35:07 What lies ahead for Hardcore History?
36:42 End of interview
Dave and John discuss history, anachronisms, and curing the king’s headache
36:47 Things that were invented long before they were ever used
39:02 How much do we really know about the things we take for granted?
41:12 Regarding Braveheart, and An Utterly Impartial History of Britain by John O’Farrell
42:52 Do not complain about historical films to Dave. Seriously. Just don’t.
43:36 Things that seem inaccurate in films but actually aren’t, and Donald Kagan’s lecture on Sparta
47:46 Oliver Stone’s Alexander
48:41 Anachronistic movies: A Knight’s Tale and Romeo + Juliet
50:23 The inspiration for Harry Turtledove’s The Guns of the South
52:16 Where it’s easy to run into trouble with historical fiction
54:04 Mike Duncan’s The History of Rome podcast and HBO’s Rome
57:53 The kidnapping of Caesar and Empire of Blue Water
01:00:14 The Twelve Byzantine Rulers podcast and Norman Centuries
01:01:43 Educate yourself through podcasts! Because your history class probably sucks.
01:04:56 Show wrap-up
Next week: Musician Jonathan Coulton
Thanks for listening!
John Joseph Adams (www.johnjosephadams.com) is an anthologist, a writer, and a geek. He is the editor of the anthologies By Blood We Live, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Living Dead (a World Fantasy Award finalist), Seeds of Change, and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. He is currently assembling several other anthologies, including Brave New Worlds, The Living Dead 2, The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination, and The Way of the Wizard. He worked for more than eight years as an editor at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and is currently the fiction editor of Lightspeed Magazine, which launches in June 2010.
David Barr Kirtley (www.davidbarrkirtley.com) is a writer living in New York who has been called “one of the newest and freshest voices in sf.” His short fiction appears in magazines such as Realms of Fantasy and Weird Tales, and in anthologies such as The Living Dead, New Voices in Science Fiction, and Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition.
Show notes compiled by podtern Christie Yant. Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
