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History on Fire

History on Fire

By: Daniele Bolelli
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About this listen

 Where history and epic collide--"History on Fire" is a podcast by author and university professor Daniele Bolelli. Social Sciences
Episodes
  • EPISODE 112: Historical Daddy Issues

    EPISODE 112: Historical Daddy Issues
    Jun 16 2025
    “The thought of him now and always has been a sense of comfort. I could breathe, I could sleep, when he had me in his arms. My father—he got me breath, he got me lungs, strength—life… The best I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness and great unselfishness.” Theodore Roosevelt about his father. Since my daughter was born, I have been trying my best to be as good a father as I’m capable of. Given this priority, it’s probably not surprising that I’ve given a whole lot of thought about what it means to be a good father, what makes a bad father and everything in between. In this episode, I tackle fatherhood in history: the bad (a lot), the good (considerably less), and the possible consequences. Looking at the evidence makes me wonder if much of history is the product of child abuse coming home to roost. In the course of this exploration, I look at a quite a few case studies (from Churchill to Stalin, from Marcus Aurelius to Alexander the Great, etc.), discuss the field of psychohistory, receive an assist from Dan Carlin, analyze how culture may shape fatherhood, and ponder how much bad fathers may have contributed to the popularity of dictators and cult leaders. If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon to access plenty of bonus content. All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at our ⁠⁠LinkTree⁠⁠, including the ⁠⁠HOF YouTube Channel⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠. Throughout history, people have used mushrooms (such as Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga) for their medicinal properties. My friends started ⁠⁠Purest Mushrooms⁠⁠ where they offer some of the best quality mushrooms you can find on the market at affordable prices. Use code historyonfire at checkout for a discount. Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at ⁠⁠Dakota Pure Bison⁠⁠. History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout. This episode is supported by Arizona State University. Learn more about how ⁠ASU⁠ supports all learners through all stages of life. My friend James Pieratt is one of the world’s top functional training experts, and a record-breaking hybrid athlete. Use the code WH25 for a 25% discount on all of his training programs at ⁠https://wildhuntconditioning.com/⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 43 mins
  • [RERUN] EPISODE 79: Slavery

    [RERUN] EPISODE 79: Slavery
    Jun 2 2025
    It was only a few generations ago when large numbers of people in United States saw nothing wrong with the notion of buying, selling and owning human beings. Weirder yet, some slave owners were masters in the mental gymnastics required to feel morally justified in enslaving members of their own families, including their own children. In this episode, I am joined by Darryl Cooper from The Martyrmade Podcast for a conversation about the institution of slavery. If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at to access plenty of bonus content. All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at our ⁠LinkTree⁠, including: ⁠HOF YouTube Channel⁠, ⁠Substack⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok⁠. Throughout history, people have used mushrooms (such as Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga) for their medicinal properties. My friends started ⁠Purest Mushrooms⁠ where they offer some of the best quality mushrooms you can find on the market at affordable prices. Use code historyonfire at checkout for a discount. Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at ⁠Dakota Pure Bison⁠. History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout. This episode is supported by Arizona State University. Learn more about how ⁠ASU⁠ supports all learners through all stages of life. My friend James Pieratt is one of the world’s top functional training experts, and a record-breaking hybrid athlete. Use the code WH25 for a 25% discount on all of his training programs at ⁠Wild Hunt Conditioning⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    2 hrs and 6 mins
  • EPISODE 111: When Monsters Choose War

    EPISODE 111: When Monsters Choose War
    May 19 2025
    “It is our belief that Saddam wishes to return Islam to blasphemy and polytheism...if America becomes victorious...and grants victory to Saddam, Islam will receive such a blow that it will not be able to raise its head for a long time...The issue is one of Islam versus blasphemy, and not of Iran versus Iraq.” Ayatollah Khomeini "We do not repent, nor are we sorry for even a single moment for our performance during the war. Have we forgotten that we fought to fulfill our religious duty and that the result is a marginal issue?" Ayatollah Khomeini A friend of mine recently died after a lifetime of addiction. He was forcibly recruited to be a child soldier in the Iran-Iraq war when he was 13 years old. I think he died back then and spent the following 40 years slowly trying to finish the job. His death pushed me to create this episode about the war that took place during the 1980s. Please, keep in mind this is just an introduction to the topic rather than a deep-dive. And yet, in the course of this episode we’ll explore the 1953 oil coup that led to the rule by the Shah, the 1979 coup that turned Iran into a theocracy, the rise of Saddam Hussein, a televised purge, child soldiers, chemical weapons, martyrdom in the Shia tradition, and an American warship taking down an Iranian civilian airliner. If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my ⁠Patreon⁠ to access plenty of bonus content. All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at our ⁠LinkTree⁠, including the ⁠HOF YouTube Channel⁠, ⁠Substack⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠TikTok⁠. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at ⁠https://www.betterhelp.com/hof. Throughout history, people have used mushrooms (such as Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga) for their medicinal properties. My friends started ⁠Purest Mushrooms⁠ where they offer some of the best quality mushrooms you can find on the market at affordable prices. Use code historyonfire at checkout for a discount. Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at ⁠Dakota Pure Bison⁠. History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout. This episode is supported by Arizona State University. Learn more about how ASU supports all learners through all stages of life. My friend James Pieratt is one of the world’s top functional training experts, and a record-breaking hybrid athlete. Use the code WH25 for a 25% discount on all of his training programs at https://wildhuntconditioning.com/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 13 mins
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I am really like this podcast. nice content. fantastic and excellent narration in this content.

Great!

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I'm enjoying this series, it is fantastic. thank you again for the history lesson/story.

Thank you

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Informative and well presented. One of the more interesting and captivating hostory podcasts. I highly recommend subscribing to this podcast.

Great podcast!

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Very, very good podcast. it's just a shame it changed to basically releasing subscriber-only content.

Awesome!!

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Superbly delivered, researched, and always enlightening, Danelli Bolleli always does indeed Set History on Fire

I guess it's guys with "Dan" in their name?

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Bolleli’s podcast is the most objective, yet at times, heartbreaking one could ask for…
His choices of theme’s are “ ¡ Magnifico ! “ ( have not yet tried the martial arts programs )
Grazie to Danielle, as his programmas are exccelente and delivery, splendid.
The last two about fighting fascism in World War II are musts.

best history podcast

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