History Japan: How the US forced Japanese border open at Gun Point
“Gunboat diplomacy” refers to the pursuit of foreign policy objectives through the threat of force. One of the most notorious case studies of “Gunboat diplomacy” is when Matthew C. Perry forced Japan ...
5 Apr 20211h 19min
Japanese History: Shoguns, and Origins of the State
The standard narrative when it comes to Japanese nationalism is that they rapidly modernized out of fear of being colonized by the west. One issue with this narrative is that it assumes that nation st...
28 Mar 20211h 37min
Japanese History: Samurai & the Myth of Bushido
On today’s episode we discuss how the “way of the samurai” or bushido, fueled the creation of the imperial Japanese nation state. Bushido is supposedly the value system that governed the behavior of ...
21 Mar 20211h 29min
Japanese History: From ripping off the Chinese to feudalism
Today we dive into Classical Japan’s transition from a strong central government to feudalism. During the Heian period, Japan created a court system mimicking the Tang Dynasty of China. Due to high l...
14 Mar 20211h 6min
Japan History: Ancient Origins of Japan
Today we kickoff our series on the creation of the Japanese nation state. On this episode we discuss the first “peoples” of Japan such as the Jōmon and the Yayoi. In addition, we dive into the origin...
7 Mar 20211h 33min
Origins of the the Chinese Communist Party
On today’s episode we discuss how the Chinese Communist Party seized state power during the first half the 20th century. The CCP’s rise as the sole political structure in China was a long and brutal ...
28 Feb 20211h 18min
The First Unified China
On today’s episode we discuss the first imperial dynasty of ancient China, the Qin Dynasty. It was founded by Shi Huangdi who operated according to the precepts of Legalism, a political philosophy th...
19 Feb 20211h 21min
Ancient China and it's People
Today we discuss the development of civilization in the Yellow River region of Northern China and the emergence of the Han Chinese. China is a multi-ethnic nation with a population of 1.4 Billion peo...
12 Feb 20211h 42min
