Reflecting History

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire provides a great opportunity to think about many complex historical questions. How should we think about topics of colonialism and conquest from a modern lens?...

3 Feb 202530min

In November of 1519, Aztec Emperor Moctezuma and Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez met on the causeway leading to Tenochtitlan in maybe the first official contact between powerful leaders of the Ol...

13 Jan 202542min

While the Aztec Empire peaked in central Mexico, a different empire was spreading it's tenticles across the Atlantic Ocean. The Spanish were in the early phases of setting up a global superpower power...

23 Dec 202442min

The Aztec Empire at its height in the 1400's was a flourishing civilization that had a rich social and cultural tradition. In addition to the political realities of statebuilding-war, tribute, human s...

2 Dec 202436min

From their new base in Tenochtitlan, the Mexica people slowly built the Aztec Empire over the course of the 1300's. While the "myth of the Aztec" ascribes this accomplishment to the barbarism of human...

11 Nov 202441min

The story of the Aztec Empire is a story unlike any other. From it's origins as a nomadic underdog, to it's ascendance at the rich and powerful city of Tenochtitlan, to it's clash of civilizations wit...

21 Okt 202445min

This bonus episode is the first episode of a nine part podcast series on the Netflix show "Arcane." I recap season 1 of the show and delve into the history, psychology, and philosophy underpinning the...

30 Sep 202430min

Is history a cycle? How do the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shed light on the discovery of prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux Cave? What is the link between prehistory and posthistory?...

9 Sep 202428min