History on Fire

"I answered him that… I, as Captain-General of these provinces, was waging a war of fire and blood against all who came to settle these parts and plant in them their evil Lutheran sect... For this reason, I would not grant them a safe passage, but would sooner follow them by sea and land until I had taken their lives." Captain Pedro Menendez de Aviles “Finding they were all Lutherans, the captain-general ordered them all put to death; but, as I was a priest, and had bowels of mercy, I begged him to grant me the favor of sparing those whom we might find to be Christians. He granted it; and I made investigations, and found ten or twelve of the men Roman Catholics, whom we brought back. All the others were executed, because they were Lutherans and enemies of our Holy Catholic faith. All this took place on Saturday, September 29th, 1565.” Father Francisco Lopez Today’s story is packed with pirates, mutineers, and scores of people killing each other in the name of Jesus. I’m willing to bet that if I were to tell you that this episode will focus on the people who came to the area that would become U.S. to flee religious conflict in Europe and create a society according to their version of Christianity, most of you would think of the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock in 1620, or perhaps Jamestown in 1607. But those are not the people I’ll be speaking about today. Our story is indeed about the first Protestants in North America but it predates the Pilgrims stepping off the Mayflower by 56 years, and the settling of Jamestown by 43 years. This is the tale of the first religious conflict between European nations within the boundaries of what will later become United States. Catholic Spaniards and French Protestants square off in Florida in the 1560s, when the European wars of religion do a brief stop in the Americas as part of their ‘death, destruction and damnation’ world tour. 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: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HOF YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Substack⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ JAPAN TOUR! Let’s head out to Japan in Oct 2026. All the details at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Geek Nation Tours⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please, check out this month’s sponsor at https://www.rula.com/hof for affordable, accessible therapy and mental health care. 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

“For many of those for whom there is no light at the end of the tunnel, the story of Sertorius should be an example and an inspiration.” - Philip Matyszak Here’s the tale of one of Rome’s greatest and least known generals. A master of guerrilla warfare, he defeated many legions sent after him, and even outclassed Pompey the Great. His story is about the defiance that makes a man stand in the face of impossible odds. Nearly alone against the greatest power of the age, Sertorius knew his chances of victory were nearly non existent, but this didn’t stop him from fighting just the same. 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 our: HOF YouTube Channel Substack Instagram 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

“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 Wild Hunt Conditioning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“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 Wild Hunt Conditioning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“We heard that D’Annunzio was coming, and Italy and freedom were coming with him.” - Anonymous Italian citizen of Fiume “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.” - William Blake “Legionaries adore him. The men from the palace fear him. Little kids think he’s the devil.” - Leon Kochnitzky about Guido Keller This is the tale of one of the weirdest cultural-political experiments in modern history. The brutal end of WWI left many Italian soldiers dissatisfied, since the Allies refuse to grant them lands they had conquered at the price of rivers of blood. Feeling cheated by their own government and the Allies, some of these soldiers turned to the most popular man in the entire country: Gabriele D’Annunzio. Saying that he was a famous writer and a veteran of WWI doesn’t capture the magnetic power the man possessed. He was a true rock star before rock stars were a thing. He stopped traffic wherever he went. He made army units desert without using any weapon but his voice. Countless women risked their marriages, families and careers for a chance to have a fling with him. Casanova was an amateur compared to D’Annunzio. In 1919, D’Annunzio agreed to lead renegade units of the Italian Army to taking over the border city of Fiume. Despite the fact that this infuriated the Italian, French, British and American governments, D’Annunzio would go on to rule for fifteen months over an outlaw state where things that were not looked kindly upon in the world of 1919 (from drug use to free love, from the right to vote for women to nudism, from homosexuality to piracy) were widely practiced. Part One of this two-part series tackles the Italian experience in WWI, D’Annunzio’s literary and military career, the raid to occupy Fiume, the Futurist movement, the wild culture that sweeps through town, a pre-1960s sexual revolution, Guido Keller (the craziest man in town), and much more. This series is dedicated to Franco Bolelli. 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, 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“No matter how big a guy might be, Nicky would take him on. You beat Nicky with fists, he comes back with a bat. You beat him with a knife, he comes back with a gun. And you beat him with a gun, you better kill him, because he'll keep comin' back and back until one of you is dead.” - From the film Casino “The condition of the people was pitiable to behold. They sickened by the thousands daily and died unattended and without help. Many died in the open street, others dying in their houses, made it known by the stench of their rotting bodies.” - Giovanni Boccaccio “If anyone can refute me—show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective—I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance.” - Marcus Aurelius “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” - Viktor Frankl “Severe to himself, indulgent to the imperfection of others, just and beneficent to all mankind.” - Edward Gibbon Marcus Aurelius would have loved nothing better than studying philosophy for the rest of his days. Instead, destiny chose him to be the head of the Roman Empire. As a philosopher- emperor, Marcus turned to Stoicism to help him deal with more drama than any human being should have to deal with. Most of his children died before reaching adult age. Rome’s old rival, Parthia, engaged the empire in a brutal war for supremacy. Germanic tribes raided the frontier and invaded Italy. Marcus’ adoptive brother and co-emperor died early, leaving to Marcus the burden to lead the empire under dreadful circumstances. And then there was the pandemic… a terrifying plague that would kill large chunks of the population, cripple the economy, disrupt travel, and create a very well justified climate of fear. Marcus’ ability to navigate all this and more thanks to his philosophical practices enshrined his name among those of the best emperors Rome ever had. In this final episode of this series about him: the first time Rome is ruled by two emperors at the same time, the party animal that was Lucius Verus, persecuting Christians, war with Parthia, a con man with his glove puppet, the movie Casino, Robert Greene’s book The 48 Laws of Power, Romans reaching China, a deadly pandemic, snake gods & Tulsa Doom, great ideas and not-so-great ideas in The Meditations, the Hagakure, Viktor Frankl, Deepak Chopra vs. Joe Rogan, the Dread Pirate Roberts, Germanic invasions, rebellions, marrying your adoptive uncle who was once engaged to your mom, the strange case of Commodus, and much more. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” - Mario Puzo “Grant me revenge!” from Conan the Barbarian, 1982 “I am immortal” - Nezahualcoyotl I originally created this episode years ago, as I was researching the Spaniards’ invasion of the Mexica (aka Aztec) empire, when I run into this little nugget of a story, which predates the arrival of the Spaniards. This is the first time this episode gets to be released to the public outside of any paywalls. This is basically a real historical version of what would happen if we were to mix the plot of The Godfather with the plot of The Lion King in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Our key characters include Tezozomoc, a ruthless, Machiavellian genius power-player who ruled over much of the Central Valley of Mexico, and his nemesis Nezahualcoyotl, the poet-king of Texcoco. This episode features political intrigue, Mafia-style hits, the surprise of seeing a beheaded enemy show up with a head on his shoulders, human sacrifice, an unyielding quest for revenge, and a glimpse at the early days of the Aztecs. With characters named Angry Stone Face and Hungry Coyote, you know this has to be a good story… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” - John Brown “If you seek my blood, you can have it at any moment without the mockery of a trial.” - John Brown “John Brown, and a thousand John Browns, can invade us, and the Government will not protect us. To secure our rights and protect our honor we will dissever the ties that bind us together, even if it rushes us into a sea of blood." - Mississippi congressman Reuben Davis “John Brown began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic.” - Frederick Douglass "I looked at the traitor with unlimited, undeniable contempt." - John Wilkes Booth “Had I interfered in the manner which I admit… in behalf of the rich, the powerful… the so-called great… every man in this Court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.” - John Brown The subject of this series is easily one of the most divisive individuals in U.S. history. The man we are talking about is Mr. John Brown. Many, in fact, see Brown’s actions as the spark that ignited the Civil War. He has been described as a civil rights hero, a terrorist, and everything in between. Some have argued he was clinically insane. Others believe he was the most principled man of his age. Regardless of how we interpret his story, certain facts are beyond dispute. Throughout his life, slavery was the law of the land in much of the United States. With hardly any abolitionist willing to do more than use words against slavery, while pro-slavery forces demonstrated they were quite skilled at using violence to further their worldview, it seemed inevitable that slavery would last for the foreseeable future. To John Brown, that was an unacceptable option. Allowing it to continue for one more second was cowardly and evil. If pacifist means weren’t enough to bring about the end of slavery, then John Brown was more than ready to speak the language of violence. For the sake of destroying slavery, he would shed the blood of his enemies, the blood of his family, and his own blood. In this final episode of this series, we’ll cover: John Brown’s meeting with Harriet Tubman, a raid to free slaves and bring them to Canada, the loyalty of Shields Green, Dangerfield Newby dying to save his family, the attack on Harpers Ferry, stealing George Washington’s sword, drunkards shooting corpses, Silas Soule’s jailbreaking skills, the trial of John Brown, the dangers posed by Zombie John Brown, guest appearances by Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, John Wilkes Booth and Jeb Stuart, and much more. If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content. All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at https://linktr.ee/danielebolelli Including the HOF YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFCiqHbWJO26nFzUP-Eu55Q Substack: https://substack.com/@danielebolelli Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historyonfire/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@historyonfirepodcast Thank you to today’s sponsor, Fabric by Gerber Life, a term life insurance. If you are interested in life insurance, please check them out at https://meetfabric.com/HISTORYONFIRE Throughout history, people have used mushrooms (such as Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga) for their medicinal properties. My friends started https://purestmushrooms.com/ 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 https://dakotapurebison.com/ History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices