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248. Origins of the Zhou Part 2: All Hail Duke Dan! The Birth of the Zhou Dynasty

2026-10-2801:02:43

Overthrowing a dynasty is one thing. Building a new one—and keeping it alive—is something else entirely.After the Zhou victory at Muye, the real struggle begins. The Shang are defeated, but the new rulers face a big challenge: how do you govern a conquered kingdom, keep ambitious relatives in line, and persuade the world that your revolution was approved by Heaven itself?Bernie and Dan explore the turbulent early years of the Zhou dynasty, the revolutionary idea of the Mandate of Heaven, and the political crises that threaten to undo everything the Zhou have achieved.And then there's the Duke of Zhou—Duke Dan—whose role in the story gives our own Dan an entirely new level of historical importance. Behind the family drama and political upheaval lies a much bigger story: the creation of an order that Confucius would regard as a model centuries later.EMAIL US FOR T-SHIRTS and STICKERS!!Arthur's Sleepy History LinksPodcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4AMQOoqVGQVmbotdkcgn48?si=_BTVBIiwRkKYYZBBSUgMegYouTube episode I'm watching:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8f51HtfyK0PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT'S NEW IN HISTORY YOUTUBE CHANNELhttps://www.youtube.com/@whatsnewinhistoryThis is a podcast by Dan Hörning and Bernie Maopolski.Contact information:E-mail: [email protected]://facebook.com/fanofhistoryhttps://twitter.com/danhorninghttps://www.instagram.com/dan_horning/Music: “Tudor Theme” by urmymuse.Used here under a commercial Creative Commons license. Find out more at http://ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/40020 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

247. The Origins of the Zhou 1046 BC: Wine Lakes, Meat Forests & the Battle of Muye

2026-10-1352:01

Dan and Bernie recorded this together in Stockholm!Before Confucius, before the Spring and Autumn period, and before the political world we've been exploring on Fan of History, there was the revolution that created it.Bernie and Dan travel back to the final days of the Shang dynasty and the rise of the Zhou—the civilization Confucius would look back upon centuries later as a model of political and moral order.Along the way we meet King Wen and King Wu, the emerging idea of Heaven's approval of righteous rule, and some crazy accusations: a lake of wine, a forest of meat, horrific punishments, and even human meat cakes.Legend, propaganda and history collide as the Zhou prepare to challenge the Shang at the Battle of Muye.Oh and we recorded this IN PERSON in Sweden with special guest Thomas the Norwegian Viking (dude's got hands that can definitely crush skulls!)EMAIL US FOR T-SHIRTS and STICKERS!!Arthur's Sleepy History LinksPodcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4AMQOoqVGQVmbotdkcgn48?si=_BTVBIiwRkKYYZBBSUgMegYouTube episode I'm watching:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8f51HtfyK0PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT'S NEW IN HISTORY YOUTUBE CHANNELhttps://www.youtube.com/@whatsnewinhistoryThis is a podcast by Dan Hörning and Bernie Maopolski.Contact information:E-mail: [email protected]://facebook.com/fanofhistoryhttps://twitter.com/danhorninghttps://www.instagram.com/dan_horning/Music: “Tudor Theme” by urmymuse.Used here under a commercial Creative Commons license. Find out more at http://ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/40020 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's New in History - Bernie and Thomas together in Stockholm talk about a 1,000 year old whale trap found in Norway

2026-10-0724:40

For once, Bernie and Thomas aren't separated by an ocean—they're sitting together in Sweden!And appropriately enough, we're staying in Scandinavia for a fascinating new archaeological discovery beneath the waters of western Norway.Archaeologists have discovered a massive man-made stone structure stretching across the bottom of a narrow strait. What is it? It's the remains of a roughly 1,000-year-old system designed to trap whales inside a bay.Bernie and Thomas explore the discovery, the remarkable medieval hunting methods described in historical sources, and that archaeologists have finally found physical evidence for a practice that until now was known largely from old texts.It's underwater archaeology, medieval Norway, ancient law—and a whale trap big enough to reshape an entire strait.Link to articlehttps://arkeonews.net/huge-1000-year-old-stone-structure-found-underwater-in-norway-may-be-an-ancient-whale-trap/EMAIL US FOR T-SHIRTS and STICKERS!!Arthur's Sleepy History LinksPodcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4AMQOoqVGQVmbotdkcgn48?si=_BTVBIiwRkKYYZBBSUgMegYouTube episode I'm watching:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8f51HtfyK0PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT'S NEW IN HISTORY YOUTUBE CHANNELhttps://www.youtube.com/@whatsnewinhistoryThis is a podcast by Dan Hörning and Bernie Maopolski.Contact information:E-mail: [email protected]://facebook.com/fanofhistoryhttps://twitter.com/danhorninghttps://www.instagram.com/dan_horning/Music: “Tudor Theme” by urmymuse.Used here under a commercial Creative Commons license. Find out more at http://ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/40020 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

246. Confucius Part 4 — Yang Hu's Wild Ride & Confucius' Rise

2026-09-1552:22

Yang Hu just doesn't know when to leave the story.In Part 4 of Confucius: The World That Created the Sage, Bernie and Dan finish the remarkable adventures of the rebellious retainer who briefly turned the political order of Lu upside down. Defeated but far from finished, Yang Hu's story involves escapes, stolen symbols of state authority, new masters, and an apparently inexhaustible ability to survive his own political disasters.But then our story takes an important turn.After years of teaching, advising, waiting, and wondering whether there was any government worth serving, Confucius finally gets his chance. We follow his entrance into public office and his surprisingly rapid rise through the government of Lu, culminating in his appointment as Minister of Crime.For the first time, Confucius is no longer simply explaining how a state ought to be governed. He's going to have an opportunity to try it.PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT'S NEW IN HISTORY YOUTUBE CHANNELhttps://www.youtube.com/@whatsnewinhistoryThis is a podcast by Dan Hörning and Bernie Maopolski.Contact information:E-mail: [email protected]://facebook.com/fanofhistoryhttps://twitter.com/danhorninghttps://www.instagram.com/dan_horning/Music: “Tudor Theme” by urmymuse.Used here under a commercial Creative Commons license. Find out more at http://ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/40020 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What´s New In History - The Secret of Rome's Self-Repairing Concrete — Solved?

2026-09-0927:24

Some Roman concrete has been standing for nearly two millennia—and in certain environments, it seems to have gotten remarkably good at repairing its own cracks.How?Bernie and Garry Stevens from History IN the Bible explore the science and history behind Roman concrete, from volcanic materials and ancient building techniques to recent research suggesting that something once dismissed as evidence of sloppy mixing may actually have been an important part of the recipe.Were Roman engineers deliberately creating self-healing concrete? Did different builders use different recipes for different jobs? And how much have we really rediscovered about one of the ancient world's most impressive technologies?The Romans left us the concrete. Figuring out exactly how they made it is another matter.Of course we have a lot of fun along the way and meet a very interesting character - Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. DEFINITELY check this episode out!Article links:https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-a-1-900-year-old-latrine-helps-explain-why-roman-concrete-lasts/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-construction-site-in-the-ruins-of-pompeii-is-revealing-new-secrets-about-the-2000-year-old-recipe-for-roman-concrete-180987845/https://news.mit.edu/2025/pompeii-offers-insights-ancient-roman-building-technology-1209PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT'S NEW IN HISTORY YOUTUBE CHANNELhttps://www.youtube.com/@whatsnewinhistoryThis is a podcast by Dan Hörning and Bernie Maopolski.Contact information:E-mail: [email protected]://facebook.com/fanofhistoryhttps://twitter.com/danhorninghttps://www.instagram.com/dan_horning/Music: “Tudor Theme” by urmymuse.Used here under a commercial Creative Commons license. Find out more at http://ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/40020 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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