List of podcast sites:
http://www.podcast.com - index of podcasts
http://www.podcast.net - another index
Some biography podcasts
List of History podcasts
Talking History - no longer running, but big archive
LSE Lectures and Podcasts
Colonial Williamsburg podcasts
US Presidents podcast
LearnOutLoud
More soon.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Friday, April 04, 2008
The Week's News
Despite (or perhaps because) my head's either in a book or tramping around somewhere in the vastness that is history, it's good to keep up to date with what's happening in the news. To do this I read 'The Week' a weekly digest of British and International news. It's not all serious though, there's a fair few amusing articles too.
The main stories this week are the elections in Zimbabwe and the mess that is the new terminal 5 at Heathrow. Firstly Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe, a rather nasty piece of work, is facing stiff competition this week as he tries to cling on to power. He's been President since 1981 and is now 84 years old. It's supposedly a democracy, but the elections are always rigged, tribal leaders are bribed to deliver loads of votes, there's intimidation, fraud, gerrymandering etc. This time though, it seems the vote against him has been so overwhelming that even his impressive election rigging skills might not be enough. The opposition party has seemingly won the parlimentary election (though possibly not yet the senate?) and is claiming victory in the Presidential election, though this is being disputed. One party needs at least 50% of the vote to avoid a 'run off' which seems to be a sort of re-match. The opposition claim they have 50.3%, others say 49% etc. I hope they sort it out and can boot Mugabe out of power, as the country has been in serious decline for the last 10 years - mostly due to him and his attempts to keep and extend his power.
The other major story is Heathrow terminal 5. I've never been to Heathrow, and fortunately when I go on holiday to America at the end of the month I'm flying from Manchester, however it sounds a 'real shambles' as Alan Sugar might say (if you've seen The Apprentice at least a couple of times, you'll know what I'm talking about). I read about this a while ago and it's really hi-tech and sophisticated, but the lack of organisation, management structures and training are being blamed for the hundreds of cancelled flights and the thousands of people still trying to locate their baggage. It will probably be great in a year or two, but for now I'd stay away.
Other stories:
The main stories this week are the elections in Zimbabwe and the mess that is the new terminal 5 at Heathrow. Firstly Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe, a rather nasty piece of work, is facing stiff competition this week as he tries to cling on to power. He's been President since 1981 and is now 84 years old. It's supposedly a democracy, but the elections are always rigged, tribal leaders are bribed to deliver loads of votes, there's intimidation, fraud, gerrymandering etc. This time though, it seems the vote against him has been so overwhelming that even his impressive election rigging skills might not be enough. The opposition party has seemingly won the parlimentary election (though possibly not yet the senate?) and is claiming victory in the Presidential election, though this is being disputed. One party needs at least 50% of the vote to avoid a 'run off' which seems to be a sort of re-match. The opposition claim they have 50.3%, others say 49% etc. I hope they sort it out and can boot Mugabe out of power, as the country has been in serious decline for the last 10 years - mostly due to him and his attempts to keep and extend his power.
The other major story is Heathrow terminal 5. I've never been to Heathrow, and fortunately when I go on holiday to America at the end of the month I'm flying from Manchester, however it sounds a 'real shambles' as Alan Sugar might say (if you've seen The Apprentice at least a couple of times, you'll know what I'm talking about). I read about this a while ago and it's really hi-tech and sophisticated, but the lack of organisation, management structures and training are being blamed for the hundreds of cancelled flights and the thousands of people still trying to locate their baggage. It will probably be great in a year or two, but for now I'd stay away.
Other stories:
- The bigger a moose's antlers, the better the sex they have.
- Hillary Clinton refuses to give up in the election primary race in the US. Big surprise!
- Lidl are mean. In Germany they have been using hidden cameras to spy on employees, including in the toilets, and in some stores they don't let female employees use the toilet unless they are on their period (when they have to wear headbands to identify themselves). Can this be real?
- John McCain (republican candidate), doesn't seem to be quite the foreign policy expert he portrays himself as, and if the democrats weren't bickering so much people might notice more (particularly silly gaffe this week about Iran, Al-Qaedi etc I wouldn't have known either but then I'm not running for President!)
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Monarchy - Ethelred, Canute, Edward, Harold, William
Watched the second episode of Monarchy last night. It featured five kings:
Ethelred - called the unready, pun on his name, because he was poorly advised. Vikings invaded England during his reign and he had to pay them money 'Danegeld' to keep them from staying. Eventually married Emma, daughter of the Duke of Normandy, to gain alliances and avoid the Normans coming in on the side of the Vikings (as they were in some way related).
Canute - Ethelred died, and his son only lasted a few months before being ousted by an invading army from Denmark under Canute. Canute became king of England, and became 'more English than the English', going native. Emma then married Canute. Ethelred fled to France with his sons.
Edward the Confessor - Edward, son of Ethelred (or grandson?) became King after Canute died. To reinforce an alliance with the Normans, he agreed to make Duke William of Normandy (Emma's grand-nephew) heir to the English throne. This was partly to see off the threat of Godric, the powerful Earl of Wessex, who wanted the throne (there was enmity between them, coming nearly to civil war after the English nobles on both sides refused to fight). He obviously later relented and on his deathbed, made Harold, Godric's son, his heir.
Harold - Harold, before being named heir, apparently was shipwrecked off the coast of Normandy and rescued by Duke William of Normandy (though probably not personally) and William later contended that Harold swore an oath to do everything he could to get William on the throne after King Edward died. Whether this actually happened (probably) or whether it was under duress (probably) is by no means certain. Harold became King, then had to put down a Viking invasion in the north, before marching straight after to meet Duke William who had landed an army on the south coast to contest the crown.
William - William invated and met Harold at the Battle of Hastings where Harold died (either shot in the head with an arrow or trampled by a horse) after a brave fight that lasted all day. The victory was William's, who then became King. He was known as 'The Conqueror' but to me he seemed to have at least as strong a claim to the throne as Harold!
I'm missing a lot out here, much of it quite interesting. I may re-watch that episode sometime to pick up more, or do some reading in this area, but for now that's the bare bones of what happened.
Ethelred - called the unready, pun on his name, because he was poorly advised. Vikings invaded England during his reign and he had to pay them money 'Danegeld' to keep them from staying. Eventually married Emma, daughter of the Duke of Normandy, to gain alliances and avoid the Normans coming in on the side of the Vikings (as they were in some way related).
Canute - Ethelred died, and his son only lasted a few months before being ousted by an invading army from Denmark under Canute. Canute became king of England, and became 'more English than the English', going native. Emma then married Canute. Ethelred fled to France with his sons.
Edward the Confessor - Edward, son of Ethelred (or grandson?) became King after Canute died. To reinforce an alliance with the Normans, he agreed to make Duke William of Normandy (Emma's grand-nephew) heir to the English throne. This was partly to see off the threat of Godric, the powerful Earl of Wessex, who wanted the throne (there was enmity between them, coming nearly to civil war after the English nobles on both sides refused to fight). He obviously later relented and on his deathbed, made Harold, Godric's son, his heir.
Harold - Harold, before being named heir, apparently was shipwrecked off the coast of Normandy and rescued by Duke William of Normandy (though probably not personally) and William later contended that Harold swore an oath to do everything he could to get William on the throne after King Edward died. Whether this actually happened (probably) or whether it was under duress (probably) is by no means certain. Harold became King, then had to put down a Viking invasion in the north, before marching straight after to meet Duke William who had landed an army on the south coast to contest the crown.
William - William invated and met Harold at the Battle of Hastings where Harold died (either shot in the head with an arrow or trampled by a horse) after a brave fight that lasted all day. The victory was William's, who then became King. He was known as 'The Conqueror' but to me he seemed to have at least as strong a claim to the throne as Harold!
I'm missing a lot out here, much of it quite interesting. I may re-watch that episode sometime to pick up more, or do some reading in this area, but for now that's the bare bones of what happened.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Word count
The word count on my novel is upto 20,000 words and I'm on to chapter six now. Things may slow down for a bit though as I'm going back to do a bit of work on chapter one, developing characters more etc. after a very useful review of chapter one by Kate. It's going well though I think and I am really enjoying writing it which is the main thing.
Early English Monarchs (Dark Ages)
I have recently discovered Channel 4's 'On Demand' service, available online. As well as catching up on the last 30 days of tv, there's hundreds of classic shows available to watch for free. I watched Season One, Episode One of 'Monarchy' by David Starkey. I thought it was really good, and will be watching the next one tonight.
Episode One was about the dark ages, and the history of 'kingship'. Before the coming of the Romans to Britain, there were many different kingdoms and each leader or warlord ruled with the consent of his people - otherwise they'd depose him. Then came the Romans and they brought with them the concept of absolute rulership, reinforced by strict laws and Christian faith. When the Roman Empire was failing, Britain was invaded by hordes of Anglo-Saxons from Germany. About 200,000 in all came over, when the native population was around 2 million. According to Bede, one of Britain's earliest historians, a large proportion of the native population was displaced or killed. The Anglo-Saxons effectively took over, bringing with them a new language, customs and a new national identity. For the next few hundred years there were many Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Wessex and Mercia being two of the most important. Somewhere around 800AD, Britain was again invaded, this time by Vikings. All the Anglo Saxon kingdoms fell, except Wessex, ruled by Alfred (the Great). He fought back and eventually expanded his kingdom over much of Southern England including London. He named his son as his heir, and his grandson, Edgar became the first to rule over all of Britain (celebrated by an elaborate coronation at Bath where he was the first king to be 'crowned'.
That was the bare bones of the first episode, which was a joy to watch and awakened my interest in this early period of English history.
Episode One was about the dark ages, and the history of 'kingship'. Before the coming of the Romans to Britain, there were many different kingdoms and each leader or warlord ruled with the consent of his people - otherwise they'd depose him. Then came the Romans and they brought with them the concept of absolute rulership, reinforced by strict laws and Christian faith. When the Roman Empire was failing, Britain was invaded by hordes of Anglo-Saxons from Germany. About 200,000 in all came over, when the native population was around 2 million. According to Bede, one of Britain's earliest historians, a large proportion of the native population was displaced or killed. The Anglo-Saxons effectively took over, bringing with them a new language, customs and a new national identity. For the next few hundred years there were many Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Wessex and Mercia being two of the most important. Somewhere around 800AD, Britain was again invaded, this time by Vikings. All the Anglo Saxon kingdoms fell, except Wessex, ruled by Alfred (the Great). He fought back and eventually expanded his kingdom over much of Southern England including London. He named his son as his heir, and his grandson, Edgar became the first to rule over all of Britain (celebrated by an elaborate coronation at Bath where he was the first king to be 'crowned'.
That was the bare bones of the first episode, which was a joy to watch and awakened my interest in this early period of English history.
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