Review: Hardcore History - The Destroyer of Worlds by Dan Carlin
Hey guys, I'm here with a review about a podcast I listened to recently! This one is a great show called Hardcore History.
The above description is not enough for this massive podcast episode. This single one tallied at almost 6 hours to hear, and it contains *a lot* of information.
It contains info from the start of Nuclear Bomb tests in America, their eventual "deployment" in Japan, all the way leading to post WWII tensions between the US and USSR, also referred to as a Cold War. It is very interesting to go through what dilemmas and fear the US presidents felt regarding the Nuclear war breaking out as WWIII soon after WWII ended. Makes us appreciate more about the leaders who lead their countries.
It also sheds light on the personalities of US presidents of that time, namely, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy, and also the USSR ones like Stalin and Khrushchev (albeit not much about USSR ones).
Opinions of personalities like Oppenheimer, Bertrand Russell, and also the media transcripts are narrated to show the mood at the time.
Oppenheimer famously says
after the nuclear bomb tests. A good read about Oppenheimer and Bhagavad Gita is here, which I read a long time ago.
It also puts forth a lot of philosophical questions to ponder upon. It's great!
However, the only beef I have about this show, or episode, should I say, is that Dan Carlin is inherently biased towards the US. (Probably because of his upbringing in the US). I could not find a transcript of this podcast because it's unusually long, or I could have pointed to his specific quotes. He tries to portray the USSR as the ultimate evil entity in the first half of the episode, though he mellows out in the second half. He also conveniently ignores some important info about what the Americans did that led to the cold war. A couple of examples if I may. An instance is when he "forgets" about the US putting Missiles close to USSR, in Turkey, but has to refer to it when the USSR puts similar missiles in Cuba. Tensions obviously will rise after this stupidness, but he tries to dress it up as the sole fault of the USSR.
One can also observe that Americans(not the general public, obviously) have a thing for invading other countries on the pretext of "helping" them. The US did that in the Korean War, with going insofar as invading China after defeating North Korea. Next, they tried to do that same shit in Cuba, which failed horrendously, which one way or the other led to the Cuban missile crisis. Another example of American arrogance is after the US detonated both the Atom bombs over Japan, and the UN was formed, the US was pressurised to propose a nuclear pact wherein they proposed that all the development of Nuclear weapons be stopped by other countries(even the USSR didn't have the nuclear bomb at this time), and only after that was signed would the US dispose of their Nukes. The USSR conveniently asks the US to dispose of the Nukes first(since they were the only one who had them).
I'm sure I'm missing a lot of things here, but the US was not the sole and only saviour as the history books tell us to be.
That said, this episode was a great listen. Do try it if you have the time.
http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-59-the-destroyer-of-worlds/
What happens if human beings can’t handle the power of their own weaponry? This show examines the dangerous early years of the Nuclear Age and humankind’s efforts to avoid self-destruction at the hands of its own creation.
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| Courtesy: DanCarlin.com |
The above description is not enough for this massive podcast episode. This single one tallied at almost 6 hours to hear, and it contains *a lot* of information.
It contains info from the start of Nuclear Bomb tests in America, their eventual "deployment" in Japan, all the way leading to post WWII tensions between the US and USSR, also referred to as a Cold War. It is very interesting to go through what dilemmas and fear the US presidents felt regarding the Nuclear war breaking out as WWIII soon after WWII ended. Makes us appreciate more about the leaders who lead their countries.
It also sheds light on the personalities of US presidents of that time, namely, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy, and also the USSR ones like Stalin and Khrushchev (albeit not much about USSR ones).
Opinions of personalities like Oppenheimer, Bertrand Russell, and also the media transcripts are narrated to show the mood at the time.
Oppenheimer famously says
I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.
after the nuclear bomb tests. A good read about Oppenheimer and Bhagavad Gita is here, which I read a long time ago.
It also puts forth a lot of philosophical questions to ponder upon. It's great!
However, the only beef I have about this show, or episode, should I say, is that Dan Carlin is inherently biased towards the US. (Probably because of his upbringing in the US). I could not find a transcript of this podcast because it's unusually long, or I could have pointed to his specific quotes. He tries to portray the USSR as the ultimate evil entity in the first half of the episode, though he mellows out in the second half. He also conveniently ignores some important info about what the Americans did that led to the cold war. A couple of examples if I may. An instance is when he "forgets" about the US putting Missiles close to USSR, in Turkey, but has to refer to it when the USSR puts similar missiles in Cuba. Tensions obviously will rise after this stupidness, but he tries to dress it up as the sole fault of the USSR.
One can also observe that Americans(not the general public, obviously) have a thing for invading other countries on the pretext of "helping" them. The US did that in the Korean War, with going insofar as invading China after defeating North Korea. Next, they tried to do that same shit in Cuba, which failed horrendously, which one way or the other led to the Cuban missile crisis. Another example of American arrogance is after the US detonated both the Atom bombs over Japan, and the UN was formed, the US was pressurised to propose a nuclear pact wherein they proposed that all the development of Nuclear weapons be stopped by other countries(even the USSR didn't have the nuclear bomb at this time), and only after that was signed would the US dispose of their Nukes. The USSR conveniently asks the US to dispose of the Nukes first(since they were the only one who had them).
I'm sure I'm missing a lot of things here, but the US was not the sole and only saviour as the history books tell us to be.
That said, this episode was a great listen. Do try it if you have the time.
http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-59-the-destroyer-of-worlds/
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