Episodes
Monday May 09, 2022
For Strategic Sheep Purposes: The Falklands War
Monday May 09, 2022
Monday May 09, 2022
Prior to April 1982, hardly anyone around the world had heard of the Falklands. Then, in an instant, it became a hotbed of global talk. Argentina, then under the crumbling military regime, had invaded the islands. They were some of the last pieces of the British Empire following decolonization. The Falklands were different, though. Located some hundreds of 8,064 miles from Britain, but were inhabited by mostly British persons known as Falklanders. Now, they were under a new leadership. After a century of back and forth finger pointing, Argentina had finally struck and were preparing to stay.
For the British, they would not back down easily. PM Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady herself, stood before parliament the day after the invasion and said "...the Falkland Islands and their dependencies remain British Territory. No aggression and no invasion can alter that simple fact." Soon after, a Naval task force set course for the Falklands. The confrontation had begun...
Music:
Rule Britannia, performed by Harry Völker
Himno Nacional Argentino
Clips:
"For Strategic Sheep Purposes," Eddie Izzard (Eddie, we love you!)
Monday Sep 13, 2021
Monday Sep 13, 2021
The September 11th Attacks sent shockwaves across the world. It brought about a mix of horror, sorrow and anger still felt twenty years on. As the watershed moment of its generation, the consequences of the tragedy continue to cast a shadow to this day. In fact, it is still hard to find the right words to convey the impact it has caused.
Join Lyndsay and Jonah as they discuss the timeline leading up to the attacks, the subsequent invasion, and the consequences of the September 11th Attacks and the War in Afghanistan.
Music
Summit by Johnny Easton
Clips
9/11, the Naudet Brothers
Barack Obama Announces the death of Osama bin Ladin
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Welcome to Hell: The Wars in Chechnya
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Trigger Warning: Discussions of graphic violence and use of battle sounds.
A message written in red spray paint is sprawled across a collapsed wall. It reads: “Welcome to Hell, Part II.” An ominous message to the Russian forces returning to the remains of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. When the Soviet Union came to an end, Russia struggled to stabilize itself. Internal strife was brewing, and with all the former Soviet states having managed to obtain independence, several others hoped their time had come as well. Chechnya was by far the most vocal. A region with people who were forced into the Russian fold during the time of the Tsars. Having their language, Islamic religion, and unique culture repressed at every turn, they had enough of living under the Russian boot. Thus, they did what so many others had done in that time: they declared independence. However, Russia had no desire to give up the resource-rich region of the Northern Caucasus, and new president Boris Yeltsin was keen to prove himself a strong leader.
But the war did not end in his favour, nor really did it end well for the Chechens. The Russian government became filled with oligarchs hungry for power, and Chechnya found itself in ruins. New Chechen leaders would rise, ones who were either just as power hungry as their Russian adversaries or clouded by religious extremism. In the end, the wars in Chechnya would bring literal hell to the civilians who lived their, caught between the Russian Bear and Chechen Wolf.
Monday May 03, 2021
Strange Wars in History, Part 1
Monday May 03, 2021
Monday May 03, 2021
War has caused catastrophic damage, from mass destruction to large loss of life. By no means is it something to take lightly, as it continues to devastate places around the world to this day.
History is no stranger to war, with countless numbers fought throughout time. However, this can lead to some bizarre examples of conflicts, from why it was fought, to its outcome, to all manners of different strange variables. Pan Historia sits down to discuss some of the strangest wars fought in history, from the shortest war in history to when an industrial nation lost to a band of giant, flightless birds
Music:
Five Armies, Kevin Macleod
Clip: WKRP in Cincinnati: Turkey Drop
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
A lone figure fled across the Syrian desert in a bid to escape his potential fate. Days earlier, he attempted to assassinate the President of Iraq, the man who stood in the way of the Ba'athist Movement from taking power for themselves. Despite inflicting some damage on him, they failed to kill him. Now, the would-be assassin was en route to the safety of Egypt. The harsh environment burned him during the day, and blew harsh cold at night.
While his current situation seemed hopeless, this man is the future dictator of Iraq. Saddam Hussein would become a household name worldwide. To some, he would become the face of Arab unity and anti-imperialism. To others, he was a tyrant and murdered. Despite improving Iraq's infrastructure and welfare, he wasn't afraid to order the use of military force and even chemical weapons against any domestic dissent.
His notoriety would place him directly in the sights of the United States. Their excuse to intervene against him came in August 1990, when Saddam ordered the invasion of the small country of Kuwait to the south. The storm brewing over the desert for decades finally reached its peak.
Music:
Desert Combat Loading Theme
Clips:
H. W. Bush on Policing the World: Opposing Iraqi Aggression by The American Experience
"This Aggression will not stand, man!" The Big Lebowski
Margaret Thatcher on the Gulf War, Aspen, 1990
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Pan Historia‘s F**k Faces of History
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Throughout Pan Historia's run, we have discussed some of the most disgusting and evil individuals of all time. From mass murderers, to power hungry maniacs, to diabolical schemers, we have seen them all. Following a casual conversation between hosts, Lyndsay and Jonah, the two were inspired to compile a power ranking of the worst people they have talked about in episodes. As the series continues, they will continue to add people to the list in the order they believe they deserve.
Join Pan Historia as they end the year by revealing the initial rankings of who they believe to be the biggest F**k Faces throughout history
Monday Nov 16, 2020
"Je croîs sous la rose": The History of the Quebec Nationalist Movement
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Quebec has had a unique place in Canada: it is the location of the first successful European settlements, it is the largest province by area, and it is the only province whose official language is French. The Québecois have developed their own identity since the days the province was a French colony. Following transfer of sovereignty to the British, dissent amongst the population rose, culminating in the ill fated Lower Canada rebellion.
When the 20th Century rolled around, the national identity of the Québecois began to demand recognition, and soon calls for sovereignty became deafening. This resulted in two referendums, various controversial legislation proposals, and an armed resistance, resulting in the kidnapping of two government officials.
Music:
Gens de Pays
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Always Get Their Man: The History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Along with beavers, maple syrup, and asshole geese, the uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a renowned national symbol. The Red Surge, beige stetson, blue pants, and riding boots are what make up the image of the Mountie. Their legendary status is now global, as they are the only police force to be municipal, provincial, and federal. The force was romanticized in early black and white films as those bringing law and order to the wild frontier of Canada's west. And as the famous saying goes, "They always get their man."
Unlike the films, their history wasn't black and white. When it began as the North-West Mounted Police, it was used as a cheap militia to colonize the newly annexed western territories. This resulted in conflict with the First Nations and Métis populations as they were rounded onto reserves towards the dawn of the new century. When the First World War concluded, they acted as strikebreakers during the growing labour movement, and later as intelligence services at the beginning of the Cold War. They were even the ones at the front of one of the largest manhunts in world history.
Their history is long and varied, but not many know the full story. Thus, Pan Historia is proud to sit down and tell the full history
Music:
Dudley Do-Right Theme
Indian Love Call from Rose Marie
Monday May 04, 2020
The Hammer Falls: The End of the Soviet Union
Monday May 04, 2020
Monday May 04, 2020
Throughout history, humanity has witnessed the rise and fall of countless empires. Typically, internal unrest either weakened these states into collapse, or vulnerability to invading forces. The Soviet Union was like an empire, one meant to be the beacon of workers around the world. Instead, it ended up ruled by the same elites it aimed to destroy. By the time Gorbachev came along, the cracks had already expanded clear across the country, and it was too late to repair. Gorbachev still tried, with Glasnost and Perestroika aiming to improve both domestic issues and diplomacy with the west.
The various Soviet Republics saw this as an opportunity to to seek self determination instead, bringing the union to its denouement. The 80s ended with civil unrest, ethnic tensions, and even civil war across the land, and only the die hards felt anything could be savaged. On a hot August day in 1991, those die hards attempted to seize control, and save the union. To their shock, the people were beyond done with the old Soviet ways, rallying instead to the reformers Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, unafraid of the soldiers and tanks surrounding them. Before the year's end, the world's first communist state came to an end.
Music
Frank Sinatra, My Way
CornFlakes Strategy, Soviet Anthem - Slow Piano - instrumental 2000 subs special
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
1:23:45: The Chernobyl Disaster
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Most of the city of Pripyat was fast asleep in the early morning of April 26, 1986. It was a relatively quiet night, save for the sounds from the nearby Chernobyl Power Station. All was calm until just before 1:30AM, when a small explosion echoed through the air, followed almost instantly by a second, larger fireball. Emergency operators received alarms of a fire at Chernobyl, believed to be a destroyed control system tank setting fire to the roof. Inside, workers frantically worked to ensure Unit 4s reactor continued to receive cooling water and prevent the fire from causing meltdown.
Firefighters rushed to the scene, most having just gotten out of bed, and wearing nothing but short sleeve shirts, some still in pyjamas. As they assembled their hose equipment, all they could think about was the taste of metal in their mouth. Little did they know, only meters away from them, was a hole where the reactor once lay. It was now nothing more than an inferno, burning as hot as the surface of the Sun, and spewing toxic radiation into the sky. A large plume of black smoke floated over the forest towards Pripyat. When it arrived, the city was darkened by the shadow of death.
Music:
Tower (Metro 2033 Soundtrack) – Alexey Omelchuk