My Podcast Quest

I still love my apartment with a deep and glowing adoration which bubbles up in me while walking my freezing Ottawa streets, but am not so keen on the solitude when puttering around my kitchen. I also get tired of feeling my brain slowly (or not so slowly) atrophy when I use old episodes of Project Runway to keep me company.

So I decided to go and find some history podcasts. This way I could be entertained and learning ALL AT THE SAME TIME (amazing!).  It turns out this is harder than you would think. No no, history podcasts certainly exist, but finding a good one is surprisingly difficult (there is also the distinct possibility that I am incredibly picky).

It doesn't help that I knew exactly what podcast I wanted. I wanted a deep and anecdotal exploration of the French Revolution. The French Revolution is filled with Characters and Drama and Endless Politics and Gruesome Death and I know enough about it to be able to follow happily along while chopping up vegetables.

I did not find this podcast.

What I found instead was the most awesomely epic Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast instead.

This podcast is perfect. It is two guys who know WAY too much about Napoleon, and who basically think he hung the moon (or could have, if he'd wanted to and the rest of Europe had just stopped being such babies about things), know all the nifty little stories, and take you exhaustively and chronologically through his rise to power (and then his fall? I don't know, I haven't got that far, and I don't want to ruin the surprise [nono, I know what happens, that is my internet sarcasm voice!]). It is perfect.

I also came across a brilliant Royal Naval History podcast. Personally, I was not all that excited about military history, but once I'm done with Napoleon, this may be my next stop (unless I can find a good podcast about Darwin. Oh Darwin.). He talks about Nelson and his 'eyepatch'. Turns out, podcasts done by enthusiasts are by far the most fun!

I am still searching for one on the French Revolution. Unfortunately, it seems I do not much care for recorded lectures (so much less fun without the powerpoint, and also I do not want to try and memorize dates), but I remain optimistic.