Episodes
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It has been a while, everyone. Today, Lyndsay and Jonah are discussing the reason for their break, changes coming to the podcast, and what to look forward to for this upcoming season.
Thank you everyone who has continued to support us, continued to share and listen to our episodes, and for engaging with us. We are excited for what we have planned moving forward.
Love you all,
Lyndsay and Jonah
For those looking for Christmas gifts, head on over to Lyndsay's website. She sells soap and body products, perfect gifts for loved one's this holiday season.
https://www.hellionbodyproducts.com/
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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!)
Thatcher's Speech to the House of Commons
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Missing episodes?
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It's almost Halloween, Pan Historia's favourite celebration! This year, the duo has decided to sit down and discuss their favourite Halloween costumes, scary movies, and other nonsense. All while Lyndsay makes her soap! (https://www.hellionbodyproducts.com/) Join us for a conversation fit for the spooky season!
Music
Tales from the Crypt Theme by Danny Elfman
Grinch is Gonna Getcha from Halloween is Grinch Night
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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Jonah has turned 28! In celebration, he and Lyndsay are sitting down to read through a relic from Jonah's past. For two years, Jonah and his family toured with the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai, living in 13 cities across Canada and the United States. While on tour, Jonah and his brother attended school in a trailer on site. From the window of his classroom, he had an excellent view of the Sun inspired big top.
Flash forward to 2020. While cleaning out the storage room, Jonah's dad discovered an old journal containing entries written as homework assignments during his time on tour. Seeing an opportunity to discuss his time with Cirque, as well as provide some laughs. Happy Birthday, Jonah!
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It's the 1930s. The world is in the midst of the Great Depression. Stalin's grip on the Soviet Union has tightened, and fascism has come to power in Italy and Germany. The Stock Market Crash hit Canada particularly hard, as most of its trade was with the United States. This affected prices, and in some cases, halted exports completely as nobody could afford to buy. People were struggling with high unemployment, drought crippling agriculture, and lower wages for those who managed to keep their jobs. Discontent soared during this time, leading to calls for the Canadian government to take better care of its citizens instead of just the social elite. This growing sense of populism would ripple across the country with full force.
Enter Tommy Douglas, a middle-aged man working on his PhD. While studying in Chicago, he saw the transient camps which housed nearly 75,000 people, with various institutions doing little to nothing to help these impoverished people. Once wishing to become a Baptist minister, his witnessing of the devastation the crash had caused brought him on a different road. He found himself within the ranks of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, a new democratic socialist movement foiunded with the aim of uniting farmers and labourers, as well as protect their rights and improve their working conditions. From there, Douglas would rise through the ranks of the party to lead the first socialist government in North America, and later begin the process of forming Canada's medicare program. His legacy remains today, and culminated in his naming as the Greatest Canadian in 2004.
Looking for some more heartwarming content? Check out the new non-fiction Extraordinary Canadians by famed Canadian news anchor Peter Mansbridge. Extraordinary Canadians is a collection of stories of people who are working to make Canada a better place. Pan Historia host Jonah Petruic recently received it as a gift, and highly recommends it to anyone. From activists, to good samaritans, these tales are enough to bring light back into our lives. Follow the link above or right here to check out the special offer from Amazon, available in both Hard Cover and Kindle. Give Extraordinary Canadians a read today.
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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
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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
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Laughter is contagious. It is an action which brings joy in the hearts of people worldwide. Canada is no stranger to comedy. It has produced some of the most talented and famous comedians, clowns, filmmakers, theatre artists, and even musicians who have cause audiences everywhere to fall backwards in their seats. Join Pan Historia as they dive into a history of comedy from their home country of Canada.
Music:
Having an Average Weekend by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet
I Like That Old Time RefOOOOOOORRRRMMMM by Don Ferguson (as Preston Manning)
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The Ku Klux Klan has imbedded itself in history as a destructive, poisonous organization. United under the common hatred of anything not white Anglo-Saxon protestant, the Klan has engaged in campaigns of terrorism, using intimidation, assault, murder, and even bombings in their crusade against equality. Their white robes bring about an image of fear to those who come across them. Today, they continue to march for many lost causes due to their refusal to accept they lost those wars long ago.
During the early to mid 20th century, the Klan began to expand internationally to Canada, with chapters popping up most predominately in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and the largest membership residing in Saskatchewan. However, further efforts to gain a significant following here resulted in a series of events which boiled down into a comedy of errors. It wouldn't be a coordinate police effort, nor a united antiracist front who would bring them down, but greed, lack of organization, and overall lack of interest/necessity which brought about the downfall of the Kanada Klan.
Music:
Clip from Mississippi Burning (1988)
The KKK Took My Baby Away, The Ramones
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J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was a paranoid monster. So great were his delusions, he managed to convince the government to conduct one of the largest and most devastating domestic espionage rings in history, one which the FBI is still dealing with the consequences to this day. The Counter Intelligence Program, better known as COINTELPRO, was designed to spy on, infiltrate, and destroy groups and individuals suspected of going against the ordinary way of American life, whatever that means.
Thousands of lives were ruined, peaceful activists were targeted for threats and violence, and some of the greatest American heroes were attempted to be discredited by the project. Even Martin Luther King, Jr. and his fellow civil rights activists were not safe from Hoover's wrath. Furthermore, the actions of COINTELPRO soon devolved into political assassination.
Frustrated by years of unchecked violations, a group of ordinary academics decided to take matters into their own hands. Using similar intelligence gathering methods, these activists single handedly blew the whistle on the whole operation, and opened the larger can of worms of the American intelligence community as a whole.
#BlackLivesMatter
Music:
Stealing People's Mail, The Dead Kennedy's
Lift Every Voice and Sing
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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
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In 1918, Death wandered on his horse through the barren grounds of the frontline trenches. The war was nearly over, but the dead continued to rise in numbers. The horrors of this war were unseen up to this point in history; people lost their sons, fathers, mothers, their homes, their everything. What nobody knew is a new horror was lurking, ready to spring up with devastating effect. This came from an unseen enemy, one humanity has faced since the dawn of our existence. Reports of illness sprang up in Kansas, then quickly to the trenches. Spain, uninvolved in the war, began reporting on a strange new type of influenza afflicting the population. Soon, the world referred to this silent killer as the Spanish Flu.
As the war in the trenches continued, a new war ignited, one which infected 500 million people worldwide in 9 months, and kill between 17 million and 50 million. Hospitals became overrun with infected patients, entire Indigenous communities were wiped out, and the bodies of the dead became too much for morgues to handle. At first, governments in Europe and the US denied the severity or even the illness's existence, continuing to hold their patriotic parades and liberty drives, leading to more becoming ill rapidly. A new horseman now walked the Earth on a sickly steed, a horseman named Pestilence. Soon, the horrors of war were accompanied by the horrors of disease.
Music
The Dance Macabre, Camille Saint-Saëns
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Another season is done, and a new one is beginning. In this season closer/opener, the pair have a chat with Dr. Annie St. John Stark, assistant professor at Thompson River University and former professor of Lyndsay's. The three sit down and talk politics, philosophy, the hardship of marking papers, and other nonsense.
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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
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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
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One was a man born in Russia during the height of Stalinism, who rose to power through hard work and perseverance.
The other was a man, a proud American with great charisma, and once acted alongside a chimpanzee.
Both men were leader of their respective countries, long rivals who on more than one occasion nearly brought about nuclear war. There was little in common between these two men that could possibly bring them together.
Or was there?
Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and American President Ronald Reagan first met at a summit in Geneva in 1985. It was at this first meeting the two would develop a friendship and mutual respect for one another which – through close calls, stalemate, and disagreement – bring about the thawing of relations between their respective countries, and bring about the end of the Cold War only two years later.
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