[RERUN] EPISODE 75: Poets and Pirates, Sex and Drugs, Love and Music: D’Annunzio and L’Impresa di Fiume (Part 1)

“We heard that D’Annunzio was coming, and Italy and freedom were coming with him.” Anonymous Italian citizen of Fiume

“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.” William Blake

“Legionaries adore him. The men from the palace fear him. Little kids think he’s the devil.” Leon Kochnitzky about Guido Keller

This is the tale of one of the weirdest cultural-political experiments in modern history. The brutal end of WWI left many Italian soldiers dissatisfied, since the Allies refuse to grant them lands they had conquered at the price of rivers of blood. Feeling cheated by their own government and the Allies, some of these soldiers turned to the most popular man in the entire country: Gabriele D’Annunzio. Saying that he was a famous writer and a veteran of WWI doesn’t capture the magnetic power the man possessed. He was a true rock star before rock stars were a thing. He stopped traffic wherever he went. He made army units desert without using any weapon but his voice. Countless women risked their marriages, families and careers for a chance to have a fling with him. Casanova was an amateur compared to D’Annunzio. In 1919, D’Annunzio agreed to lead renegade units of the Italian Army to taking over the border city of Fiume. Despite the fact that this infuriated the Italian, French, British and American governments, D’Annunzio would go on to rule for fifteen months over an outlaw state where things that were not looked kindly upon in the world of 1919 (from drug use to free love, from the right to vote for women to nudism, from homosexuality to piracy) were widely practiced.

Part One of this two-part series tackles the Italian experience in WWI, D’Annunzio’s literary and military career, the raid to occupy Fiume, the Futurist movement, the wild culture that sweeps through town, a pre-1960s sexual revolution, Guido Keller (the craziest man in town), and much more.

This series is dedicated to Franco Bolelli

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon to access plenty of bonus content.

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at our LinkTree, including the HOF YouTube Channel, Substack, Instagram, and TikTok. 

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/hof

Throughout history, people have used mushrooms (such as Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga) for their medicinal properties. My friends started Purest Mushrooms where they offer some of the best quality mushrooms you can find on the market at affordable prices. Use code historyonfire at checkout for a discount.

Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at Dakota Pure Bison. History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout.

This episode is supported by Arizona State University. Learn more about how ASU supports all learners through all stages of life.

EPISODE 110: A Tale of Two Saints, St. Francis and Drukpa Kunley

“What are servants of God good for, if not for moving the hearts of men and elevating them to spiritual joy?” St. Francis

“I’ve come to help you all. Where can I find the best beer and the most beautiful women?” Drukpa Kunley

“I tried going to hell, but the path there was so packed with hypocritical priests that I had to turn back.” Drukpa Kunley

For once, here’s an episode about individuals who didn’t build their reputation by killing. Considering much of recorded history is the history of warfare and politics, of glorified violent gangsters hiding behind lofty titles of nobility, this doesn’t happen too often, so I hope you enjoy the change. Today, I’ll tell you the tales of two men, St. Francis of Assisi and the ‘divine madman’ Drukpa Kunley: one lived in the 1200s in Italy, and the other in the 1400s in the area between modern-day Tibet and Bhutan. Even though they were very different from one another, both had an uneasy relationship with the established religious authorities of the day. Both ended up being considered saints in their respective traditions (respectively, Christian and Buddhist). Both were regarded as highly eccentric.

St. Francis was the son of a wealthy merchant, but he turned his back on his birth family, gave away all earthly possessions and embraced a life of voluntary poverty serving lepers and the rejects of society (something for which he would later be heavily criticized by Martin Luther). Besides starting a new religious order, being named patron saint of ecology and becoming the author of the first piece of literature written in modern Italian, St. Francis had the guts to go preach among Muslims smack in the middle of the Crusades.

Drukpa Kunley was a wild, wild man. It’s more or less impossible to separate history and folklore when it comes to his life. What emerges from the sources is a sort of trickster whose brand of enlightenment came with a heavy dose of laughter, strong sex positivity, and a general hostility to the religious establishment. A master of freestyle battle rap before rap even existed, Kunley was a wandering teacher known for his escapades with the ladies and for defeating demons by swinging his ‘flaming thunderbolt of wisdom’.

As different as these two men were, both remind me of the heyokas of Lakota tradition, heroes of a kind of crazy wisdom at war with dogmatic thinking.

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon to access plenty of bonus content.

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at our LinkTree, including the HOF YouTube Channel, Substack, Instagram, and TikTok. 

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/hof

Throughout history, people have used mushrooms (such as Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga) for their medicinal properties. My friends started Purest Mushrooms where they offer some of the best quality mushrooms you can find on the market at affordable prices. Use code historyonfire at checkout for a discount.

Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at Dakota Pure Bison. History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout.

This episode is supported by Arizona State University. Learn more about how ASU supports all learners through all stages of life at https://www.asu.edu/ 

[RERUN] EPISODE 74: The Life of Marcus Aurelius (Part 2): Stoicism, Pandemic and War

“No matter how big a guy might be, Nicky would take him on. You beat Nicky with fists, he comes back with a bat. You beat him with a knife, he comes back with a gun. And you beat him with a gun, you better kill him, because he'll keep comin' back and back until one of you is dead.” From the film Casino

“The condition of the people was pitiable to behold. They sickened by the thousands daily and died unattended and without help. Many died in the open street, others dying in their houses, made it known by the stench of their rotting bodies.” Giovanni Boccaccio

“If anyone can refute me—show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective—I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance.” Marcus Aurelius

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Frankl

“Severe to himself, indulgent to the imperfection of others, just and beneficent to all mankind.” Edward Gibbon

Marcus Aurelius would have loved nothing better than studying philosophy for the rest of his days. Instead, destiny chose him to be the head of the Roman Empire. As a philosopher-emperor, Marcus turned to Stoicism to help him deal with more drama than any human being should have to deal with. Most of his children died before reaching adult age. Rome’s old rival, Parthia, engaged the empire in a brutal war for supremacy. Germanic tribe raided the frontier and invaded Italy. Marcus’ adoptive brother and co-emperor died early, leaving to Marcus the burden to lead the empire under dreadful circumstances. And then there was the pandemic… a terrifying plague that would kill large chunks of the population, cripple the economy, disrupt travel, and create a very well justified climate of fear. Marcus’ ability to navigate all this and more thanks to his philosophical practices enshrined his name among those of the best emperors Rome ever had.

In this final episode of this series about him: the first time Rome is ruled by two emperors at the same time, the party animal that was Lucius Verus, persecuting Christians, war with Parthia, a con man with his glove puppet, the movie Casino, Robert Greene’s book The 48 Laws of Power, Romans reaching China, a deadly pandemic, snake gods & Tulsa Doom, great ideas and not-so-great ideas in The Meditations, the Hagakure, Viktor Frankl, Deepak Chopra vs. Joe Rogan, the Dread Pirate Roberts, Germanic invasions, rebellions, marrying your adoptive uncle who was once engaged to your mom, the strange case of Commodus, and much more.

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon to access plenty of bonus content.

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at our LinkTree, including the HOF YouTube Channel, Substack, Instagram, and TikTok. 

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/hof

Throughout history, people have used mushrooms (such as Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga) for their medicinal properties. My friends started Purest Mushrooms where they offer some of the best quality mushrooms you can find on the market at affordable prices. Use code historyonfire at checkout for a discount.

Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at Dakota Pure Bison. History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout.

[RERUN] EPISODE 73: The Life of Marcus Aurelius (Part 1): Stoicism, Pandemic and War

“Rise up and do battle.” Homer

“Discipline is freedom, and the companion to imagination. Discipline makes it possible for you to become whatever you want to be.” Deng Ming Dao

Marcus Aurelius would have loved nothing better than studying philosophy for the rest of his days. Instead, destiny chose him to be the head of the Roman Empire. As a philosopher-emperor, Marcus turned to Stoicism to help him deal with more drama than any human being should have to deal with. Most of his children died before reaching adult age. Rome’s old rival, Parthia, engaged the empire in a brutal war for supremacy. Germanic tribes raided the frontier and invaded Italy. Marcus’ adoptive brother and co-emperor died early, leaving to Marcus the burden to lead the empire under dreadful circumstances. And then there was the pandemic… a terrifying plague that would kill large chunks of the population, cripple the economy, disrupt travel, and create a very well justified climate of fear. Marcus’ ability to navigate all this and more thanks to his philosophical practices enshrined his name among those of the best emperors Rome ever had.

In this first episode, we cover: Lost, Marcus’ pep-talks, the power of rituals, the genesis of the empire, Marcus Aurelius’ early life, the impact of Greek culture in Rome.

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon to access plenty of bonus content.

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at our LinkTree, including the HOF YouTube Channel, Substack, Instagram, and TikTok. 

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/hof

Throughout history, people have used mushrooms (such as Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga) for their medicinal properties. My friends started Purest Mushrooms where they offer some of the best quality mushrooms you can find on the market at affordable prices. Use code historyonfire at checkout for a discount.

Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at Dakota Pure Bison. History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout.

EPISODE 109: THE MESOAMERICAN GODFATHER

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” Mario Puzo

“Grant me revenge!” from Conan the Barbarian, 1982

“I am immortal” Nezahualcoyotl

A special episode not available on iTunes! This juicy tale will be a gift (via email) to anyone on a recurrent donation plan, or anyone who has donated in the past 3 months, and is available for sale to everyone else.

I originally created this episode years ago, as I was researching the Spaniards’ invasion of the Mexica (aka Aztec) empire, when I run into this little nugget of a story, which predates the arrival of the Spaniards. This is the first time this episode gets to be released to the public outside of any paywalls. This is basically a real historical version of what would happen if we were to mix the plot of The Godfather with the plot of The Lion King in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Our key characters include Tezozomoc, a ruthless, Machiavellian genius power-player who ruled over much of the Central Valley of Mexico, and his nemesis Nezahualcoyotl, the poet-king of Texcoco. This episode features political intrigue, Mafia-style hits, the surprise of seeing a beheaded enemy show up with a head on his shoulders, human sacrifice, an unyielding quest for revenge, and a glimpse at the early days of the Aztecs. With characters named Angry Stone Face and Hungry Coyote, you know this has to be a good story…

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content. 

All the links to History on Fire social media can be found at https://linktr.ee/danielebolelli  

Including the HOF YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFCiqHbWJO26nFzUP-Eu55Q 

Substack: https://substack.com/@danielebolelli

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historyonfire/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@historyonfirepodcast 

Shoutout to the folks making some of the best hot sauce I’ve ever tasted: Abuelita Guille! They are having a kickstarter right now. Check them out: grandmashotsauce.org

Also shoutout to https://centenariusnutrition.com/ A former student of mine started this excellent supplement company.

Throughout history, people have used mushrooms (such as Lion's Mane, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga) for their medicinal properties. My friends started Purest Mushrooms where they offer some of the best quality mushrooms you can find on the market at affordable prices. Use code historyonfire at checkout for a discount

Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at https://dakotapurebison.com/ History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout.

Searching for the perfect holiday gift? Swift Sword by Doyle Glass is a powerful read on the Vietnam War, capturing the heroism and struggles of one military unit fighting against all odds. And here’s the holiday surprise—on December 18th and 19th, you can get the ebook version for just 99 cents! Find Swift Sword on Amazon or visit doyleglass.com for a special offer, and give the gift of history that feels like a front-row seat.”