EPISODE 13 Ted Roosevelt (Part 1): The Rough Rider and His Demons

October 19, 2016 Daniele Bolelli

“You must still have chaos in yourself to be able to give birth to a dancing star” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“History as well as life itself is complicated—neither life nor history is an enterprise for those who seek simplicity and consistency.” — Jared Diamond

He was the first American to receive a brown belt in Judo.
He won the largest percentage of the vote ever by a third-party candidate.
He once took a bullet to the chest shot at point blank range, and rather than going to the hospital went to deliver a 90 minute speech.
He survived tragedies that would break lesser men.
He spent his life fighting against the inner demons trying to destroy him.
He was a perfect embodiment of what Nietzsche probably had in mind when he wrote, “You must still have chaos in yourself to be able to give birth to a dancing star."
He was a warmonger with a diplomatic tact. He was a hunter and an environmentalist. He was a nerd and an athlete. He flirted with white supremacist ideas and yet was very progressive about race by the standards of his day. He was a big proponent of personal responsibility and supported quasi-Socialist policies.

Love him or hate him, he was larger than life.

He was Theodore Roosevelt.

In this episode:

A sickly child discovers the joys of the strenuous life
Defeating fear by facing fear
Having the woman you love die in your arms; into the Dakota wilderness
“A six year old child on steroids”
"Black care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough"
“Theodore had to hold on to his optimism very tight, otherwise he couldn’t get through the shadows, the darknesses, surrounding him”
Marriage # 2
Why telling Roosevelt “It will break you. You will yield. You are but human;” is a bad idea
The Rough Riders
Going to war against his own party
How Thomas Platt’s plan to eliminate Roosevelt gave him the presidency

This episode is sponsored by www.blueapron.com/onfire For less than $ 10 per meal, Blue Apron delivers straight to your door seasonal recipes along with pre-portioned ingredients to make delicious, home-cooked meals. Get your first three meals free—with free shipping—by going to www.blueapron.com/onfire

Please, also show some love to my regular sponsors by shopping for supplements, special foods, clothing and exercise equipment at http://www.onnit.com/history and receive a 10% discount. And if you are in the market for backpacks, computer bags and other hemp gear, check out my favorites at http://www.dsgear.com and use the code “daniele” at checkout for a discount.

My lady (and author of History on Fire logo) has a FB public page about her art & fighting: https://www.facebook.com/NahryEm/

Here is a link to the audiobook of my “Not Afraid”: http://www.danielebolelli.com/downloads/not-afraid-audiobook/

For those of you who may be interested, here is a lecture series I created about Taoist philosophy: http://www.danielebolelli.com/downloads/taoist-lectures/

EPISODE 12 Caravaggio (Part 2): Folsom Prison Blues

September 20, 2016 Daniele Bolelli

During a visit to a church in Sicily, a priest offered Caravaggio “holy water”. Caravaggio asked the old priest what it was for. “It will cancel your venial sins, my son,” replied the priest. “Then it’s no use—Caravaggio commented—My sins are all mortal.”

Giles Lambert about Caravaggio and his friends “They provoked the Papal police, hung around with the many Roman women of easy virtue, drank excessively and frightened the bourgeoisie.”

He was the greatest artist of his age, and also an outlaw whose passion for hookers was only second to his propensity for ending up in jail. Caravaggio was equally talented with paint and canvas as he was with the sword and with the art of breaking out prison. With the same hand with which he painted the most amazing masterpieces of the Renaissance, he stabbed pimps and bludgeoned cops. His art was as scandalous as his life: he brought a lowbrow brand of violent realism and sexuality to the traditional religious subjects that were commissioned by the Church: imagine Quentin Tarantino painting scenes from the Bible. But the more the elite hated him, the more the common people adored him. No painter of his day—and probably ever—was able to have such a magnetic effect on masses of people.

This second and last part of the tale includes battles in the streets of Rome, Caravaggio’s revolutionary take on the origins of Christianity, the rivalry with Giovanni Baglione, Renaissance diss tracks, attempted murder over artichokes, the dubious diplomatic tact of using prostitutes as models for the Virgin Mary, the parallels between Caravaggio and Tupac, Caravaggio settling a grievance… with an ax, “Madonna dei Palafranieri”—Caravaggio’s middle finger to the Vatican, the duel with Ranuccio Tommassoni, a death sentence, ending up on the run, becoming a Knight of Malta, Mafia art thefts, breaking out jail, the attack in Naples, and becoming a legend. Caravaggio would have been able to relate to Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”

EPISODE 11 Caravaggio (Part 1): Light and Darkness

August 18, 2016 Daniele Bolelli

During a visit to a church in Sicily, a priest offered Caravaggio holy water. Caravaggio asked the old priest what it was for. “It will cancel your venial sins, my son,” replied the priest. “Then it’s no use—Caravaggio commented—My sins are all mortal.”

Gilles Lambert about Caravaggio and his friends: “They provoked the Papal police, hung around with the many Roman women of easy virtue, drank excessively and frightened the bourgeoisie.”

He was the greatest artist of his age, and also an outlaw whose passion for hookers was only second to his propensity for ending up in jail. Caravaggio was equally talented with paint and canvas as he was with the sword and with the art of breaking out of prison. With the same hand with which he painted the most amazing masterpieces of the Renaissance, he stabbed pimps and bludgeoned cops. His art was as scandalous as his life: he brought a lowbrow brand of violent realism and sexuality to the traditional religious subjects that were commissioned by the Church: imagine Quentin Tarantino painting scenes from the Bible. But the more the elite hated him, the more the common people adored him. No painter of his day—and probably ever—was able to have such a magnetic effect on masses of people.

This first part of his tale features a plague killing most of Caravaggio’s family, attempts at theocracy in the Milan of the late 1500s, the Italian Robin Hood Marco di Sciarra, street life in Rome, “no hope-no fear”, the Cenci execution, and Caravaggio becoming a superstar of the Roman art scene.

Please, show some love to my regular sponsors by shopping for supplements, special foods, clothing and exercise equipment at http://www.onnit.com/history and receive a 10% discount.

And if you are in the market for backpacks, computer bags and other hemp gear, check out my favorites at http://www.dsgear.com and use the code “daniele” at checkout for a discount.

For those of you who may be interested, here is a lecture series I created about Taoist philosophy: http://www.danielebolelli.com/downloads/taoist-lectures/

EPISODE 10 Crazy Horse (Part 4)

July 10, 2016 Daniele Bolelli

“In your presence they feel small, and their baseness glimmers and glows against you with hidden vengeance.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche

“Let me go, my friend—you have hurt me enough.”
— Crazy Horse

In this last chapter of the Crazy Horse series, we’ll see Crazy Horse hunting miners in the Black Hills, a Lakota leader shaking hands with one hand while holding his guts in with the other, fighting at Slim Buttes, cutting horses open and hiding babies inside them to keep them from freezing, saying farewell to Sitting Bull, surrendering, Crook and his lies, the jealousy of petty chiefs, a hot ‘brown eyed girl’, a shining example of Lakota-American cooperation in setting up a murder, the end of history, Crazy Horse Mountain.

This Crazy Horse series is dedicated to James R. Weddell (“Ista To’paicagopi”), a great friend and the subject of Dakota Warrior: The Story of James R. Weddell

This episodes is sponsored by http://www.geeknationtours.com In addition to offering tours to many locations that would be of interest to fans of history, next summer they will lead a tour to the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana, site of the 1876 epic clash between the 7th Cavalry and the Lakota and Cheyenne forces.
Also, please show some love to my regular sponsors by shopping for supplements, special foods, clothing and exercise equipment at http://www.onnit.com/history and receive a 10% discount. And if you are in the market for backpacks, computer bags and other hemp gear, check out my favorites at http://www.dsgear.com and use the code “daniele” at checkout for a discount.

For those of you who may be interested, here is a lecture series I created about Taoist philosophy: http://www.danielebolelli.com/downloads/taoist-lectures/

If you could please help the show attract prospective sponsors by filling out this survey, I’d deeply appreciate it.

EPISODE 9 Crazy Horse (Part 3)

June 15, 2016 Daniele Bolelli

“Hold on, my friends! Be strong! Remember the helpless! This is a good day to die!”
— Crazy Horse

Everything we have seen so far in Crazy Horse’s life was a warm-up. In Episode 9, things really heat up: leadership, a legend in intertribal warfare, a bison apocalypse, Black Buffalo Woman, a bullet in the face, heartbreak sets up home in Crazy Horse’s tepee, drowning pain into an ocean of blood, taking on the Northern Pacific Railroad, round one with George Armstrong Custer, the thieves’ road, fighting on—in the face of hopelessness, Sun Dancing, against the Army at Rosebud and at the Little Bighorn. Plus, the story of the poor man who decided it was a good day to go hunting ducks, and instead run into Crazy Horse.

This Crazy Horse series is dedicated to James R. Weddell (“Ista To’paicagopi”), a great friend and the subject of Dakota Warrior: The Story of James R. Weddell

For those of you who may be interested, here is a lecture series I created about Taoist philosophy: http://www.danielebolelli.com/downloads/taoist-lectures/