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'History repeats... first as tragedy, then as farce'. Karl Marx said that, and what has he ever got wrong? The purpose of this podcast is to look back at the times when History has repeated (or rhymed) and try to learn some tentative lessons: try to draw up some common themes, trails, and threads that can inform our future action. Or, perhaps, just despair at the inevitability of endless human erring.
Episodes
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Christory/ Histmas
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Friday Dec 25, 2020
In 'A Christmas Carol', Charles Dickens wrote: “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.” While Dickens clearly wasn’t keeping abreast of the latest developments regarding mutant coronavirus strains, his heart was most probably in the right place. After all, who isn’t moved to tears by that moment in ‘A Christmas Carol’ where Michael Caine buys a turkey for Kermit and his son Robin?
In this Christmas cracker of a podcast (cheaply made, bad jokes, and ultimately disappointing), James and I look at the history of winter revelry. We talk about the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, the (first) cancellation of Christmas, and disconcerting Victorian Christmas cards.
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Dogstory
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
In a special edition of Repeat Until Funny, James and I bark up the history of dogs, picking the bones of [multiple puns about dogs].
We look at Greyfriars Bobby, the Nazis, and the first dog in space.
Bone appetite.
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Episode 8- F*** Censorship
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Friday Jul 10, 2020
In the last episode of the critically [redacted] Repeat Until Funny season one, James and I go toe to toe and mano a mano with the ever bobbing and weaving issue of censorship.
We discuss how annoying Socrates was, John Stuart Mill's obsession with corn, and Holocaust denial (it's hard to make that sound as pithy as the first two). Enjoy! Or [redacted]...
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Episode 7- Workers of the World Unite (or don't)
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Socialism: equality, working together, community, dancing. What's not to like (apart from the dancing)? Yet, the charge persists: sounds good in theory, but it will never work in practice.
In this episode, we look at why this accusation has been levelled against Socialism and whether or not it is a fair summation. James also talks about Russian smurfs.
Saturday Jun 27, 2020
Episode 6- Statues: Taken for Granite?
Saturday Jun 27, 2020
Saturday Jun 27, 2020
Statues: should they stay or should they go? If they stay there will be trouble, if they go there will be double (which suggests that they should stay as that would reduce the trouble by half).
In this episode, History teacher Cassie Cope and I grapple (not literally) with the topical issue of statues depicting questionable historical figures.
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
Episode 5- (Moral) Panic on the streets of London
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
A moral panic: widespread fear, most often irrational, that someone or something is a threat to the values, safety, and interests of a community or society at large.
This episode of 'Repeat Until Funny' tries to learn the lessons of the Garrotting panic of 1862, where Londoners wore exuberant spiked collars to protect themselves from a wildly exagerrated threat.
Friday Jun 12, 2020
Episode 4- Japantastic
Friday Jun 12, 2020
Friday Jun 12, 2020
This episode of Repeat Until Funny is led by James, who describes himself as a 'globally renowned scholar on Japan who never has made (and never will make) any mistakes on the subject.'
We look at three major Japanese civil wars, the importance of legends and collectivism to Japanese society, as well as how to pronounce Oda Nobunaga.
Friday Jun 05, 2020
Episode 3- Teenage Kicks
Friday Jun 05, 2020
Friday Jun 05, 2020
In this episode of Repeat Until Funny, me and James talked about why the old always seem to hate the young.
We look at Ancient Greece, 19th Century Britain, and the American ‘teenager’ of the 1950s and 60s. We also manage to repeatedly lambast and lament the youth of today.
Wednesday Jun 03, 2020
Episode 2- Top Trumps feat. My Brother (PART 2)
Wednesday Jun 03, 2020
Wednesday Jun 03, 2020
Part two, where me and James look at the star of 'Bedtime for Bonzo' (and 40th President of the USA).
Friday May 29, 2020
Episode 2- Top Trumps feat. My Brother (PART 1)
Friday May 29, 2020
Friday May 29, 2020
Episode two of Repeat Until Funny has a special guest: my bro(ther), James.
We talked about populist U.S. presidents, seeing what lessons can be gleamed from those who tried to make America great again the first time around.
It was so much fun (/ it went on for so long) that I’ve split it into two episodes to make it more palatable to the human ear.