In the 1810s, the British Empire’s domain in Africa consisted of coastal enclaves on the continent’s west and south. Having previously profited off the Transatlantic Slave Trade, British officials of Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) were now … Continue reading History Thread: MacCarthy’s Macaroni Massacre
Crafting an ensemble cast within a limited series can be difficult. Madoka Magica pulls it off flawlessly by rotating focus among its main characters. Madoka is the ostensible protagonist, but she’s largely an observer for the balance of the series, … Continue reading The Madoka Project: There’s No Way I’ll Ever Regret It
If Episode 3 of Madoka proved shocking to viewers, Episode 4 is positively dour. This episode is a hard reset of the show that forces us to confront important questions about the show we’re watching. Questions like, “what’s the purpose … Continue reading The Madoka Project: Miracles and Magic Are Real
It’s only human to wonder how things might have gone differently. And historians, or history buffs, have spent an inordinate amount of time wondering how events from the distant past might have differed. From fictional works like The Man in … Continue reading The Alternate History Thread
While preparing this article, I read and watched several essays arguing that Mami Tomoe is, in fact, the most important character of the series. This claim overstates things a bit, but I found parts of it persuasive. After all, Mami … Continue reading The Madoka Project: I’m Not Afraid of Anything Anymore
I’m tackling the first two episodes at once for a reason that Madoka fans will appreciate and newcomers will soon discover. There’s worldbuilding and stage setting and establishing the main cast (with one key exception), sure. But mostly because it’s … Continue reading The Madoka Project: I First Met Her in a Dream…Or Something/That Would Be Truly Wonderful
It’s almost the end of another year. As America’s existential crisis continues and a pandemic rages across the world history can be, well, not always comforting but at the very least a welcome distraction from the horrors of our day-to-day … Continue reading The Year-End History Thread
Anime fans need no introduction to Puella Magi Madoka Magica. One of the most popular and acclaimed anime series of the 2010s, it proved an instant hit, reviving the largely moribund Magical Girl genre and showing how dark, female-driven stories … Continue reading The Madoka Project: Introduction to Puella Magi Madoka Magica
What could history possibly matter to someone who is forced to relive the same month of their life, over and over again? For those of us who haven’t contracted with an alien ferret, though, it remains a source of endless … Continue reading The Homura History Thread
Eleftherios Venizelos had a vision for Greece. As young man on Crete, he had led a rebellion against its Turkish rulers in 1897, triggering British intervention and the island’s union with Greece. As Foreign Minister in the 1910s, he engineered … Continue reading History Thread: The Glass General and the Burning City
Braddon, Russell. The Siege: The Full, Horrifying Account of the Kut Disaster. New York: Viking Press, 1970. Originally published 1969. 352 pp. Some wars are so ill-conceived and badly-waged that even when successful, they seem a colossal waste. The Crimean War fascinates me … Continue reading History Thread: Russell Braddon’s The Siege (1969)
From the beginning of his political career, Richard Nixon dodged accusations of financial impropriety. In 1950, hostile reporters claimed that notorious mobster Mickey Cohen donated to his Senate race against Helen Gahagan Douglas. His infamous Checkers Speech of 1952, while … Continue reading History Thread: Nixon Cash
For a few weeks every fall, American consumers are inundated with ads for a primal horror escaped from the bowels of McDonald’s: the McRib. This sandwich consists of ground, processed pork shoulder enticingly repackaged into a vaguely rib-shaped lump, slathered … Continue reading The History Thread Ponders the McRib
Sadly, I’m putting all my creative time and effort into anime writing right now, so I didn’t have time for a proper header this week. What else is new? Discuss whatever historical is going on in your world this week. Continue reading The Distraction History Thread
Today is the 140th anniversary of the Gunfight at the OK Corral, the most famous shootout in the history of the American West. The main reason it’s so remarkable as that this kind of stand-up gunfight was exceedingly rare in … Continue reading The OK Corral History Thread
The History Thread is late this week. Late late late, for a most unimportant date. If you still have a history jones to satisfy this week, join the conversation. Continue reading Late History Thread
When Germans living the Weimar Republic weren’t battling unemployment, rampant inflation or dodging street battles between political extremists, they shuddered at stories of killers in their midst. German newspapers burst with accounts of monsters disguised as respected citizens. Peter Kürten, … Continue reading History Thread: The Serienmörder Who Never Was
Beware the Tatzelwurm! This curious critter supposedly inhabits the mountainous regions of central Europe, especially the Alps in Bavaria and Switzerland. It’s known to prey on livestock and generally make a ferocious nuisance of itself. Descriptions of the Tatzelwurm vary: … Continue reading The Wormy History Thread
Historians generally don’t have much nice to say about Andrew Johnson. The 17th President, who succeeded to office after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, had a chance to heal the nation recently divided by civil war and end or at least ameliorate … Continue reading History Thread: Vampire of Liberty
Outside the town of Bures in Suffolk, a unique geoglyph can be glimpsed on the hills. The Bures Dragon commemorates a bizarre local legend about a rampaging reptile which scourged the town sometime in the Middle Ages. It’s a great … Continue reading History Thread: A Brief History of the Bures Dragon
Today is a baleful anniversary for animal lovers: the death of Benjamin, the last known Thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) in 1933. Once endemic to Tasmania, this carnivorous marsupial was considered a nuisance for feasting on livestock and subject to massive overhunting. … Continue reading The History Thread Goes Extinct
