Dan Carlin, a military history buff, puts together my favorite podcast - usually a well-researched hour-long monologue organized around some theme or historical event. His discussion of unconventional topics (the impact of drugs and alcohol on major events) and his ability to look at current events and attitudes through a historical lens make otherwise boring history lessons really interesting for me.
The Judgement at Nineveh episode, in which Dan wonders whether our modern society will ever decline and fall, is especially interesting. The ancient Assyrians ruled a brutal empire for almost 1,500 years before their enemies finally crushed the civilization so completely that it was nearly wiped from the historical record. Major cities were leveled to the point that their existence was only a rumor after just a hundred years.
America, not even 250 years old, with it’s amazing cities and vast influence, feels like a permanent fixture on the world stage. It’s been easy to assume that the United States will last forever… though no civilization ever has.
