The Human Story
Claire Brooks, Oliver Hart
A chapter by chapter discussion and debate of James C Davis’ book, The Human Story
Episodes (5)
Aztec Collapse, Inca Gold, and the Birth of Global Trade
This episode challenges the familiar tale of a few Spaniards toppling the Aztec and Inca empires, revealing the crucial roles of Indigenous allies, political fractures, and strategic missteps. It also traces how smallpox and silver extraction helped birth the modern global economy through conquest, collapse, and forced labor.
Learn moreWhen China Turned Away, Portugal Took the Ocean
This episode explores how Ming China’s decision to dismantle Zheng He’s colossal fleet opened a vacuum in global power, setting the stage for Portugal’s risky Atlantic breakthroughs. It traces how new shipbuilding and navigation techniques rapidly connected continents through trade, conquest, and the exchange of crops, microbes, and ideas.
Learn moreHow Peasant Innovation Built Medieval Europe
This episode explores how medieval agricultural breakthroughs, from the padded horse collar to three-field rotation and watermills, sparked Europe’s population boom and laid the groundwork for economic growth. It also examines how political fragmentation, chartered towns, and autonomous universities created a competitive environment that fueled innovation and long-term expansion.
Learn moreHow Portable Faiths Replaced Tribal Gods
This episode traces how religion transformed from local, tribe-bound worship into portable systems of ethics that could survive exile, empire, and war. It follows the rise of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as they replaced sacrifice and ancestry with moral law, charity, and universal community.
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From Terracotta Warriors to Paper Bureaucracy
This episode explores how Qin Shi Huang’s ruthless Legalist state built a unified China through standardization, massive public works, and the terracotta army. It then shows how the Han Dynasty blended centralized administration with Confucian ideals and paper-based bureaucracy to create an empire that could outlast any one ruler.
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