Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Gwynne Dyer - Hardcore History interview

The latest issue of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is -again- an interview. As said before: Dan Carlin, as talented a podcaster as he is, is not cut to be an interviewer. His studio presence is too dominant, his voice too strong and it might help if he'd lower the audio level of the sections where he speaks, so as to enforce the guest. What is more, his questions are stemming from his own train of thought that, as fascinating as it is and makes for the brilliant Hardcore History shows, remains not transparent enough for an interview. There you find yourself listening to an analysis of the First World War causes, one moment and the next about ways to learn history and you suddenly wonder: How did we get here?

Still, this show has a truck load of veritable gems, partly because the lack of transparency is not permeating throughout and for a good deal thanks to the guest: Gwynne Dyer. Dyer manages to turn Carlin's shooting in all directions questions to relevant and deep interrogations and gives very fascinating and teaching answers. This alone makes for a great podcast.

By the end comes an additional highlight, when Carlin asks the closing question that boils down to: what haven't I asked you and you had wanted to answer to? Dyer then reveals he has been thoroughly interested in the geopolitics of global warming. He delivers a historic perspective on the test that the world stands to and that is really the cherry on the cake. A must listen.

More Hardcore History:
Interview with Victor Davis Hanson,
Punic Nightmares III,
Punic Nightmares II ,
Punic Nightmares I,
Under the Influence.

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

A good review of the programme and although I agree that, of his many talents, his interviewing is not yet the best of them, I do want to nod vigorously at your comment that this show is a must listen.
There were many fascinating topics covered. I was particularly interested in his overview of the different ways in which history is taught (how things work and what actually happened) and his final mention of the geopolitics of global warming. I would have liked to have seen this show as an introduction and then another to follow up on one or two of the points made in the show.
Finally I'd like to make a mention of Gwynne Dyer's website http://www.gwynnedyer.com/ which holds many of his articles.

Anne the Man said...

Hi Jim, thanks for sharing the link.
About Dan's interviewing technique: don't you also think that if only he'd tone down his own voice (maybe even lower the audio level in the post-production) that would help?
Anne