The Industrial Revolutions

Introduction Jan 07, 2019

When the founding fathers wrote the U.S. Constitution in the 1780s, life on planet earth had changed very slowly over the previous 10,000 years. Life in 1780 wasn’t all that different from life in 1500. Life in 1500 wasn’t all that different from life in 1250. Life in 1250 wasn’t all that different from life in 1000. And so on, and so on.But then the human experience changed completely: Where we live, how long we live, when we work, when we sleep, how we go about our lives. It’s time we told that story. This is the Industrial Revolutions.

Chapter 1: Genesis Jan 31, 2019

In this episode, we cover the origins of human society, which remained relatively unchanged until the Industrial Revolutions:
How we evolved into “smart man”
How we stopped foraging and started farming
How we started building cities
How we developed trade and money
How we developed government and religion
How we invented writing
How we developed a system of social inequality
How our ideas spread out across the Eurasian landmass

Chapter 2: Europe in the Middle Ages Feb 01, 2019

Europe was (rightly or wrongly) considered the backwater of the civilized world for most of history. So how is it the Europeans built global empires and changed the world with industrialization?
In this 25-minute episode, I’m going to run through the developments of the Middle Ages and the circumstances of life in Europe that gradually led to a new world order. Topics include:
The impact of Ancient Rome
The Dark Ages
The Crusades
The Black Death
Trade with the Islamic World
The early days of modern finance
The rebirth of learning and practical inventions

Chapter 3: The Rise of the Global Empires Feb 08, 2019

Beginning in the 1300s, a rivalry between two kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula led to a whole lot of exploring, trading, and conquering. Before long, other European powers were getting in on the action. Not only did it transfer the gravity of the world’s political and economic power toward Europe, it set Europe on a path toward industrialization.
In this episode, we’ll explore:
The early days of European naval exploration
Portuguese trade in the East
Spanish conquest in the West
The mountain of silver at Potosi
How plantation commodities changed the world economy
The foundations of the transatlantic slave trade
The development of joint stock corporations, modern banking, and insurance

Chapter 4: Creating Utopia Feb 15, 2019

Are we living in Thomas More’s Utopia? In this chapter, we’ll explore his book and his life to chart the path toward the industrialized world we inhabit today, including: The rise of cottage industry; Mechanical innovations; Increasing specialization; The war industry’s impact on mass production; The impact of the Protestant Reformation.

Chapter 5: The Textile Industry Feb 22, 2019

We’ll never know the names of the first farmers of the Neolithic Revolution, but we do know the names of the inventors who kick-started the Industrial Revolutions. Their simple innovations gave us a new world of nearly constant, explosive economic growth and a total restructuring of society everywhere and forever. This is how it happened.
In this episode, we’ll cover: The growth of the global cotton trade in the 17th and 18th centuries; The flying shuttle; The spinning jenny; The water-frame; The spinning mule; The first cotton mills of northern England; The impact of the first industrial revolution in the new United States.

Chapter 6: Agriculture, Metal, and Mining Mar 08, 2019

During the 18th Century, the British came up with many innovations that allowed them to get more out of the land. Not only did the increased production of food, iron, and coal make the first industrial revolution possible, but many innovations had indirect applications for new technologies.In this episode, we’ll cover: Jethro Tull’s seed drill; Turnip Townshend’s crop rotations; The resistance of agricultural laborers; Abraham Darby’s coke smelting process; Henry Cort’s puddling process; The legacy of John “Iron Mad” Wilkinson; The use of iron in cotton mills; Britain’s falling timber resources; New mine ventilation techniques; Sir Humphrey Davy’s safety lamp; and the evolution of rail tracks.Follow along on social media:https://facebook.com/indrevpodhttps://twitter.com/indrevpodhttps://instagram.com/indrevpod

Chapter 7: The Steam Engine Mar 15, 2019

The steam engine was the product of centuries of experimentation, economic necessities, strong business acumen, and colorful personalities. This is how it happened.

Chapter 8: Mill Towns Become Mill Cities Mar 22, 2019

Nearly half the world’s population today lives in an urban area. Before the first Industrial Revolution, only about 3% did. Industrialization created urbanization. Not only did it create incentives for people to pack themselves into dense cities, it also created the means to overcome the challenges of density.
What’s most amazing about this process is that many new metropolises were seemingly created from thin air. Some old cities did become big cities and some old big cities did become megacities, yes. But more amazingly, some villages that barely existed 500 years ago are now some of the world’s major population centers.
In this episode, we’ll discuss the impact of the first Industrial Revolution on the British cities of Birmingham, Manchester, and London, and the ways the British government had to adapt.

Chapter 9: Economic Ideas (Part 1: The Oldies) Mar 29, 2019

At the dawn of the First Industrial Revolution, a new academic field emerged: Economics. (Well, something called “Political Economy” anyway.) But centuries of economic thought had to be supplanted first.In this Chapter, we review some of the ideas that permeated Europe leading up to the Industrial Revolutions. We’ll discuss the works of Plato and Aristotle, the Scholastics, the Mercantilists, Quesnay and the Physiocrats, Galiani, Beccaria, Verri, and of course, Thomas Robert Malthus.

Chapter 10: Economic Ideas (Part 2: Adam Smith) Apr 05, 2019

This week we discuss the life and times of the Father of Economics, including his native Scotland, his early years and education, his intellectual influences, his career, and his magnum opus: The Wealth of Nations.

Chapter 11: Canal-Mania Apr 12, 2019

From the 1760s to the 1830s, Great Britain went crazy for canals. America did too. These waterways helped speed up trade and fuel industrialization in the age before trains and highways. In the process, they created all kinds of new jobs and opportunities.Characters covered in this chapter include: Thomas Steers, the engineer who modernized river navigation in Lancashire; The Duke of Bridgewater, who built Britain’s first modern canal; James Brindley, who engineered the Bridgewater Canal and the Trent & Mersey Canal; Thomas Telford, the architect who built a huge iron aqueduct in Wales and “Neptune’s Staircase” in Scotland; William Weston, a British civil engineer who helped build the first canals in America; and Benjamin Henry Latrobe, a British architect who emigrated to the U.S. and helped build the new capital.

Chapter 12: The Steamboat Apr 26, 2019

Creating the world’s first vessels of powered transportation was no joke. Several competitive inventors put everything on the line to be the first to build profitable steamboats. For most of them, the pursuit ended in failure. It was the most unlikely one – an American painter – who got the job done, and in the process, changed the course of world history.In this episode we’ll cover Denis Papin’s destroyed steamboat, the Marque de Jouffroy d'Abbans and his Pyroscaphe, William Symington and his Charlotte Dundas, the patent war between John Fitch and James Rumsey, and the life and times of Robert Fulton.

Chapter 13: The Factory System May 03, 2019

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To get your favorite team’s apparel AND support the podcast, use this link: https://industrialrevolutionspod.com/fanatics - The principles of mass production at large worksites – through a combination of technological innovations and improved methods of organizing labor – was applied to a variety of industries in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.In this episode, we’ll cover: Matthew Boulton and the Soho Manufactory; Arthur Guinness and the St. James’s Gate Brewery; Josiah Wedgwood and the Etruria Works; and the Portsmouth Block Mills – built by Marc Isambard Brunel, Henry Maudslay, and Samuel Bentham.

Chapter 14: The Machine Makers May 10, 2019

To support the National Alliance on Mental Illness: NAMI.orgWhen Joseph Bramah hired Henry Maudslay to help him make locks, little did he know his assistant would go on to change the world. Maudslay hired and trained a new generation of engineers who gave us everything from standardized tools to the powerful industrial machines of the future.

Chapter 15: We Got Chemistry May 17, 2019

The Industrial Revolutions were made possible thanks to the Scientific Revolution, which began centuries earlier as militaries needed to invest in new ways to gain an edge in battle. With it came the Scientific Method and advancements in chemistry. Starting in the mid-18th Century, a few individuals took those chemistry lessons out of the laboratory and applied them to industry. These are their stories.In this episode, we’ll cover: John Roebuck and his works mass-producing sulfuric acid; Nicolas Leblanc and his method for manufacturing soda ash; Charles Tennant and his bleach powder empire; and more!

Chapter 16: Men of Science May 28, 2019

As the first Industrial Revolution was beginning to turn the world upside down, the Age of Enlightenment produced scientists whose breakthroughs helped shape that upside-down world. Today we discuss three of them: Antoine Lavoisier; Dr. Edward Jenner; and Sir Humphrey Davy.

Chapter 17: Men of Faith (Part 1: The Great Awakening) Jun 04, 2019

After the suppression of the Puritans, religiosity died down in Great Britain and British America. Then, in the mid-18th Century, a revival of nonconformist churches swept over the English world. And it had a profound impact on the coming Industrial Revolution.
In this week’s episode, we’ll talk about the two main Protestant forces behind this first Great Awakening – the Baptists and the Methodists – and how they shaped the new, industrial working class.

Chapter 18: Men of Faith (Part 2: Religious Upheaval) Jun 11, 2019

In the late 18th Century, increasing religious freedom led to violent rioting in London and Birmingham. The Quakers, meanwhile, kicked a gun manufacturer out of their denomination. And without knowing it, Enlightenment thinkers started to develop a brand-new religion – a religion that most of the world believes in today.

Chapter 19: The American Revolution Jun 25, 2019

In this episode, we explore the underlying intellectual reasons for the American Revolution, and how that Revolution reshaped those ideas into a philosophy that would take over the world as industrialization spread.

Chapter 20: America's First Great Debate Jul 02, 2019

As the first President of the United States, George Washington appointed two cabinet secretaries who went to war with each other. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson fought on many fronts, but perhaps the most significant front was Hamilton’s economic agenda.
Looking to the recent success of Great Britain, Hamilton tried to bring the Industrial Revolution to America – and Jefferson tried to stop him. In this episode, we’ll discuss the intricacies of Hamilton’s plan, why he fought for it, and why Jefferson fought against it.

Chapter 21: The French Revolution and Empire Jul 16, 2019

If you compare the histories of Great Britain and France in the 16th through 18th Centuries, you see how they led to very different transitions into modernity. For Britain it was the Industrial Revolution. For France it was the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon. This is what Eric Hobsbawm called the “dual revolution.”
Today, we explore Hobsbawm further as we step over to France and see how the chaos of these years transformed the political, religious, and economic orders of Continental Europe.

Chapter 22: Industry on the Post-Napoleonic Continent Jul 23, 2019

First came the French, led by Napoleon, ending feudal economic traditions across Europe. Then came the British, bringing their knowledge of new, industrial production methods and business practices. And as a result, the first Industrial Revolution spread to pockets of France, the Low Countries, Germany, and Eastern Europe.
Characters in this episode include:
John Holker, a former Jacobite who spied on the British for French industry
Jacques-Constantin and Auguste Charles Perier, who built steam engines and water pumps
Claude Perier, who built a textile-printing empire and became an investment banker
Adolphe and Eugene Schneider, who built a metallurgical empire in Le Creusot
Louis Motte-Bossut, who built massive textile factories but couldn’t get his parents’ approval
Lieven Bauwens, who built Belgium’s first mechanized spinning mill
William and John Cockerill, Anglo-Belgians who made industrialization happen across Europe
Alfred Krupp, who created a steel empire in Germany and provided generous benefits for his workers
Ernest Knoop, who spread industrialization to Russia
The Silesian weavers, who rose up against the local capitalists and the Prussian authorities

Chapter 23: The Albion Mills Jul 30, 2019

One of the world’s first coal-powered factories was the Albion Mills, smack-dab in the heart of London. Built by Boulton & Watt, it put the competition out of business. Its eventual destruction was a source of inspiration, not only for a burgeoning labor movement, but for one of Britain’s most important poets – and England’s unofficial national anthem.

Chapter 24: The Luddites Aug 06, 2019

The Industrial Revolutions is on Patreon! Become a sustaining supporter today: https://patreon.com/indrevpodThe Industrial Revolutions store is live! Get your t-shirts or sticker here: https://industrialrevolutionspod.com/storeAs capitalists invested in machine technology, they put many of their traditional competitors out of business, forcing them into the factories as deskilled workers. Then, between falling incomes and rising prices, those began to strike back. And the Luddites – a shadowy network of militant 20-somethings, led by a man who probably never existed – went to war with the machines and their owners. This is their story.

Chapter 25: Man Takes Flight Aug 13, 2019

As chemistry advanced in the 18th Century, it was applied to perhaps the all-time greatest dream of humankind: Learning how to fly. In this episode, we meet the men who made it possible as “Balloonmania” took off in France, and then across the industrializing world.Support the Industrial Revolutions on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

Chapter 26: Ending the Slave Trade Aug 20, 2019

The practice of slavery was as old as the written word. But in the age of Europe’s global empires, it took a racist and even more sinister turn. Then, in the years between 1807 and 1819, with the rise of liberalism and industrialization, western powers began to end the transatlantic slave trade as a first step to ending slavery. In this episode, we’ll discuss how it happened in France, Great Britain, and the United States.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

Chapter 27: Finance and Industrialization Aug 27, 2019

Going back to the 1600s, the development of modern financial systems transformed life on planet earth. Debt markets and stock markets helped industrialization spread and remain ever-growing. They’ve also created a new phenomenon: The boom-and-bust cycle. And it seems that we, as a species, have decided that the key benefits of financial modernization – technological progress and mostly continuous economic growth – outweigh the anxieties and the risks of it.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

Chapter 28: Economic Ideas (Part 3: The Classics) Sep 03, 2019

Please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon. Your support helps pay for the audio hosting service, the website, research materials, and other costs of delivering the podcast. Plus there are special perks available only to Patreon supporters, including footnotes, book reviews, special recognition, and more.Visit https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod today. Thank you!This week we discuss the so-called “Classical” school of economics, and the various ideas about capitalism, free trade, and labor during that period. In particular, we’ll be discussing the lives and works of Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, the guys who influenced them, and the guys they influenced in turn.

Chapter 29: The Rothschilds Sep 17, 2019

The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain made the surprising success story of the Rothchilds possible. And the Rothschilds, in turn, made the Industrial Revolution possible across the rest of Europe. In this episode, we’ll cover:
Mayer Amschel Rothschild’s business in the Frankfurt ghetto
Nathan Rothschild’s activities in industrial Manchester
The big gamble the Rothschilds made against Napoleon
How Salomon and James Rothschild brought the railroads and other industry to the Continent
And more
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Chapter 30: The Locomotive Sep 24, 2019

By the 1820s, canal transport could no longer keep pace with the efficiencies of mass production in British factories. It would take a new machine – built by impressive (and often colorful) characters – to move freight and passengers on railways at previously unimaginable speeds.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

Chapter 31: Railway Fever Spreads Oct 01, 2019

This week we discuss how railroads rapidly spread across Great Britain, the United States, and Continental Europe between 1830 and 1848. In particular, we’ll focus on the unique ways railroads developed in each country, the civil engineers who built them, and the economic and social impacts of Railway Mania.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

Chapter 32: Industrialization and the Wider World Oct 08, 2019

This week, we’re stepping away from Europe and the United States to look at the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the rest of the world. Among other places, we’ll be visiting Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, India, China, and Australia.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

Chapter 33: Industry in the USA Oct 22, 2019

At the start of the 19th Century, the U.S. economy was very similar to the cash-crop export economies of the soon-to-be-independent countries of Latin America. But a half century later, the U.S. was the second largest economy in the world, with industrial productivity on par with – or even greater than – Great Britain. How did it happen?
This week, we discuss the causes and results of American industrialization, including:
The Erie Canal and other transport infrastructure
Industry in Cincinnati
Samuel Slater’s and Francis Cabot Lowell’s textile mills
Eli Terry’s clockmaking innovations
Richard March Hoe’s printing presses
The American firearms industry
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Chapter 34: Brunel and Vanderbilt Nov 05, 2019

This week we explore the lives and careers Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Cornelius Vanderbilt – two of industrial history’s most prolific individuals. One was from the UK, one was from the US. One cared little about profits, the other cared for nothing but profits. But both men had a major impact on the Transport Revolution, spreading railroads across their respective countries and steamships across the world.Support the Industrial Revolutions on Patreon: https://patreon.com/indrevpod

Chapter 35: The Telegraph Nov 12, 2019

This week, we discuss the development and impact of the electric telegraph – a new means of communicating through metal wires at the end of the First Industrial Revolution. This episode covers:
The possibilities made by Alessandro Volta’s battery
The early telegraph systems made by von Sömmerring, Ronalds, and Schilling
The first functional telegraph made by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone
The life of Samuel Morse and his more successful telegraph
The economic and political impacts of the telegraph in the 19th Century
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Chapter 36: Let There Be Light! Nov 19, 2019

Without advancements in artificial light, much of the economic development and material improvement of the Industrial Revolution wouldn’t have been possible. So, in the days before electric lighting was possible, the people of the time needed to come up with alternatives. And innovators from Germany, France, the UK, and the modern-day US and Canada figured out other ways to illuminate the world around them.#ThankYouPatrons! If you want to join these Industrial Revolutionaries and become a sustaining supporter of the podcast, please sign up at https://patreon.com/indrevpod.

Chapter 37: Photography Dec 10, 2019

In 1839, inventors in England and France simultaneously introduced the world to photography, putting “a new force in the hands of man.” We’ll learn about the scientists who made it possible, the initial experiments, and the impact it has had from the 19th Century to today.Support the Industrial Revolutions on Patreon: https://patreon.com/indrevpod

Chapter 38: The Advent of Modern Advertising Dec 17, 2019

Advancements made in paper-making, printing, and lithography during the First Industrial Revolution led to many other developments. Among them: They set the foundation for modern advertising. This week we discuss some of the many characters from France, Great Britain, and the United States who gave rise to this new industry.HOLIDAY BONUS EPISODE COMING!Come back next week for the first Holiday Special of the Industrial Revolutions. We'll be talking about the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. If you'd like, use the links below to review the story beforehand...AUDIO BOOK VERSION: https://amzn.to/2Eqvp9y HARDCOVER VERSION: https://amzn.to/2YWoQoM KINDLE VERSION: https://amzn.to/35usOaz

Chapter 39: The Age of Invention Feb 07, 2020

At the tail-end of the First Industrial Revolution, a flurry of new goods and tools were invented by professional and hobbyist inventors alike, hoping to get rich in this new era of opportunity. Among the most significant of these breakthroughs were three tools I'm going to tell you about in this episode.

Chapter 40: The Rise of the Liberals Feb 29, 2020

From 1830 to 1848, a surge of liberalism swept through the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. It not only brought new political and economic reforms, it established the norms that still influence our politics and economic systems today.

Chapter 41: The Lives of Workers Apr 06, 2020

Historians have generally had two very different takes on the Industrial Revolution. One take is that it left workers with a lot of grime, exploitation, and suffering. The other take is that it led to workers realizing greater material well-being, greater opportunity, and greater empowerment.
Today we dig deeper into the lives of workers in the First Industrial Revolution – to tell the whole story. We’ll discuss pay and working conditions, the state of the social safety net, the roles of women and children in the mills and mines, the leisure opportunities available to workers, and the conditions of their homes and neighborhoods in the growing industrial cities.
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Chapter 42: The Early Socialists May 04, 2020

This month we get to know the first wave of socialist thinkers – the Utopian socialists – including Robert Owen, Étienne Cabet, Jean Claude Leonard de Sismondi, Henri de Saint-Simone, Charles Fourier, and more. We also get to see how Radical associations in Britain – like the trade unions, co-ops, and Chartists – paved the way for a socialist movement.

Chapter 43: The Decline of the Gentry Jun 01, 2020

With the rise of capitalism, industrialization, and liberal economic policies, the relative power of the old, landed aristocracy was waning. And to fill their place was a nouveaux riche bourgeoisie.
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Chapter 44: Romance and Romanticism Jul 07, 2020

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The first of two episodes devoted to the cultural changes underway in the 18th and 19th Centuries, thanks (at least in part) to the Industrial Revolution. In Part 1, we’ll be talking about how romance became a more important part of marriage and how sexual mores changed with economic growth, urbanization, and labor reform. In Part 2, we shift our focus to the art and literature of the time and how the movement known as “Romanticism” sought to fill the spiritual and emotional voids that increasing material well-being could not.

Chapter 45: Faith, Fashion, Food, and Football Aug 10, 2020

The second of two episodes devoted to the cultural changes underway in the 18th and 19th Centuries, thanks (at least in part) to the Industrial Revolution. First we’ll explore the so-called Second Great Awakening, which spurred a diversity of religious traditions in the United States. Then we’ll discuss the impact of industrialization on fashion trends (and vice versa). Next, we’ll talk about the changing diets of ordinary people in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. Finally, we’ll wrap up with the history of football.
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Chapter 46: Victoria and Albert Sep 08, 2020

Telling the story of the Industrial Revolution would not be complete without spending some time on Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert. Her long reign came at the height of British power and, together with her hard-working husband, she forged a legacy that embraced change. Under her rule, the economy was modernized, the constitution became more democratic, and the country promoted new learning and new technology.
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Chapter 47: Springtime of the Peoples Oct 05, 2020

In 1848, the effects of the industrialization and financial modernization combined with the forces of burgeoning ideologies and class and national identities to create a year of revolutions. Uprisings against the existing order swept across Continental Europe – although these missions failed almost everywhere. It marked a turning point in world history – a flashpoint in the political and economic transitions underway – and for us, it will mark the end of the First Industrial Revolution.
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Chapter 48: Wrapping Up the First Industrial Revolution Nov 02, 2020

A look back on all the incredible changes the world saw in the First Industrial Revolution, and some looking forward to the future.
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Chapter 49: Karl Marx Feb 01, 2021

This month we explore the life, times, and ideas of one of history’s most controversial figures. The Industrial Revolution marked a turning point in history, and Karl Marx used a combination of philosophy, economics, politics, and history to try to explain it – and what comes next.
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Chapter 50: Public Health Breakthroughs Mar 01, 2021

The 19th Century was fraught with public health challenges – many of them spurred by the Industrial Revolution. In this episode, we look at environmental health, alcoholism, and cholera, in particular. And we see how the scientists, policymakers, and mass movements of the age addressed these challenges.

Chapter 51: Making the Modern City Apr 05, 2021

In the mid-19th Century, cities across the industrializing world began to modernize. New infrastructure was added, new layouts of streets and city resources were devised, and greater emphasis was placed on improving the quality of life for all people.
Topics covered in this episode include: Edwin Chadwick’s efforts to modernize Britain’s sewers; Ellis Chesbrough and the construction of Chicago’s sewer system; the underground London Metropolitan Railway; new street layouts in the Age of Enlightenment; Georges-Eugène Haussmann and the renovations of Paris; Ildefons Cerdà and the expansion of Barcelona; model villages like Saltaire; and the life and works of Frederick Law Olmsted.

Chapter 52: Making Modern War Jun 07, 2021

In this episode, we talk about the super-deadly conflicts that happened between the First and Second Industrial Revolutions: The Crimean War, the U.S. Civil War, the Paraguayan War, and the Taiping Rebellion.
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Chapter 53: Nationalism Jul 05, 2021

In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, human beings were becoming increasingly aware of the things that united them and the things that divided them, as they identified themselves more and more along the lines of nationhood. In this episode, we discuss that push-and-pull as it started in the 19th Century, with special attention paid to Italy, Germany, and India.

Chapter 54: The Great Global Shake-Up Aug 02, 2021

In an age of expanding railroads, steam-driven ocean liners, transnational telegraphs, and more, the world experienced its “First Wave of Modern Globalization.” In this episode, we discuss the ways it played out in the mid-19th Century, including massive waves of migrations, gold rushes, remittances, trade, foreign investment, international cooperation efforts, missionaries, the new tourism industry, world’s fairs, and more.
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Chapter 55: Bold Leaps of Discovery Sep 20, 2021

In the mid-19th Century, scientists would upend everything human beings understood about themselves and the world around them, and they would drive that world forward into a second industrial revolution.
In this chapter we discuss the new fields of genetics and evolutionary biology, the philosophy of Positivism, the development of thermodynamics, the discovery of the electromagnetic field, and the births of new technologies for electrical engineering.

Chapter 56: The Technological Revolution Dec 06, 2021

A quick introduction to the Second Industrial Revolution.
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Chapter 57: America's Railroad Age Feb 07, 2022

In this episode, we talk about the many changes to American life brought about by the railroads in the late 19th Century. Topics include: New construction tools like dynamite; George Pullman’s sleeper cars; Railroad tycoons like Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jay Gould; The development of modern corporations; Innovations in time management; The growth of the American beef industry; and The spread of consumer catalogues.
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Chapter 58: A New Commercial Era Mar 07, 2022

More so than in the First Industrial Revolution, the Second Industrial Revolution saw big changes in consumer markets. Thanks to mail-order catalogs, dry goods palaces, and new department stores, consumers had more options than ever before. Whether it was clothing, furniture, grooming products, cameras, musical instruments, processed food, or bottled soft drinks, people from all backgrounds could buy stuff they didn’t used to have available to them. And with more disposable income, lower prices, and increasingly-creative advertisements targeting them, buy stuff they did.
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Chapter 59: Steel and Rubber Apr 04, 2022

It is simply impossible to imagine life today without the mass-production of steel and rubber, made possible during the Technological Revolution. In this episode, we’ll discuss the inventions of the Bessemer converter and the Siemens-Martin process for steel making, the expanding steel empire of Alfred Krupp in Germany, and the efforts of Alexander Holley and Andrew Carnegie to make the U.S. the global leader in steel production. We’ll also talk about how steel was adopted for bridges, skyscrapers, and more. Finally, we’ll turn to the expanding uses of rubber, how rubber companies cultivated the market, and how they exploited the Global South to get it.
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Chapter 60: The Electric Age May 02, 2022

Electric power has become a staple of our daily lives. In this episode, we’ll discuss how it was made possible. Topics covered include: The rise of the modern engineer and the many technological breakthroughs made in the late 19th Century; The life of Thomas Edison; The development of the lightbulb; The spread of electrical distribution; and The War of the Currents.
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Industrial Revolutions Update Jun 13, 2022

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Chapter 61: New Energy, New Engine Oct 03, 2022

In the mid-19th Century, two new industrial developments were underway. In the UK and US, new discoveries were made for the refining of crude petroleum into numerous useful oils. Meanwhile, in France and Germany, engineers were starting to produce the first commercially viable internal combustion engines. Together, these two breakthroughs would open up a world of possibilities and, in time, put an end to the Steam Age.
If you’re in the Boston area, be sure to catch Dave’s upcoming Mill Talk at the Chares River Museum of Industry and Innovation on Tuesday, November 15th! Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mill-talk-from-textile-workers-to-rideshare-drivers-tickets-425845614697

Podcast Special! - From Textile Workers to Rideshare Drivers: The Never-Ending History of Creative Destruction Dec 05, 2022

The live recording of my recent Mill Talk at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation.

Chapter 62: An American Aristocracy Feb 06, 2023

Americans had long believed their country was a classless society. But by the end of the 19th Century, that myth had been shattered. In the Gilded Age, a super-rich elite emerged. They spent lavishly on houses, parties, and luxuries, while also investing in education and philanthropy. In this chapter, we’ll discuss this new upper-class, as well as how wealth in the United States became so imbalanced. We’ll explore topics like homesteading, Reconstruction, immigration, political corruption, corporate consolidation, and more.

Chapter 63: Finance and Turbulence May 01, 2023

As industrialization drove economic growth all over the Western World, financial systems had to keep growing in complexity and value. And as they did, they continued to drive industrialization further in turn. And, then as now, they were susceptible to greedy players, bad decisions, and panic.

Chapter 64: Economic Ideas (The Neoclassics) Jul 03, 2023

Beginning in the 1870s, the Neoclassical School of Economics emerged. Borrowing the idea of marginal analysis from calculus, and applying it to the ethical theory of Utilitarianism, they revolutionized the way economics was discussed. Today, we discuss the various “Marginalists” of this school, and the impact they had on the history of economic thought.

Chapter 65: Economic Ideas (The Many Schools of Socialism) Sep 04, 2023

During the late 19th Century, socialism fractured into numerous schools. In this episode, we explore the growing field of socialist thought, as well as its many colorful characters.
Topics in this episode include:

Edward Bellamy and his novel, Looking Backward
French Solidarism
Ferdinand Lassalle, Eduard Bernstein, and the German Social Democrats
The Fabian Society
Henry George and his treatise, Poverty and Progress
Mikhail Bakunin and anarcho-collectivism
Pyotr Kropotkin and anarcho-communism
The Pittsburg Proclamation and anarcho-syndicalism

Watch my 2022 Mill Talk here!
https://industrialrevolutionspod.com/episodes/2022/12/4/podcast-special-from-textile-workers-to-rideshare-drivers-the-never-ending-history-of-creative-destruction
Support the podcast: https://industrialrevolutionspod.com/supporters

Chapter 66: The Revolt of Labor Dec 04, 2023

At the end of the 19th Century, workers throughout the world were fighting increasingly bitter, bloody battles against their capitalist bosses and the governments protecting them. In this episode, we will cover such topics as:

Worker internationalism
Paris Commune
The Great Upheaval of 1877
The Haymarket Massacre
The Homestead and Pullman strikes
The Belgian General Strike of 1893
And more!

Chapter 67 - The Iron Chancellor & Rise of Germany Mar 04, 2024

The Second Industrial Revolution more or less coincided with the lifespan of the German Empire. From 1871 to 1914, the new nation adopted a fairly democratic constitution, saw massive population growth, and experienced extraordinary economic development. Along the way, they created innovative new goods and services, as well as worker protections unseen anywhere else in the world.
It was largely thanks to the leadership of the Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. But after his fall from high politics, the empire redirected its gains toward militarization. And by 1918, that program would prove to be the empire’s doom.
Support the podcast and get access to the footnotes and all bonus episodes at patreon.com/indrevpod.

Chapter 68: Industrialization Spreads East Jun 03, 2024

In the mid-19th Century, two eastern empires were humiliated by industrialized powers. To avoid further humiliation, they both decided to industrialize themselves. In the late 19th Century, Russia and Japan went through rapid modernization. But which of the two succeeded would shock everyone, come 1905.
In this episode, we will cover:

The emancipation of the serfs in Russia
The Witte System
Japanese proto-industrialization
The Meiji Restoration
And the Russo-Japanese War

Be sure to check out the Warlords of History Podcast as well!

History Daily: The Great Civil War Locomotive Chase Sep 30, 2024

A guest episode from the podcast History Daily! As we discussed back in Chapter 52, the new railroads played a major role during the U.S. Civil War. About a year into that war, a band of Union spies stole a train to sabotage the Western & Atlantic Railroad, a vital supply line at the heart of the Confederacy.
Please be sure to check out History Daily. Every weekday, host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to explore a momentous event that happened ‘on this day’ in history. It covers a broad mix of history, including medicine, science, technology, religion, politics, sports, and more. And it’s a more bite-size podcast than the Industrial Revolutions – each episode is about 20 minutes – making it suitable for your daily commute.
https://www.historydaily.com/

Chapter 69: The New Imperialism Dec 02, 2024

In the late 19th Century, the nature of imperialism was evolving. Driven by Realist geopolitics, capitalist forces, and racist assumptions, Westerners scrambled for power over the rest of the world. In this chapter, we will explore the impact of this transformation in China, Africa, and the empire of the United States.

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