World History by the Numbers
The History Fangirl Podcast
In this episode, I chat with Daniel Hoyer from Seshat about looking at history through a statistical lens. We discuss the and his new book, Figuring Out the Past: The 3,495 Vital Statistics that Explain World History. Let's Stay in Touch! You can join the conversation in our Facebook Group, , or come say hi on ! My Travel Websites - Culture & History Travel Guides in the USA, Europe, and Beyond - Balkan Travel Blog - Travel in Oklahoma & Route 66 The theme music for the podcast is "Places Unseen" by Lee Rosevere.
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Veliko Tarnovo: Bulgaria's Medieval Capital
The History Fangirl Podcast
In this episode, I chat with Eric Halsey from the Bulgarian History Podcast about the hidden gem of Veliko Tarnovo. This once-important Bulgarian city is one of the most picturesque in Europe, and yet not many outside of Bulgaria know much about it. You can find Eric's podcast Let's Stay in Touch! You can join the conversation in our Facebook Group, , or come say hi on ! More on Veliko Tarnovo: If you are planning to visit Veliko Tarnovo, here are our Veliko Tarnovo travel guides. My Travel Websites - Culture & History Travel Guides in the USA, Europe,...
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Stalking Chernobyl
The History Fangirl Podcast
Yes, it's been two years, and for that I'm very sorry! But I'm back with new episodes next week. In the meantime, enjoy this interview on Chernobyl I did a few weeks ago with Darmon Richter, the author of the new book Chernobyl, a Stalker's Guide. The theme music for the podcast is "Places Unseen" by Lee Rosevere.
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The Great Kazakh Famine
The History Fangirl Podcast
On today’s episode of the History Fangirl Podcast, we talk with renowned travel blogger Megan Starr, whom we spoke to a few months back about Kiev. But this week, we’re talking in person, in Kazakhstan, at the site of the memorial to the Great Kazakh Famine, a historical event which not many people know about in the West but looms large in the history of Kazakhstan. And, we both have recovered from the Kazakhstani flu that has been going around, so we’re ready to get rolling!
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The World Nomad Games
The History Fangirl Podcast
This week’s episode is something a little different. I am in Isyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, covering the World Nomad Games, a festival of sports that’s sort of like the Olympics for nomadic peoples. The sports, though, are way more interesting than, say, basketball. My first interview this episode is with the co-captain of the American Kok Boru team (I’ll explain later), and the sports include horse archery, tug of war, arm wrestling and more.
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The Massacre at Srebrenica
The History Fangirl Podcast
Last year, Alex Cruikshanks came on the show to talk about Belgrade, a really detailed and wide-ranging episode. And we had such a great time, he’s back again to talk about more recent history in Yugoslavia, specifically the brutal massacre at Srebrenica. Yugoslavia, as anyone who was alive in the 1990s knows, was falling apart in the early part of the decade. The Bosnian War was raging, and in 1995, some 8,000 Bosniaks, mostly men and boys, were killed.
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The Strangely Competitive History of the CN Tower
The History Fangirl Podcast
Every city has that one landmark that seems like a tourist trap and practically begs you not to visit. For me, that was the CN Tower in Toronto. I didn’t go near it the first time I visited the city, and the second time, this past July, I planned to steer clear. But it turns out the joke was on me, as the CN Tower is an amazing building with a funny, competitive and ingenious bit of Canadian history.
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Traveling the Green Book
The History Fangirl Podcast
In the first half of the 20th century, the automobile became a symbol of freedom to American families. Middle-class families able to afford their own car were no longer restricted to train or bus timetables, and the great American road trip was born. But for black Americans, this new freedom collided with old hatred, prejudices and dangers. African Americans began using “the Green Book,” a guide to places that were friendly to them along their journey.
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The Best of The History Fangirl Podcast's First Year
The History Fangirl Podcast
We did it! Next week will mark a full year of publishing The History Fangirl Podcast, and this week marks the 50th episode, so it felt like the right time to do a retrospective of the first 12 months of the show. My producer picked a handful of his favorite clips (it was too hard for me to pick!) from the past year, and so this episode looks back on some of the fun and fascinating stories my amazing guests have told.
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Philadelphia's Elfreth's Alley
The History Fangirl Podcast
Philadelphia is by far one of my favorite American cities. I used to live there and run a photo-a-day website there, and it’s one of the best cities to live in if you’re a history buff. On today’s episode, we talk about the amazing Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest continually lived-on residential street in the country (hard to fit that on a title belt, but still pretty cool). I had the chance to take a tour of the street with the Elfreth’s Alley Association’s Board Member Brittany Thomas.
info_outlineOn today’s episode of the History Fangirl Podcast, we talk with Ravi Mehta, host of The Wealth of Nations podcast. If you’ve ever traveled through southeast Asia, you know the one place you do not want to stop is Singapore, unless you’re flush with cash. How did this small nation on the Malay peninsula come to have such a crazy economy? Ravi walks us through the history of Singapore, how it got to where it is today, and where it’s headed. If you want to talk Singapore, you have to talk to an economist, and we’re so lucky we got Ravi here today.
Raffling off Singapore
As Ravi tells me on this week’s show, the Dutch had colonized Singapore in the late 1600s early 1700s, and then the British took it over in 1819. A man named Sir Stamford Raffles claimed Singapore for Britain, and the colony became an important part of the British Empire’s trade route. Stamford Raffles opened up a map and saw that the easiest way from East Asia to Europe was through Singapore, so strategically it was vital to the Empire’s trade. But another unusual feature favored Singapore: A deep, natural port where large ships could dock. And so it was geography and topography that made the country such a sought-after conquest.
Singapore in World War II
World War II wasn’t kind to anyone, but Singapore suffered a brutal period when the Japanese occupied the colony. The British were not prepared to defend Singapore, and so the Japanese were able to swoop in and take over. The Sook Ching massacre was a systemic cleansing of the ethnic Chinese in Singapore. The British surrendered the colony in 1942, and the Japanese army began purging what they perceived to be Chinese sympathizers. And while it was supposed to be limited to identified Communists and activists, the violence quickly spread. Japan claims 5,000 were killed, but the current Singapore government puts the number closer to 70,000.
Modern Singapore
Democracy came to Singapore after World War II, but the first free and fair elections in Singapore didn’t truly happen until 1955. But it wasn’t until 1965 that Singapore separated from Malaysia and declared itself the Republic of Singapore. And really since the 1960s, Singapore has been a powerhouse economy. Ravi told me how its gross domestic product grew more than 10% every year in the late 1960s and early 1970s. To put that into perspective, the U.S. economy grows at about 2 or 3%. Singapore adopted very pro-business policies that helped it woo international trade partners. The result has been a wholly unique country, with very strict rules on its citizenry, high-paying government workers, and an economy that is the envy of many all over the world. This is a fascinating episode about a fascinating corner of the world.
Outline of This Episode
- [1:35] Singapore’s founding
- [5:19] Early days of Britain rule
- [10:53] World War II in Singapore
- [16:28] The Singapore movement
- [24:36] Joining and leaving Malaysia
- [35:30] Singapore’s booming economy
- [41:00] Singapore’s human services
- [50:59] Pluses and minuses
Resources Mentioned
Connect With Stephanie
Featuring the song “Places Unseen” by Lee Rosevere.
More info and photographs for this episode at:
https://historyfangirl.com/no-place-like-it%E2%80%A6ory-of-singapore/