Chapo Trap House

From the creators of Hell of Presidents — one of Entertainment Weekly‘s best podcasts of 2021 — and Chapo Trap House, the political podcast that’s made more people angrier than any other, comes a new history podcast series, Hell on Earth: The 30 Years War and the Violent Birth of Capitalism, launching on Chapo Trap House’s Patreon on January 11th, 2023.

Hell on Earth will tell the story of the Thirty Years War, the cataclysmic outbreak of violence in central Europe that lasted from 1618-1648. It’s the story of the long crisis of the 17th century, the birth of Protestantism and the collapse of Catholic Christendom, and ultimately, the gleaming T-800 Terminator skeleton of Capitalism emerging from the rotting corpse of Feudalism. It’s a story of lurid violence from a bygone age, of hot death on the battlefield, and cool intrigue in the palaces of Kings and Emperors. But it’s also the story of climate change, financial collapse, moral panics, speculative bubbles, pandemic, crisis in institutional legitimacy, of conspiracy theories driving policy, and an information revolution that changes the way everyday people relate to their political leaders. Sound familiar? This is the birth of modernity.

In ten episodes, hosts Matt Christman and Chris Wade will guide listeners from Luther’s 95 Theses to the English Glorious Revolution, and all the blood spilled in between, with their signature mix of historical analysis and ribald humor.

For impatient history buffs bristling at the idea of waiting until the new year for their fix of Matt Christman vociferation, fear not, nerds. Chapo Trap House is proud to bring back its other historically-rooted series, Hinge Points, which returns for season 2 today, also available on their Patreon. Today’s free episode is also available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hinge Points is a speculative history series where, each week, Matt Christman and Danny Bessner (of the American Prestige foreign policy podcast) look at crucial moments in history and ask what if things had gone a slightly different way. Among other topics, this season’s six episodes will ask: what if the English Channel never filled in? What if Martin Luther died before he could write the 95 Theses? What if Napoleon converted to Islam? And other fascinating hypotheticals. Guests include Patrick Wyman from the Tides of History podcast, Everett Rummage from the Age of Napoleon podcast, Noah Kulwin from the Blowback podcast and others.

There’s never been a better time to subscribe to Chapo Trap House’s Patreon channel and become a Grey Wolf. For the next week, Chapo is offering a new annual membership tier for 12.5% off MSRP. This will give listeners an opportunity to tune in for both Hinge Points and Hell on Earth, as well as all the other hijinks, rants, spoofs and goofs that have made many seemingly normal people become mildly deranged.