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What three historical figures would you bring back to do the talk show/podcast circuit? Assume they disappear after their last interview.
I’d pick Timothy Dexter, because entertainment value at least would be guaranteed. I’d also go with Frederick William of Prussia- he seems like the sort to throw out some left field ideas we just might could need. Finally I’d pick the Venerable Bede, because sometimes obsessive categorization can reveal an obvious truth we’ve all missed.
For semi-historical, Mohammed, Jesus and Confucius.
For 100% historical, Cardinal Armand Jean du Plessis (Richelieu), Cardinal Jules Mazarin and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord.
I didn’t know russians had a thing for french men of the cloth. Longing for a historical counter-weight to the autocrat, perhaps?
I’d take Hannibal, Leo, and Lavoisier.
All three of them advanced the goals of French autocrats, so not really. I could've picked three English statesmen, but I didn't know who to add to Pitt the Younger and Churchill.
Talleyrand supposedly served France, not any one man or crown. Can't think of any influential russian clergymen, but that's probably on me - o wait, rasputin, lover of the russian queen! I need to switch one of my podcast choices!
Patriarch Nikon. Patriarch Filaret. His great-grandson, Peter I, subordinated the church to the state, which explains the absence of eminent figures after that.
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He wasn't a clergyman, though.
In Tsarist Russia, the cloth makes the man.
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I'll restrict myself to people who can speak modern English.
How about Henry VIII, Abraham Lincoln, and Friedrich Hayek. (I was also considering Oliver Cromwell or James I/VI in place of Henry.)
I think for the purposes of this hypothetical, we can assume that whoever you pick has a universal translator.
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Hitler, Michael Jackson, Jesus.
Of course, when Jesus comes back, we've hit the end times, so you have to price that in.
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Can I bring back semi-historical figures? Because I would love to bring back Saul of Tarsus (aka Saint Paul), Judas Iscariot, and Jesus of Nazareth, and have them simultaneously do the talk-show/podcast circuit to promote their various new books:
Why would they not just be historical figures? Do you think they didn't exist?
Let's say that for two out of the three of these figures, there is a lack of evidence outside of biblical literary traditions, which could well be apocryphal.
Which two? Judas obviously, but are you saying that there's external evidence for Paul, or Jesus?
Anyway, it's pretty implausible to me that Jesus or Paul would just be made up.
I'm fine with accepting that Saul of Tarsus is not only a historical figure, but that the legends about him are sufficiently close to what happened to that figure in reality (+/- miracles). I am fine with having a high likelihood of a historical Jesus, and that this man was an object of a cult following, though I find it unlikely that the historical Jesus would match the Jesus of Christian mythology to any reasonable degree. I doubt the existence of a historical Judas, he's too convenient as a one-stop-scapegoat literary character.
For the purposes of the game hydroacetylene proposed, I am primarily interested in the literary characters of Jesus, Paul, and Judas, and I would consider their historicity only because it makes the read-the-Bible-as-if-it-has-unreliable-narrator more plausible. They can then write some "tell it like it really was" books.
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The historical figures I would most like to see on Rogan are William the Marshal (the first GOAT candidate in combat sports) and Casanova (for obvious bro-shit-shooting reasons).
More generally, I think seeing any of the pre-1800 pioneering scientists and industrialists' reaction to the society they created would be fascinating.
Because of their polymathic tendencies, Frederick the Great and Napoleon would be the most interesting former world leaders.
Thoughts on Fellini's Casanova?
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The first one that comes to mind is François de La Rochefoucauld, whose discomfiting aphorisms about the human condition seem just as relevant in the social media era as ever:
Will reply when I think of two more.
Basic bitch choice, but Orwell, in large part because so many of his essays have aged so gracefully. "Politics and the English Language" and "Notes on Nationalism" should be required reading for anyone interested in history, politics or journalism.
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Carl Panzram and dealers choice twice.
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