History buffs?

[TripleCrown9]

Guys, I love history. I love learning about the past. My TV lately hasn't left National Geographic, Discovery, or the History Channel. I'm fascinated by ancient civilizations, really old civilizations, kinda old civilizations, etc.

Just...how people lived daily life, how we evolved as a species, how ideas spread throughout the world in a time when communication was much more difficult.

My family has told me several times I should be a history teacher, and if I could afford to go back to school, I would. My dream job is working in museums, or working for one of the aforementioned TV channels.

Are there any other history buffs here? What's your favorite area to learn about or study?

[KSUowls]

Re: History buffs?

I enjoy reading a good story, and the history of the world is the most fascinating story ever told. As a kid I used to watch the history channel (this was when it was an actual learning channel and not just conspiracy "ancient aliens"...though I guiltily find some of those shows entertaining).

I certainly love learning about different cultures of the past, but my biggest area of interest has always been military history. War is awful, but it's so intrinsic to our civilization that it can't be skipped over. I listened to the History of Rome podcast a few years (highly highly recommend), and as much as he tried to talk about Roman people and culture it always came back to different military events. The events before, after and during have always been fascinating to me.

Another podcast that I recommend is the History of Japan. Similar style as History of Rome. Especially impactful for me because of my general interests and how our educational system is so Euro centric that you don't really get exposed to a lot of things from the East and other parts of the world unless you go seek it.

I also recommend music by Sabaton for anyone history nerd. I know that not everyone may like Heavy Metal music, but all of their songs are inspired by different events in history.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: History buffs?

Have you tried filling out the FAFSA to see if you might qualify for Pell grants? It's free to do and doesn't hurt. You could almost certainly get a teaching degree online at a local college while working and might not have to pay anything out of pocket. Just a thought.

[AUChase]

Re: History buffs?

I dabble here and there. I like anything from pseudo period piece shows like Vikings or maybe a Peaky Blinders but also just history and discovery in general. I also find games like Crusader Kings to be pretty interesting. It doesn't have to be ancient history either. I recently read the book 11/22/63 by Stephen King where a guy goes back in time to attempt to foil the Assassination of JFK and it was very good.

My kids are really into the show Expedition Unknown. Josh Gates is a pretty interesting dude and if you're into the Discovery or Nat Geo type discovery shows this one is similar to those.


Most of the time though I like learning about ancient civilization and conflict. There's a YouTube channel called "Kings and Generals" that does a really good job summarizing ancient battles spanning many generations. They also do some funny ones that are based on fiction sometimes too. I think they did some to help people with the history of Game of Thrones / Fire and Blood. Hell they are doing the Ukraine and Russia war now.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kings+and+generals

Here's an example:

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[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: History buffs?

Love it. Ancient Egypt, Rome, Greek. All the native American tribes. Ancient Middle East. About the only thing I like about living in upper New England is all the old Revolutionary War battlefields that are up this way along with the old Forts and Fort remains.

I tell people all the time, before the British and America went to the Middle East, all those countries were kingdoms, it was nothing like it is today. But thanks to interference that led to the removing of kings over there we have now over there what we have. If it wasn't for that interference, all those places would be like the Dubai right now, considering in the 1970s those countries were looking like Paris, London and Las Vegas.