"WhatifAlthist" | World History, Philosophy, Culture
WhatifAltHist is a podcast from Rudyard Lynch that looks to try to find the patterns in history and anthropology so as to predict the future and understand the dynamics that result in civilizations rising and falling. It began as an enormously popular alternate history channel with nearly 600K listeners and more than 100M views on YouTube. Rudyard Lynch also hosts the podcast History 102 with Erik Torenberg, which attempts to solidly explain pivotal historical events in depth in under an hour.
Topics covered: World History, Philosophy, Civilization, Culture
WhatifAlthist is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co
In progressive religion, African-Americans occupy a sacred caste status—beyond criticism, requiring constant resource redistribution. Yet this narrative ironically continues black America's core historical theme: dehumanization. Leftists project onto black Americans whatever serves their power needs rather than seeing them authentically. Growing up in majority-black Philadelphia taught me that most progressives from whiter areas fundamentally misunderstand black culture, perpetuating the very dehumanization they claim to oppose.
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LINKS:
Link to my second podcast on world history and interviews: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0NCSdGglnmdWg-qHALhu1w
Link to my Twitter-https://x.com/whatifalthist
Link to my Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/rudyardwlynch/?hl=en
Bibliography:
Bibliography:
Atrocities by Matthew White
Plagues and Peoples by McNeil the Elder
Rise of the West by McNeil the Elder
Mosquito Empires by McNeil the Younger
The Story of the Americas by Leland Dewitt Baldwin
American Nations by Colin Woodard
Albion's Seed by David Hackett Fischer
African Founders by David Hackett Fischer
Roll Jordan Roll by Eugene Genovese
Ethnic America by Thomas Sowell
Conquests and Cultures by Thomas Sowell
Lineages of Modernity by Todd Emmanuel
The Origins of Ideology by Todd Emmanuel
Civilizations by Armesto
A History of Civilizations by Braudel
Bound Away by David Hackett Fischer
Inside Africa by John Gunther
Africa, a History by John Reader
Generations of Captivity by Berlin
Africa in History by Basil Davidson
Who We are and How we got here by David Reich
The Tree of Culture by Ralph Linton
The Unabomber's Manifesto
The Nine Nations of North America by Joel Garreau
Seeing like a State by James Lindsay
the 3D Gospel by Georges
Published Friday
The Rise and Fall of the Bluepill
1
A historic shift occurred in the early 20th century when the West completely suspended any concept of reality or meaning. We adopted a new religion whose core belief was that it WASN'T a religion—agnostic liberalism that declared thousands of years of human struggle for glory and meaning "unnecessary." This tyranny greater than Rome or the Catholic Church dominates every moment of our lives while remaining invisible, creating our current "age of platitudes."
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LINKS:
Link to my second podcast on world history and interviews: / @history102-qg5oj
Link to my Twitter-https://twitter.com/whatifalthist?ref...
Link to my Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/rudyardwlyn...
Bibliography:
The Passion of the Western Mind by Tarnas
A History of Western Philosophy of Bertrand Russell
Mankind the Story of All of Us by the History Channel
Maps of Meaning by Jordan Peterson
The Gateway Protocol by Robert Monroe
Leviathan and Its Enemies by Sam Francis
The Total State by Auron Macintyre
After Liberalism by Paul Gottfried
The Crowd by Gustave le Bon
The Revolt of the Elites by Lasch
Ages of Discord by Peter Turchin
Regime Change by Deneen
The Economics of Discontent by Jean Michel Paul
Warriors and Worriers by Joyce Benneson
Fire in the Minds of Men by Billington
A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell
Published 06/06
Explaining Jewish Civilization
1
After reading 3,000+ pages for this series, I've concluded the Jews represent history's most improbable civilization. Pennsylvania alone has almost as many people as all Jews worldwide (15 million), yet this tiny desert tribe has repeatedly altered world history's trajectory over 4,000 years. They've produced ONE-THIRD of all Nobel Prize winners while comprising less than 1% of global population and birthed three major world religions. Their continued existence and influence completely defies rational historical models—making them perhaps history's most accomplished ethnic group.
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LINKS:
Link to my second podcast on world history and interviews: / @history102-qg5oj
Link to my Twitter-https://twitter.com/whatifalthist?ref...
Link to my Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/rudyardwlyn...
Bibliography:
Paul. Johnson's History of the Jews
A History of the Jewish People by Ben Sasson
Our Oriental Heritage by Will Durant
Caesar and Christ by Will Durant
The Age of Faith by Will Durant
Who We Are and How we Got Here by David Reich
The Passion of the Western Mind by Tarnas
A History of Religious Ideas by Mircea Eliade
The Ordeal of Civility by Cuddihy
The Jewish Evolutionary Strategy by Kevin Macdonald
The Culture of Critique by Kevin Macdonald
The People that Will Dwell Alone by Kevin Macdonal
Pax by Tom Holland
Dominion by Tom Holland
Migrations and Cultures by Thomas Sowell
A History of the Ancient World by Ben Sasson
The Shaping of America by Meinig
American Nations by Colin Woodard
Masks of the Gods by Joseph Camble
Sex and Power in History by Amaury de Riencourt
Lineages of Modernity by Emmanuel ToddT
The Righteous Mind by John haidt
The Evolution of Civilizations by Carroll Quiggley
A History of Egypt by Breasted
1177 BC the Year Civilization Died by Eric Cline
Debt by David Grabber
A Guide to Late Antiquity by Peter Brown
Fire in the Minds of Men by Billington
Cynical Theories by James Lindsay
The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler
The World's Religions by Houston Smith
Blooodlands by Timothy Snyder
Published 05/17
WTF is the Left Even Doing?
1
We're living through a historic inflection point where the left lost the presidency but still dominates virtually every Western institution. Despite their electoral defeat, they control the bureaucracy, UN, Big Tech, media, academia, and even the Catholic Church—while the right has built no alternative power structures. The burning question is what the left will actually DO with this paradoxical position, as their own leadership seems unsure following Trump's victory. Their next moves will inevitably shape our historical trajectory as history is carved into stone before our eyes.
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LINKS:
Link to my second podcast on world history and interviews: / @history102-qg5oj
Link to my Twitter-https://twitter.com/whatifalthist?ref...
Link to my Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/rudyardwlyn...
Bibliography:
The Righteous Mind by Jon Haidt
Ages of Discord by Peter Turchin
End Times by Peter Turchin
The Master and His Emissary by Ian McGhilchrist
The Storm before the Calm by George Friedman
On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis
The True Believer by Eric Hoffer
Woke Racism by John McWhorter
Leviathan and its Enemies by Sam Francis
Regime Change by Patrick Deneen
The Origins of Woke by Richard Hanania
The Unabomber's Manifesto
The Revolt of the Elites by Lasch
The Total State by Auron Macintyre
A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell
Seeing like a State by James Scott
After Liberalism by Paul Gottfried
Japan and the Shackles of the Past by Taggart Murphy
Destined for War by Graham Allison
Envy by Helmut Schoeck
Cynical Theories by James Lindsay
Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck
Forgotten Truth by Houston Smith
The Economics of Discontent by Jean Michel Paul
Published 03/17
The Politics of Dehumanization
1
Reality operates through paradox—simultaneously everything and nothing, connected yet divided. The most revealing truth? People project their own nature onto their enemies. The left accuses the right of exactly what it does itself: institutional control, hatred, and power obsession. Modern civilization's greatest hypocrisy? Proudly championing "human rights" while systematically dehumanizing its population into interchangeable cogs. This isn't a bug—it's industrial society's primary function and underlying purpose.
SPONSORS:
NetSuite:
More than 41,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, the #1 cloud financial system bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR, into ONE proven platform. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine learning: https://netsuite.com/102
Shopify:
Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive
LINKS:
Link to my second podcast on world history and interviews: / @history102-qg5oj
Link to my Twitter-https://twitter.com/whatifalthist?ref...
Link to my Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/rudyardwlyn...
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Bibliography:
The Lonely Crowd by David Riesman
Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzche
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
The Gulag Archipelago by Solzenitsyn
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker
Humanity's Ascent by Charles Eisenstein
The Unabomber's Manifesto
Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung
Das Kapital by Karl Marx
Universe 65 by Calhoun
Sex and Power in History by Amaury de Riencourt
Nihilism by Seraphim Rose
The Passion of the Western Mind by Tarnas
A Secular Age by Charles Taylor
Seeing like a State by James Scott
The Leviathan and Its Enemies by Sam Francis
The Managerial Revolution by James Burnham
The Master and His Emissary by Ian McGhilchrist
Atrocities by Matthew White
The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler
The History of Philosophy by Will Durant
The History of Philosophy by Bertrand Rusell
The Web of Meaning by Jeremy Lent
Envy by Helmut Schoeck
The Happiness Hypothesis by John Haidt