{"podcast":{"title":"History Impossible","slug":"history-impossible-947020","podcast_index_feed_id":947020,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/5634566/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/history-impossible","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/a8c668a60b07d3cb3e35a8813764ce86.jpg","author":"Alexander von Sternberg","episode_count":102,"summary":"History Impossible covers some of the less-known, strange, and supposedly impossible events, people, and ideologies throughout history that are all nonetheless true. The settings and time periods range from the Second World War to ancient Japan to medieval Europe, and many more. The show engages with difficult ideas and impossible decisions that were made by human beings like you or me, always to significant effect. It goes out of its way to grant agency to all of its subjects and does its best to present the most nuanced approach one can, all while acknowledging any personal biases that may exist. You will not find a more honest attempt at presenting difficult and controversial historical topics. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support .","last_synced_at":"2026-07-20T18:18:35.593766+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-impossible-947020"},"episode":{"title":"The Riddle of American Identity (w/ David Josef Volodzko)","slug":"the-riddle-of-american-identity-w-david-josef-volodzko","published_at":"2026-07-15T09:00:17+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-impossible-947020/the-riddle-of-american-identity-w-david-josef-volodzko","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-impossible-947020","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-riddle-of-american-identity-w-david-josef-volodzko--72981183","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/https://pdcn.co/e/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72981183/the_riddle_of_american_identity.mp3","summary":"I recently wrote a piece exploring the concept of American identity, primarily through the prism of the immigrant experience, and it got me thinking more about the complexities of American identity, so I wanted to chat with someone who I know has discussed these matters at length. This resulted in a great conversation with the awesome David Josef Volodzko of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and The Radicalist Substack , where we tackled all sorts of angles, including ethnic enclaves, assimilation, patriotism, the collision of values, and the nuances of free speech and freedom of association, all in the context of understanding American identity and the importance of what David calls the constellation of our values. There were some moments of (very mild) disagreement, but I felt like I learned a lot and it helped me defend my own position while considering alternatives that had not previously. Because it is America’s 250th Anniversary Month, I felt like this would serve as an excellent addendum to my Fourth of July reflections, and wanted to share it with all of you amazing subscribers and supporters, completely free. Please check out and support David’s work, and, if you can, support what FIRE does. And please stay tuned very soon for a new episode of History Impossible! Also I will be in Philadelphia at FIRE’s Student Network Conference July 17-19, so if you’re in the area, drop me line here; I may be able to venture out for a meet up. Thanks again, as always, for listening. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support .","meta_description":"I recently wrote a piece exploring the concept of American identity, primarily through the prism of the immigrant experience, and it got me thinking more…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3989,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/history-impossible-947020/episodes/the-riddle-of-american-identity-w-david-josef-volodzko/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-impossible-947020/the-riddle-of-american-identity-w-david-josef-volodzko.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}