検索キーワード： ナレーター "Matthew J Chandler-Smith" すべてのカテゴリー

In the world of philosophy and spirituality, few figures stand as distinctively as Alan Watts. With a charismatic and eloquent demeanor, he effortlessly blended insights from Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and other spiritual traditions with Western thought, challenging conventional perspectives and encouraging a deeper understanding of oneself and the universe.

London was a tinderbox waiting to ignite. An unusually hot and dry summer had drained the city’s water supplies, and without an organized firefighting force, its citizens were left to fend for themselves. The stage was set for catastrophe, and in the early hours of Sunday, September 2, 1666, the spark was struck. A seemingly inconsequential fire ignited in a baker’s shop on Pudding Lane. Unchecked and underestimated, it would grow to become one of the most devastating disasters London had ever faced.

The history of China as a single nation began more than 2,000 years ago, when Qin Shi Huangdi first united a group of warring kingdoms into a single empire. China was then ruled by a series of imperial dynasties until the last one—the Qing Dynasty—fell in 1912. The 275-year period of Qing rule saw China becoming a world superpower, gaining dominance over present-day Korea, Tibet, and Vietnam, as well as becoming the center of global trade.

Margaret Thatcher, famously known as the “Iron Lady” due to her tough-as-nails personality, was not only Britain’s first female prime minister, but one of the most influential political leaders of the 20th century. She commanded the spotlight at a crucial moment in both British and world history. Although she had her problems along the way—dealing with the Cold War, incursions at the Falkland Islands, and attacks by the IRA, at one point almost losing her life in the process—she rose to the occasion.

A great deal has been written about the history of the Native American people of North America and particularly about their experiences, since the arrival of white settlers. However, there is another people whose history mirrors the experience of many Native American tribes, but who have become almost completely forgotten: the Sami, Europe’s only indigenous people.

With his signature guitar that reverberated like a ringing bell, Chuck Berry captured the spirit of teenage rebellion and the joy of the youth culture of the time. His performance style, including his famous duck walk, was as captivating as his music and soon made him a popular figure on stage. His breakout came in the mid-1950s when songs like “Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” and “Johnny B. Goode” took America and the world by storm.

Apartheid, a state-sponsored policy of discrimination and segregation, was introduced and brutally enforced in South Africa for more than 40 years. It led to thousands of deaths, mass arrests, torture of prisoners, and to the suspension of the most basic human rights for the majority of Black South Africans. How did this come to be, and how did a modern state come to enact and enforce a series of laws deliberately designed to ensure poverty and lack of opportunity for the majority of its population?

Patrick Swayze was more than just a beloved Hollywood star—he was a force of nature. Known for his magnetic presence and irresistible charm, Swayze captivated audiences worldwide with roles that showcased his unique blend of ruggedness and grace. But behind the scenes, few knew the true extent of the challenges he faced on his journey to stardom.

The empires of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Greeks, Romans, and Chinese were underpinned by slavery, where one person could be owned by another, and their obedience and labor were forced by the threat of violence or even death. Some of these people were prisoners captured during wars, some were sold into slavery to pay debts, while others were born into slavery. In many ancient empires, slaves accounted for anything from one-third to half of the total population.

Admiral Chester Nimitz stands tall as an absolute giant in military history. The massive Nimitz-class aircraft carriers that still bear his name stand as a testament to that fact. During the Second World War, Nimitz was in charge of a huge chunk of the US Armed Forces in the Pacific theater. It was his job to orchestrate the projection of Allied power across the Pacific in order to take on a resurgent Japanese Empire. He did all these things and more. By war’s end, Nimitz was the highest-ranking member of the US Navy. The Navy, in fact, had to create a whole new rank just to promote him!

“Trouble in the Balkans” was a familiar headline in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, as the European nations living under the rule of the Ottoman Empire simmered with nationalism, unrest, and a covetous yearning for one another’s territory. The Ottoman Empire had seen centuries of dominance, but by the start of the twentieth century, the once-powerful Turks were declining. As reformers within the empire sought routes to power, Ottoman subjects—denied access to the avenues of influence—sensed that the time was ripe for rebelling.

Tina Turner had a powerful voice, but perhaps more importantly, she led a powerful life. Born into challenging circumstances, her early years in rural Tennessee were marked by adversity and struggle. Tina would soon prove that she could rise above it all, even though her path to stardom was far from straightforward. Her tumultuous and often violent relationship with Ike Turner became a highly publicized chapter in her life, yet she refused to be defined solely by her trials and tribulations.

Kosovo is a tiny land-locked nation located in the heart of the Balkan Peninsula in Eastern Europe. Before the 1990s, few people outside the immediate area had ever even heard of Kosovo. Then, in 1998, war began, and Kosovo moved to the center of the international stage.

In this book, we explore the life of Tupac Shakur in full—from his humble beginnings in East Harlem to his meteoric rise to stardom. Tupac lived a life of contradictions. Learn about his years spent in art school acting in plays and writing poetry, his later run-ins with the law, as well as the drive-by shooting that ended his life prematurely. This is the story of Tupac Shakur.

When the establishment of the State of Israel was announced on May 14, 1948, it seemed to many people that the new nation could not survive for long. The haste with which it was created meant that Israel lacked the infrastructure of government, and its armed forces consisted of little more than a handful of lightly armed former guerilla fighters. Ranged against it were some of the most powerful nations in the Arab world, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria.

One of Hitler’s most notorious henchmen, Hermann Göring was the bulldog who obediently followed orders while destroying countless lives. In his early career as the leader of the SA, also known as the Brownshirts or Stormtroopers, Göring played a pivotal role in suppressing any and all opposition to the Nazi Party. He was also implicated in the Reichstag Fire of 1933, an event that resulted in the suspension of civil liberties in Germany and greatly aided in the consolidation of Nazi control.

In the 1950s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) secretly planned, supported, and funded two coups: one in Guatemala and one in Iran. This was the height of the Cold War, and both deposed governments were suspected of leaning to the left and favoring closer ties with the Soviet Union, while the regimes that replaced them were more inclined to look favorably on the United States.

Janis Joplin may have only lived to reach her 27th birthday, but she experienced more in her short life than many of us longer-lived individuals ever will. Growing up in the small town, conservative confines of southern Texas, her native Port Arthur didn’t have a whole lot to offer the artistically inclined. Nevertheless, she was destined to rocket to fame as a musician and cultural icon.

Jacqueline Kennedy, the wife of President John F. Kennedy, is one of the most iconic and beloved First Ladies in American history, lauded for her style and class. But who was the woman behind the image? In this intimate biography, listeners will discover the true Jackie, from her privileged upbringing and education to her marriage to JFK and her life after his assassination.

On the dawn of June 1, 1921, this haven of Black progress came under a brutal and unrelenting attack when several hundred armed White people launched an assault on Greenwood. Among them were members of the Tulsa Police Department, supported by aircraft and even a heavy machine gun. They murdered Greenwood’s inhabitants and systematically looted and burned its buildings. By afternoon, virtually nothing remained of Black Wall Street, and those of its residents who had survived the assault were arrested and confined in makeshift internment camps.