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Ep 20: Dan Carlin - Hardcore History, Building Podcasts, Creativity, and More https://rss.art19.com/episodes/96475272-ad10-4e7c-9e00-3399acc5cbd4.mp3 Download

This podcast is brought to you by The Tim Ferriss Book Club, which features a handful of books that have changed my life. Here’s the list.

Now, on to our guest…

Dan Carlin is the host of my favorite podcast, Hardcore History.

But… what?! History?! I know. I thought the same thing. How could a history podcast have a cult following?

And yet it did. During research for launching The Tim Ferriss Show, I asked many of the top dogs on the iTunes charts: what is your favorite podcast? Almost without exception, the answer came back: Hardcore History.

Since then, I’ve become friends with Dan (and more obsessed with his show), and this episode explores all the questions I’ve been dying to ask him, including:

His early experiments

What has worked and what hasn’t

His habits, rituals, and routines

How podcasting became his full-time job

His “radio” voice and how to find your own

Creativity

And much more…

I hope you enjoy it, and listen to at least one episode of Hardcore History. They’re amazing. I’ve included a few of my favorites below.

You can find the transcript of my interview with Dan here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

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Hardcore History Episodes Mentioned — If In Doubt, Start with Wrath of the Khans

Show Notes and Select Links from Episode 20

How the concept of Hardcore History evolved into a massively successful podcast

The basic ingredients of Hardcore History’s recipe

How Dan keeps his signature tangents out of the “blue room”

Why he will never do an episode on the history of Southeast India

Advice to those searching for their voice

The dramatic effect Dan loves that would be part of every episode, if he could do it all over again

The upside of Dan’s special brand of masochism

Why he likens himself to a street performer on a really busy corner

Who really came up with the idea for Hardcore History

Dan’s definition of “success”

The gateway drugs of Hardcore History

Links

Books Mentioned in This Episode

Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero by James Romm

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The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 500 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.