July 2024 - The MrT Podcast Studio

TH2023 Ep14 Napoleon III and Eugenie

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:59 — 64.1MB)

Season 2023 – Talk 14- Napoleon III and Eugenie

In ‘Napoleon III and Eugenie’ Jo Watson tells us about the man who was Emperor of France from 1852 until his defeat by the Prussians in 1870 and his wife Eugenie.

Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk.

Napoleon III:

Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is born in Paris in the early hours of April the 20th, 1808. His father is Louis Bonaparte, the younger brother of the Emperor Napoleon.

The union of his parents isn’t overly successful as they not particularly compatible. They spend long times apart, but produce three sons, all called Napoleon something or other.

Arriving a few weeks earlier than expected he’s rather weak at birth so he’s bathed in wine and wrapped in cotton wool. Was he just a premature child, or as the scandal mongers were later very fond of saying, fathered by someone else?

He involves himself in political intrigue, failed putsches and becomes a feared ladies man. A few years elapse and he heads to London with his extensive inheritance. Louis sets up house in Mayfair with 17 servants and a monogrammed carriage and begins to mix with high society.

He seduces eligible young ladies when their mothers aren’t looking, notches up a couple of engagements and joins country house set. He attends shooting parties, reads voraciously in their libraries and hobnobs with eminent politicians all the time preparing for another shot at power.

In 1853 he marries Eugenie

Empress Eugenie:

26 year old Eugène Montejo, educated partly in Paris, is a regular visitor to the court. She is also one of the most beautiful women in Europe. She also impresses Napoleon with her horsemanship and conversation.

She’s a good Catholic girl and is determined not to be another notch on his bedpost. He definitely tries, but she never relents. ‘What is the way to your heart’, he asks. ‘Through the church, sire’, she replies.

Jo Watson has written a book about Empress Eugenie and you can find more about it here.

Listen to the podcast and hear the whole story from Jo.

About this podcast:

This is an edited recording of a talk given to the Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Group.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher , Vurbl , You Tube and others.

AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use with this talk.

USRJ S3 Ep 30 Walnut Ridge to Alton

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:04 — 17.5MB)

Walnut Ridge to Alton – US Rail Journeys Series 3 Episode 30

‘Walnut Ridge to Alton’ continues our journey through the night and into the morning as we travel through Arkansas, Missouri and enter Illinois.

Please click on a thumbnail to see the photographs that go with this podcast:

Walnut Ridge:

By the time we reach Walnut Ridge we are 2,215 miles into our journey. I am asleep as the time is around 1.40 am.

It is an Italianate/Mediterranean style station dating from 1920. Today it serves as the home to the local Chamber of Commerce tourist centre and the Amtrak passenger stop. In 2019 nearly 2,900 passengers brave the night hour and use the station.

Poplar Bluff:

We cross the Arkansas / Missouri border on our way to Poplar Bluff where the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway railway station dates from 1910. In 1994 the station is added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2003 Union Pacific donates the building to a citizens-led non-profit local committee to Save and Restore the Historic Train Depot. The group raises money to restore both the exterior and interior of the station.

The station hosts nearly 3,750 passengers in 2023.

Arcadia Valley:

First the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway serves the Arcadia Valley with a northbound station in Arcadia and a southbound one in Ironton.

In 1941 the Missouri Pacific construct a new station to consolidate the stations in Arcadia and Ironton. They call the new station Arcadia-Ironton. In 1965 passenger services cease and the Arcadia Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Iron County Historical Society occupy the station.

The current station opens in November 2016 and in 2023 a total of 1,228 night owls use the station.

St. Louis and onwards:

We arrive into the Gateway City of St. Louis and then travel through the morning to Alton in Illinois.

If you enjoy these podcasts please join me in a couple of weeks as we continue our journey on the Texas Eagle through Illinois towards Chicago.

Links:

To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Vurbl , You Tube and others.

TH2023 Ep 13 The History Divide

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:32 — 53.6MB)

Season 2023 – Talk 13- The History Divide

In ‘The History Divide’ Margaret Denyer, Alan Freeland, Andrew Cole, David Simpson and Richard Thomas give their views on the question ‘Whilst the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 ended the Allies war with Germany, did it lead to the outbreak of World War II in 1939?’

The Paris Peace Conference:

David Simpson opens by telling us about the Peace Conference and the key players.

Just four men, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, U. S. President Thomas Woodrow Wilson, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau and Italian Premier Vittorio Orlando, known as the Big Four, control the discussions.

So what are the goals of the Allies? France wants revenge by weakening Germany, Britain wants to punish Germany, but with restraint. The U. S. has the most idealistic position wanting an end to imperialism and the creation of the League of Nations.

There is much conflict and much discussion, before they all agree.

The main 5 provisions:

The five main provisions are to:

Establish the League of Nations.
Reduce German armed forces.
Germany to accept full and sole responsibility for the war, the so called War Guilt Clause.
Germany to pay the Allies a sizeable sum in reparations. This figure will not be known until 1921.
A reduction in German territories and colonies which has far reaching implications well beyond the borders of Europe.

Our speakers discuss the financial implications of the treaty, the issues that the settlement has on many other nations and the League of Nations. At the end we leave it to you to decide whether it led to the Second World War or not.

Listen to the podcast and hear the whole story from our speakers.

About this podcast:

This is an edited recording of a talk given to the Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Group.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher , Vurbl , You Tube and others.

AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use the music in this talk.

USRJ S3 Ep 29 Texarkana to Little Rock

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:31 — 18.8MB)

Texarkana to Little Rock – US Rail Journeys Series 3 Episode 29

‘Texarkana to Little Rock’ continues our journey through the evening and into the night as we leave Texas and travel into Arkansas.

Please click on a thumbnail to see the photographs that go with this podcast:

Texarkana:

We reach Texarkana after 28 hours travelling through Texas.

Texarkana Union Station dates from 1928. It is on the state border between Texas and Arkansas – quite literally! The border bisects the station structure with the eastern part, including the waiting room and ticket office, in Arkansas and the western part in Texas. Stopped trains span both states!

It is the second busiest Amtrak station in Arkansas.

Although it is on the National Register of Historic Places the view from the platform is somewhat depressing. Sadly there is not time for me to see the more impressive facade on the street.

Hope:

The red brick Hope depot dates from 1912. The original operator, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of Missouri Pacific Railway, is commonly known as the “MoPac.”

The station is in the MoPac’s signature Mediterranean Revival style. It was in passenger use until November 1968, before falling into disrepair.

To celebrate the election of Hope native Bill Clinton to the U.S. presidency plans were made to convert the station into a museum focused on Clinton’s life. In 1994 the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, part of Union Pacific Railroad, donates the station to the city in 1994. In 1995, with renovations complete, the facility opens to the public.

Arkadelphia:

They do love fancy names in this part of the world. This station dates from 1917 and in 2023 1,050 passengers use the station.

Next up:

If you enjoy these podcasts please join me in a couple of weeks as we continue our journey on the Texas Eagle through the night and into the morning.

Links:

To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Vurbl , You Tube and others.