Over five centuries ago, fabled conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon became the first European to place his espadrille on North American soil... yet it would take three more of those centuries the steamy, sunny peninsula he claimed would be host to any permanent European society. Florida was thus the first American state to be explored, yet the last to be settled. Colonial Florida presents a compelling question: what goes on here? The answer involves fisher-kings and filibusters, pirates and planters, Muscogees and Maroons, and many, many eccentric Florida Men. Liam and Russian Sam are joined once again by Jackson (@GraceCthdralPrk) for the first in a series on the Sunshine State — probably the most peripheral of the Lower 48, yet fundamental to American history, from the unsteady beginnings of colonialism to the ravages of Andrew Jackson and eventually the 20th-century triumph of air conditioning, swamp-draining and beachfront real estate. This episode of Gladio Free Europe examines Florida in its long early days as a permanent borderland, a place contested by shifting configurations of European authority who never had more than nominal control over its swampy ground. This unique situation allowed Native American states to have longstanding levels of autonomy, from the Calusa kingdoms of the 16th century to the multiethnic Creek and Seminole confederations of the 19th. Although Florida would experience major political and demographic changes from 1513 to 1821, it would remain the eternal frontier. From Ponce de Leon through Andrew Jackson, no conquistador could fully quash Native resistance, and all colonizers had to afford legal rights and human dignity to the large numbers of free people of color residing in Florida. Though Europeans quickly found there was no fountain of youth and no cities of gold, rumors of exotic riches and fruitful soil continued to inspire generations of swindlers and swashbucklers. Join Gladio Free Europe to see how all of these factors contribute to the myth-making of the Sunshine State, the most desired and most disreputable appendage to America.Ending music is Harden Stuckey's "The River St. Johns" as performed by Jake Xerxes Fussell. The diva in the episode art is the Key Marco Cat, a timeless icon of Calusa craftsmanship.
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E113 Cane Fire and the Colonization of Hawai'i
The Pacific Ocean is not all that separates the 50th state from the American mainland. The Hawaiian islands remain a place apart, with a distinct culture and national identity borne out of the cyclone of colonial exploitation. Liam and Russian Sam are joined by Miguel (@whitejsakai) for Gladio Free Europe's first exploration of the history of Hawai'i, beginning with a look at the award-winning 2020 documentary CANE FIRE.Taking its name from the first Hollywood production shot on the island of Kauai, filmmaker Anthony Banua-Simon uncovers chains of exploitation that link the plantation economy of Hawai'i's past to the real estate and hospitality industries of the present. Accounts of violent labor wars in pre-statehood Hawaii are interwoven with contemporary vinettes of the everyday struggles of Hawaiian workers, and exoticized images used to sell Hawai'i from the 19th century to the present. While Hawai'i represents a tropical idyll for travelers across the globe, soaring costs of living rampant housing speculation have forced thousands of residents, particularly Native Hawaiians, to flee to the mainland. A general history of Hawaiian colonization starts at 28:24, from the ill-advised decisions of Captain James Cook in 1779 to the illegal imposition of Haole (white American) rule more than a century later. In between, Hawaiian monarchs and ali'i aristocrats established a unified nation that was the first non-European polity to be internationally recognized a legal peer by colonial contemporaries and the first country on earth to achieve universal literacy. 19th century Hawaiians had a vibrant press in their native language and made important diplomatic connections with neighboring Polynesian nations also groaning under the colonial threat. While many of these transformations were related to the growing influence of New England missionaries and other Haoles over the islands, Native Hawaiians like the missionary Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia and the "merrie monarch" King Kalākaua were the primary actors in making contact with the world beyond the waves.Like that of all nations, the identity of Hawai'i was carefully constructed by its aristocrats and industrialists during the development of a capitalist economy. Because while so many aspects of pre-colonial religion and culture were suppressed by missionaries and their aristocratic ali'i patrons, that which could be marketed to outsiders was preserved and promoted. Native Hawaiian leaders like Kalākaua and his sister Liliʻuokalani traveled the world to present an image of the Hawaiians as a dignified and civilized people. This was not enough to preserve Hawaiian sovereignty, but it established a romantic image of the islands that has enchanted outsiders for well over a century. Despite the violent overthrow of the islands' last queen, and the systematic disenfranchisement and ongoing of Native Hawaiians, Hawaiian culture, or at least a specific image of it, has found admirers as disparate as Elvis Presley and Chinese Premiere Jiang Zemin. Please see below for a link to a clip of the 2025 Merrie Monarch Festival celebrating traditional Hawaiian ritual hula dance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6qOY7kze7IEpisode Art is the Portrait of Kamehameha III by Robert Dampier (1825).
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E112 Ass Worship
Support us on Patreon---You read that right. 1800 years ago, a Roman youngster etched a taunting cartoon of a classmate raising his hand to salute a figure on a cross. This graffito, labeled "Alexamenos worshipping his god," is remarkable for two reasons: it is the oldest known artistic depiction of Jesus, and it happens to depict the Christian Messiah as a man with the head of a donkey.This artistic choice might seem perplexing, but actually reflects an ancient pagan stereotype. In this Gladio Free Europe solo episode, Liam explores a three-thousand-year-old allegation: that Yahweh, the all-powerful God of Israel, was actually an ignoble ass. Despite being outright false, the idea that Judaism and Christianity had something to do with the worship of donkeys was a strong conviction of many ancient writers, even capable scholars like Tacitus and Posidonius. In fact, this myth goes back incredibly far into ancient history, with roots in Egyptian mythology and the cultural memory of the Hyksos, a Bronze Age dynasty of Levantine origin who appear to have actually included onolatry into their practice.The story of ass worship, as an allegation and a practice, is as nearly as old as the history of civilization, with unexpected connections to Greek mythology, gnosticism, and the beginnings of Mesopotamian Kingship. Listen to this episode of Gladio to see why maybe the dutiful donkey really does deserve some veneration after all!
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