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What Came Before

What Came Before

By: Andrew Scott
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What Came Before is a podcast dedicated to detailing the events, people, and periods that have shaped our world.

Andrew Scott
Episodes
  • The Storming of the Bastille
    Sep 17 2025

    July 14th, 1789. In a city simmering with hunger, fear, and revolutionary fervor, the eyes of Paris turn to a single, ominous structure: the Bastille.

    It was the ultimate symbol of royal tyranny, a place where the king could make his enemies disappear without a trial. Its fall would become the single most iconic event of the French Revolution.

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    40 mins
  • The Wars of the Roses
    Sep 16 2025

    For three decades in the 15th century, England was ripped apart by a dynastic civil war known as the Wars of the Roses. The red rose of Lancaster, the ruling house, was pitted against the white rose of York, its ambitious challenger.

    What began as a political struggle over the weak and ineffectual King Henry VI soon exploded into open warfare, launching a cycle of betrayal, revenge, and slaughter. This episode untangles the complex claims and fierce personalities, from the brilliant Edward IV to the notorious Richard III and the formidable "Kingmaker" that defined the conflict.

    Discover how this bloody Cousins' War led to the death of the Plantagenet dynasty and the birth of a new royal house that would change England forever: the Tudors.

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    40 mins
  • The Carrington Event of 1859
    Sep 15 2025

    This episode tells the story of the great solar storm of 1859, from the amateur astronomer who first saw the flare to the global chaos that followed. We then explore how a similar event today could cripple power grids, destroy satellites, and plunge our planet into a prolonged blackout.

    Discover the science behind space weather and the race to protect our civilization from a cosmic knockout punch.

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    29 mins
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