When Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl and Empress Zita embarked on their exile from Austria in 1919, it marked the conclusion of the Habsburg family's rule over Europe after several hundred years. In this episode, historian and author Larry Wolff joins Luke Morgante of the Botstiber Institute to underline the significance of this transition, and how Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss' fictitious opera, Die Frau Ohne Schatten (1919), reflected the sociopolitical changes that were rapidly reshaping Europe.In Wolff's new book, The Shadow of the Empress: Fairy-Tale Opera and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy (Stanford, 2023), he tactfully explains the importance of this period, highlighting the similarities of Hofmannsthal and Strauss's fictional empress with the final Habsburg Empress Zita. An emphasis is placed on the conceptual change of monarchs from political leaders, to figures more closely associated with fairy-tales and cultural symbolism.Larry Wolff is the Julius Silver Professor of European History at New York University, the executive director of the NYU Remarque Institute, and the co-director of NYU Florence at Villa La Pietra. His books include Disunion within the Union: The Uniate Church and the Partitions of Poland (HURI, 2019), Woodrow Wilson and the Reimagining of Eastern Europe (Stanford, 2019), The Idea of Galicia: History and Fantasy in Habsburg Political Culture (Stanford, 2010), and Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment (Stanford, 1994). He is the longtime book review editor for Harvard Ukrainian Studies, and he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
A professor of modern European history and the Habsburg monarchy at the University of Chicago, Tara Zahra joins this episode of The Botstiber Podcast to discuss the concepts of globalism and anti-globalism, as they evolved throughout the early 20th century.Important figures and norm-shattering events of the era helped shape international sentiment in a rapidly globalizing world. Listen in to learn more about them and how they may inform us of similar issues, today.Intro/Outro Song: "Rosen aus dem Süden, Op. 338 (1880)" by Johann Strauss II (Link)
Sigmund Freud has an immense legacy of unraveling the mysteries of the human psyche. While his professional exploits are well-known, the dramatic story of this Jewish-Austrian scientist's escape from Nazi-occupied Vienna has often been overlooked.In this podcast, long-time author and former Newsweek editor and foreign correspondent, Andrew Nagorski, discusses the exhilarating life that Freud led, the equally engaging stories of his diverse group of rescuers, and the deeply human reasons that convinced him to remain in Vienna despite months of Nazi harassment following the Anschluss, in 1938.Intro/Outro Song: "Overture & Act 1 - Don Giovanni (1787)" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Link)
Following WWI, five American journalists carved out their legacies abroad as foreign correspondents. These five, referred to as the "Inner Circle" by Professor Cohen, were paramount to reporting on the dismaying rise of dictators and fascism in the early-mid 20th century.From uncertain interviews with Hitler to friendly letters with Nehru, listen in as Professor Cohen and Luke discuss the experiences that helped the Inner Circle warn fellow Americans of a looming war in Europe, and how their duties as reporters overlapped with their personal lives.Intro/Outro Song: "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise (1922)" by Isham Jones & The Benson Orchestra of Chicago (Link)
In the first episode of The Botstiber Podcast, Luke sits down with Dr. Reill to discuss the crisis city of Fiume, known today as Rijeka, Croatia. Fiume faced immense challenges between 1918-21 after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire left it stateless, leaving room for celebrity poets like Gabriele D'Annunzio to stoke nationalist flames and attempt to benefit from the chaos.Public-Use Intro & Outro Music from the European Archive (Beethoven Coriolan Overture, Op. 62 - Download free sheet music (musopen.org): Overture to Coriolanus, Op. 62 (1807) by Ludwig van Beethoven