Dan Carlin (born November 14, 1965) is an American podcaster and political commentator. Previously a professional radio host, Carlin hosts three popular independent podcasts: ''Hardcore History'', ''Hardcore History: Addendum'', and ''Common Sense'', for which he received recognitions and awards, including best educational and history podcasts, and ranking among the best podcasts of all time. His first book was published in 2019, and he has been involved in a range of other media appearances and collaborations.

Background

Carlin obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Colorado Boulder. He broke into the television news business in Los Angeles in the late 1980s and covered the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in S ...

. He has worked as a television news reporter, an author, a columnist, and a radio talk show host. No longer broadcasting on terrestrial radio, Carlin has achieved recognition in internet radio, podcasting, and the blogosphere. Carlin is the son of Academy Award nominated actress

Lynn Carlin Mary Lynn Carlin (née Reynolds) is an American former actress. She is best known for her debut role in the film ''Faces'' (1968), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. Life and career She was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of so ...

and film producer Ed Carlin. He lives in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, and was formerly a reporter for KVAL-TV.

Podcasts

''Common Sense''

''Common Sense'' began in 2005, and is similar in scope to several Carlin-hosted radio programs that aired between 1994 and 2004. He has described his political philosophy as "neoprudentist", taking a skeptical approach to evaluation of the current political trends and forces. He fosters discussion by developing and presenting self-deprecating (" Martian") thought experiments on solutions to current problems. The podcasts are said to be broadcast "almost live from the end of runway two here at the Emerald International Airport." ''Common Sense'' was nominated for a Podcast Award in the Politics/News category in 2012 and 2013. The podcast, as of 2016, generated about 700,000 downloads per episode. ''Common Sense'' went through an almost two-year hiatus beginning in May 2018 and ending on April 1, 2020, with episode 319: "A Recipe for Caesar."

''Hardcore History''

''Hardcore History'' is Carlin's forum for exploring topics throughout world history. The focus of each episode varies widely from show to show but they are generally centered on specific historical events and are discussed in a "theater of the mind" style. New episodes are released approximately every four to seven months. ''Hardcore History'', which has millions of downloads per episode, received over 350,000 downloads in a 24-hour period on May 6, 2015. It was nominated in 2012 for a Stitcher Award in the Best Educational & Learning Podcast category. In addition, Carlin has received the Best Classic Podcast in iTunes' Best of 2014 awards, Best Educational Podcast of 2015 from the Podcast Awards, Best History Podcast of 2018 from the

IHeartRadio Podcast Awards The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards is a podcast awards show that celebrates podcasts heard throughout the year across List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia's digital music p ...

, and in a top 25 best podcasts list in anniversary of 10 years of podcasts, Slate Magazine ranked Dan Carlin's 2009 episode ''Ghosts of the Ostfront'', regarding the Eastern Front of World War Two, the fifth best podcast of all time. ''Hardcore History: Addendum'' is an ancillary podcast feed which features "interviews, musings and extra material" that are more short form and deemed not to fit into the main ''Hardcore History'' feed. In addition to interviewing historians, notable guests interviewed on ''Hardcore History: Addendum'' include Elon Musk, Tom Hanks, Malcolm Gladwell and Max Brooks.

Other projects

''The End Is Always Near''

Carlin's first book, ''The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses,'' was released October 29, 2019, by HarperCollins Publishers. The book examines apocalyptic moments from history as a way to frame the challenges of the future.

''War Remains''

In 2019 Carlin developed a virtual reality experience in coordination with MWM Immersive and

Skywalker Sound Skywalker Sound is the sound effects, sound editing, sound design, sound mixing and music recording division of Lucasfilm. Founded in 1975, the company's main facilities are located at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in Lucas Valley, near Nicasio, ...

. The "Immersive Memory" is designed to put the viewer deeply into the experience of trench warfare along the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

of the First World War. War Remains premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and subsequently shown in other venues around the United States. The exhibit is now on display at the National World War 1 Museum and Memorial in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

Political views

Carlin has referred to himself as a constitutionalist, social libertarian, a "radical", "neo-prudentist", "pragmatist", and "political martian". He is outspoken on issues like

state surveillance Mass surveillance is the intricate surveillance of an entire or a substantial fraction of a population in order to monitor that group of citizens. The surveillance is often carried out by local and federal governments or governmental organizatio ...

, foreign intervention, concentrated power, free speech, education reform, the problems of a two-party system, and

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

. Carlin stated he would vote for Joe Biden in the

2020 Presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

, despite not voting for Democrats or Republicans since 1992. He considers Donald Trump dangerous stating that he has authoritarian tendencies.

Other podcast and media appearances

Carlin has made guest appearances on numerous other podcasts, including Roifield Brown's "10 American Presidents Podcast" where he narrated the episode on Richard Nixon,

Daniele Bolelli Daniele Bolelli (born January 11, 1974) is an Italian writer, university professor, martial artist, and podcaster based in Southern California. He is the author of several books on philosophy, and martial arts, including ''On the Warrior's Pat ...

's ''The Drunken Taoist Podcast'', and "History on Fire", making five appearances on ''The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast'', two appearances on ''Smells Like Human Spirit'' and on a "crosscast" podcast on Sam Harris's ‘’Making Sense’’ (formerly ''Waking Up''). In addition, Carlin has served as a panelist on '' CBS This Morning'' and was invited to speak at the TEDx Mt. Hood Conference on May 2, 2015. Carlin appeared on

season 17 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

of Real Time with Bill Maher on October 25, 2019, as part of the panel while promoting his book ''The End Is Always Near''. Carlin’s voice was featured as a podcast host in a 2019 episode of '' The Twilight Zone'' entitled “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet”. Carlin has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss' book '' Tools of Titans''.

References

External links

Official website

War Remains Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlin, Dan 1965 births Living people American podcasters American political commentators American radio personalities University of Colorado Boulder alumni