24 Auld Lang Century: Toasting to the Real End of the 20th

In Auld Lang Century: Toasting to the Real End of the 20th, historian and storyteller Dr. Liam reflects on a profound question we rarely ask at New Year’s: when did the twentieth century truly end? Beginning with a personal journey through post-reunification Germany and a haunting encounter with stranded Soviet soldiers, this episode draws on historian John Lukacs's insights to challenge the calendar’s authority over history. Moving beyond Cold War binaries, Atchison explores the obsolescence of twentieth-century ideologies, the triumph of nationalism between 1914 and 1989, and the human signs of an era ending not in victory, but in exhaustion. A reflective New Year’s toast to memory, proportion, and historical consciousness, this episode invites listeners to consider what it means to live in the aftermath of a century—and how we might orient ourselves wisely in the time that follows.