The Professor Liberty Podcast

Ep# 142: Markets, Empire, and the Rise of Piracy

This episode explores how the rise of global trade in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries unintentionally created the conditions for piracy to flourish. As European empires like Spain, England, France, and the Dutch Republic expanded across the Atlantic, they built vast systems of trade connecting sugar plantations, silver mines, colonial ports, and merchant fleets into one emerging global economy. But the ocean could never be fully controlled. Invisible trade routes carried enormous wealth across unpredictable seas, and wherever wealth moved in predictable patterns, opportunity for piracy followed. Mr. Palumbo tries to make the point that piracy was not random chaos, but an economic response to the deeper pressure of demand itself. The same demand that drove empires to build merchant fleets and expand global trade also created incentives for people willing to operate outside the law. As the episode argues, whenever demand becomes large enough, someone will always step forward to meet it—no matter the danger, the violence, or the risk involved.

Ep #141: The Limits of Total War: From Gentlemen's War to War in the 21st Century

In this episode of the Professor Liberty Podcast, we step back from the headlines and trace the evolution of war itself, asking a deeper question: what happens when overwhelming force no longer produces clear victory? From the restrained “gentlemen’s wars” of early modern Europe, where conflicts were limited and civilians largely stood apart, to the industrial-scale destruction of the American Civil War, we follow the steady expansion of conflict beyond battlefields and into the fabric of society. Along the way, we explore how World War I transformed war into a grinding system of attrition, and how World War II pushed total war to its absolute peak, where entire cities became targets and destruction reached unprecedented levels. The result is a world where war is constant but rarely decisive, and where the line between victory and catastrophe becomes increasingly blurred, forcing us to reconsider whether “winning” a war still means what we think it does.

Ep#140: The President and the War Machine

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, unwanted pets and relatives! It’s your favorite obscure social studies teacher, Mr. Palumbo, back with the Professor Liberty Podcast. In this episode, a continuation of the discussion started in Episode 93, “The Citizen and the War Machine,” we zoom in from society at large to the commander-in-chief, exploring how U.S. presidents navigate the pressures of hawkish advisers, the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, and the military-industrial complex. From Woodrow Wilson’s reluctant entry into World War I to Donald Trump’s modern military strikes on Iran, we examine how campaign promises of peace often collide with geopolitical realities, showing how for better or worse, even cautious presidents can be swayed into conflict.

Ep#139: From Iberia to the Great Plains: How Spain Built the Cowboy

In this episode of the Professor Liberty Podcast, we saddle up and ride through history to explore the true origins of the American cowboy. From Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s shout-out at the Munich Security Conference to Spain’s role in bringing horses, ranching, and the vaquero tradition to the New World, to the Comanche’s legendary mastery of the horse that reshaped the Plains, to Black cowboys like Bill Pickett who innovated rodeo culture and bulldogging, we cover it all. We’ll dig into daily life on the trail, food, pay, and the rugged individualism that forged frontier life, while showing how the cowboy is really a tapestry of Spanish, Indigenous, African American, and broader Western European contributions: a living symbol of freedom, skill, and ingenuity that helped define the American ethos.

Ep #138 Boats of Death: Inside WWII's most deadliest Submarines

From hand-cranked wooden death traps to steel predators stalking the depths, this episode of the Professor Liberty Podcast dives deep into the deadliest submarines of World War II and the men who dared to serve aboard them. Mr. Palumbo traces the origins of submarine warfare from the American Revolution to the Atlantic and Pacific battlefields, explains why submarines are still called “boats,” and unpacks the brutal reality of life inside a cramped, airless steel tube where one mistake could mean death for everyone aboard. Along the way, we meet legendary vessels like Germany’s U-48 and U-99 and America’s USS Tang, explore the tactics and commanders that made them so lethal, and confront the human cost behind every ton sunk. It’s a story of innovation, strategy, fear, and endurance—where oceans became chessboards, submarines reshaped global warfare, and courage turned even the smallest boat into a legend.

Ep #137: The End of the American Nation-State: Lessons from the Holy Roman Empire

​​In this episode of the Professor Liberty Podcast, Mr. Palumbo kicks off 2026 by exploring whether the United States may be drifting toward a political structure similar to the Holy Roman Empire, using history as a lens to analyze modern American diversity, federalism, and national identity. After defining the concept of the nation-state, he examines the Holy Roman Empire as a long-running but fragmented political system that governed deep cultural and religious diversity through negotiation rather than centralized authority. Drawing on the ideas of commentator Auron MacIntyre, Palumbo argues that modern liberal democracies often mask elite rule while struggling to maintain cohesion amid expanding bureaucracy, immigration, and ideological fragmentation. He contrasts historical assimilation in the U.S. with contemporary immigration patterns, raises questions about culture, religion, and shared identity as binding forces, and suggests that America may be evolving from a unified nation-state into a looser, negotiated union. The episode ultimately asks whether this transformation represents decline—or simply the cost of holding together a society that no longer shares a single story about who it is.

Ep #136: The Surprising Origins of Christmas Day

In this special Christmas episode of the Professor Liberty Podcast, we explore the history behind December 25th and challenge the claim that Christmas is merely a pagan holiday in disguise. Drawing from biblical accounts, Roman history, early Christian writings, and astronomical evidence, your favorite social studies teacher examines when Jesus was likely born and why December 25th became the traditional date. From the Roman census and the birth of John the Baptist to the Star of Bethlehem and ancient planetary alignments, this episode shows that December 25th was not chosen at random but carries deep theological and historical significance. While the exact date of Jesus’ birth remains uncertain, the evidence reveals a tradition rooted in early Christianity—not pagan imitation.

Ep#135: The Roman Road to Masculinity

With today’s growing conversation about the lost young men of this generation and their gravitation toward controversial online influencers, Mr. Palumbo offers a powerful and timeless alternative. In this episode, “The Roman Road to Masculinity,” Mr. Palumbo takes listeners on a journey back to ancient Rome to rediscover what it truly meant to be a man in a world that demanded courage, discipline, and purpose. Long before the comforts of modern life, Roman men built their identity around seven enduring virtues. For the modern young man who feels lost, untested, or without direction, this episode is your call to action. It’s time to rise above distraction, reclaim discipline and duty, and walk the Roman Road to Masculinity to rediscover your ancestral calling and become the man you were meant to be.

Ep#134: WWI: The War that Shattered Christendom

At the dawn of the twentieth century, Europe believed it was marching toward heaven guided by reason, faith, and progress. Within a decade, that confidence drowned in the trenches of the Somme. In this episode, we trace how the First World War didn’t just end empires; it ended belief itself. We explore how the same industrial power that built modern civilization became the engine of its destruction, how the churches lost their moral compass, and how a generation of thinkers, poets, and soldiers were left asking whether God or meaning itself had died on the battlefield. It’s the story of how a war meant to redeem the world instead left it haunted by silence.

Ep# 133 From Factories to Algorithms: The Future of Human Work

From the steam engines of the Industrial Revolution to the rise of artificial intelligence, every technological leap has forced humanity to redefine work, purpose, and fairness. But this time, the machines aren’t just replacing muscle, they’re replacing minds. As AI begins to write, create, and decide, we’re confronting questions that strike at the heart of identity itself: What happens when work disappears? Who benefits from automation’s wealth? And how do we build a new social contract before inequality and disconnection tear society apart? In this episode, we trace history’s lessons, explore the promises and perils of AI, and ask what it means to be human in an age when intelligence is no longer ours alone.