Episode Summary
Executive Summary: Mike Duncan announces the Revolutions podcast will conclude with the Russian Revolution around summer 2021, coinciding with his book Citizen Lafayette. The Russian Revolution will be covered in two parts (1905 and 1917), with a six-month hiatus starting April 2020 to finish the book. The show has covered ten major revolutions in the European and Atlantic worlds.
Main Topics: Podcast ending schedule (Priority: 5/5): Revolutions will end around summer 2021 with the publication of Citizen Lafayette, mirroring the end of History of Rome to maintain momentum and energy. Russian Revolution as final topic (Priority: 5/5): The Russian Revolution will be the last revolution covered, split into the Revolution of 1905 and the Revolution of 1917. Six-month hiatus for book writing (Priority: 4/5): From April to October 2020, no new episodes will be released while Mike finishes Citizen Lafayette, prioritizing mental health and quality. List of revolutions covered (Priority: 3/5): Ten revolutions were covered: English, American, French, Haitian, Spanish-American Independence, July, 1848, Paris Commune, Mexican, and Russian. Future appendices and projects (Priority: 2/5): Post-podcast, Mike plans to produce appendices for Revolutions (like History of Rome) and implied future podcast projects. Work-life balance concerns (Priority: 4/5): Simultaneously writing the book and producing episodes was causing mental strain, prompting the hiatus decision.
Key Arguments: Ending the podcast while energy still exists is better than indefinite continuation. Covering only 10 revolutions was inevitable; many favorites had to be left out. The six-month hiatus protects podcast quality, book quality, and mental health. Simultaneous work on both projects is unsustainable without risking burnout. The Russian Revolution is the most detailed coverage, longer than the 55-episode French Revolution.
Data Points: Podcast end date: Summer 2021 - Coinciding with Citizen Lafayette publication Hiatus duration: 6 months - From April to October 2020 Number of revolutions covered: 10 - Listed as English, American, French, Haitian, Spanish-American Independence, July, 1848, Paris Commune, Mexican, and Russian Additional episodes for 1905 climax: 12 - Until early April 2020 to finish Revolution of 1905 French Revolution episode count: 55 - Russian Revolution will be longer than this benchmark
Pivotal Quotes: "the Russian Revolution will be our last revolution together" — Mike Duncan: Announcing the final major topic of the podcast "I'm fraying a bit around the edges. So, to protect the quality of revolutions, the quality of the Book and the quality of my mental health" — Mike Duncan: Explaining the reasoning for the hiatus "all good things must come to an end" — Mike Duncan: Closing sentiment about the podcast's conclusion
Implications: Listeners should prepare for a final, in-depth Russian Revolution coverage with a pause mid-year. The podcast's legacy includes a well-defined set of ten revolutions, with potential future appendices. The hiatus signals a prioritization of quality over output, with implications for how creators manage multiple large projects.
About Revolutions
Mike Duncan is taking everything he's learned from 12 seasons of historical revolutions - the repeating arcs, characters, ideas, events, and patterns which all revolutions seem to follow - and created a fictional history of the Martian Revolution of 2247. The series is written from the point of view of a historian working hundreds of years after the Martian Revolution and will be presented in the style and format of previous seasons of Revolutions. It will look, sound, and feel like a Mike Duncan history podcast…but will instead be a fictional narrative of a gripping science-fiction epic. Revolutions is a podcast that covers the great political revolutions that have defined the modern world. Each season is a long-form narrative covering a different defining revolutionary epoch across three hundred years of history. It explores in great detail the people, ideas, and events that challenged and toppled outdated regimes and replaced them with new governments. After more than 350 episodes over ten seasons of narrative nonfiction, the 12th season is a fictional account of the Martian Revolution of 2247. *BREAKING NEWS* In the fall of 2025, the Revolutions podcast will return to its roots by diving into the great revolutions of the 20th century. The new run of episodes begins with the story of Irish Independence, a dramatic upheaval in the wake of WWI that saw Ireland free itself from centuries of English rule. Full of inspiring personalities, tragic events, and thrilling triumphs, Irish Independence is one of the most gripping events in revolutionary history. Future seasons will plunge ahead through the turbulent 20th century, and include the Spanish Civil War, the Cuban Revolution, and the Algerian War of Independence.