Working The Trapline — Italian Wild West, Doctor Of Outlander & A Hunting Sword

The Almighty Algorithm threw a sword at me. I’m not much of a sword guy, really. But this un is so redolent of the 18th Century. If a Frontier Partisan is gonna wield a fancy sword, it’s likely going to be one like this — the hunting sword or cuttoe.

 

 

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Alex Dold found herself a pretty cool niche in academia. She’s a specialist in the history of 18th Century Scotland — and did her doctoral work examining the intersection of that history with popular perception through the lens of Outlander. So, of course, she earned the informal title of Doctor of Outlander.

As a historian with specialist knowledge of eighteenth-century Scotland, I bring both academic rigour and storytelling flair to the world of Outlander. My research explores the real history behind the novels and television series—from Jacobite politics and Highland culture to the everyday details of life in the eighteenth century. In my doctoral thesis, I argue that Outlander itself functions as a form of public history, shaping how audiences around the world engage with Scotland’s past. 

She was recently a guest on the most enjoyable After Dark podcast, which explores the intersection of history and folklore — particularly of the macabre kind.

Outlander

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Damien Lewis, popular historian of World War II special operations, scouted up this one, a doco on the exploits of a Maori warrior in the North African campaign:

Sgt. Haane tells the story of L. Sgt. Haane Manahi DCM (Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa), whose extraordinary courage during a 1943 World War II battle at Takrouna, Tunisia, secured a critical victory for the Allies. 

Blending dramatic re‑enactment with the voices of descendants, the film explores legacy, whakapapa and remembrance.

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This looks weird, wild — and fun…

“At the dawn of the 20th century, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show rolls into Italy, peddling the myth of the American frontier and sparking the imagination of Rosa, a young woman trapped in a stifling marriage to a powerful and violent landowner.

“When a rodeo between American cowboys and Italian butteri ends in tragedy, Rosa flees with Santino, the daring local rider who bested the Americans. But in a world where justice is sold to the highest bidder, Buffalo Bill and others join the hunt for the bounty on Santino’s head. Rosa’s dream of freedom quickly collides with the weight of reality — and like in every good Western ballad, fate flips a coin.”