The Good Ol’ Days Were Way Worse - Fin Taylor & Horatio Gould

Fin Taylor is an English comedian, writer and podcaster. Horatio Gould is also an English comedian, writer, and podcaster. History is basically one long reminder that no matter how bad your day is, someone in the past was probably getting catapulted off a castle wall. Feel better? Good. Humanity may be a litany of disasters, but the past is packed with lessons, even some dark humor, if you look closely enough. Expect to learn what makes the Japanese unique and why so many Japanese people practiced Seppuku, why post-war Europe was the funniest time in modern history, whether life was better in the past or just way, way worse than we imagined, why there is a rise of pro-Hitler media across social media, if too much irony is a bad thing, why racism is so ingrained in modern science, if fertility and embryo science has gone too far and much more… - 0:00 What Makes Japanese Culture So Distinct? 9:44 Was Post-War Britain the Funniest Time in History? 18:15 The Unlikely Heroes of Post-War Britain 22:30 Life Has Been Much Worse 27:12 How Would Historical Leaders Cope in Today’s World? 32:10 The Shocking Rise of Pro-Hilter Media 42:01 Were the Aztecs as Brutal as We Think? 46:33 Will Bryan Johnson Actually Live to 120? 53:58 Is Too Much Irony a Bad Thing? 01:07:38 Why Was Racism So Ingrained in Science? 01:21:08 When Does Embryo Selection Go Too Far? 01:31:12 What’s Next for Fin and Horatio? - Get $100 off the best bloodwork analysis in America at https://functionhealth.com/modernwisdom Get Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D, and more from AG1 at https://ag1.info/modernwisdom Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom Get a Free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom - Get access to every episode 10 hours before YouTube by subscribing for free on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn or Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Get my free Reading List of 100 life-changing books here - https://chriswillx.com/books/ Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic here - https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom - Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/

Chris WilliamsonhostFin TaylorguestHoratio GouldguestGuest (Fin Taylor or Horatio Gould)guest

Nov 13, 20251h 32mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Comedians Deconstruct History, Eugenics, Hitler Memes And Modern Madness

Chris Williamson hosts comedians Fin Taylor and Horatio Gould to riff on history, politics, and internet culture through the lens of their show *Fin vs. History*.
They argue that despite current pessimism, the past was generally far worse, using postwar Britain, World War II, Japan, and the Aztecs as darkly comic case studies.
The trio explore how Darwinian ideas fed scientific racism and eugenics, how Hitler has become both moral shorthand and new meme fuel online, and how modern biohacking and embryo selection echo old eugenic impulses.
Threaded through is a critique of online insincerity, the power of British accents and suits to manufacture authority, and a surprisingly earnest discussion of parenting, control, and what it means to live in a hyper-ironic age.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Historical perspective can reduce modern anxiety.

Studying periods like 1970s Britain—blackouts, three-day weeks, economic collapse—shows many current problems are milder versions of past crises, which can make today’s chaos feel less apocalyptic.

Cultural isolation produces distinct, sometimes extreme norms.

Japan’s 300-year semi-closure, honor culture, and syncretic religion helped normalize seppuku and later kamikaze, where individual life was genuinely subordinate to honor and group duty.

Scientific ideas are easily weaponized by ideology.

Darwin’s theory of evolution was taken by thinkers like Francis Galton and extended into racial hierarchies, phrenology, and forced sterilization policies in the US and Germany—illustrating how ‘neutral’ science can justify brutality.

World War II still structures our moral imagination.

Hitler, the Holocaust, and Nazi aesthetics underpin how we define ‘evil,’ design villains in pop culture, and argue online, which is why the rise of ironic and genuine pro‑Hitler content is both predictable and dangerous.

The line between performance and authenticity online is collapsing.

Creators, ‘experts,’ and even politicians often play heightened personas; audiences both know it’s performative and still treat it as real, making irony, grift, and sincere belief hard to disentangle.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

History for me has always been quite a soothing thing. It’s been a lot worse.

— Fin Taylor

Britain is bankrupt and yet not completely destroyed, and we spend all the money the Americans give us on getting a nuclear bomb.

— Horatio Gould

In the 19th century, the smartest people were the most racist. He was a scholar and a racist.

— Horatio Gould

World War II is kind of ASMR for white guys in their 30s.

— Fin Taylor

The whole thing about parenthood is that you don’t choose the card you’re dealt. If you go into it thinking you have control, that’s the worst place to be.

— Fin Taylor

“The good old days” vs. present: why history was usually worseJapanese cultural uniqueness, seppuku, kamikaze, and World War IIPostwar British politics: Attlee, Thatcher, Heath, Wilson and 1970s crisesDarwin, Galton, scientific racism, and the evolution of eugenicsHitler as cultural archetype: memes, revisionism, and World War II aestheticsModern internet culture: irony vs sincerity, grifts, and parasocial authorityBiohacking, embryo selection, parenting, and the ethics of control over children

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