The Industrial Revolution: The Moment the Modern World Began — Fexingo History cover art

The Industrial Revolution: The Moment the Modern World Began — Fexingo History

The Industrial Revolution: The Moment the Modern World Began — Fexingo History

By: Fexingo
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Lucas and Luna trace the wrenching, world-altering transformation that began around 1760 in Britain and redrew every line of human existence. This series moves from the clattering textile mills of Manchester to the sooty skies of Pittsburgh, from the coal seams of Wales to the ironworks of Germany’s Ruhr Valley. They examine the lives of inventors like James Watt, Richard Arkwright, and Henry Cort; the dark underside of child labor, urban squalor, and the Luddite uprisings; and the economic theories of Adam Smith and Karl Marx that crystallized in this crucible. They explore the spread across Europe, into the United States, and then to Japan’s Meiji Restoration and Russia’s belated industrialization. The show confronts the environmental debt—the carbon emissions whose consequences we still pay—and the geopolitical shifts that made Europe dominant for a century. It asks: Did the steam engine liberate or enslave? Was the factory system progress or plunder? And how does the Industrial Revolution echo in today’s automation, gig economy, and climate crisis? With a global lens and a commitment to human stories, Lucas and Luna offer a narrative that is both epic and intimate, connecting the first spinning jenny to the smartphone in your pocket. #IndustrialRevolution #JamesWatt #SteamEngine #FactorySystem #Luddites #Manchester #CoalMining #AdamSmith #KarlMarx #MeijiRestoration #TextileMills #ChildLabor #Urbanization #RuhrValley #Pittsburgh #WorldHistory #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo© 2026 Fexingo. All rights reserved. Hourly Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • The War on Coal: The 1842 Mines Act and Britain's Child Miners

    The War on Coal: The 1842 Mines Act and Britain's Child Miners
    Jul 4 2026
    In 1842, a Royal Commission shocked Britain with evidence of children as young as four working underground in coal mines. This episode follows Lord Shaftesbury's campaign to ban women and girls from mines, and limit boys' work. We explore the brutal conditions — trappers, hurriers, and the dangers of firedamp — and the political battle that led to the Mines and Collieries Act. Discover how this landmark law reshaped child labour in industrial Britain. #MinesAct1842 #LordShaftesbury #ChildLabour #CoalMines #IndustrialRevolution #VictorianEra #SocialReform #Firedamp #Trappers #Hurriers #RoyalCommission #Ashley #Britain #History #FexingoHistory #19thCentury #Parliament #Reform Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    5 mins
  • The Corn Laws: Bread, Politics, and the Hungry 1840s

    The Corn Laws: Bread, Politics, and the Hungry 1840s
    Jul 3 2026
    In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the bitter battle over the Corn Laws, the protectionist tariffs on imported grain that kept bread expensive in Britain for decades. They follow the story from the original 1815 Corn Law — passed by a Parliament of landowners — to the Anti-Corn Law League's mass movement in Manchester, led by Richard Cobden and John Bright. They explore how the Irish Potato Famine (1845–1852) forced Prime Minister Robert Peel to split his Tory party and repeal the laws in 1846, a watershed moment that shifted Britain toward free trade. Along the way, they touch on the Duke of Wellington's changing stance, the role of the Chartist movement, and the philosophical clash between the landed aristocracy and the rising industrial middle class. This episode connects the dots between the price of a loaf of bread, the political power of the gentry, and the human cost of hunger in the hungry 1840s. #CornLaws #AntiCornLawLeague #RichardCobden #JohnBright #RobertPeel #IrishPotatoFamine #FreeTrade #Protectionism #VictorianBritain #HungryForties #Chartism #DukeOfWellington #Manchester #IndustrialRevolution #PoliticalHistory #BreadPrices #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 mins
  • The Iron Bridge: How Cast Iron Forged the Industrial Age

    The Iron Bridge: How Cast Iron Forged the Industrial Age
    Jul 3 2026
    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the story of the Iron Bridge, the world's first major structure made of cast iron, built across the River Severn in Coalbrookdale in 1779. They discuss how Abraham Darby I pioneered coke-smelting iron in 1709, transforming the iron industry. The episode dives into the engineering challenges of constructing a 100-foot single-span bridge entirely from iron, the role of Abraham Darby III and architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, and the bridge's opening that symbolized the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Lucas explains the significance of the Severn Gorge, a landscape teeming with coal, iron ore, and limestone, and how the Darbys' innovations at Coalbrookdale led to cheaper, stronger iron for railways, machines, and buildings. The conversation also touches on the bridge's restoration, its UNESCO World Heritage status, and its legacy as a global icon of industry. Listeners will come away understanding how one bridge in rural Shropshire changed the world. #IronBridge #Coalbrookdale #AbrahamDarby #CastIron #IndustrialRevolution #SevernGorge #ThomasFarnollsPritchard #AbrahamDarbyIII #UNESCOWorldHeritage #CoalbrookdaleCompany #CokeSmelting #Shropshire #Ironmaking #18thCentury #Engineering #Industry #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 mins
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