Épisodes

  • November Mailbag

    November Mailbag
    Nov 12 2025
    folks, we're back with another mailbag answering questions dutifully submitted by our amazing patrons. we do these every month to catch up on things and we're back to hit a broad range of topics including: ninjas, siege weapons, Leon Trotsky(?), dancing plagues, papal gifts, and the Peace of God. enjoy!
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 12 min
  • Duet (feat Dr Eleanor Chan)

    Duet (feat Dr Eleanor Chan)
    Nov 6 2025
    folks, it's time to talk about music. friend of the show, Dr Eleanor Chan, recently released a new book entitled Duet: An Artful History of Music. so we had her on the show to talk about the universal appeal of music, cave music, Hildegard of Bingen, bagpipes, and much more. enjoy and check out Dr. Chan's work at https://eleanorchan.com/
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 5 min
  • Revenant

    Revenant
    Oct 31 2025
    folks, it's spooky season again and we take a look at the revenant, a lesser-known monster today but one that positively terrified Medieval people. we take a look at a number of stories spanning across all of Northern Europe about dead bodies rising from the grave and causing mischief and horror in the physical world. they were so worried about this that they even did so-called deviant burials, where bodies were covered in heavy stones or with bricks shoved in the mouth, to prevent them from coming back as revenant dead. we talk all about these guys, why the stories were so prevalent, how it connects to stories of vampires and zombies, archaeological evidence of deviant burials, and more.
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 25 min
  • The Secret of Secrets Review

    The Secret of Secrets Review
    Oct 22 2025
    folks, we're back after convalescing for a week and it's time to get rage-baited into reviewing a Dan Brown book. the latest entry in Brown's ongoing series about Robert Langdon is called The Secret of Secrets and it's set in Prague, so it's tailor-made to really annoy Dr. Eleanor. we review Brown's most recent bad Umberto Eco ripoff, talk about the Dan Brown mania of early-2000s America, bad history, and much more. enjoy!
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 27 min
  • Imagine Dragons (Bonus Ep Unlocked)

    Imagine Dragons (Bonus Ep Unlocked)
    Oct 17 2025
    folks, it's time to talk about dragons! we love them, we've always loved them, they are the best. we got a question from Ollie Cant about dragons and decided to answer it with a full episode. we talk about the earliest dragons, why humans all across the globe seem to create them in some form, the differences between Eastern and Western dragons, and then name some of our favorite folkloric dragons that you might not have heard that much about. we had a ton of fun with this!
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 42 min
  • October Mailbag

    October Mailbag
    Oct 8 2025
    1 h et 17 min
  • Medieval Assassinations

    Medieval Assassinations
    Oct 1 2025
    folks, we decided to talk about Medieval assassinations, mostly as a way to talk about the Hashashshin, the Order of Assassins, that existed in Syria and Iran from 1090-1275. we talk about some ancient assassinations that had a large impact on the Middle Ages before turning to a number of Medieval cases such as Thomas Beckett, Wenceslaus I, Pope John X, and a bunch of Byzantine guys. then, finally, we turn to the Order of Assassins and discuss their formation, their many targets, that time they killed Conrad of Montferrat for Richard the Lionheart, and then their demise at the hands of the Mongol Empire. enjoy!
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 16 min
  • Rapture

    Rapture
    Sep 24 2025
    folks, we had a whole different episode planned for today but due to a series of extremely annoying technological problems and frustrating audio issues, we decided to switch topics and do a little catharsis. we talk about the new rapture predictions, which are supposed to happen on either September 23 or 24, why it's silly to predict the Second Coming, and why most people who have ever been involved in organized religion understand that while a few decide to try it out anyway. so we get some good laughs in at their expense and talk about how Medieval folk would've thought about this. enjoy!
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 15 min