We're Not So Different

Weird Medieval 5: Chinese Inventions and the Mongols

April 18, 2024 12:47 - 1 hour - 59.7 MB

folks, we're back with more weird, interesting, neat, and wild shit from the Middle Ages. this time, we explore the numerous Medieval inventions of Imperial China such as the compass, gunpowder, printing, and much more. we discuss why Imperial China was able to foster such innovation and why it fell off in the 15th century. then we briefly discuss the fascinating Ming Treasure Voyages of 1405-1433 and the meteoric rise of the Mongol Empire, which went from disunited steppe horse archers to th...

Weird Medieval 4: Sweet Potatoes, Genetics, and Gold

April 10, 2024 11:43 - 1 hour - 65.3 MB

folks, we're back on our weird Medieval shit with part 4 in our series. this time, we focus on the amazing fact that Medieval Norse and Polynesian peoples crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to reach the Americas hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus was even born and how modern science has confirmed these events that were once thought to be outright fabrications. these are truly some of the greatest accomplishments in human history and they happened in the Middle Ages. then,...

Medieval Women's Anatomy Understander (Patreon Ep Unlocked)

April 03, 2024 14:47 - 1 hour - 60.9 MB

as we said on the last episode, there's no new show this week due to travel and timing and all that, so we're unlocking a bonus episode from the Patreon for all listeners. if you're interested, this is the perfect excuse to subscribe at patreon.com/wnsdpod. normally we don't do episodes based on a short series of tweets but sometimes you find a guy who believes that the clitoris was invented by feminists in the 1960's and that no one before that time ever went down on a woman and you just hav...

Weird Medieval 3: Let's Rank Some Little Guys feat. Weird Medieval

March 28, 2024 15:13 - 1 hour - 83 MB

folks, we couldn't do a series on weird Medieval shit without talking about our favorite weird Medieval little guys who show up in marginalia of illuminated manuscripts from the era. and to do so, we brought on Olivia Swarthout, aka at Weird Medieval on twitter, to help us out. we discuss why humans love to think up and draw weird little guys, what it means, and why they're still so fascinating to us today. then, in the last half of the episode, we each do a tier list, ranking 25 weird little...

Weird Medieval 2: Medieval Supernovae

March 22, 2024 18:56 - 1 hour - 70.9 MB

we're back with the second episode of our Weird Medieval series and this time we're talking about space. in recorded history, only eight possible supernovae within the Milky Way have ever been witnessed by direct observation, and three of them occurred during the Middle Ages. we talk about those supernovae, what made them special, and how one was finally confirmed as a supernova just three years ago! then we turn to the Roman Catholic Church and remark on how weird it is that the Church not o...

Weird Medieval 1: Stealing the Secrets of Silk

March 13, 2024 13:00 - 1 hour - 65.1 MB

folks, we've started a new series and this one is all about Weird Medieval shit. the Middle Ages were an incredibly fascinating time and we want to celebrate and emphasize that by looking at the events, people, and things that make you go, "damn that's wild." we're going to cover stuff from all across the entire one-thousand-year Medieval era and on every continent save Antarctica. in this first part, we take a look at the following three events: that time Justinian I sent two monks to China ...

Proto-nationalism: Tradwives feat. Dr. Lauren Hill Griffin

March 08, 2024 14:32 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MB

we finish up our intermittent series on proto-nationalism and nationalism by discussing the modern concept of tradwives, or women who endorse a so-called traditionalist perspective and aesthetic online, either out of pure belief or as a grift. and to do so, we interview Dr. Lauren Hill Griffin, a religious studies, nationalism, technology, and politics professor at Louisiana State University. we discuss whether the tradwife "movement" is authentic or just a cash grab, how it ties into broader...

Patron Mailbag Time

February 28, 2024 15:31 - 1 hour - 63.5 MB

we have had a lot of great interviews lately and that means we haven't had much time to answer the backlog of patron questions we have, so we decided to do a mailbag. we answer questions ranging from Robin Hood's death to Silk Road safety to experimental archaeology to a counterfactual about capitalism and the Reformation and much more. enjoy!

Medieval Enshittification feat Cory Doctorow

February 21, 2024 13:55 - 1 hour - 58.9 MB

folks, things are getting worse everywhere but especially on the internet and so we decided to go to an expert to discuss how modern things are getting shittier all the time: author, blogger, and creator of the neologism "enshittification" joins the show to talk about why the modern world seems to be getting worse with every passing day, whether people in the Middle Ages felt the same way about their situation, whether this is like the Fall of the Roman Empire, and bad French translations. ch...

German Peasants War feat November from Trashfuture

February 15, 2024 12:51 - 1 hour - 60.4 MB

this time, Luke and Eleanor welcome special guest November, co-host of the Trashfuture, Well There's Your Problem, and Kill James Bond podcasts to the show to talk about the German Peasants War, which turns 500 this year. we talk about the attempted radical Reformation, the magisterial reaction, Martin Luther's horrified response, and why the lords and nobles can partake in extreme forms of violence and war crimes while their peasant underlings are forbidden from doing so. check it out

Nationalism and Nostalgia feat Dr Rachel Moss

February 08, 2024 15:04 - 1 hour - 64.3 MB

this week, we're continuing our series on proto-nationalism and nationalism by talking to Dr. Rachel Moss about the ways nostalgia is used for evil and, specifically, how false nostalgia for a Middle Ages that didn't exist fuels modern nationalism. we talk about how rose-tinted glasses are used to paint a false picture of the Medieval era, how the same feelings of both good and bad nostalgia similarly affected Medieval people, and modern reactionaries who are really just looking for a new lie...

Christian Nationalism Then and Now feat Bradley Onishi

January 31, 2024 17:41 - 1 hour - 62.4 MB

This week, we welcome Dr. Bradley Onishi, co-host of the Straight White American Jesus podcast, onto the show as part of our series on proto-nationalism in the Middle Ages. As we promised earlier this month, we had some guests lined up to discuss other aspects of proto-nationalism and nationalism with us and this is the first of those interviews. Brad joins us to discuss the problem of Christian nationalism, which is on the rise in the world right now but has its roots in the Middle Ages. We ...

Medieval Women: Theodora & Theodelinda

January 24, 2024 15:31 - 1 hour - 72 MB

this time, we return to our occasional series on Medieval women, where we look at the lives and times of ladies who were able to rise to positions of power and esteem despite the extremely patriarchal nature of the Middle Ages. we have previously done these for the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene and for Hildegard of Bingen and Eleanor of Aquitaine. but now we turn to the Mediterranean and the Early Middle Ages to find our two remarkable women: Byzantine Empress Theodora and Lombardi Queen The...

Proto-nationalism: Borders and Rulers

January 18, 2024 15:19 - 1 hour - 63.9 MB

150th episode wooooo! this time, we continue our miniseries on what we're calling Proto-nationalism in the Middle Ages by talking about two very big materialist reasons why they couldn't really have nationalism back then: malleable borders and dynastic rulership. Medieval borders were porous, light-enforced at best, and changed overnight based on the confusing, overlapping rights that various rulers had over a plot of land. rulership, meanwhile, was personalized and heavily influenced by dyna...

Nationalism in the Middle Ages?

January 11, 2024 15:42 - 1 hour - 72.1 MB

nationalism is, unfortunately, once again on the rise in the modern day and while you might think that it has very little to do with the Middle Ages, you'd be wrong. because while the nationalism we see today didn't exist in the same form back then, the roots of it began to take hold even back then in the form of religious discrimination and of othering people who look or act differently. further, the nationalism that we experience today popped up in the 19th century and its loudest proponent...

Ep 148 - 2023 Year in Review

January 04, 2024 14:28 - 1 hour - 55.3 MB

it's our first episode of the new year but we're just not ready to move on quite yet, so we're taking a look back at 2023 and then taking a little peak ahead into 2024. we talk about Medieval news and studies from last year, review a little of what happened on the podcast, and talk about some of our favorite movies, TV shows, books, etc. then, we set our sights on the year ahead and close our with some predictions for 2024 and even our New Year's resolutions. enjoy!

Dante's Inferno 1: Abandon All Hope (Patreon Ep Unlocked!)

December 27, 2023 14:34 - 1 hour - 59.3 MB

hello listeners! what you're about to hear is one of our patron-exclusive bonus episodes from March 2023, the first of our seven part book club series on Dante's Inferno. in it, we introduce Dante Alighieri's masterwork, The Inferno, by discussing the author's life, the background of Medieval Italian city-states, the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict, and more meta details about the book. we talk about The Inferno's importance, both as a work of fiction and as a surviving Medieval text, Dante's geni...

Open Mailbag Fun

December 20, 2023 15:27 - 1 hour - 76 MB

folks, it's the holidays and so we decided to post some prompts on twitter and bluesky and answer some questions about history, life, and culture from the general audience. we cover everything from Chinese feudalism to the Panera lemonade that kills you to counterfactuals on how imperial Italy could've become a world superpower and whether there was a Medieval concept of coolness analogous to what we have today. check it out, it's a ton of fun and we hope you'll like it. finally, we'd like t...

Medieval Dad-coded feat Patrick Wyman

December 13, 2023 15:03 - 1 hour - 61 MB

folks, we've got podcaster, historian, dad-aficionado, and friend of the show Patrick Wyman back on the show to talk about dad culture, what it means to be a dad as opposed to just a father, Medieval dads, dad-coded behavior, and much more. this is Patrick's 3rd appearance on the show and we love to have him on. you can check out his podcasts, the Fall of Rome, Tides of History, and the Pursuit of Dadliness, wherever you get your podcasts.

Another Patron Mailbag

December 06, 2023 15:14 - 1 hour - 63.3 MB

this time, we take a dive into the backlog of questions from our patrons and answer a few of them. we tackle everything from how to explain the Middle Ages to a 5 year old, to how bad was Henry VIII really to Eleanor Rykener and even who was the worst person in the Middle Ages. we cover 11 questions in total and it's a lot of fun, enjoy!

Princes in the Tower News

November 30, 2023 15:45 - 1 hour - 63.7 MB

as you may have heard, the Princes in the Tower are in the news again, 540 years after their supposed deaths. recently, Philippa Langley, who famously help find Richard III's body in a parking lot back in 2012, hosted a television special in the UK which alleged a new theory about the Princes in the Tower: they survived and later returned to the island in attempts to take back the throne. as you may recall from our series on the Wars of the Roses, the historical consensus is that the young Pr...

The Last Duel Review

November 22, 2023 12:47 - 1 hour - 87.1 MB

folks, we're finally doing a review of Ridley Scott's 2021 Medieval history film, The Last Duel, a film that asks the question: what if Ridley Scott just didn't do all the stuff he's known for and instead made an intimate portrait of a Medieval soap opera in the style of Rashomon that revolves around both an obscure land dispute based on manorial custom and a lengthy legal proceeding. it is a surprisingly well done film based on the director and subject matter and we're glad you get to experi...

Tudor Depictions feat. Phoebe Roy

November 15, 2023 15:04 - 1 hour - 63.8 MB

folks, in this episode we brought in a special guest and friend of the show, Phoebe Roy, co-host of the Ten Thousand Posts and Masters of Our Domain podcasts, to talk with us about depictions of Tudor England in books and TV. the Tudors are, of course, a foundational aspect of English history and culture, so it's interesting to see the many and varied depictions they get nowadays, especially when those depictions are made for American audiences or others who might not be so familiar with the ...

Arthuriana 6: The Death of the King

November 08, 2023 14:37 - 1 hour - 78.6 MB

Long cold open this time, actual episode starts around 18 mins in. Luke and Eleanor close our their series on the Medieval Arthurian canon in style, covering the rest of the post-Galfridian era to the end of the Middle Ages. finally, at long last, we get the real connective tissue in place to link all these disparate stories and narratives together into a cohesive canon that can be understood to modern people. it's no longer just one-off stories about Arthur or his buddies but an interlaced ...

Arthuriana 5: Knights and Round Tables

November 02, 2023 14:08 - 1 hour - 82.6 MB

this time, the series on Arthuriana continues into the post-Galfridian era. following Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, which created the narrative structure and foundation of the Arthurian canon we know today, a whole bunch of writers got in on the fun and started adding to that template. in this case, we focus on 7 stories that begin to flesh out the knights who make up Arthur's round table such as Lancelot, Gawain, Yvain, Percival, Kay, and Erec. these 7 stories include 4 F...

Arthuriana 4: Historia Regum Britanniae

October 25, 2023 13:53 - 1 hour - 63.4 MB

update: the last 3 minutes of this episode got cut off in the initial upload for unknown reasons, the file has now been fixed. sorry about that and enjoy! in our 4th installment in the Arthuriana series, we finally get to the work that truly defines Medieval Arthurian legend: Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 magnum opus, Historia Regum Britanniae aka The History of the Kings of Britain aka the Galfridian era of Arthur. we talk about the work itself, how it changes everything we know about Arthur,...

Arthuriana 3: Pre-Galfridian Stories

October 19, 2023 14:33 - 1 hour - 68.5 MB

our series on Arthuriana continues as we move past introductions and start talking about the stories that make up the early part of the Arthurian canon, known as the pre-Galfridian (aka before Geoffrey of Monmouth). these stories survive to us in Welsh and Latin from roughly 600 to 1135 AD and show how the Arthurian legend was being built using other existing tall tales to flesh out the narrative and was then contextualized alongside real, historical events to give it a veneer of legitimacy. ...

Arthuriana 2: The Once and Future King

October 11, 2023 14:10 - 1 hour - 77.8 MB

we're back with more talk of Arthurian legend. this time, we continue to trace the canon into the Modern era, from its nadir in the Early Modern period to its resurrection in the 19th century by Lord Alfred Tennyson and finally to taking its place as a foundational myth in the English-speaking world. then, we introduce a host of recurring characters, settings, and tropes that commonly appear both in the Medieval canon and in the modern adaptations we see today. check it out!

Arthuriana 1: Building a Medieval Canon

October 05, 2023 11:47 - 1 hour - 70.2 MB

folks, we're finally doing that series on King Arthur and the Arthurian Legends you've all been asking for. Luke and Eleanor start the series by talking about Arthur and the legends more broadly before discussing how a bunch of people in the Middle Ages built a cohesive, narrative canon with defined literary cycles out of a bunch of Welsh spoken-word stories without the aid of the internet or any of the modern conveniences that normally go into modern universe building. check it out!

How Often do You Think About the Roman Empire?

September 27, 2023 14:52 - 1 hour - 73.8 MB

Luke and Eleanor are back to talk about the meme that's been making the rounds for the past few weeks: How often do you think about the Roman Empire? we discuss how often we actually think about Rome and its successor states before moving on to talk about why this meme became so popular, why guys actually think about the Romans so often, why is this question so weirdly gendered, and more! we had a lot of fun with it and we know you will too. enjoy!

Fabliau feat Kleio Pethainou

September 20, 2023 13:11 - 1 hour - 58.2 MB

today, we have on Kleio Pethainou, a doctoral candidate at the Univ. of Edinburgh, to talk about Medieval humor and the lesser-known but still awesome tradition of Fabliau. Fabliau are bawdy, humorous stories, often filled with some level of social commentary, that started out in France in the High and Late Middle Ages. we talk with Kleio about what they were, what they mean, and even hear a great example of one of these ribald tales. check it out! you can check out all of Kleio's work here:...

Medieval Failsons: The Idiot Boys of Eleanor of Aquitaine

September 13, 2023 14:15 - 1 hour - 61.7 MB

last time, we talked about two famous Medieval women, Hildegard of Bingen and Eleanor of Aquitaine. they were both titans in their own respects but there's a small issue with Eleanor's legacy and that's her 4 idiot failsons. while Eleanor's daughters were apparently quite proficient, her 4 sons who survived to adulthood, Henry the Young King, Richard, Geoffrey, and John, were all giants morons who failed spectacularly at being or attempting to be Kings of England. so join us as we look at the...

Medieval Women: Hildegard of Bingen & Eleanor of Aquitaine

September 06, 2023 13:36 - 1 hour - 68.6 MB

in this one, we revisit our occasional series on the lives of prominent Medieval women as we discuss Hildegard of Bingen and Eleanor of Aquitaine. though they made their impacts felt in different ways, they were each monumentally important. Hildegard was a polymath who made her mark in the realms of religion, music, and science. Eleanor, meanwhile, was raised from birth to be in politics, ruled realms, served as a diplomat, and heavily influenced the later cultural milieu. enjoy!

Medieval What If 2: Wrong Kid Died

September 01, 2023 23:53 - 1 hour - 69.8 MB

we're back for another episode off Medieval what if scenarios. it's late, we all know it's late, it's fine. What if the Norman Invasion failed? What if Constantinople held out in 1453? What if Arthur Tudor, Henry VIII's older brother, hadn't died early? well, there's only one way to find out...

Medieval What If...

August 23, 2023 13:42 - 1 hour - 59.3 MB

folks, today we move out of the realm of actual history and into the realm of alternative history as we take a look at some Medieval "what if..." scenarios. We go through a series of historical events, change one small detail, and see how things would've been different, if at all. What if the Moors won the Battle of Tours? What if the English won the Hundred Years War? What if the Chinese never dismantled their Treasure Fleet and instead "discovered" the Americas 40 years before the Europeans...

Medieval Fail Sons: Wenceslas IV & Sigismund

August 16, 2023 13:39 - 1 hour - 67.8 MB

this time, we embark on another occasional series we're going to do from time-to-time going forward and this one is all about Medieval fail sons who squandered the fortunes, power, and goodwill engendered by their parents and were just general fuck-ups. Today, we're talking about the two fail sons of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV: Wenceslas IV, King of Germany and Bohemia and Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor. we look at the legacy their dad created and how they just fucked everything up in spect...

Courtly Entertainers

August 11, 2023 14:00 - 1 hour - 67.2 MB

in this episode, we discuss the entertainment that you would see at a Medieval court: troubadours, dancers, jugglers, and, of course, jesters. we take a look at these professions, what their performances were like, how and why they were hired, and more. then we talk about the unique position held by medieval jesters and how it was a real thing and not just something fake you'd see in a fantasy novel. enjoy!

Markets and Market Towns

August 02, 2023 13:34 - 1 hour - 56.6 MB

we're back to talk about a huge facet of Medieval life: going to the market. what were they like? what was a market town? what could you buy there? who went to market? how were they run? were Medieval goth kids hanging out at the market like they do at the mall? we will discuss all of that plus the social and cultural functions that markets allowed for and more.

Medieval Women: The Two Mary's

July 26, 2023 13:40 - 1 hour - 63.4 MB

in this episode, we start an intermittently recurring series where we explore the lives and times of two famous Medieval women. and while these will usually be about women who lived and rose to prominence during the Middle Ages, we kinda had to start with two women from an earlier era who were nonetheless extremely important: Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. we talk about who they were, what made them famous, how Medieval people understood them, and the confusion associated with ...

Medieval Mining

July 19, 2023 13:46 - 1 hour - 67.3 MB

we are back and we're talking Medieval mining. we often discuss the elaborate jewels and metals used for ostentatious royal displays and the iron weapons shaped by blacksmiths for war but how does all that metal get out of the ground? who's doing the work to dig it out? what mining technology and methods were present during the Middle Ages? what does the Roman Empire have to do with all this? we will discuss all that plus look at some of the big centers of Medieval mining across Europe, North...

Ye Olde Patron Mailbag

July 12, 2023 13:29 - 1 hour - 62.6 MB

it's time for another mailbag episode from our backlog of questions from our patrons. since we usually answer one question an episode, we can't possibly get to all the questions, so we do these mailbags from time-to-time. in this one, we cover a wide range of topics from the Brother Cadfael mystery series to church debate structure to Medieval Switzerland to hair removal practices and even pirates. check it out!

Petro States for Wool

July 06, 2023 13:29 - 1 hour - 65.8 MB

we are back and this time we're doing a deep dive into Medieval wool production and how it undergirded the economies of much of Europe and turned places like England, Flanders, and the cities of the Hanseatic League into petro states for wool. we look at how it was produced, what it meant, why something so simple could come to predominate the continental economy and more!

Wars of the Roses 5: One Rose to Rule Them All

June 28, 2023 11:27 - 1 hour - 78.6 MB

So we finally come to the end of our series on the Wars of the Roses and technically the Hundred Years War too. We conclude both by discussing the Treaty of Picquigny, which ended the Hundred Years Wars after 138 years, then we move onto the death of Edward IV, the villainy of Richard III, Henry Tudor, Bosworth Field, and finally, the red and white Tudor rose to rule them all

Wars of the Roses 4: The Yorkists Reign

June 24, 2023 13:18 - 1 hour - 77.4 MB

better late than never, huh? we're back with part 4 of our series on The Wars of the Roses and this time it's the Yorkists turn to take full control and dash all their external enemies: Warwick the Kingmaker is killed, the Lancastrian royal line is extinguished, and they even broker a treaty with France to formally end the Hundred Years War. now if Edward could just get along with his brothers... oh and sorry about the audio

Wars of the Roses 3 - Royal Hot Potato

June 14, 2023 13:29 - 1 hour - 80.9 MB

we're back with more wars and more roses. this time, the Yorkists finally take control of the conflict, depose the old king, and assume full regal power over the realm. they win some battles, the old king gets passed around like a royal hot potato, and Edward York finally makes good on his dad's play for the throne. of course, the Yorkists squander it due to petty infighting, broken marriage pacts, and power politics, but it's fun while it lasts, right?

Wars of the Roses 2: Loveday

June 07, 2023 14:10 - 1 hour - 63.8 MB

we're back continuing the series on the Wars of the Roses and this time we take a look at the early years. we've got the seesaw battle between Lancastrians and Yorkists, the last flourishes of English chivalry, King Henry VI is captured repeatedly, two battles that last less than thirty minutes each, and we get everyone's favorite pitiful attempt to reinforce the status quo: Loveday. check it out!

Wars of the Roses 1: Bloodlines

June 01, 2023 13:55 - 1 hour - 65.1 MB

we pick up right where we left off in our Hundred Years War series as we introduce the Wars of the Roses, the dynastic conflict that paved the way for England to become the globe-bestriding colossus we know and hate. we talk all about the Plantagenets, the Lancastrians, the Yorkists, and even a couple of Tudors. it's a lot of convoluted back stories and weird family trees but we have a lot of fun with it, so check it out!

Hundred Years War 6: Revenge of the French

May 24, 2023 15:53 - 1 hour - 75.1 MB

we're back with the final episode of our series on the Hundred Years War. we talk about the English dominance in the early stages of the Lancastrian period, including the crushing victory at Agincourt and taking over huge swaths of French territory, even Paris itself. but then we see the emergence of Joan of Arc and one of the most unlikely events in history: a teenage peasant girl helps lead the French army to martial victories and gets a new French king crowned. despite her early, horrible ...

Hundred Years War 5: A Not-So-Quiet Peace

May 18, 2023 13:34 - 1 hour - 60.1 MB

we're back and the Hundred Years War continues on, kinda. following the Truce at Leulinghem, there is a 26-year-long peace between England and France though it wasn't because their differences had been resolved, they just couldn't continue fighting each other at the time due to domestic troubles. in England, Richard II's incompetence and John of Gaunt's death lead to a coup that put Henry Bollingbroke and the Lancastrians on the throne. meanwhile, France has a mad king who can't broker peace ...

Hundred Years War 4: French Revanchism

May 10, 2023 13:32 - 1 hour - 56.1 MB

we're back! well, the English had their fun and won some big victories and even took a ton of French land in the Treaty of Bretigny but then everything went pear-shaped for the English. they backed the wrong sides in proxy wars, pissed off the French nobles who sided with them, and lost a series of battles when the war resumed. Then both Edwards died and the hits just kept on coming.

We're Not So Different

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