The All-Gay Army: Ancient Greece’s Sacred Band of Thebes: An Interview with James Romm
The Sacred Band of Thebes, comprised entirely of gay male lovers, was Ancient Greece’s original response to the gays in the military questio...
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Dead Ideas: The History of Extinct Thoughts and Practices
We explore ideas and practices once believed to be true but no longer. Each dead idea is explored in all its glorious eccentricity. For example, discover miasma, the theory that plague comes...
Episodes
20 of 120 episodes
Report From Minneapolis: Making Sense of the Riots Over George Floyd’s Death
My city is on fire today. This is day four of the riots in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police. And everyone aroun...
Covid Cabana: Top 5 Ways to Have Fun Despite the Coronavirus
This episode goes out to all of you at home out there during this pandemic, but we want to dedicate it especially to listener Owyn in Toront...
Fascism II: The Silver Legion: A Real American Fascist Movement – American History
Did you know America spawned its very own homegrown fascist movement in the 1930s? Yup. The Silver Legion's William Dudley Pelley was the or...
Fascism I: What Is Fascism, and Is Trump It? – Modern History
TRIGGER WARNING: Politics. Today we explore what characterized early 20th-century fascism, and then ask whether it's fair to call Trump fasc...
Introducing Our New Show: The History of Sex!
It's here! It's finally here! After a full year of development, our new show the History of Sex is here. Cruise on over to The History of Se...
Best of the Best: Pulp Fiction/Da Derga’s Hostel Mashup – Irish History
It's another best of the best for you! This one has it all: romance, plunder, mimes - and it all ends in a bloodbath! This was our first mas...
Best of the Best: Ghost in the Tablet – Gilgamesh/Ghost in the Shell Mashup – Sumerian History
We’re trying something new here on Dead Ideas. We have a sizeable back-catalog of episodes, many of which new listeners may never have heard...
Put That City to the Sword: Julius Caesar Slaughters Avaricum, Feat. Neil Eckart – Roman History
When was the last time you put a city to the sword? It's not something we do much anymore today. But there was a day and age when it was qui...
Gender in Game of Thrones: Its Legacy
What will Game of Thrones be remembered for? I would argue it's not its supposed character realism, nor it's moral ambiguity. Rather, it wil...
What It’s Like to Make a Podcast: An Interview with Sam Hume of Pax Britannica
What's it like to make a podcast? Sam Hume of the new show Pax Britannica talks with me about all the ups and downs of podcasting. Check out...
Doomsday, 1000 AD: How Millenarianism Ushered in the Crusades, Feat. Neil Eckart – European History
The end is nigh! Or so they've been saying since the year 1000 A.D. Today, Neil Eckart of the podcast War and Conquest tells us about millen...
Dan Carlin of Hardcore History: Full Interview for the History of History Podcasting
Last time we delved into the History of History Podcasting, and now we are giving you the full interview with none other than the host of Ha...
The History of History Podcasting, Feat. Dan Carlin, Bob Packett, Lars Brownworth, Cam Reilly, Lara Eakins, Robin Pierson, Roifield Brown, Jordan Harbour, Travis Dow, Glen Gibbs, and Liz Covart
This is it: the first ever attempt at a history of our genre, history podcasting. I've interviewed nearly a dozen podcasters and spoke to do...
Steampunk Rome VI: Rome Industrial – An Interview with Jordan Harbour of Twilight Histories – Roman History
Now that you know ancient Rome fell just shy of an industrial revolution, why not enjoy a world where Rome does industrialize? That's Jordan...
Steampunk Rome V: A Pyrrhic Victory: The Death of Ancient Science – RPG, Pt 3 – Egyptian, Greek, and Roman History
Success is at hand for Andre's character Pyrrho. But it is a Pyrrhic victory, for after that we recount the history of the backward slide of...
Steampunk Rome IV: The Great Library of Alexandria – RPG, Pt 2 – Egyptian, Greek, and Roman History
Arriving at the Great Library of Alexandria, Andre's character Pyrrho of Pergamum searches for the secret plans for the floating statue. But...
Steampunk Rome III: Hellenistic Science, Hell Yeah – RPG, Pt 1 – Greek and Roman History
So Roman tech was pretty surprising, but still more surprising is that all that was developed centuries earlier in the Hellenistic period. W...
Steampunk Rome II: The Industrial Revolution That Didn’t Happen (And Why Not) – Roman History
So why didn't Rome undergo an industrial revolution? Today, we take a look at some of the contributing factors for 18th-century Britain and...
Steampunk Rome I: An Ancient Industrial Revolution (Almost) – Roman History
For our final series, we're doing the steam technology of the ancient world that died and had to be resurrected in 18th-century Europe. How...