Podcast Episodes
Back to Search133. Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile
Season 8 Episode 1
Born in the romantic splendour of Ptolemaic Egypt, not far from the Library of Alexandria, Cleopatra was destined for greatness. She ascended to the …
2 years, 1 month ago
132. Journey to Nalanda and the Library of Jewels
Season 7 Episode 5
In late autumn, 629 AD, Xuanzang set out for the great university of Nalanda from Chang’an. Across the desert, over the Pamirs, and through multiple …
2 years, 1 month ago
131. Buddhism Goes to China
Season 7 Episode 4
Buddhism reached China in the 1st century AD, yet it remained a minor, foreign religion for the next 100 years. It was not until the fall of the Han …
2 years, 1 month ago
130. India meets Rome: Making the Image of the Buddha
Season 7 Episode 3
In the 1st century AD, the nomadic Kushans settled in what is now Afghanistan and established settlements and trade. From here, they moved down over …
2 years, 1 month ago
129. Ashoka: The Great Buddhist Emperor of India
Season 7 Episode 2
Ruling in the 3rd century BC, Ashoka was one of India’s greatest ever rulers. Under his rule, the Mauryan Empire grew into the largest empire India h…
2 years, 1 month ago
128. The Life of the Buddha
Season 7 Episode 1
India was the forgotten heart of the ancient world. For a millennium and a half, from about 250 BC to 1200 AD, India was a confident exporter of its …
2 years, 1 month ago
127. Inventing Curry: The British Taste for India
Season 1 Episode 23
From the beginning of the Raj, British tastes began to turn away from Indian cuisine towards a European palate. The colonial classes sneered at India…
2 years, 2 months ago
126. Punch & Chilli: The East India Company at the Table
Season 1 Episode 22
When the East India Company first arrived on the shores of India, the food they ate in their first factories was not so different from that of Britai…
2 years, 2 months ago
125. The Origin of the Houthis
Season 5 Episode 25
Since November 2023, the Houthis have been attacking international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. They set off from the Yemeni coastline on speedboat…
2 years, 2 months ago
124. Saddam Hussein vs The Ayatollah
Season 5 Episode 24
In September 1980, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces invaded neighbouring Iran and so began the longest conventional war in modern history. After initial…
2 years, 2 months ago