Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchAshurbanipal: The Scholarly Butcher of the Assyrian Empire
Episode 7400
Ashurbanipal was the last great king of Assyria, a ruler who built the ancient world's largest library while flaying his enemies alive and stacking t…
2 days, 1 hour ago
Crassus: The Billionaire Who Tried to Buy Rome
Episode 7393
Marcus Licinius Crassus was the richest man in Roman history. He built his fortune through slave labor, real estate speculation, and fire brigades th…
2 days, 1 hour ago
Sophocles: The Scandalous General and Greatest Playwright of Athens
Episode 7388
Sophocles wrote over 120 plays, won more dramatic competitions than any other tragedian, and served as an Athenian general and treasurer. He was also…
2 days, 1 hour ago
Aristophanes: The Comedian Who Helped Kill Socrates
Episode 7396
Aristophanes was the greatest comic playwright of ancient Athens, and his mockery of Socrates in The Clouds may have contributed to the philosopher's…
2 days, 1 hour ago
Theodora: The Actress Who Ruled the Byzantine Empire
Episode 7391
Theodora rose from the stage and the streets of Constantinople to become empress of the Byzantine Empire. She co-ruled with Justinian, saved his thro…
2 days, 1 hour ago
Themistocles: The Man Who Saved Athens Then Defected to Persia
Episode 7403
Themistocles persuaded Athens to build the fleet that destroyed the Persian navy at Salamis in 480 BCE, the most consequential naval battle in Wester…
2 days, 1 hour ago
Marcus Brutus: The Brutal Reality Behind the Noble Assassin
Episode 7395
Marcus Brutus killed Julius Caesar in the name of the Republic, and Shakespeare turned him into the noblest Roman of them all. The real Brutus was a …
2 days, 1 hour ago
Shivaji: Tiger Claws and the Founding of the Maratha Empire
Episode 7404
Shivaji Bhonsle carved the Maratha Empire out of Mughal-controlled India through guerrilla warfare, naval innovation, and a flair for the dramatic th…
2 days, 1 hour ago
James Brown: The Violent Brilliance of the Godfather of Soul
Episode 7402
James Brown grew up in a brothel in Augusta, Georgia, served time in juvenile prison, and became the hardest-working man in show business. He invente…
2 days, 1 hour ago
Tacitus: The Historian Who Survived by Staying Silent
Episode 7390
Tacitus served under the tyrant Domitian, kept his head down, and then wrote histories so scathing that they defined how the Western world understand…
2 days, 1 hour ago