Heroes and Howlers

“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time." Sylvia Plath Paul and Mikey explore all things August, Augustan and even Augustine! But where did this month come from and how did we survive for so long without it? Facebook Twitter Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Dream on, but don’t imagine they’ll all come true. When you realise that Vienna waits for you.” Billy Joel In this episode Paul and Mikey look at the interwoven lives of the powerful and the infamous, and how they all rubbed elbows in pre-World War I Vienna. It’s 1913 and they’re about to enter ‘The laboratory of the Apocalypse.’ Facebook Twitter Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Paul and Mikey dish up more tasty morsels from episodes 1 to 3. More stories, more insights, more maps!! Facebook Twitter Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I'm a hero on land but at sea I am a coward.” Adolf Hitler There’s nothing like an invasion for dishing up some cock-ups. England has seen its fair share over the centuries, but in this episode Paul and Mikey look at two you might not be quite so familiar with. The Battle of Fishguard, anybody?!  Facebook Twitter Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the idea is quite staggering.” Arthur C. Clarke The Final Frontier?! Not for Paul and Mikey. Space exploration, hot rockets, cold wars, moon landings and ballistic missiles - this episode has them all. Facebook Twitter Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“You can’t be a real spy and have everybody in the world know who you are and what your drink is. That’s just hysterically funny.” Roger Moore In this episode on espionage, Mikey looks at two of history’s most inept spies, and Paul asks: ‘Was one of England’s greatest playwrights a secret agent?’ Facebook Twitter Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Paul wrapping up his trip to the UK, the guys thought to wrap up our classic ep with Paul's Hero- The Earl of Macclesfield. Facebook Twitter Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul is still in the UK but Mikey can't help but keep on releasing some of his favourite episodes. This week, we take a look back on The Batavia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Paul off to the UK, the guys thought it would be a good idea to revisit some classic episodes and thought revisiting The Kushans would be a perfect start! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The past is not behind us but under our feet” H Corbin (French Philosopher) Paul and Mikey are serving it up a treat - a real smorgasbord from episodes 7 and 8. More stories, more insights, more maps!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Travelling: it leaves you speechless, and then turns you into a storyteller.” Ibn Battuta Join Paul and Mikey as they go in search of one of the most well-travelled legends in History. With probably the world’s greatest traveller as their guide.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The difference between treason and patriotism is only a matter of dates.” Alexandre Dumas  In this episode Paul and Mikey look at the real D’Artagnan, how changing military tactics helped to keep the French at war for over a century, and a secret Parisian society dedicated to smoking hash. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“History is not the sort of animal you can domesticate.” Antonio Tabucchi ( Pereira Maintains ) Paul and Mikey dish up more tasty morsels from episodes 4 to 6. More stories, more insights, more maps!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Scratch a Russian and you will find a Tartar.' Napoleon The lands above the Black Sea have been fought over for centuries. Yet in the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries they were united under one force - the Khazars. Could mass religious conversion have been the secret to their success? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out?” Will Rogers In this episode Paul and Mikey look at some of the disastrous results of humans mucking around with nature. It’s about invasive species and the role played by Shakespeare in plane crashes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oh!" said Pooh again. "What is the North Pole?"  "It's just a thing you discover," said Christopher Robin, not being quite sure himself.  A. A. Milne , Winnie-the-Pooh Paul and Mikey take the road north to balance out the series, stopping off to seek a route through the fabled NorthWest Passage on their way. But how can you discover a land that has no land?! See omnystudio.com/listener f...

“Revolution is the opium of the intellectual." Raymond Aron  Paul and Mikey dish up more tasty morsels from episodes 1 to 3. More stories, more insights, more maps!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have confidence even in a shadow than in the church.” Ferdinand Magellan Paul and Mikey take a quizzical look at ‘Flat Earthers’ from the sixth century to the modern day. Just how could this trope of a theory get tangled up with ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’, a 1950s sign writer, a...

“Live dangerously. Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius.” Friedrich Nietzsche Brave words Freddy boy, but real estate choices near (and even not near) volcanoes can have dire consequences.  In this episode Paul and Mikey look at some far reaching  outcomes from volcanic activity, including the loudest noise in human history. The Volcano Revolution?! See omnystudio.com/...

“Every human longs for peace and love.” Hiawatha Separating ‘Fact’ from ‘Fiction’ is the constant challenge of an historian. None more so than the early history of North America’s First Nations peoples. Research relies heavily on oral traditions handed down from generation to generation but that hasn’t stopped Paul and Mikey digging for nuggets of tr...

"Number one Russian solution? Bring in the tanks!" Paul and Mikey, Heroes & Howlers (March 2021) Back in Season 1, Paul and Mikey had a look at the collapse of the Soviet Union. They assessed its impact on Russia and Eastern Europe in the intervening thirty years, and just what it might mean looking forward. Twelve months on and their assessment of Putin and Co was worryingly prescient. See om...

"If every fool wore a crown, we should all be Kings." Welsh Proverb Everybody’s favourite day of the year - well, certainly Paul and Mikey’s. But some of the stories behind the  pranks and foolishness might surprise you. Just what is a Scottish gowk? And why should we hunt it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

'The history of the world is but the biography of great men.' Thomas Carlyle Paul and Mikey disagree with TC. Howlers will always be as influential as Heroes, and ‘Unsung Heroes’ often more so. Time to look back at episodes 4-6, answer listener questions, and dish up a couple of extra treats. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The world is a drama, staged in a dream.” Guru Nanak   Mata Khivi and the tradition of serving free communal meals (Langar) changed the face of Sikhism for ever. It has grown to become one of the most cherished institutions all over the world.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I would travel down to hell and wrestle a film away from the devil if it was necessary.” Werner Herzog But if that film was Birth of a Nation , Werner, you can just leave it there. In this episode Paul and Mikey look at how one film single-handedly resurrected the KKK. Then take a sideways glance at a few other early 20th-century repugnant (and sometimes costumed!) misfits/Howlers. Se...