The Biographers

It's that time again to sit back, relax, and enjoy a laid-back episode of Office Hours. In this episode, we bid a final (and incredibly fond) farewell to our long time friend and co-host, Akiva Meola, as he moves into his now full time job as a bladesmithing instructor (check out www. HardyAndFuller.com to take a class with him!). We love you, and you will be missed. Join us as we chat about e...

In our final installment of Marcus Aurelius, we discuss the twilight years of the “last good emperor”. Alone, battle-hardened, and bent with age, Marcus is still facing two of the biggest scourges of his life: disease and war. Tribes from the north continue to nip at the heels of Rome, while the Antonine plague takes more lives than ever. Worst of all, Marcus would be faced with a betrayal that th...

In part three of our series on Marcus Aurelius, we cover the battlefronts that the twin emperors were tasked to manage. In Syria, Marcus tasks his brother and co-emperor, Lucius Verus (great bad guy name), with confronting the armies of king Vologases, but his time as commander in chief was not exactly what Marcus had hoped for. Speaking of tactics, we go over Rome's astonishing ability to ada...

In part two of our series on Marcus Aurelius, we see Marcus’ get adopted by Antoninus Pius after the grisly death of Hadrian. After moving into the royal palace, Antoninus Pius would become a role model to Marcus , and he'd become close with his new step brother, Lucius Verus, despite being polar opposites. Marcus would become increasingly fearful of ruling as his 20’s were spent gaining more...

In part one of our series on famed Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius, we explore the early life of the last of the so-called “5 good emperors”. Born the son of a wealthy mother and a politician father who would die early on, Marcus would be raised in the lap of Hadrian, the famed “builder emperor of Rome". As Hadrian left to begin his tour of the far reaches of the empire, Marcus...

It's time for another episode of Office Hours, and this time we have some show-altering news! Our very own Akiva Meola, who has been co-host of The Biographers for two years, is leaving the show. We talk about what led him to this decision, while also introducing the person who will be taking his place. Don't worry, everyone! Change can be scary, but we know you're going to love our ne...

In the conclusion to our series on the infamous Wu Zhao, we discover why the only female emperor in Chinese history, relinquished the throne. Her reign as emperor would only last 15 years, and though she would have several opportunities to extend her dynasty past a single member, her stubborn nature would get the better of her. Zhao's new pair of lovers, the Chang brothers, would seemingly cas...

In part four of our series on Wu Zhao, we watch the continued rise to power of the only female emperor in the history of China. With Emperor Gaozong's health declining to the point of his ultimate demise, Zhao finds various means to push her sons away from the throne and establish herself as the de facto leader of China. It would take social, political, and religious reform, along with some no...

In part three of our series on the infamous Wu Zhao, we finally get to see her long-planned rise to Empress, and what sequence of events led her there! Due to some health complications, the Emperor would soon rely on Zhao to run the day to day governmental operations of China, and despite the medieval Chinese belief that women were unfit (and unable) to lead, Zhao would prove to be an astute polit...

In part two of our series on Wu Zhao, we take a look at the earliest days of her arrival into the royal harem of the Emperor, and what curriculum needed to be studied as a concubine. Zhao's time in the harem would first last ten years, but after the Emperor she served passed away, she would be shuttled off to live the life of a solitary monk in a monastery. Thanks to some careful planning (as...

It's time for a brand new series, and this time we're headed further back in time than we ever have before: the 7th century! For series 14 of The Biographers, we're covering Wu Zhao -- the only woman to ever reign as the Emperor of China. At just 13 years old, Wu Zhao was recruited into the Emperor's harem of concubines, and despite being born in a time and place where women were v...

Coming in hot with another laid-back episode of Office Hours, but this time we have video! We are indeed humans! In this episode, we go over all the corrections and questions from our Frida Kahlo series in addition to chatting about our upcoming series on Wu Zhao.

In our final episode on Frida Kahlo, we discuss her last decade of life. Coming on the heels of Trotsky's death, Frida and Diego decide to remarry after realizing what they meant to one another, if only for a time. Frida's painting skills peaked in the 1940s, reaching a new level of detail evident in “Rosita Morillo” and “Moses”, which led to national recognition as one of Mexico's fin...

In part 5 of our series covering the dramatic and tragic life of Frida Kahlo, we go over the most formative years for her career as a painter. Following Diego's brutal betrayal of trust, Frida would make more paintings in two years than in the entirety of her marriage to him, creating masterpieces like The Two Fridas , and What the Water Gave Me . After an art show in Manhattan that had Frida...

In part four of our series on Frida Kahlo, the seminal artist's grand tour of the United States comes to an end. Devastation would follow devastation in Frida’s mid-twenties: a miscarriage in Detroit, followed by the death of her mother in Coyoacán. Diego, on the other hand, was at the height of his fame, and was receiving commissions from some of America's most elite clientele. Unfortunat...

In part three of our series on Frida Kahlo, we explore Frida’s early years of marriage to the world-famous painter Diego Rivera, along with her time spent touring the United States. In Cuernavaca, Diego finds himself painting the Mexican Revolution for American oil investors, while Frida begins to paint from within. As fascism spreads across Mexico like a disease, the two depart for America — or,...

In part two of our series on Frida Kahlo, we discuss the aftermath of one of Frida's greatest tragedies that would ultimately leave Frida in pieces. With dozens of shattered bones and an iron bar piercing her abdomen, Frida would spend the next two years evading death. As she recovered, her novio, Alejandro, slowly disappeared from her life, and Frida would find new meaning through painting. D...

We are thrilled to be speaking with incomparable Max Miller of the sensational YouTube channel: Tasting History. Max kindly agreed to work with us on a recent collaboration video about the eating habits of Nikola Tesla, whose culinary preferences are as specific as they are riddled with historical inaccuracies. We got the chance to sit down with Max to discuss our respective research processes, an...

We're officially starting series 13, and this time we're focusing on one of the most influential artists of all time: Frida Kahlo! In part one, we discuss Frida's family origins, the political turmoil in Mexico at the time, her early struggles with illness, and her wild years studying at the esteemed National Preparatory School in Mexico City. At school, she rubbed elbows with some of...

Time to sit back and relax for another casual episode of Office Hours. We go through questions and corrections from our series on Mark Twain, and share an amazing story from one of our listeners who has some personal connections to Pancho Villa. We'll be back for our regularly scheduled programming in two weeks, starting into our next biography subject: Frida Kahlo!

This week, we are thrilled to be joined for an interview with one of the world's leading Mark Twain scholars who currently teaches at Stanford University: Professor Shelley Fisher Fishkin (https://shelleyfisherfishkin.com/bio) . Most recently, Professor Fishkin has published a book called "Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade", which aims to debunk the notio...

It’s finally time to close the book on the life of the incomparable Mark Twain. His final ten years would not be easy, riddled with heartache and devastation, but the world at large would finally awaken to the utter genius in its midst, and his works would take their place among the great masterpieces of literature. Join us as we say goodbye to our pal, Mark Twain. (Ep. 070)

Tough times lay ahead for Mark Twain in part nine of our series on the legendary humorist. Somewhere along the way, Sam Clemens got it into his head that he was a businessman, but nothing could be further from the truth, and none of his business deals would yield any profits. He would tell the press that he was taking his family to Europe for his wife's health, but the truth was that the US dollar...

In part eight of our series on the godfather of American comedy, Mark Twain, we finally get into the development and publishing of his most famous novel: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . The book was considered controversial upon release (and continues to be), so we take plenty of time to examine its impact. Though he still possesses a knack for writing, times are getting tough for Sam Clemens as...

In part seven of our series on the incomparable Mark Twain, the godfather of American comedy finally publishes one of his most seminal works: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . Though the book is largely praised by critics, its initial sales are disappointing. Seeking new inspiration, Twain soon decides to take his family on an extended trip through Europe. The journey lasts seventeen months and provi...