We're Not So Different

happy new year, we're back! in this episode, Luke and Eleanor continue going through the series on Historical Materialism and finally make it to the Black Death, the mother of all external system shocks that kills anywhere from 15-40% of humans on earth and cracked the foundation of feudalism so badly that it would never recover.

happy holidays to all! in honor of Christmas, we decided to do a quick episode on the connections between Saturnalia and Christmas as well as look at what Christmas during the Middle Ages looked like. so check it out and have a happy holiday season!

Friday afternoon episode time! Luke and Eleanor continue the series on Historical Materialism by talking about the Medieval climate, which changed drastically between the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age, both of which caused massive changes across much of the world. They also discuss the rise of the modern nation-states, which began to take shape around this time.

and we're back after a one week hiatus! in this episode, Luke and Eleanor begin by discussing some of the more controversial modes of production that have been proposed, then move back into the early Middle Ages to discuss how the concept of Divine Right of Kings became entangled with modern state formation and the earliest instances of primitive accumulation of capital before it became a driving...

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor continuing walking through Historical Materialism and Feudalism with a discussion of the early years of the Medieval Era and how the world we live in today really began to take shape. we talk about commerce vs capitalism, the rise of manor, the spread of universal religions, and more! Advertising Inquiries:

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor finally make their way to feudalism and the Feudal Mode of Production. they discuss what feudalism actually is, why manorialism may be a better term, what Marx meant by calling it the "Feudal Mode", and more!

In part 4 of our series on Historical Materialism, we conclude the Ancient Mode of Production by discussing the rise of the great empires of old, the decline of the use of slavery, and the eventual collapse of the Western Roman Empire, which we now use to mark the end of the Ancient era.

as we continue our review of historical materialism leading up to feudalism, it's time to discuss how humans move from the hunter-gatherer, "Primitive" Communist Mode of Production to the Ancient Mode of Production, which includes living in civilizations, the introduction of slave labor, and the first social classes.

we're back to continue our deep dive into historical materialism and the eventual rise and fall of feudalism. this week, we discuss "primitive" communist societies of hunter-gatherers who lived in tribes and had no hierarchies, kings, or social classes. so let's go back to a time before sedentism and agriculture and look at the first mode of production

this week, Luke and Eleanor begin a much-requested series on the factors that led to the rise, dominance, and fall of feudalism during and after the Middle Ages. the series will focus on how feudalism and the feudal mode of production came to be and how it shaped our world today in eventually giving way to capitalism. but before we actually get to feudalism, we have to set the stage by discussing...

Luke and Eleanor finally get around to reviewing The Green Knight only 3 months after it premiered. check it out, you'll love it

Luke and Eleanor are back with an interview of Alex West, a philologist and historian who focuses on Medieval Indonesia and Malaysia. we talk about some of the differences between Europe and SE Asia in the Middle Ages as well as Alex's work on the Old Sundanese epic poem, Bujangga Manik. if you'd like to see the surviving Bujangga Manik palm leaves, click this link: https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac....

Luke and Eleanor are back to finish up their series on food, drink, and drugs in the Middle Ages. this time, we discuss the diets of Medieval people and how they used different types of food and drink to keep their four humours in balance.

Luke and Eleanor continue the series on food in the Middle Ages by discussing the consumption of mind-altering substances. that's right, Medieval people used drugs for various reasons and we're here to talk about it. from the ancient uses of opium as a painkiller to tripping on magic mushrooms found in forests to eating that awful pre-2000's era ditch weed, there's a lot of medieval drug use, so c...

Luke and Eleanor continue their series on Medieval food by discussing the massive number of feasts days, what those feasts were like, and more! cover art is The Fight Between Carnival and Lent by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Luke and Eleanor are back to continue their series on food, drink, and drugs in the Middle Ages. this time, we look at some regional differences in foods, debate the best type of beer, and discuss the conquest of bread

Luke and Eleanor are back and, after so many asked, they're finally talking about food in the Middle Ages. what did they eat and drink, how was it like our food, how was it different, and more!

Luke and Eleanor are back to close out their series on Medieval China by talking some more about the Mongols. How did the Mongol Empire rise to such great heights, only to break apart within 150 years? What was the Pax Mongolica? Who was Kublai Khan and why did his Yuan Dynasty, which China, Mongolia, and parts of Russia, fall apart at the end of the Middle Ages?

just Luke this time as Eleanor is away on a well-deserved vacation. in lieu of our normal episodes and because Luke isn't a scholar of the Middle Ages, we decided to do a show about the medieval influences on the Star Wars franchise, something that Luke does know a lot about. enjoy!

new episode! Luke and Eleanor are back to talk about the Mongols, their many invasions and innovations, and, of course, Temujin, aka Genghis Khan! check it out as we start to wrap up our series on Medieval China

Luke and Eleanor are back to discuss the Great Wall of China. We discuss the numerous walls built over time, the Ming Great Wall that we know today, and how the Wall actually, usually served its purpose as a defensive structure. Imagine that!

Luke and Eleanor are back and continuing the series on Medieval China. this time, we responded to a few questions about sex, both in Medieval China and more generally across the Middle Ages. what can we say? our listeners want to hear about sex and we're happy to oblige

Luke and Eleanor are back to continue the series on Medieval China. this time, we answer a couple of patron questions about life and culture in Imperial China. the first question concerns how the Chinese saw themselves and who they considered the barbarians on their frontier borders while the second question revolves around the creation and trade of ceramics and porcelain out of Medieval China. ch...

we're back, baby! Luke and Eleanor answer some questions before continuing the series on Medieval China by discussing gunpowder. we talk about its discovery, its original purpose as an elixir for eternal life, and its eventual use in a martial context. check it out!

We are back with a brand new episode! Luke and Eleanor continue their series on Medieval China by talking about the Silk Road. It wasn't just commerce and trade goods that flowed along the road, it also carried inventions, armies, and even cultures from the Pacific to the Mediterranean.