About Donovan McMaster

NBN Episodes hosted by Donovan:

Winston Black, "The Middle Ages: Facts and Fictions" (ABC-CLIO, 2019)

December 10, 2019

The Middle Ages

Winston E. Black
Hosted by Donovan McMaster

Winston Black's new book The Middle Ages: Facts and Fictions (ABC-CLIO, 2019) guides readers through 10 pervasive fictions about medieval hi…

Stephen Le, "100 Million Years of Food: What Our Ancestors Ate and Why It Matters Today" (Picador, 2016)

December 3, 2019

100 Million Years of Food

Stephen Le
Hosted by Donovan McMaster

There are few areas of modern life that are burdened by as much information and advice, often contradictory, as our diet and health: eat a lot of meat…

Richard F. Thomas, "Why Bob Dylan Matters" (Dey Street, 2017)

November 26, 2019

Why Bob Dylan Matters

Richard F. Thomas
Hosted by Donovan McMaster

When the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Bob Dylan in 2016, a debate raged. Some celebrated, while many others questioned the choice. How co…

Mike Duncan, "The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic" (PublicAffairs, 2017)

November 19, 2019

The Storm Before the Storm

Mike Duncan
Hosted by Donovan McMaster

The Roman Republic was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of civilization. Beginning as a small city-state in central Italy, Rome …

Liz Gloyn, "Tracking Classical Monsters in Popular Culture" (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019)

November 12, 2019

Tracking Classical Monsters in Popular Culture

Liz Gloyn
Hosted by Donovan McMaster

What is it about ancient monsters that popular culture still finds so enthralling? Why do the monsters of antiquity continue to stride across the mode…

Emily Wilson, trans., "The Odyssey" (Norton, 2017)

November 5, 2019

The Odyssey

Emily Wilson, translator
Hosted by Donovan McMaster

The first great adventure story in the Western canon, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power;…