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Ancient History
Christian Studies September 26, 2022

The Epistle of Barnabas

A Commentary

Jonathon Lookadoo

Hosted by Crawford Gribben
Although the Epistle of Barnabas may be best known for its Two Ways Tradition or its anti-Jewish use of Scripture, its contents reveal much that will be of interest to …

Ancient History

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Interviews with scholars of ancient history about their new books.

General History September 26, 2022

Nomads

The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World

Anthony Sattin

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World (W. W. Norton & Company, 2022) by Anthony Sattin tells the remarkable story of how nomads have fostered and refreshed civilization throughout history …
Jewish Studies September 19, 2022

Demons in the Details

Demonic Discourse and Rabbinic Culture in Late Antique Babylonia

Sara Ronis

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
The Babylonian Talmud is full of stories of demonic encounters, and it also includes many laws that attempt to regulate such encounters. In Demons in the Details: Demonic Discourse and …
Writ Large September 19, 2022

On Plato's "Apology"

A Discussion with Steven Smith

Steven Smith

Hosted by Zachary Davis
In 399 BC, the Greek philosopher Socrates was on trial. He believed in free-thought and sought truth by questioning everything, including society. And the Athenian government decided he was dangerous …
SSEAC Stories September 15, 2022

Material Matters

Reflections on the History of Settlement Development Across Mainland Southeast Asia

Ben Dharmendra

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Despite decades of research into the historic settlements of Mainland Southeast Asia, our understanding of the region’s long-term settlement history remains incomplete. We know, for example, that mainland Southeast Asia …
Writ Large September 12, 2022

On Plato's "The Republic"

A Discussion with Demetra Kasimis

Demetra Kasimis

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Imagine you could start from scratch and create the ideal city. How would you design it? Who would be in charge? This thought experiment was explored almost 2,400 years ago …
Jewish Studies September 12, 2022

Herod in History

Nicolaus of Damascus and the Augustan Context

Kimberley Czajkowski

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
Most of our information about Herod the Great derives from the accounts found in Josephus' Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities. Together they constitute a unique resource on one of the …
Biblical Studies September 9, 2022

Exodus in the New Testament

Seth M. Ehorn

Hosted by Michael Morales
The book of Exodus played a significant role in forming the identity of the Jewish people, with exodus traditions appearing throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. As the paradigmatic act of redemption …
Writ Large August 30, 2022

On Homer's "The Iliad"

A Discussion with Gregory Nagy

Gregory Nagy

Hosted by Zachary Davis
The Iliad is among the oldest surviving works of literature, but for a long time The Iliad wasn’t written down. It’s a story that has influenced the world for over …
Ancient History August 29, 2022

The Life and Death of Ancient Cities

A Natural History

Greg Woolf

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
The human race is on a 10,000 year urban adventure. Our ancestors wandered the planet or lived scattered in villages, yet by the end of this century almost all of …
General History August 19, 2022

Pan

The Great God’s Modern Return

Paul Robichaud

Hosted by Jana Byars
From ancient myth to contemporary art and literature, a beguiling look at the many incarnations of the mischievous—and culturally immortal—god Pan. Pan—he of the cloven hoof and lustful grin, beckoning …
Jewish Studies August 19, 2022

The History of Galilee, 47 BCE to 1260 CE

From Josephus and Jesus to the Crusades

Matthew Mark Silver

Hosted by Michael Morales
Galilee, the region where monotheism multiplied, where Christianity came into being, where Judaism reinvented itself, and where Islam won some of its greatest triumphs. Matthew Silver's two volumes--The History of …
In Conversation: An OUP Podcast August 17, 2022

Rome

Strategy of Empire

James Lacey

Hosted by Mark Klobas
From Octavian's victory at Actium (31 B.C.) to its traditional endpoint in the West (476), the Roman Empire lasted a solid 500 years -- an impressive number by any standard …
General History August 17, 2022

Inventing the Alphabet

The Origins of Letters from Antiquity to the Present

Johanna Drucker

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Inventing the Alphabet: The Origins of Letters from Antiquity to the Present (University of Chicago Press, 2022) by Dr. Johanna Drucker provides the first account of two-and-a-half millennia of scholarship …
Writ Large August 11, 2022

On "The Great Learning"

A Discussion with Peter Bol

Peter Bol

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Sometimes the oldest texts are the most influential. The Great Learning likely first appeared in the Confucian Book of Rites around 2,000 years ago, and its impact can still be …
Jewish Studies August 10, 2022

The Crowns on the Letters

Essays on the Aggada and the Lives of the Sages

Ari D. Kahn

Hosted by Matthew Miller
Rabbi Ari Kahn’s The Crowns on the Letters: Essays on the Aggada and the Lives of the Sages (OU Press, 2020) represents a major achievement in the study of the lives …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast August 8, 2022

Sonorous Desert

What Deep Listening Taught Early Christian Monks—and What It Can Teach Us

Kim Haines-Eitzen

Hosted by Mark Klobas
For the hermits and communal monks of antiquity, the desert was a place to flee the cacophony of ordinary life in order to hear and contemplate the voice of God …
Jewish Studies August 8, 2022

The Idea of 'Israel' in Second Temple Judaism

A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity

Jason A. Staples

Hosted by Michael Morales
How did the concept of Israel impact early Jewish apocalyptic hopes of restoration? How diverse was Israelite identity in antiquity? Tune in as we talk with Jason A. Staples about …
Indian Religions August 2, 2022

After the War

The Last Books of the Mahabharata

Wendy Doniger

Hosted by Ujaan Ghosh
Wendy Doniger's After the War: The Last Books of the Mahabharata (Oxford UP, 2022) is a new translation of the final part of the Mahabharata, the great Sanskrit Epic poem about …
Religion July 28, 2022

The Origin of Sin

Greece and Rome, Early Judaism and Christianity

David Konstan

Hosted by Tiatemsu Longkumer
Where did the idea of sin arise from? In The Origin of Sin: Greece and Rome, Early Judaism and Christianity (Bloomsbury, 2022), David Konstan takes a close look at classical …