All Podcast Episodes:

• How an Empire Ends: the Starving Camps

  In our last few episodes, we’ve told you what we know about pre-Roman Gothic archaeology, culture, and history. We’ve told you about conditions both inside and outside the Roman Empire that kicked off the Migration Era.

  And now we’re going to tell you the story of one of those Gothic Wars in detail: the war of 376-382 AD. A war that may have occurred during Alaric’s childhood—and that may have been a radicalizing event for him and for thousands of people who followed him.

  It’s the war—and the accompanying immigration crisis—that sets off a chain of events in which a people called the Visigoths rise—and the most famous of them, a man called Alaric, leads them all the way to the gates of Rome. This is where it all begins. Get the show notes here.

• How an Empire Ends: Rome’s Gothic Immigrants

  In our last episode, we took a look at the outside forces driving the engine of the Migration Era: Hunnic migrations and invasions, constant displacement and conflict at the Roman borders. But Goths lived inside Rome too—in the heart of the Italian peninsula, and also in the outer provinces, in territories that were conquered by force.

  This story isn’t just about Goths that lived outside Rome. It’s also about the Goths that lived inside the Empire—as everything from slaves to soldiers to free citizens. How they were treated within that empire fueled and fed the wheel of the Migration era. Hatred of immigrants played a major role in Migration-Era conflicts–in ways scarily similar to events today. Get the show notes here.

• How an Empire Ends: The Migration Era

  It was the beginning of the Migration Era where the Goths’ history with the Roman Empire begins. The Migration era was a cycle of wars and conflicts lasting hundreds of years. Alaric’s sack of Rome was only a small part of it.

  What started it? Nobody knows. But it would have been an extremely chaotic time to be alive, when ordinary people had to leave all that they’d built and flee in the face of invaders—who were also refugees fleeing violence that had wiped out their own homes. There would have been no safety anywhere.

  The Migration Era was a vortex of death, where displaced victims, starving refugees, desperate people often wound up enacting the next round of violence on the populations they crashed into. And in this episode, we try to plumb the depths of that vortex. Get the show notes here.

• How an Empire Ends: Culture of the Goths

  In our last episode, we delved into the archaeology of the pre-Roman Goths. But what about Gothic culture? What do we know about pre-Roman Gothic culture, before the Goths were Romanized?

  To get a real sense of what is authentically Gothic is really difficult. We don’t have much information about the Goths’ daily lives or culture. We know almost nothing about their pre-Christian religious practices and beliefs. What we do have is a lot of military history from a Roman lens, and accounts from chroniclers like Tacitus—which have a lot of issues.

  In this episode, we try to peel back the layers and discover what we can about pre-Roman Gothic culture. Get the show notes here.

• How an Empire Ends: Origin of the Goths

  The Roman Empire stood for a thousand years. Many causes have been given for its downfall—but if just one group of people could be said to be culpable, it would be the Goths.

  They stormed its borders en masse, scored outsized victories that no one had won before, killed two emperors and raised up their own, sacked the city of Rome after a thousand inviolable years; and built their own kingdoms within the Empire’s decaying corpse. Their name has inspired the names of architecture, literature and fashion into the modern day. Whenever you set the date of the fall of Rome, there’s no question the Goths were instrumental in felling it. So who were these people? Who were the Goths?

  In this episode, we’re going to find out. Get the show notes here.

• Rebel Daughters of the Roman Empire (With Tana Rebellis)

  In Enemy of My Dreams, Jenny based her heroine Julia partially on Julia the Elder—rebellious daughter of Augustus who got herself exiled to Pandateria for being, as the ancients say, “too slutty.”

  Julia the Elder refused, REFUSED to rein it in. And for that, we adore her. But accounts of her life are told by men, sometimes her political enemies. She may have been a victim of slander, or engaged in deeper plotting that her dad wanted to keep secret. And while Julia the Elder was exiled for roughly five years, her daughter, Julia the Younger, was exiled for 20.

  Join us as we explore the lives of these indomitable women with historical fiction author and classics scholar Tana Rebellis, author of the Exile Duology and expert in Julio-Claudian exile. Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: Enemy of My Dreams with Jenny Williamson

  This week’s Book Club author interview is none other than up-and-coming romantasy and historical romance author Jenny Williamson, discussing her upcoming debut Enemy of My Dreams: her huge historical crush on Alaric of the Goths, the inspiration for her entirely-made-up hot-mess heroine, and how she adds “verisimilitude” to her fight scenes.

  Join Genn and guest co-host Liv Albert, of Let’s Talk about Myths, Baby!, as they crack open a beverage, and conduct a wild and slightly tipsy author interview.

  Get the show notes here!

• In Search of the Real Alaric (With Douglas Boin)

  Who was Alaric of the Visigoths, really?

  It’s a difficult question to answer. Alaric left no manifesto. There is nothing in his own words to explain his motivations for sacking Rome, or all the choices he made leading up to that fateful day. All we have are the assumptions of his enemies, which sometimes don’t’ make a lot of sense.

  Enter Douglas Boin. His groundbreaking biography, Alaric the Goth: an Outsider’s History of the Fall of Rome, explores Alaric’s experience as an immigrant, marginalized by the Roman Empire and fighting for his place in it. Join us as we explore the life and times of this fascinating historical figure and what his life still has to tell us. Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: Sexy Shifters and Fallen Angels with Nalini Singh

  This week, we feature a conversation with the OG romance novelist—the one all our romance novelist friends list among their favorites. Nalini Singh has an impressive, multi-decade career with several long-running, blockbuster romantasy and paranormal series featuring sexy shifters, fallen angels, and dangerous psychic warriors.

  Join us as we explore these fascinating worlds and discuss the secrets to a long-running career in romance and fiction. Get the show notes here.

• A Very Alaric Christmas

  How would Alaric of the Visigoths celebrate the midwinter holiday (Christmas? Solstice? Yule?). The idea was kicked around a lot between the two of us until it seemed imperative that we actually write this episode. And thus, an episode was born.

  In this episode, Alaric is about six years old. He doesn’t exactly understand that his life is hanging by a knife’s edge – caught between the invading Huns and the colonizing Romans. This is the story of a little boy just trying to do the right thing and not get his belly slit open by the Perchta, as one does around this time of year.

  So sit back, pour yourself a festive holiday beverage, and enjoy this very fictional, occasionally true episode. Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: Metal Death Goddesses, Ravens, and Bears (Oh My!) With Emily Rath

  You may recognize Dr. Emily Rath from our series on Project 2025. Today, we’ve invited her on to discuss her most recent project—North is the Night, a historical fantasy story with a strong, sapphic romantic thread.

  Join us as Emily introduces us to a world of terrifying metal death goddesses, mystical talking ravens, queer witches and warriors, and a Christianity that seeks to devour everything it touches. Get the show notes here.

• The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus: Part 3

  In our last two episodes we discussed what worship looked like at the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. How the goddess was worshipped, who worshipped her, and what they believed.

  Now, we’re going talk about what the temple looked like, who built it, who burned it to the ground, who rebuilt it, and what people did at the temple (besides worship). It’s time to dig into the ground and build back up this temple, stone by stone, with the stories of the people who walked its hallowed halls. Get the show notes here.

• The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus: Part 2

  Last week, we discussed the history of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus—and just who served here, and why. This week, we delve into the mythology of the temple and the goddess worshipped there.

  The Artemis at Ephesus was a far more ancient goddess than her Classical Greek counterpart. She has roots in the ancient Near East, and is cousin to ancient deities such as Kybele and the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet.

  What happened to this goddess—and the people who worshipped her—as the world changed? Join us as we explore how the wild, untameable Artemis at Ephesus fared in the face of Roman occupation, Christian suppression, and natural disasters. Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: Hot Mess Heroines and the Alarics Who Love Them (With Thea Guanzon)

  This week, we welcome internationally bestselling author and noted enemies-to-lovers enthusiast Thea Guanzon to the podcast.

  Thea’s debut novel, the Hurricane Wars, is an enemies-to-lovers romantasy with complex layers of worldbuilding and intrigue, rich with mythic resonance, airships, elemental magic, world-rending storms and eclipses, and passionate romance. Join us as we discuss the inspiration for her in-world mythology, our mutual love for hot-mess heroines, and what makes guys named Alaric so sexy. Get the show notes here.

• The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

  This week, we’re covering the final Wonder on our list of Seven Wonders: and this may be the one that broke us. It’s a Wonder located at the nexus of seawater and freshwater on the brackish headwaters of an epic river; a biodiversity hotspot. It was in this primal land that legend of a divine huntress grew.

  This is not the Artemis of the Classical Greeks. This is the Artemis of Ephesus: a ferocious huntress, yes. But also a wild and fecund goddess of childbirth; a protectress of women and children, so fertile and fierce that she would tolerate no masculinity: men had to undergo castration before they could serve in her temple. And we’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of what it meant to serve.

  Join us as we get to know the mysterious and primal Artemis of Ephesus. Get the show notes here.

• This Episode is Full of Lies: Lucian’s A True History (With Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!)

  Lucian’s A True History has been called the world’s first work of science fiction—but above all, Lucian of Samosata was a satirist. And he had a bone to pick with the famous historians of his time—guys like Herodotus and Ctesias of Knidos. They were Lying Liars who Lied, you see, and Lucian was mad about it.

  So he set out to write his OWN monument to lies—lest he be the only writer out there “exempted from the liberty of lying.” The only true thing is what he tells us in his intro: “for this one thing I confidently pronounce for a truth: that I lie.”

  This fabulous story has everything: sexy tree women, an intergalactic war, an interlude inside a whale—and we can’t get enough of it. Join us and Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! on this amazing adventure of which every word is a lie, and yet surprisingly relevant to our time.

  Get the show notes here.

• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: Part 2

  In the last episode we discussed why the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the only Wonder that historians don’t believe existed. There’s no archaeological evidence for it, and archaeologists have been scouring the ruins of Babylon since the 1800s. Also, Nebuchadnezzar himself—who could not shut up about all his own great building projects—never mentioned it.

  But there’s one audacious theory that suggests the Hanging Gardens did exist—just not in Babylon. In fact, they were built by Babylon’s arch enemy 324 miles to the north. The theory goes that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were actually the Hanging Gardens of Nineveh.

  Join us as we do a deep dive into this fascinating theory. Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: Smouldering Hellscapes and Sexy Vamps with Carissa Broadbent

  What is it that makes the grimdark so sexy? NYTimes bestselling author Carissa Broadbent would know. She has been, in her own words, “concerning teachers and parents with mercilessly grim tales since she was roughly nine years old.”

  Today, her worlds are dark, gritty, war-blasted magical realms featuring (hot) characters caught in desperate, heart-pounding situations—and relentlessly drawn to each other. Join us as we explore a world of tender and torrid love stories set amidst war and struggle. Get the show notes here.

• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: Part 1

  This week, we’re going to cover what may be the most mysterious of the Seven Wonders: a wonder that rose from the desert like a mirage, one whose name suggests it defied gravity itself; a wonder that may not have been a wonder at all: that may, in fact, never have existed.

  Join us as we explore the enigma of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Get the show notes here.

• Enemy of My Dreams: Jenny Tells All About Her Spicy Historical Romantasy

  Epic news alert! We’re so thrilled that the cover for Jenny’s Alaric historical romantasy, Enemy of My Dreams is here! As many of you know, the research for this book was her inspiration for this podcast, and our listeners have been with her every step of the way. We are so excited for you to continue following her on this journey.

  To celebrate the cover reveal, we put together this brand new episode where Genn interviews Jenny and we both fangirl about Alaric, the Fall of Rome, and the Migration Era in a ridiculous manner. We hope you enjoy!

  Enemy of My Dreams will be out in hardback, ebook and audio on February 4th, 2025, and is available here for preorder!

• The Colossus of Rhodes

  Today we’re going to talk about yet another giant statue in the Seven Wonders lexicon—one that was once pictured straddling the harbor at Rhodes, holding aloft a torch. He was supposed to depict the god Helios, although some said it looked more like Alexander the Great.

  Rhodes was an island full of pirates, smugglers and ne’er-do-wells. What would have possessed them to build a giant statue of Helios in their harbor? Why that god? Why in that place? What did it all mean? And what did it have to do with Demetrius the Besieger?

  Join us as we unravel the mysteries that surround this statue, the cult of Helios, the island of Rhodes and meet a few of Jenny’s favorite historical figures from the War of the Diadochi. Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: Go Big or Go Home (With Katee Robert)

  This week, we invited onto the show one of our all-time favorite romance authors—New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert. Katee has written over 100 books and sold over two million copies worldwide. They are truly an author who Goes Big, swimming in the currents of dark and taboo romance, romantasy, paranormal and monster romance—with relationships that are often queer, poly, and kinky.

  Join us as we explore the dark and dangerous–incorporating kink into romance, what makes a dark romance so dark, and why we are all endlessly falling for the villain. Get the show notes here.

• The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

  Today, we’re going to talk about a wonder that was built for a man who was once extremely powerful. But today, he’s known primarily for the grandness of his tomb—a tomb commissioned not by him, but by his wife (and sister)—a tomb so great that much like the Pharos’ name has been used in some languages to mean all lighthouses, his name in English now means all tombs.

  Who was Mausolus? What made his tomb so great? And why was it named after him and not his wife, who was also buried there? Join us as we explore the mysteries of the Mausoleum. Get the show notes here.

• The Threat of Project 2025 (Part 3) With Brad Onishi from Straight White American Jesus

  This is a Podcast Takeover about the real threat that is Project 2025.

  Joining us is Dr. Brad Onishi, co-host of the podcast Straight White American Jesus, a podcast that explores the culture and politics of Christian Nationalism from the perspective of two ex-evangelical ministers turned professors of religion.

  In this episode, Brad walks us through the influence of Christian Nationalism on Donald Trump’s second-term agenda–and exactly how, through Project 2025, Trump could dismantle our democracy, wield our military against us, and impose a rigid view of Christianity on a non-consenting public.

  This may be the last election we ever get to vote in. So we all need to vote like our lives and our country depend on it. Get the show notes here.

• The Threat of Project 2025 (Part 2) With Emily Rath

  This is a Podcast Takeover about the real threat that is Project 2025.

  If enacted, Project 2025 would touch on all aspects of American life—and we couldn’t get into all of its horrors in one episode. This week, we invited Dr. Emily Rath onto the show to give us a personal perspective on what life would be like if Project 2025 was made into law.

  In addition to a bestselling romance novelist, Dr. Rath has been a professor in Florida under the “Don’t Say Gay” law and other “anti woke” legislation, much of which is replicated in Project 2025, that put her livelihood and safety under threat.

  Join us for a personal discussion of what Project 2025 will do to all of us—with a focus on LGBTQ+ people, queer creators, women and AFAB people, and the box these laws would imprison us in. Get the show notes here.

• The Threat of Project 2025 (Part 1) With Professor Buzzkill

  This is a Podcast Takeover about the real threat that is Project 2025.

  We decided to take a break from our usual ancient history episodes, the Seven Wonders and our Book Club to talk to you about the Christo-fascist playbook that’s closer to being enacted into law than you might think. Project 2025 is a 900-page document that, if enacted, would rearrange our government to put unprecedented power in the hands of the president. And that president would be Donald Trump.

  Joining us to break down this document is Professor Buzzkill himself: Dr. Joseph Coohill, public historian and host of the Professor Buzzkill podcast. In this episode, Professor Buzzkill explains exactly how Project 2025 would change our government, the historical power and influence of the Heritage Foundation (which created it) and why we all need to VOTE this November. Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: Music of the Night with Angela J. Ford

  Angela J. Ford is the author of over 30 books, mostly steamy fantasy romance and romantic thrillers. Like Jenny, she fell in love with the Phantom of the Opera at an early age. And she wrote a romance novel inspired by that story–with the mysterious Phantom as the hero.

  Join us as we discuss Angela’s Phantom-inspired novel, Music of the Night, and what makes a certain Opera Ghost so sexy. Get the show notes here.

• A Day at the Ancient Olympics

  With the 2024 Olympics beginning any day now, you’re probably (if you’re a nerd like us) asking yourself one question: what would it have been like to attend a day at the world’s first Olympic Games?

  The Games in ancient times were not like they are today. The punishment for cheating was being whipped before a screaming crowd, Opening Ceremonies involved making sacrifices at a thousand-year-old primordial mound of gelatinous flesh and bone—and women were not allowed to attend. On pain of death.

  What would YOU risk to watch the Olympic Games? Come join us for a day at the ancient-world Olympics—from the perspective of someone who risked death to watch. Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: a Walk on the Dark Side with Sav R. Miller

  Sav R. Miller is a USA-Today bestselling author of steamy dark romances often inspired by Greek mythology, including the Monsters and Muses series and the upcoming Monsters Within. Her romances are often contemporary, and frequently delve into the dark and steamy side of the underworld, the mafia, and the criminal element.

  Join us as we discuss why we’re so intrigued by the dark side of romance—and what is it about morally grey villain-heroes that has us weak at the knees. Get the show notes here.

• Reclaiming Hera (With Jennifer Saint)

  Hera is one of the most unsympathetic goddesses in Greek mythology. Trapped in a toxic marriage with the King of the Gods, her vast power relegated only to wives and marriage, she often takes her fury at Zeus’s infidelities out on his victims and their children. But is there more to Hera’s story than tragically misplaced vengeance?

  Today, we discuss this complicated, fascinating goddess with bestselling author Jennifer Saint—and uncover the hidden and surprising complexities that make this goddess more than what she seems.

  Get the show notes here.

• The Lighthouse of Alexandria: Part 2

  In our last episode, we discussed the Lighthouse of Alexandria during its early years–the Ptolemaic and Roman eras. In this episode, we’ll take a look at its later history–during the Islamic era, which is where many of our most detailed descriptions–and fantastical legends about the lighthouse–date from.

  The Lighthouse of Alexandria cast a long shadow. It’s the shadow of the Dark Pharos, which lives in all of us. Join us as we discuss the real and the fantastical, try to sort out which is which, and explore how the lighthouse finally died–and was brought back to life in modern times. Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: Lady Assassins and Horny Dragons with Kit Rocha

  This week, we teamed up with the dynamic duo of Donna Herren and Bree Bridges–writing under the bestselling pseudonym of Kit Rocha. They’re best known for gritty dystopian romances featuring queer relationships, why choose sexiness, badass mercenary heroines, and an extra dash of kinkiness.

  Join us for a fun and fierce conversation where we discuss nontraditional publishing, queer and poly romance, tropes we love, and what rules are made to be broken. Kit Rocha’s most recent romantasy, Consort of Fire, is out now–featuring the incendiary combo of sexy bisexual dragons and lady assassins. Get the show notes here.

• The Lighthouse of Alexandria: Part 1

  The Lighthouse of Alexandria became iconic in both the ancient and medieval worlds. People began to call it ‘The Pharos,” after the island it stood on. It changed drastically over the years—and so has what it represented.

  It was built during the reign of the Ptolemies in Egypt, and stood for about 1,600 years. In that time it came to represent a beacon of light and learning. But it also represented other, darker things. And looking back at it today—trying to glean its picture—is like looking through a clouded mirror.

  Join us as we try to unpack the mystery of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Get the show notes here.

• The Great Pyramid of Giza: Part 2

  In our last episode, we took you on a tour of the Great Pyramid of Giza: perhaps the greatest of all the Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one that still exists today. We explored the outside of the Pyramid, the inside of the pyramid, we poked into all the nooks and crannies, and we explored all its secrets.

  But we left one secret out—and that is the one we are going to discuss today: how was the pyramid built? And who were the people who built it?

  Get the show notes here.

• The Great Pyramid of Giza, Part 1

  The list of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World has changed over the centuries. But there’s one item that’s almost always included—and when it’s not, the list-maker has to make it the honorary eighth wonder. Because leaving it out is so egregious.

  This is the oldest and largest of the Seven Wonders, the only one to survive into modern times, and it is the mother, the daddy, the true parental unit of all wonders: The Great Pyramid of Giza.

  The Great Pyramid truly is a wonder. It’s an absolute masterpiece of human ingenuity, engineering, and sheer determination. And today, we’re going to get up close and personal with it. Join us! Get the show notes here.

• AHFG Book Club: Sexy Dragons and Dangerous Dukes with Elizabeth May

  It’s our inaugural episode of AHFG Book Club, and we are so thrilled to feature Sunday Times bestselling author Elizabeth May! Join us for a wild conversation where we talk about our favorite tropes, writing queer romance, ne’er-do-well con artist heroes, and why we’re all so into dukes and dragons these days.

  Get the show notes here.

• Orphia x Eurydicius and the Enduring Power of Women’s Voices (With Elyse John)

  The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is a tragic tale of love and loss. In this gender-bent version, author and prize-winning poet Elyse John crafts the tale of the warrior-poet Orphia, her love for the handsome shieldmaker Eurydicius, and the lasting power of women’s voices.

  Join us and author Elyse John for a fresh new look at one of the most compelling and frequently-retold Greek myths—a story of love, loss, grief, and poetry. Get the show notes here.

• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia: Sweaty, Oily, and Judging You

  The Statue of Zeus at Olympia is not well remembered today. But in its time, it seared itself into the minds and memories of all who saw it. An enormous, glowering, formidable statue built into a temple of otherworldly, translucent light, it was as tall as a three-storey building. People said it crouched on its throne as if it was about to stand—and break through the roof of its temple.

  Zeus’ skin glistened. Made of yards and yards of priceless hippopotamus ivory, it had to be oiled down each day so it wouldn’t crack in the heat. Yes, this was truly the sweatiest, oiliest, stickiest of all the wonders. And there’s more: curses. Lovers’ names engraved in secret places. So much daytime sex. So many naked, athletic men. THE OLYMPICS. Join us on a slightly unhinged deep dive into this truly unique wonder that once held the entire Hellenic imagination in its grip.

  Get the show notes here.

• The Murderous Magic of Medea (With Rosie Hewlett)

  Perhaps the most infamous bad girl of ancient Greek mythology, Medea is also so much more complex than her end game makes her appear. She’s also a betrayed wife, an isolated immigrant in a hostile new country, and a woman trying to survive in a dark and violent world—who is ultimately driven to the brink by the men around her.

  In this episode, bestselling author Rosie Hewlett takes us on a deep dive into what makes Medea tick: her magic, her murder, and her surprising passion and vulnerability. Get the show notes here.

• The History of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

  Perhaps the first list of Seven Wonders was written by Herodotus sometime in the 400s BC. But the list didn’t really get popularized until the 200s. Why was that? What did this list mean, and why did lists of “Wonders” become popular at this time in the ancient Greek world?

  Before we get into each of the Seven Wonders, we thought we’d introduce our series by talking about that list itself: its history, where it comes from, what its original context was—and how it’s changed throughout the centuries. This is that episode: the history of the list of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

  Get the show notes here.

• St. Nicholas and the Christmas Cannibals

  Ah, Christmas—it’s a time of cheer, of gift-giving and generosity; and a time to eat yer babies.

  This year, we’re focusing on two different cannibalistic monsters from Christmas folklore: Père Fouettard and Hans Trapp. Because it turns out that child cannibalism really is the reason for the season—and perhaps Santa Claus is the biggest cannibal of all.

  What is Santa hiding under those jolly cheeks and that big white beard? Strap in, pour yourself your favorite holiday beverage, and get ready for a wild ride into the dark side of Christmas. Get the show notes here.

• Baiae Breathes: Sunken City of Sin (With Julius Caesar)

  During the ancient Roman Republic and into the Empire, there was a place all the fabulously wealthy went. An escape from the real world. A place where they could unleash all their most hedonistic and murderous urges. That place was Baiae.

  Baiae was the playground of Rome’s rich and infamous, whose baths alone were the size of palaces. It had many secrets—but perhaps the most deadly was that the entire city was built on a supervolcano. Long before Baiae was built, the ancients called this region “the Burning Fields.”

  The caldera breathes out, and worlds end in fire. It breathes in, and an entire city sinks beneath the waves. This week, Julius Caesar (THAT Julius Caesar) joins us to walk the drowned streets of Baiae—and pull back the curtain on a secret world of sin.

  Get the show notes here.

• Psyche x Eros: A New Look at an Ancient Love Story (With Luna McNamara)

  Psyche and Eros is an ancient love story that has always had the power to compel. It’s the story of a god of passion who falls in love with the personification of the human soul—and the lengths these two will go to in order to be together.

  But the lone source we have for this myth is The Golden Ass by Apuleius—a satirical novel about a man who gets turned into a donkey. What can we learn about this myth by looking at its original source? What was the author of The Golden Ass trying to tell us about love and women’s role in it (if anything)? Today we team up with Luna McNamara, bestselling author of Psyche & Eros, to try to get to the bottom of it.

  Get the show notes here.

• Warrior Queens of Nubia

  When we think of pyramids, hieroglyphs, and Pharaohs, most people think about Egypt. But there was a civilization to the south that was just as fascinating, just as complex, just as sophisticated—and it wasn’t Egypt. It was Nubia.

  The Nubians built temples, cities, and pyramids to rival those of the Egyptians. And they had a fascinating history of strong female leaders, including warriors, generals and queens. And after Cleopatra lost to Rome, her fellow queen to the south—a one-eyed warrior queen of Nubia—successfully fought off the Roman Army, held a knife to its throat and wrung a peace treaty out of Octavian that kept her kingdom free.

  This is the story of Nubia. Get the show notes here.

• Lady Poisoners: Dangerous Women of History (With Lisa Perrin)

  Throughout history, there have been a number of women who had—shall we say—a penchant for poison. Women who poisoned for power and influence; to rid themselves of enslavers and abusive husbands; and for monetary gain.

  Who were these women? How did they enact their deadly plans? How did they avoid getting caught (until they didn’t)? Join us as we acquaint ourselves with a dangerous sisterhood of lady poisoners—with Dr. Lisa Perrin, author of The League of Lady Poisoners, as our guide. Get the show notes here.

• The Pompeii Refugee Crisis (With Elodie Harper)

  We’ve covered the deadly day in 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, burying Pompeii in a suffocating layer of ash and pumice. But we haven’t covered the aftermath: where did the survivors go? How were they received? And what did the recovery effort look like?

  Today, we’re joined by Elodie Harper—bestselling author of the Wolf Den trilogy, whose last installment, The Temple of Fortuna, has just been released. Join us in exploring how this eruption left an indelible mark on the psyche of ancient Rome.

  Get the show notes here.

• Greek Fire: Mystery Weapon of the Byzantines

  Greek fire was an incendiary weapon of the ancient world—and perhaps the sole reason that the Byzantine Empire stood long after the rest of Rome. It was a terrifying weapon used for centuries to dominate on land and sea; intimidating vastly more powerful foes into backing down. Those who beheld its power always fled in fear.

  Greek fire was a closely guarded secret of the Byzantine Empire. And eventually the recipe for making and using it was lost. Modern historians have tried and failed, many times, to reproduce it. We don’t know how it was made, or why it disappeared. It’s a mystery.

  Join us as we explore the untold secrets of Greek fire. Get the show notes here.

• Vikings: Fact and Fiction (With Kelsey Fuller-Shafer)

  When we talk about the Vikings, who are we talking about, exactly? What can we learn about Viking culture by looking at their myths? And which of the ancient sources about them (if any) can we trust?

  This week, we take a look at Norse mythology and history with Dr. Kelsey Fuller-Shafer, author of Norse Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook: From Vikings to Valkyries, an Epic Who’s Who in Old Norse Mythology (a kind of companion book to our Women of Myth). Join us as we get to know the Vikings. Get the show notes here.

• Cult of the Severed Head

  The Celts of the Iron age—roughly 600s BC to 43 AD—had a real preoccupation with severed heads. They took heads in battle. They displayed the heads of their enemies in prominent places. But what did all this decapitation mean?

  Some believe there was a set of religious beliefs around severed heads—but nobody knows what they were. And the severed head keeps popping up in later mythology and legend, creating more questions than answers. Join us as we investigate the very mysterious Cult of the Severed Head.

  Get the show notes here.

• Catholic Werewolves

  We’ve covered werewolves in the ancient world before—and their connection to the Berserker myth. But wait til you hear what happened to werewolf mythology when the Catholics got their hands on it.

  This episode is a wild ride, taking you from the ancient Greek and Roman werewolves to a Medieval monster tied to the mysteries of serial killing, mental illness, domestic abuse, and the paranoia of the Witch Trials. It turns out Catholic werewolves stalked a very dark, very violent landscape—and we are just itching to explore it. Join us.

  Get the show notes here.

• A Rome of One’s Own (With Emma Southon)

  Men aren’t the only ones who think about the Roman Empire (Or the Roman Republic!) all the time. We do too–and so does Dr. Emma Southon, creator of the History is Sexy podcast and author of many fascinating, women-centered books on ancient Rome.

  Her most recent book, a Rome of One’s Own—the Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire, tells the story of 21 fascinating women often overlooked by history–who nevertheless played a huge role in shaping ancient Rome. These women are rebels, empresses, lovers, firebrands, entrepreneurs, sex workers, whistleblowers, and survivors–and through their stories, we can see this period in history in a whole new light.

  Get the show notes here.

• Berserkers on the Battlefield

  This is an episode about the shock troops of Viking Armies—the most violent, the most terrifying, the men who ran out ahead of the army to shatter shield walls and break the minds of the enemy. There are accounts of great acts of heroism and self sacrifice among them in the ancient histories—but they were also on the margins of society, mistrusted and despised even by their own side. Why is that? And what drugs were these guys on, exactly?

  What is truth, and what is fiction? What can we uncover about these men (and every once in a while, a woman) who were said to be so terrifyingly transformed? Today’s subject is that most terrifying enigma of the ancient world: Berserkers on the Battlefield. Get the show notes here.

• Could You Survive Pompeii? A Choose Your Own Adventure Episode

  You’ve been transported almost 2,000 years into the past, to the streets of Pompeii. It’s a brisk autumn morning, around, oh…10 AM…and all hell is about to break loose. What’s your next move?

  You could live through it, maybe. If you were lucky. And made all the right choices. At exactly the right time. The actions you take in these first moments could make the difference between life and death.

  Yes, this is Ancient History Fangirl – could you survive a volcano – Choose Your Own Adventure edition! Get the show notes here.

• Great Yu Controls the Waters

  Cultures on every continent have flood myths, and China is no exception. One of China’s founding myths is one about a singular hero, Yu the Great, and his brilliant works of water engineering that tamed a deadly flood—roughly four thousand years ago.

  But did this great flood really occur? Was there really a Yu, or someone like him? Join us as we delve into the Bronze-age civilizations of ancient China, the history of its legendary rivers, and an ancient flood that could have been The Big One.

  Get the show notes here.

• Atlit Yam: Forgotten City Beneath the Waves

  Off the coast of Israel there is an underwater megalithic stone circle dating back to the 7000s BC – that is perfectly preserved, keeping its secrets from another time.

  This is the story of a prehistoric city (well, village) off the coast of Israel. Thousands of years ago, it sank beneath the waves. Its discovery was revolutionary and changed what we thought about the people who lived in this area during the stone age.

  Today, we’re going to dive into the past, to a time when the Mediterranean rose up and sunk a city – and froze a time, a people, and a way of life in place. Get the show notes here.

• Buzzballs and Buboes: The Plague of Justinian (a Drunk Deep Dive)

  This is an episode about a plague that killed up to 100 million people by the time it was done—as many as 60% of its victims. It’s the first documented occurrence of a pandemic that we have, and it’s the first documented outbreak of the deadly Yersinia pestis. No, we’re not talking about the Black Death of Medieval Europe. We’re talking about the Plague of Justinian.

  The Plague of Justinian was just one part of the fallout of the global volcanic eruption of 536 AD. Three eyewitness accounts have survived–and, in the grand tradition of this podcast, we decided to read them to you whilst Yule-level drunk. Buckle up. It is a wild, plague-tastic ride. Get the show notes here.

• 536 AD: A Volcanic Murder Mystery

  What was the worst year to be alive? Some researchers have a very specific answer to this question: 536 AD.

  This is a year when the global temperature dropped, and it was winter all year round—for multiple years. The sun disappeared for 18 months as the world was covered in a veil of sulfuric dust. Crops failed. People starved, and fell to eating each other and warring over scarce resources. From China to Mexico, thriving civilizations collapsed.

  And the culprit? A volcano. Or maybe multiple volcanoes. But which ones are still a mystery. This is a historical mass murder, and it’s still unsolved. Get the show notes here.

• In the Time of the Green Sahara

  Deep in the western Sahara—in perhaps one of the driest parts of the driest desert in the world—there are cave paintings that depict people swimming. These cave paintings date to 10,000 years ago. Back then, there would have been plenty of water to swim in. It was a time when the Sahara was green.

  Join us as we pull back the curtain on a tantalizing time when the Sahara was a wetland paradise, with enormous megalakes, vast networks of wild rivers, and people who created stunning rock art, built complex megalithic structures, mummified their dead—and whose beliefs and culture may have formed the foundation of ancient Egyptian civilization.

  Get the show notes here.

• The Haunting of Crater Lake

  Crater Lake is a caldera lake in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon—the remnants of an ancient volcanic eruption. It’s the deepest lake in the country and one of the deepest in the world. And this place is steeped in lore: unexplained events, murders and suicides, disappearances and hauntings, and a strange 200-year-old floating log that probably controls the weather.

  But the history of this lake goes back even farther: to the volcanic eruption that created it 7,700 years ago. People were there to witness that event—and its memory is preserved, both in archaeology and an ancient mythological tradition that describes the eruption with scientific precision.

  Join us as we plumb the depths of Crater Lake. Get the show notes here.

• Ghosts of Wrangel Island

  Mammoths existed on our planet for roughly five million years, and they were perfectly adapted to the ice age world they inhabited. So perfectly adapted that when the last ice age ended, so did they. No woolly mammoths have walked the earth for the last 10,000 years. Or did they?

  It turns out that the last mammoths didn’t disappear 10,000 years ago. For thousands of years after their extinction in the rest of the world, a small population still lived on a remote island in the Arctic called Wrangel Island. And in their last days? In the end times? Things got weird.

  This is a story about a natural disaster that happened—to mammoths. Let’s dig in. Get the show notes here.

• The Drowning of Doggerland

  Ten thousand years ago, there was no North Sea. Instead, there was a vast landscape that connected the UK and Ireland to the rest of Europe. Archaeologists call it Doggerland.

  This was a Mesolithic paradise. A great biodiversity hotspot where we had all the food and raw materials we could ask for within arm’s reach—an immense forest and wetland paradise as big as a second France. It was the beating heart of Mesolithic Europe.

  But nothing good can ever stay. By some accounts, Doggerland was drowning from the day it was born. But its final end came in a single, cataclysmic day. Get the show notes here.

• The Ten Plagues of Egypt: An Ancient Disaster Story

  The story of The Ten Plagues of Egypt is featured in both Jewish and Christian mythology. It’s a dark, haunting tale that features a capricious God meting out increasingly terrible punishments on the Egyptian people for their Pharaoh’s refusal to release the Israelites from slavery.

  But that’s not all there is to this story. It’s also a Bronze Age narrative that may be based on an ancient psychic trauma. Just what was that trauma? And could the cruel, unpredictable behavior of the God of the Old Testament be a clue?

  Join us as we try to get to the bottom of it. Get the show notes here.

• Hot Sauron Summer (With Liv Albert from Myths Baby!)

  Feminism in Lord of the Rings: let’s discuss. How were women depicted in the famous trilogy, and how has that depiction changed from the books to the movies and then to the Rings of Power TV show? Join us and Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths Baby! for a very serious, very scholarly contemplation of women and feminism in Lord of the Rings.

  LOL just kidding. Mainly this episode involves Jenny shrieking about Hot Sauron, Genn getting drunkenly aggressive in Lord of the Rings trivia, and Liv reciting huge swaths of Fellowship from memory. Scholarship is low, ridiculousness is high, and Liv may in fact be the One LOTR Nerd to Rule Them All. You’ve been warned.

  (Spoilers abound for Rings of Power. Now you’ve been doubly warned.) Get the show notes here.

• The Chaotic Olympians (with Bea Fitzgerald from Chaos on Olympus)

  We’re joined today by YA romance author and Tiktok star Bea Fitzgerald, who brings Greek mythology to life on her Tiktok channel Chaos on Olympus.

  In this conversation, we talk about the female goddesses, monsters and heroines of Greek mythology: what makes them tick, which ones are the most fun to skewer in bite-sized video format, and the surprising queer romance hiding in monster mythology. Get the show notes here.

• Falling in Love with Ancient History (With Jasmine Elmer of Legit Classics)

  Just who are the classics for, anyway?

  Our guest Jasmine Elmer has been an educator in the Classics for decades—through educational charity work, as a TV presenter and through her podcast, Legit Classics. She is passionate about making the classics accessible to all—and the new and important perspectives brought to the field by scholars of diverse nontraditional backgrounds.

  This week, we discuss how to make the ancient world more accessible to everyone, of all backgrounds—as well as Jasmine’s own upcoming book on women in world mythology, and what made us all fall in love with the ancient world. Get the show notes here.

• Atalanta and the Heroine’s Journey (With Jennifer Saint)

  This week, we delve deeper into the legend of Atalanta, with bestselling author Jennifer Saint as our guide. Join us as we discuss Atalanta’s heroine’s journey, her connection to Artemis and a more ancient concept of the feminine, and what it was really like being stuck on the Argo with all those dudes.

  Get the show notes here.

• Bad Girls of the Bible and Caribbean Lore (With Princess O’Nika Auguste)

  Today, we’re joined by Caribbean feminist biblical scholar and author Princess O’Nika Auguste to discuss the female monsters of Caribbean lore, African diaspora religions, and the Bible.

  Join us for a wide-ranging discussion where we talk about the most fearsome feminine monsters of Caribbean legend and African diaspora religion, as well as the bad girls of the Bible—including everybody’s favorite patriarchy-smashing rebel of Jewish lore, Lilith.

  Get the show notes here.

• Secrets of the Aztec Codices (With Camilla Townsend)

  Decades after the Spanish conquest, Aztec survivors wrote down their histories and mythology in documents called Codices.

  Many were written at the behest of Spanish priests, and come to us through a Spanish lens. But some were written in secret, by Aztecs and for Aztecs, with no Spanish involvement at all. Long ignored by historians, these documents provide us with what is perhaps the most authentic history of the Aztec people in their own voice.

  Today, we’re joined by Camilla Townsend, a leading scholar on the history and translation of these important documents. She is professor of history at Rutgers University specializing in Native American and indigenous history in the United States and Latin America, and author of the award-winning book The Fifth Sun: a New History of the Aztecs.

  Get the show notes here.

• Urduja: Warrior Princess of the Philippines (With HERstory: Southeast Asia)

  Urduja was a celebrated warrior princess who ruled the kingdom of Tawalisi, said to exist in the Philippines. The first recorded mention of her comes from the travelogue of Ibn Battuta, an explorer and scholar who lived in the 1300s AD and who claimed to have met her.

  Much is mysterious about Urduja–including whether her kingdom ever existed. However, her story has become so compelling over the centuries that today she is considered a national heroine of the Philippines. This week, we’re joined by Agas Ramirez of HERstory: Southeast Asia to discuss the history and mythology surrounding this fascinating woman–and the tradition of female rulers and warriors in southeast Asia.

  Get the show notes here.

• Inventing Medusa: Reclaiming the Gorgon Girl (With Natalie Haynes)

  The traditional myth about Medusa is that she was the monster—a fearsome snake-haired gorgon who could turn men to stone with a glance—and her killer, Perseus, was the hero of the tale. But give the story a closer look, and it’s not even clear the Greeks always saw it that way.

  Ancient depictions of this myth don’t always show Perseus as the hero. And there’s evidence that gorgons originally had a protective role in Greek iconography. In this episode, Natalie Haynes—bestselling author of Stone Blind—guides us in retracing the clues the ancients left us to reclaim our Gorgon Girl.

  Get the show notes here.

• Women of Norse Mythology (With Joanne Harris)

  This week, we welcome internationally bestselling author Joanne Harris to our podcast. Joanne is the author of over 29 novels and novellas for adults and children, including Chocolat, which was turned into an Oscar winning film, and the fantasy series Runemarks and Runelight; The Gospel of Loki and The Testament of Loki, and many others.

  Join us for a wild conversation that will break down all your preconceptions about Norse mythology, its ancient roots and hidden goddesses, and women’s place and power in ancient pre-Christian Nordic cultures. Get the show notes here.

• Women in Greek and Hindu Mythology (With Nikita Gill)

  Both Greek and Hindu mythology are populated with fascinating women—goddesses, heroines, and monsters alike. Award-winning and best-selling author and poet Nikita Gill incorporates both into her work, forging a compelling connection between ancient narratives and personal mythologies of place and family.

  Nikita’s poetry is haunting, fiercely feminist, and filled with insight and heartbreak. Join us for a conversation about the women of Hindu and Greek mythology, the feminist themes in both, and which “monsters” we identify with most. Get the show notes here.

• A Sneak Peek at our Women of Myth Audiobook

  This week we thought we’d do something a little different–and bring you a sneak peek of our audiobook version of Women of Myth. This version is available for preorder, and we recorded it ourselves, along with Liv from Let’s Talk About Myths Baby! who recorded her introduction.

  We picked three entries to share, from three different areas of the world. These women are so fascinating and awesome that we’re sure you’ll love them as much as we did. We hope you enjoy!

  Preorder the audiobook here, or find it wherever you buy books.

• Drawing the Women of Myth (With Illustrator Sara Richard)

  We’re joined today by Sara Richard—our Eisner and Ringo Award–nominated illustrator for the Women of Myth series. Sara worked with us to create the amazing illustrations for Women of Myth.

  Join us as we take you behind the scenes to discuss what it was like illustrating these incredible characters; which women of myth Sara felt the strongest connection to; Sara and Jenny’s shared love of SKULLS and historic graveyards; and what’s in Sara’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

  Get the show notes here.

• Atargatis: The Syrian Mermaid Goddess who Made Men Castrate Themselves

  This episode originally appeared on our Patreon! We’re releasing it on our main feed because we also include Atargatis in Women of Myth. We hope you enjoy!

  The Spartacus of the First Servile War–a man named Eunus–was a worshipper of Atargatis, an ancient goddess of the sea often depicted as a mermaid.

  Atargatis was one of the most important goddesses of ancient Syria–with roots that went all the way back to the Bronze Age. Her temple in Hierapolis had a lake hundreds of fathoms deep, filled with fantastical fishes, and a bejewelled statue of the goddess whose eyes followed your every movement.

  But in Rome, Atargatis’ religion was one of underdogs, foreigners, and the marginalized–much like the religion of Dionysus. And, like the cult of Dionysus, it threatened the Roman status quo.

  Find out what made this Syrian mermaid goddess so phenomenal, powerful, and dangerous to the Roman aristocracy.

  Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com.

• Creepiest Monsters of Southeast Asia (With Creepy Conversations Podcast)

  This week, we explore monster mythology from countries all over southeast Asia—and we invited Nikki and Kalai from the Creepy Conversations podcast to come on our show and creep us out. Hailing from the Philippines and Singapore, they cover all things creepy from southeast Asian mythology, including monsters, ghost stories, true crime and serial killers, and more.

  Today we try to answer the age-old question: which Southeast Asian country has the creepiest female monsters? Is it the Philippines, home of the bone-chilling manananggal? Or maybe Japan, home of the terrifying kuchisake-onna of urban legend? What about those nightmare-inducing Shadow People who always seem to be creeping around? Or perhaps the most fearsome monsters of all are the real-life female serial killers who walk among us?

  Join us as we try to get to the bottom of it all. Get the show notes here.

• Nazca Lines: Secrets in the Sand

  Imagine a desert stretching over 1,500 miles along the Peruvian coastline, between the high Andes to the east and the vast Pacific coastline to the west. A place of brilliant colors and contradictions. This is the driest desert in the world. Astronauts use it to simulate conditions on Mars.

  This is the home of the Nazca Lines: thousands of huge, beautifully made 2,000-year-old geoglyphs, visible only from the sky. Some are elaborate images of animals, plants, and people. Others are perfectly straight lines that stretch for miles in the empty desert.

  What were they for? What did they mean? Their story–and the story of the people who made them–is so much more than it seems.

  Get the show notes here.

• Frau Holle: Wicked Woman of Yule

  This year, we’ve found one of the most metal and wild Yuletide goddesses yet – Frau Holle.

  Human sacrifices, spindles in yer vag, plague, starvation, caves of offerings and bones, the Grimms brothers, golden showers, child cannibalism, ZOMBIES – are any of these putting you in the Yuletide spirit? They should. Because we’re about to share with you the story of a very Frau Holle Christmas.

  Get the show notes here.

• Teotihuacan: Eat the Rich

  Teotihuacan is an ancient pre-Colombian city in central America, founded two thousand years ago. It’s the home of some of the most iconic Mesoamerican monuments in existence, including the Pyramids of the Moon and Sun.

  The city was abandoned after about 750 years of habitation. When the Aztecs first encountered it, it had stood empty for 600 years. Walking through the empty ruin, they marveled at the towering pyramids, the incredible murals, the enormous palaces—and wondered where the people had gone. They thought these people must have become gods.

  This city has something for everyone: mysterious skeletons. Volcanoes. Eating of the rich. And so many mysteries, it’s hard to pick just one. Get the show notes here.

• Mohenjo Daro: Mound of the Dead Men

  The Indus Valley civilization is one of the oldest, largest, most sophisticated Bronze Age civilizations we know about today. Roughly 80 cities and towns have been unearthed that were part of it. The biggest—perhaps the most important—was a city called Mohenjo Daro.

  There were no kings at Mohenjo Daro, no priests and few signs of organized religion. There are few if any signs of war, slavery, wealth inequality or violence. There was a very high standard of living for its time, including indoor flushing toilets in every home.

  But they don’t call it “Mound of the Dead Men” for nothing. It turns out this peaceful, utopian ancient city has a gruesome secret…

  Get the show notes here.

• Where Was the Land of Punt?

  For over a thousand years, the ancient Egyptians sent their ships out to trade with a fabulous kingdom. They dragged their ships from the Nile to the coast of the Red Sea, and those ships returned groaning with luxuries beyond anyone’s wildest imaginings.

  The place they got it all from was the Land of Punt—known to the Egyptians as the Land of the Gods. The Egyptians described just about everything about it, except how to get there.

  Was Punt in Africa? Was it in Arabia? Was it an island in the far-flung Indian Ocean? Or did it ever exist at all? Today, we try to unravel the mystery. Get the show notes here.

• Inside the Skara Brae Sex Cult

  Perched on a cliff at the edge of the world in the remote Orkney Islands, the ancient village of Skara Brae is a picturesque and dramatic sight. Carved into an ancient midden, it’s a warren of interconnected dwellings with built-in furniture, secret compartments, and more than a few mysteries.

  What did the people of Skara Brae get up to when the lights were out? Why did they build their village so that you had to go through your neighbors’ houses to get to your own? How many people were sleeping in a bed again? Was this in fact a sex cult??

  In this episode, we try to get to the bottom of it. Get the show notes here.

• The Mound Builders of Cahokia

  Hundreds of years before European contact, the biggest city in North America was located along the Mississippi River. At its peak, perhaps 15,000 people lived there—and over 30,000 in the surrounding suburbs. Today, we call it Cahokia.

  Nobody knows what the original name of this city was. But there was a time when everybody knew its name—from the Great Lakes to the Eastern Seaboard, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. What was that name, and why was it lost to time and memory? That’s just one of the many mysteries of Cahokia.

  Get the show notes here.

• The Headless Megaliths of Gobekli Tepe

  In our episode on the Sphinx Water Erosion Theory, we discussed the theory that the Sphinx was 10,000 years old. This date would require us to completely reorder our sense of how humanity evolved. We decided it’s simply too out there to be true.

  But what if I told you that there is an archaeological site 10,000 years old whose shocking discovery did indeed require archaeologists to change the way they interpreted history? It’s like if the Sphinx really did turn out to be really 10,000 years old, except it’s not the Sphinx, and it’s not in Egypt. It’s in Turkey. It’s called Gobekli Tepe.

  Join us as we explore a wild, weird world of decapitated megaliths, menacing animals in high relief, gardens of megapeens, and a lost culture far closer to the last Ice Age than they are to us.

  Get the show notes here.

• Serial Killers of Ancient Greece and Rome (With Debbie Felton)

  Serial killers may seem like a modern phenomenon. But there were serial killers in operation in the ancient world—or so it would seem. Evidence for them is everywhere—in mythology and in history, we see predators killing their victims in surprisingly modern ways.

  Was it easier to be a serial killer in ancient Greece and Rome? Could they find victims more easily and operate more anonymously than they can today? Were there roles and professions that gave cover to those born with an urge to kill? Were the streets of Rome and the hills of Greece in fact a breeding ground for serial killers?

  In this episode, author and expert Debbie Felton helps us answer those questions.  Get the show notes here.

• Sea of Trees: the Japanese Suicide Forest

  In this episode, we’ll delve into the mystery of Aokigahara, known in Japanese as the Sea of Trees—and to the rest of the world as the Suicide Forest. After the Golden Gate Bridge, it is the second most popular suicide destination in the world.

  The forest is over a thousand years old. It grew over lava floes laid down in a devastating volcanic eruption on the slopes of Mt. Fuji, a holy mountain believed to be a gateway to the spirit world. Perhaps this is why it’s said to be the birthplace of the Yurei—a ghost in Japanese folklore created out of deep trauma.

  It’s no wonder Aokigahara is associated with death. But the forest is also filled with life and incredible natural wonders. Join us as we explore the haunting history and folklore of Aokigahara.

  Get the show notes here.

• Witches of Ancient Greece and Rome (with Daniel Ogden)

  Who were the witches and sorceresses of ancient Greece and Rome–and how did they wield their power? In this episode, ancient occult expert Daniel Ogden introduces us to the world of Greco-Roman witchcraft–including necromancy, love potions, curse tablets, and real-life magical manuals written thousands of years ago by Alexandrian sorcerers.

  Join us as we explore both mythology and history to uncover a forgotten world of clandestine magic, primarily wielded by women. Get the show notes here.

• The Mystery of Skeleton Lake

  In 1942, a forest ranger was hiking on an isolated trail deep in the Himalayas. Rising over 16,000 feet in elevation, he climbed a ridge that looked down a steep-sided funnel of ice and boulders. At the bottom was a small, perfectly circular glacial lake, frozen in a solid blue lens.

  And there, strewn about the icy, rocky beach, lay skeletons. Hundreds of skeletons.

  Nobody knew whose bones they were. Theories and folklore would proliferate over the years, but the mystery would remain—and the more scientists found out about Skeleton Lake, the more the mystery deepened.

  Get the show notes here.

• Sea Monsters of the Ancient World (With Ryan Denson)

  Did you know that the ancient Greeks and Romans didn’t have a word for sharks–despite the fact that they must have seen them eating sailors during sea battles all the time? For that matter, they didn’t have a word for “whale” either. But they did describe the most fantastical sea creatures, including Nereids, Ketos, and “sea dogs.” Whatever those were.

  Just what were the ancients seeing in the sea, anyway? In this episode, ancient sea monster expert Ryan Denson helps us unpack it all. Get the show notes here.

• Last Refuge of the Minoans

  High in the mountains of eastern Crete, there’s a secret that has been kept since the 1200s BC. It’s the secret of the strange and still-unexplained 80+ ancient villages hidden in the Cretan mountains that may have been the last refuges of the Minoan people.

  The ancient Minoans were master seafarers. But sometime between the 1200s and the 1000s BC, they abandoned their coastal villages, their palaces, their fertile farmlands, their trade routes—and simply withdrew from the world.

  Today, we’re going to look at where they went—and why. Get the show notes here.

• Is the Sphinx 10,000 Years Old?

  Carved from the very living bedrock of the Giza plateau, the Sphinx is shrouded in mystery. Archaeologists believe it’s about 4,500 years old. But there’s a fringe theory—the Sphinx Water Erosion Theory—that suggests it’s much, much older.

  Join us as we explore this wild theory that completely explodes the prevailing wisdom, and asserts that the Sphinx is in fact 10,000 years old—or maybe even more. Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology: Atalanta

  It’s the last episode in our Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology series—and perhaps you’ll agree we saved the best for last.

  Atalanta was an avatar of an older, wilder time, created in the image of an ancient Artemis—goddess of the fields and forests who had a strong association with bears. Perhaps Atalanta represents an older image of that goddess before Classical Athens got its hands on her.

  Join us as we take a deep dive into the story of Atalanta: a gender rebel and sexually liberated heroine who—maybe—peels back the curtain on what life was like for women on the margins, living pre-agrarian lifestyles outside of the traditional gender roles established by the scholars and writers of Classical Greece.

  Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology: Artemis

  When you think of Artemis, what springs to mind?

  Perhaps it’s a fierce huntress with a bow and arrow, a sort of female Peter Pan—wild and untamed, haunting forests drenched in moonlight—a goddess who’s taken a stern vow of chastity, and refuses all company save that of her nymphs.

  That’s one version of Artemis—the Classical version. But there’s an older, wilder version that pulls back the curtain on a more ancient way of life in Greece. Join us as we explore who Artemis was, how she was worshipped, and how she evolved into a goddess who fit into the Classical Athenian idea of what an ‘eternal maiden’ should look like.

  Get the show notes here.

• Actium Baby (With Barry Strauss)

  This week, we’re taking a bit of a detour into a previous, much-loved topic: Marc Antony, Cleopatra, and How it All Went Wrong.

  In this episode, we return to the beach at Actium with author, historian, and academic Barry Strauss as our tour guide. His new book, The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium, discusses the infamous sea battle Marc Antony and Cleopatra fought against Octavian and Agrippa for love, for supremacy, for their very survival.

  Join us as we deconstruct this battle, paint a vivid picture of ancient war at sea, and tackle the one question everyone’s asking: why did Cleopatra flee the battlefield?

  Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology: Pallas x Athena

  Most myths say that Athena sprung from Zeus’ head fully formed, totally brilliant, and just a badass war goddess. We don’t get a lot of stories about her youth, the way we have about Dionysus, or Artemis, or Heracles. Right from the start, Athena is just a fully formed adult who does adult things. Right?

  Well, not exactly. There’s this one story that tells of how, when Athena was young, she had a very intense relationship with another girl named Pallas—perhaps the only person Athena ever truly loved. This is their story.

  Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology: Heracles x Omphale

  This week, we’re going to talk about that time Heracles, the strong man, son of Zeus and noted impenetrable penetrator, lived as a woman. Yes, you read that right. And not only did he live as a woman, he was the submissive to a powerful female dom who took up his lionskin and club as symbols of her own power.

  Get ready for a fun, gender-bending episode that completely overturns the ancient Greek binary. Get the show notes here.

• Dionysus: Patron God of Gender Rebels (With Cait Corrain)

  Who’s the queerest of the gods? It’s hard to say…but there’s a strong case to be made that it’s Dionysus. The god of wine and revolutionaries who rebelled ferociously against the gender binary, Dionysus breaks the mold in so many ways–and he does it with a sense of joy that’s irresistible.

  In this episode, debut author and unabashed Dionysus fan Cait Corrain joins us to talk about why Dionysus is awesome, why we love him so SO much, and what exactly went on at his wedding to Ariadne.

  Get the show notes here.

• Transgender Achilles and Found Family in the Illiad (With Maya Deane)

  Mny of us have preconceived notions about what the Illiad was like. Prepare to have those notions blown away.

  In this episode, debut author Maya Deane methodically strips away the lenses of the Victorian era, Classical Greece, and the modern day to reveal an Illiad that’s older and darker and weirder than any of us could ever have dreamed.

  This is the Illiad of your darkest and deepest imaginings, an Illiad like you’ve never seen before—but somehow always knew existed. It’s the Illiad of Wrath Goddess Sing—a story about transgender Achilles and the love of found family in a Bronze Age world as deadly as it is beguiling.

  Get the show notes here.

• Zeus x Ganymede: Not Gender Rebels

  We’re taking a slight departure from our Gender Rebels series to tell you the story of Zeus and Ganymede. This is the story about the time Zeus kidnapped a teenage boy named Ganymede and brought him to Olympus to be his “cup bearer.”

  Zeus and Ganymede were not gender rebels. In fact, they set the standard for the erastes-eromenos binary of the time. This story was used to send the message that the gods approved of pederastic practices that were widespread in ancient Greece and Rome.

  It’s a dark story, but it’s an important one. Join us as we drag it out into the light. Get the show notes here.

• Abortion in the Ancient World (With Princess O’Nika Auguste)

  Not only was abortion broadly legal in ancient Greece and Rome, but some of the methods used were surprisingly similar to today. And the Bible doesn’t mention it at all—except in one obscure passage, where it tells you how to administer one.

  In this episode, we’re joined by feminist Biblical scholar and author Princess O’Nika Auguste to discuss the history of abortion in ancient Greece and Rome, as well as in Biblical times.

  Get the show notes here.