All Podcast Episodes:

• 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.

• 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.

• Abortion Rights Takeover: Silphium

  This episode is part of our abortion rights takeover series. It was originally dropped on our Patreon.

  It deals with the miracle plant of ancient Greece and Rome: Silphium. The people of Cyrene printed it on their money. It was considered a delicacy throughout the Greek and Roman world, as well as a powerful medicine that could be used to cure everything from baldness to epilepsy to poisonings.

  And it may have even functioned as a contraceptive–and an abortifacent. Get the show notes here.

• The Invisible Thread: Life after Slavery in Pompeii (With Elodie Harper)

  What happened to people in ancient Rome who were freed from slavery? Turns out there were still invisible threads–economic pressures, imbalances of status, and debts owed to wealthy patrons–that kept many of them in bondage.

  On the streets of Pompeii, freedom came at a steep price–especially for women. Today, we talk to Elodie Harper–bestselling author of the Wolf Den and the House with the Golden Door–about enslaved people, freedwomen, and glamorous sex workers whose lives were far more precarious than they seemed.

  Get the show notes here.

• Elektra, Clytemnestra, Cassandra, and the Curse of Atreus (With Jennifer Saint)

  This week, we’re taking a break from the story of Achilles to discuss the Illiad from an angle that’s not as often covered: the story of the women of the House of Atreus, the family of Agamemnon.

  In this episode, bestselling author Jennifer Saint introduces us to Clytemnestra and Elektra–Agamemnon’s wife and daughter–as well as the priestess and prophetess Cassandra, and the murderous curse that casts a shadow over their fates.

  Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology: Achilles at War

  In this episode, we explore what happened to gender in the pressure-cooker of ancient war. To do that, we skip ahead ten years to a different beach: the war-blasted, corpse-strewn sands below the walls of Troy.

  As the Trojan War dragged on, the most respect went to those who were able to slaughter and pillage and plunder: gender for men devolved into “Smash and Grab” masculinity. Meanwhile, gender for women became “Gender as Property”—in the most explicit terms.

  It’s in this toxic wasteland that Achilles’ feud with Agamemnon rose to a fever pitch—over a woman called Briseis. Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology: Achilles’ Beach Vacation

  In our last episode we looked at Achilles’ early life and his relationships with the women who crossed his path. In this episode, we follow him to the beach at Aulis—where all the Greek kings and heroes, anyone who was anyone, had gathered at the start of the Trojan War.

  Achilles left Pyrrha behind, but his time as a dancing girl followed him to that beach. This is where the wind stalled. This is where Achilles first clashed with that titan of fragile masculinity, Agamemnon. And this is where a girl named Iphigenia met her fate.

  Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology: Achilles Could Rock a Dress

  Achilles is so often portrayed as the most masculine of heroes, but those portrayals generally leave out that he spent a few years of his life passing as a girl. Today, we’re going to explore that time in Achilles’ life, and what it tells us about his gender.

  We’ll also delve into his relationships with the women in his early life: his mom, Thetis, and a girl named Deidameia.

  Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology: Achilles x Patroclus

  In the first part of our Gender Rebels series, we talked about queer history—queer women, Intersex people, transgender people, and eunuchs. Now, we’re going to begin another series that takes that lens to Greek mythology.

  There are plenty of queer myths that break the binary as the ancient Greeks saw it—and heroes and gods who were gender rebels. Sometimes those gender rebels aren’t who you’d expect—and who they’re usually portrayed to be. That’s what this episode is all about.

  Join us as we explore the mythology of a genderqueer Achilles and the man who loved him. Get the show notes here.

• The Sacred Band of Thebes: Part 3

  Last week, we told you about the Sacred Band’s first important military victories—victories that depended on the intense trust and love the Sacred Band members had for each other. Victories that showed that the Spartans weren’t so tough after all.

  But as Spartan control in Greece receded, opportunistic warlords and upstart city-states rose up to take advantage of a power vacuum. One of their most dangerous new opponents was a man named Philip of Macedon—and his 18-year-old son, Alexander.

  Get the show notes here.

  Want to come on the podcast to discuss Women in World Mythology? Sign up here!

• The Sacred Band of Thebes (Part 2)

  In our last episode, we told you the story of how the Spartans took over the city of and how an intrepid and very queer group of Theban rebels, led by a firebrand named Pelopidas, took it back while dressed as women.

  The Thebans had their city back. Now they had to figure out how to hold it against the Spartans, because the Spartans would strike back. Their solution was to form an elite 300-man fighting force to counter the dreaded Spartan hippeis—held together by the bonds of love.

  Get the show notes here.

  Want to come on the podcast to discuss Women in World Mythology? Sign up here!

• The Sacred Band of Thebes (Part 1)

  The time was the 300s BC. The place was Thebes. And in this place, in this time, there was an elite military force—the best of the best special ops shock troops—made up of 150 male lovers.

  Their love for each other was the key to their strength. It made them better fighters. More effective. It made them strong enough to break the iron-fisted control of oppressive regimes. This is their incredible story. Get the show notes here.

  Want to come on the podcast to discuss Women in World Mythology? Sign up here!

• Gender Rebels of Ancient Greece and Rome: Eunuchs (Part 2)

  Last week, we focused on people who chose to undergo castration for religious reasons. But this probably wasn’t the most common experience most people had who were castrated. Enslaved people were castrated as well–often in childhood.

  Today, we’re going to take a deep dive into their lives and circumstances. Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Ancient Greece and Rome: Eunuchs (Part 1)

  In ancient Rome, there were a lot of eunuchs. Some were enslaved, some were free; some were members of religious cults, some were not. No study of queer history in ancient Greece and Rome would be complete without them.

  Today, we’re going to take a look at the history of people who underwent castration in the Roman Empire—why they did it, when they did and didn’t have a choice, and what their lives were like.

  Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Ancient Greece and Rome: Intersex People

  Intersex people are sometimes featured in Greek mythology in a positive way—for instance, the beautiful child of Aphrodite who became an important part of her entourage.

  But the ancient Romans saw Intersex people as imbued with a specific kind of magic associated with frightening signs and portents—and that made it dangerous to be Intersex in the ancient world.

  Join us as we explore the lives of Intersex people in ancient Greece and Rome. Get the show notes here.

• We Wrote a Book!

  We are SO excited to announce that we have a book coming out in August 2022! Our book, Women of Myth, will be available worldwide from Simon and Schuster.

  Listen in as we talk about our favorite Women of Myth from around the world with Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!

  Our book is about epic women in mythology from around the world. We cover a diverse range of cultures, from Greek and Roman mythology to important figures from regions such as Africa and African Diaspora countries, the Pacific Islands, Asia and the Middle East, indigenous cultures from North, South, and Central America; and more.

  We cannot wait to share these tales with you. Preorder here!

• Gender Rebels of Ancient Greece and Rome: Transgender People

  Join us for a deep dive into queer history in ancient Greece and Rome. This week, we focus on transgender men and women.

  It’s a common belief that being trans is somehow a “modern” invention and there were no trans people in the ancient world. But nothing could be further from the truth.

  From the trans women who led the worship of an influential state cult to the trans guys who lived right under the noses of Greek and Roman society, transgender people were gender rebels in an extremely patriarchal culture. Join us as we explore their lives and experience.

  Get the show notes here.

• Gender Rebels of Ancient Greece and Rome: Queer Women

  We’re calling this series gender rebels of the ancient world—because how could we do a season about sex and sex magic without talking about the magical provenance of those who fell outside the accepted binary?

  Women who loved other women were gender rebels in the ancient world. They challenged the gender binary in some of the most basic and fundamental ways—ways that the ancient Greeks and Romans found profoundly destabilizing.

  Join us as we find out why. Get the show notes here.

• Life of Sappho (With Leesa Charlotte from Sweetbitter)

  She’s the Tenth Muse, Western literature’s first lyric poet, and a woman who openly, unabashedly loved women and wrote about it–in an extremely patriarchal society where queer women’s experiences were almost universally erased.

  But what has come down to us about the life and times of Sappho?

  Like her poetry, the picture of Sappho’s life is very fragmentary. This week, we team up with Leesa Charlotte from Sweetbitter to try piecing the puzzle together.

  Get the show notes here.

• Ariadne, Dionysus, and the Theseus of it All (With Jennifer Saint)

  What can we learn about the lives of women in the ancient world–both religious and secular–when we delve into mythology?

  In this episode, we talk to Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne, to discuss myth, storytelling, the lives of women in Minoan Crete–and the process of recreating mysterious, ancient religious rites based on the clues left in mythology.

  Get the show notes here.

• Janus: God of the New Year

  Janus is the two-faced god of the Roman pantheon. He was the god of beginnings and endings, of dual natures, of passageways and passage through time. He’s the god of thresholds and doorways and gates, and the god of change, both concrete and abstract. He’s constantly in motion; he’s the god who’s always just passing through.

  Janus may not be very well-known. But in his time, he was considered one of the most important gods—perhaps more important than Jupiter himself. Today, we’re going to tell you all about him.

  Get the show notes here.

• Krampus: The Goat Knows What You Did

  This year, we decided that the holiday season wouldn’t be complete without a mythological foray into one of the most famous characters of the season: The Krampus.

  And some of you might be saying, wait a minute, Krampus isn’t ancient, he’s modern. Also, everyone knows about Krampus, the festive demon of Christmas. Why are you covering this well-trodden topic?

  Wait until you hear the wild things we uncovered about him and his history, and then make your judgements about how old and well-trodden this topic is.

  Get the show notes here.

• Bathroom Business (With Kate the Exploress)

  How did sex workers in ancient Greece and Rome manage their periods? What were the most popular fashions for pubic hair? What underwear was everyone wearing? And how did sex workers handle contraception and unwanted pregnancies?

  In this episode, we team up with Kate the Exploress to delve into the most intimate aspects of daily life for sex workers in ancient Greece and Rome, including the most powerful sex magic of all: the blood magic of periods.

  Get the show notes here.

• Transgender Aphrodite

  Despite inspiring desire in people of all genders, Aphrodite is often depicted as a cisgender woman. But not always.

  Ancient writers tell us of mystery cults that worshipped Aphrodite as gender nonbinary, intersex, or as a transgender woman. And when you delve into her most ancient roots, there’s an even older tradition of worship led by transgender priestesses.

  Join us as we uncover the historical and mythological evidence for a transgender Aphrodite.

  Get the show notes here.

• Mythology of Aphrodite

  Goddess of sex workers, Our Lady of the Castration Foam, the walking embodiment of orgasm herself—Aphrodite was one of the most powerful goddesses in the Olympian pantheon. And as a free, unattached woman with lots of sexual agency, she directly threatened the patriarchy.

  In this episode, we’ll examine the stories told about Aphrodite–and what they reveal about how the Ancient Greeks felt about women, love, lust, and relationships.

  Join us for a mythology-packed episode that will demystify the goddess of love. Get the show notes here.

• The Cult of Aphrodite

  If you know anything about Aphrodite, then you know she is the ancient Greek goddess primarily associated with love, beauty, sex, reproduction, and passion. She was also the patron goddess of sex workers in the ancient Classical world.

  Join us as we explore how Aphrodite was worshipped in ancient Greece, the goddess’s history and ancient roots, and how the Romans transformed her into Venus.

  Get the show notes here.

• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (With Liv Albert from Myths Baby!)

  Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths Baby! has an obsession, and the name of that obsession is Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

  This game immerses you immediately in Ancient Greece–and provides loads of historically accurate settings from the world we’ve been exploring this season: the symposia of Athens, the pleasures of Corinth, the Peloponnesian War and exactly who’s responsible, and the mysteries of Crete and other Greek islands.

  Come join us on a tour of Ancient Greece as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey sees it. You may even meet some old friends. Warning: Spoilers abound.

  Get the show notes here.

• Werewolves of Wolf Mountain: Terrors of Ancient Greece

  The werewolf myth as we know it today generally involves getting bitten by a werewolf, transforming during the full moon, and being very susceptible to silver bullets. But werewolves in ancient Greece and Rome were a little different.

  Join us for a spooky-season deep dive into ancient werewolf mythology from thousands of years ago. We’ll take a look at the pre-Christian origins of the werewolf myth and its connections to death, starvation, cannibalism, and transformation.

  Get the show notes here.

• Three Ghost Stories from Ancient Greece (With Liv Albert from Myths Baby!)

  Dads who devour their children. Disembodied baby heads. Corpses that stand up on the battlefield to prophesy doom. Women who return from the grave to carry on steamy affairs.

  The Ancient Greeks did ghost stories…a little differently. This week, we team up with Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! to bring you three ghostly tales from ancient Greece that will chill your blood.

  Get the show notes here.

• Sex Workers of Pompeii (With Elodie Harper)

  The Lupanar, or “Wolf Den,” is the infamous brothel of Pompeii. Elodie Harper’s bestselling novel follows the lives of the sex workers who lived and worked there—their passions, their heartbreaks, and the tightly-knit community they built for themselves.

  Today, we’ve invited Elodie on the show to talk about the realities of sex workers’ lives in the Wolf Den—and how sex work was practiced in Pompeii near the time of the Vesuvius eruption.

  Get the show notes here.

• Aspasia x Pericles: Love in the Time of Plague

  Last week, we told you about the lives of five elite courtesans in Classical Athens. But we left someone out–perhaps the most elite hetaera of them all.

  Long-term partner of a leading Athenian statesman, darling of the philosophical set, survivor of the plague of Athens—she threw her own parties, and they were the best parties ever thrown within a hundred-mile radius of Athens. No one has done better since. Her name was Aspasia.

  Get the show notes here.

• Hustlers, Harlots, Heroines: The Elite Courtesans Who Ruled Classical Athens

  In our last few episodes on sex workers in ancient Greece, we tried to paint a picture of a group of women, in some cases, with more freedom and independence than most in the ancient Greek world could dream of. But that freedom came at a price.

  Now, we’re going to tell you about the lives of some of ancient Greece’s most famous courtesans.

  Get the show notes here.

• Dangers of the Symposium

  The symposia–all-male drinking parties–were the playground and hunting ground of Athens’ elite courtesans. But they had their dangers, too.

  Join us as we attend a symposium with the fast set of Ancient Athens. We’re going to hang out with the hetaerae, drink our faces off, flirt outrageously with everyone in range, and debate with the philosophers until the sun comes up.

  Get the show notes here.

• Rules of the Game: Sex Workers in Ancient Greece

  The conventional wisdom is that sex workers in ancient Greece were divided into two main categories: pornai who were enslaved in brothels, and hetaerae, who were elite courtesans. That’s actually a drastic oversimplification.

  This is the beginning of a journey into the world of sex workers in ancient Greece. Join us as we explore what life was like for sex workers at every level of the profession—including those who didn’t fit easily into these categories.

  Get the show notes here.

• Rivers of Old Londinium (With Ben Aaronovitch)

  London began its life as Old Londinium—an informal trading community that sprang up around the narrowest point in the Thames, and was burned to the ground by Boudicca’s army just decades after its founding.

  This week, we asked bestselling urban fantasy author Ben Aaronovitch to take us on a tour of Old Londinium—say, the day before Boudicca’s arrival.

  Join us as we explore the streets and rivers of this diverse and enterprising trading town, and then wander all the way up Watling Street to Hadrian’s Wall.

  Get the show notes here.

• Boudicca Part 3: Last Ride of the Iceni

  The people of Camulodunum had found out the hard way that Rome’s promises of protection weren’t enough to save them from Boudicca’s rampaging army—and so did the people of London and Verulamium. Boudicca burned these cities to the ground, unleashing a cleansing fire that was seared into the British landscape.

  From there, Boudicca and her army set out on Watling Street, an ancient Iron-age road that led all the way to Wales—where the fires of rebellion still burned. If Boudicca could reach the Druids of Anglesey, perhaps together they could drive the Romans out of Britain for good.

  But first, she would have to get through the Roman general Suetonius Paulinus, who waited for her on Watling Street.

  Get the show notes here.

• Boudicca Part 2: Hares and Foxes Amongst the Wolves

  When Boudicca rebelled against the Romans, she knew exactly who to turn to for allies: the Trinovantes.

  Years ago, the Romans had taken over their town, Camulodunum—and made it over into a veterans’ retirement colony, subjugating the Trinovantes in the process. When the opportunity came to drive the Romans out, they seized the opportunity.

  But many of those living in Camulodunum were Britons themselves—some who had been enslaved, and others trying to maintain an uneasy peace with the Roman conquerors. Find out what happened when Boudicca’s army rolled into their town.

  Get the show notes here.

  This episode was sponsored by the TimeTravelRome app! Get it for iPhone or Android.

• Boudicca Part 1: The Seeds of Rebellion

  The story of Boudicca’s revolt is as epic as you can get. It’s got murder and pillage, Romans behaving badly, cities on fire, and a layer of destruction that was scorched into the earth. But it’s also the story of a people on a precipice of great change.

  Who was Boudicca? Who was this iron-age warrior queen who stood up to the Romans—and whose name was so revered and feared that stories of her are still being spun almost 2,000 years later? In this episode, we’re going to find out.

  Get the show notes here.

• BONUS EPISODE: Liv Wrote a Book!+ Drunk Mythology

  Our dear friend Liv wrote a book, Greek Mythology: the Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook, and it’s already a bestseller! We just had to celebrate by dropping an extra bonus episode where we interview Liv about her book like super serious professionals.

  At least, that’s how this episode starts.

  For the past year, we’ve teamed up with Liv to bring a series of drunken myth retellings to both of our Patreon channels. We decided to bring a tipsy myth to our main feed in the second half of this episode. So settle in, pop open a beverage of choice, and get ready for a drunken retelling of Arachne.

  Continue the fun by signing up to our Patreon or Liv’s Patreon! And get the show notes here.

• Hadrian in Athens (With Liv Albert from Myths Baby!)

  Hadrian was the Roman emperor who commissioned Hadrian’s Wall–and he probably had a hand in designing it. But the Wall was only a very small part of Hadrian’s life, and it’s not the only massive building project that comes down to us today from his reign.

  This week, Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! joins us to talk about how Hadrian combined his obsession with architecture and his passion for all things Greek to transform the city of Athens. Get the show notes here.

• The Pictish Beast: What is It?

  The Pictish Beast is a mysterious animal carved on Pictish standing stones. Nobody knows what kind of animal it is. But it must have been really important to the Picts, as over 40% of animals carved into their stones are the Pictish Beast.

  Is it an elephant? Is it a kelpie? Is it an ancient prehistoric monster the likes of which no living person has ever seen? What is it??

  In this episode, Genn and Jenny spend roughly an hour debating what, exactly, the Pictish Beast might have been. We state our cases, lay out our supporting facts, get really opinionated, and knock back a few drinks along the way.

  Get the show notes here.

• Who Were the Picts?

  The Picts burst onto the Romano-British scene as terrifying Celtic pirates, overwhelming Hadrian’s Wall from the north, sweeping in from the sea to ravage and burn Romano-British settlements as the power of the Roman Empire slowly receded.

  In the centuries after Rome faded, they were the true Kings in the North—building a powerful kingdom in the northernmost highlands that lasted more than 600 years. Until, around 900 AD, they disappeared from the record. They simply vanished.

  Who were the Picts—and what became of them? In this episode, we’re going to find out.

  Get the show notes here.

• Hadrian’s Wall, Part 4: Wall at the End of the World

  By the end of the 300s, the soldiers on Hadrian’s Wall were hungry, they were under-equipped, and they hadn’t been paid in years. Even so, many stayed at their posts–even as the Roman Empire lost its grip on Britain entirely.

  Find out how the fall of Rome looked from the view of Hadrian’s Wall–and what became of those stationed there, holding the frontiers of an empire as it swiftly crumbled around them.

  Get the show notes here.

• Hadrian’s Wall, Part 3: After Hadrian

  The living at Hadrian’s Wall wasn’t as austere as you might think for those stationed there–especially in the beginning. Merchants flocked from all over the Empire to sell their wares to soldiers with regular paychecks.

  But conditions changed drastically in the decades and centuries after Hadrian died. New Emperors–Antoninus Pius, Diocletian, Septimius Severus, and others–would all leave their mark on the Wall and its territory.

  This week, we’re going to talk about what became of the Wall—and those who lived there—after Hadrian’s death.

  Get the show notes here.

• Hadrian’s Wall, Part 2: Life and Death on the Wall

  What was life like on Hadrian’s Wall? This week, we’re going to explore the living conditions along the Wall–at the forts and the milecastles, in the officers’ quarters and soldiers’ barracks, and in the bustling civilian towns that sprang up around the military encampments.

  There’s a treasure trove of archaeology at forts along the Wall–especially at Vindolanda, where fragile artifacts are perfectly preserved in deep anaerobic soil.

  Find out what we’ve managed to piece together about life on the Wall from the well-preserved clothes, footwear, weapons, tools, jewelry, bodies, and the fort commander’s private stash of mail.

  Get the show notes here.

• Hadrian’s Wall, Part 1: Mysteries of the Wall

  Hadrian’s Wall is a jaw-dropping engineering achievement stretching 73 miles across hundred-foot-high escarpments and rushing rivers, its earthworks dug deep into unforgiving igneous bedrock.

  It’s the largest Roman artifact in existence, and yet we still have no idea why it was built. It’s barely mentioned in the ancient sources, but in its rise and fall, you can trace the rise and fall of Roman Britain as a whole.

  This is the epic story we’re going to tell you: the story of Hadrian’s Wall. Get the show notes here.

• Women in Welsh Mythology (with Mari Catrin Phillips from MythsnTits)

  This week, we’re taking a deep dive into Welsh mythology from a queer, feminist perspective with the phenomenally talented Welsh artist Mari Catrin Phillips of MythsnTits.

  Join us as we get acquainted with the women of the Mabinogion. Get the show notes here.

• Merry Mithras: International God of Mystery

  If you know anything about Mithras, you might have the impression that he was kind of a proto-Jesus. Turns out that’s wrong.

  Think of this as less of a seasonal episode, and more of a seasonal myth-busting episode. Get ready for the epic story of a bull-slaughtering, mushroom-tripping, light-bringing, Emperor-pee-drinking, hierarchy-maintaining, Smurf-hat-wearing cosmic warrior.

  Get the show notes here.

• The Morrigan: Celtic Goddess of War

  The Morrigan has many faces and just as many names: Badb, the scald-crow. Red-haired Macha. Nevin of the battle-frenzy. Fea; the deathly. Be Neit; the Woman of Battle.

  You may meet her on the battlefield as an old woman or a beautiful young maiden. If you see her washing your clothes at the river, be warned.

  But first and foremost, the Morrigan was a war goddess. And to understand her, you have to understand her battlefield. Join us as we get to know the Morrigan—and explore the bloody waters in which she swam.

  Get the show notes here.

• In Search of Female Druids

  In our last episode, we alluded to the fact that there were female as well as male Druids in the Celtic iron age. But if the picture of male Druids is spotty, the picture of female Druids is more mysterious still.

  But we just could not let this go. We decided to delve into Celtic culture, myth, and archaeology to see what we could uncover about female Druids in the ancient world.

  Get the show notes here.

• Anglesey: the Druids’ Last Stand

  When Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, the Druids suffered a swift and catastrophic loss of status and position. Persecuted and demonized by later Emperors, many fled to Britain, where Roman influence didn’t reach.

  But eventually, the Romans followed. The Druids were driven to the island of Anglesey— the last stronghold of Druidic life and learning. From there, they incited rebellion among Welsh tribes, firing up a fierce resistance.

  Until finally, standing on the last stretch of beach on the last island refuge, the Druids made an epic stand against the Roman invaders. Get the show notes here.

• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Ancient World Edition (With Liv Albert from Myths Baby!)

  What tales kept people from thousands of years ago up at night?

  This Halloween, Ancient History Fangirl teams up with Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! to delve into spooky stories from the ancient world that will send a shiver up your spine—tales of shrieking Banshees, deathly Furies, and the terrors of Samhain.

  So spread some salt over your threshold. Settle into your favorite chair. Pour yourself a drink to take the chill from your bones. And if there’s a knock on your door, whatever you do—don’t answer it.

  Get the show notes here.

• Spartacus vs. Toussaint L’Ouverture (with Mike Duncan)

  More than 1,800 years after Spartacus fought for his freedom, another rebel leader spearheaded the first successful slave revolt in history: the Haitian Revolution. That leader was named Toussaint L’Ouverture.

  This week, we invited Mike Duncan of The History of Rome and Revolutions to help us compare these two revolutions and discuss what advice Toussaint L’Ouverture might have had for Spartacus.

  Get the show notes here.

• Spartacus Part 4: Sine Missione

  Crixus is dead. Spartacus has given up on crossing the Alps. And he has a new enemy: a man with endless money, endless resources, and a lot to prove.

  Nobody asked for more Crassus. Not Spartacus, not the Roman Senate, and not the hundred thousand people following Spartacus to a better life. But in this episode, that’s exactly what everyone is going to get.

  In this episode, the Roman Republic’s richest man faces off against its greatest enemy. No quarter given; no mercy shown. Only one can emerge from this conflict alive.

  Get the show notes here.

• Spartacus Part 3: World on Fire

  After defeating Glaber on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius, Spartacus and his rebels enjoyed a glorious Italian summer—taming wild ponies for their infantry, attracting new recruits, and raiding in the rich Italian farmlands.

  But all good summers come to an end. The Roman Senate continued to send more experienced generals against Spartacus–even as he struggled to reign in his followers’ worst instincts toward violence. And meanwhile, Rome’s foreign wars were winding down. The clock was ticking.

  Get the show notes here.

• Spartacus Part 2: Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?

  In our last episode, Spartacus and his compatriots broke out of the ludus and began their rebellion. Spurred on by the Dionysian prophecies of his lover, the Thracian Lady, Spartacus’ legend grew.

  But the Roman Senate was not going to let his army rampage unchecked—and soon Spartacus would face troubles without and tribal conflicts within. It all came to a head on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius.

  Get the show notes here.

• Spartacus Part 1: Breaker of Chains

  The story of Spartacus is the story of the Roman Republic at a crossroads.

  In the 70s BC, the city of Rome was a powderkeg, the peninsula was wracked with starvation and violence, the Mediterranean was crawling with pirates, and two major wars raged overseas.

  This was the state of affairs when Spartacus rebelled. Join us as we explore the volatile conditions in the Roman Republic that allowed a hero to rise. Get the show notes here.

• A Day at the Gladiatorial Games

  Join us as we travel back in time to the amphitheatre of Capua—mainland Italy’s largest amphitheatre in its day—and experience a day at the gladiatorial games during the time of Spartacus.

  This episode was sponsored by Oneshi Press. Sound sculpting by Lens Group Media. Get the show notes here.

• How to Train Your Gladiator

  What did it take to be a gladiator? Who ended up in the arena, and why? And how did the gladiatorial games—one of the bloodiest sporting events known in the ancient world—come to be?

  From the ancient roots of Etruscan funeral games to the height of Roman spectacle, we examine the history of gladiatorial combat—and explore what life was like for gladiators (and lanistas) in the time of Spartacus. Get the show notes here.

• Spartacus in Film and Popular Culture (With the Partial Historians)

  We invited the Partial Historians onto our show to discuss one of their favorite topics and ours: Spartacus in film and pop culture.

  Join us in a no-holds-barred conversation in which Dr. Rad unleashes the beast, Dr. G stages a rebellion-within-the-rebellion, and Dr. Rad’s cat has a LOT to say. Get the show notes here.

• Thracians: Heart of Ares

  The Thracians were the most feared professional killers of the ancient world—serving as hired assassins, enforcers, and mercenaries in famous battles from one end of the Mediterranean to the other.

  They were the ones the Romans and Greeks hired for their really dirty work.

  But there was more to the Thracians than violence. In this episode, we use ancient sources and modern archeology to build a picture of how these epic people lived, loved, fought, and died.

  Get the show notes here.

• Thracians: Shoot the Messenger

  Who was Spartacus, really?

  It’s not an easy question to answer. The ancient sources agree that he was Thracian, but even this is up for debate. Still, we’re going to go out on a limb and say that to know Spartacus, you have to know the Thracians.

  The Thracians were a fierce warrior people, consummate mercenaries who fought in every major Greek and Roman war—and believed that they would never die. Join us as we try to breathe life into these epic people by exploring their unique mythology and religious beliefs.

  Get the show notes here.

• Salvius and the Star Reader: The Second Servile War

  During the First Servile War, the epic prophet and fire-breather named Eunus led a rebellion that threatened the Republic to its foundations. For a time, Eunus controlled all of Sicily. But he ended his life devoured by lice in a jail cell.

  After Eunus’ death, the great Sicilian latifundia recovered. Within a few years, they were up and running again—just as strong, profitable, and cruel as before.

  But just 28 years later, another major uprising—the Second Servile War—would shake that system to its core once again. Find out how it all went down. Get the show notes here.

• Eunus and the Mermaid Goddess: The First Servile War

  The First Servile War started in 135 BC—about 62 years before Spartacus led his rebellion. It lasted about twice as long as the Spartacus war, and involved hundreds of thousands of people.

  The Spartacus of this rebellion was a man named Eunus—a fire-breather and miracle worker whose courage inspired additional revolts throughout the Italian peninsula and beyond. This is his story.

  Get the show notes here.

• Dionysus: Myths and Madness (With Liv Albert from Myths Baby!)

  This week, Ancient History Fangirl teams up with Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! to drink wine, drop some f-bombs, and dish about everyone’s favorite god of theatre, orgies, booze and madness.

  Join us as we explore all the ways Dionysus subverted the Roman patriarchy, theatre practices of the ancient Greeks, woman-centric retellings of Medea and Medusa, and the most radically feminist Greek playwright of his time: Euripides.

  Get the show notes here.

• Dionysus: Religion of Revolution

  In our last episode we talked about the journey Dionysus took to become a god. We followed his travels across the Mediterranean as he went on an epic quest to spread the cultivation of wine.

  In this episode, we’ll focus on what happened after Dionysus won his place as a god on Mount Olympus–how people worshiped him on earth, and what made him so dangerous to the Roman status quo.

  Get the show notes here.

• Dionysus: Have You Heard the Good News (About Me)?

  Forget what you thought you knew about Dionysus and his cozy wine-drinking image.

  This is the Dionysus of Thrace. The Dionysus of Mithradates. Of Spartacus. Of revolutionaries across the classical world. This is the story of how one wandering god inspired people to rise up against injustice.

  In Part 1, we look at Dio’s origin story, his mythography, and how his journey across the ancient world followed in the steps of winemaking. Get the show notes here.

• Cocktails & Caligula (With Queens Podcast)

  Our only explanation for this episode is that it was Jenny’s birthday–and she wanted to have some friends over. So we invited Katy and Nathan from Queens Podcast to come on our podcast and drink us under the table.

  Join us on a drunken ramble through the Julio-Claudian dynasty, where we go on and ON about our favorite topics: Agrippina (Elder and Younger), Cleopatra, badass women in history, and whether Caligula and Henry VIII were in fact the same person.

  Get the show notes here.

• Cleopatra x Marc Antony: Lovers in a Dangerous Time (Part 5)

  After the disaster at Actium, Marc Antony’s entire army–100,000 strong–surrendered to Octavian. Marc Antony and Cleopatra fled to Alexandria to negotiate the terms of their defeat.

  Those were dark, foreboding days. Friends and allies fled the palace. Marc Antony fell into a deep depression, while Cleopatra searched desperately for a way out–one that would keep her kingdom intact and her children alive.

  But the reckoning was on its way. Get the show notes here.

• Cleopatra x Marc Antony: Lovers in a Dangerous Time (Part 4)

  As Marc Antony and Cleopatra settled into life in Alexandria, Octavian whipped up a toxic garbage fire of racism, misogyny, and xenophobia in Rome–and then declared war. Not against Marc Antony, but against Cleopatra.

  Soon, the lovers would be forced to defend their home, their family, and their life together on the shores of the Ambracian Gulf. Find out how it all went down–at a town called Actium.

  Get the show notes here.