Medieval Dungeon Crawling with Stephen Yeager

On this HAPPY BIRTHDAY episode (we’re 1 year old!), we talk with the one, the only, the amazing Claire Aubin – host of the podcast “This Guy Sucked” – about weird medieval girlies in fiction. GuestClaire Aubin is the host of the hit podcast “This Guy Sucked.” She’s a writer and historian at Yale University on a mission to make sure history is for everybody. She’s also unreasonably good at bar trivia. Find her on Bluesky, or her website.CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/adsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Prof. Gabriele and Caroline Golum talk about the riot of color and weirdness of the Middle Ages, and Caroline’s new film based on the 14th-century English woman mystic Julian of Norwich - Revelations of Divine Love.GuestCaroline Golum is a filmmaker and writer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her debut feature, A Feast of Man, is streaming on Amazon Prime, Vimeo, and Tubi. Her second feature, Revelations of Divine Love, premiered in 2025 at FID Marseille before going on to screen in London, Spain, New York, Chicago, D.C., Los Angeles, Philadelphia, among other fine locales. She is also a contributing editor and occasional podcast co-host for Screen Slate. Find her on Instagram at @revelations_of_divine_love and on Bluesky at @carolineavenue.bsky.social.CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Spooky season! For this Halloween episode, Mikki Brock joins us to talk the European witch hunts and lots of weird thoughts about the devil in the premodern world. GuestMikki Brock is Professor and Head of History at Washington and Lee University. She’s a scholar of religion, gender, and her research focuses on the supernatural in early modern Scotland. She can be found on Bluesky at @mikkibrock.bsky.social.CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We back. We talk cool medieval hillforts with Roman technology, and the passing of a medieval historian everyone should know about (and read). GuestThomas Lecaque is an Associate Professor of History and the Director of the First Year Experience at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, located on Baxoje, Meskwaki and Sauk lands. His primary research area is on religious violence and apocalypticism from the crusades of the High Middle Ages through the holy wars of colonial North America, but he teaches broadly in the medieval world, vast early America, and game studies. He can also be found on Bluesky at @tlecaque.bsky.social and on LinkedIn.David M. Perry is a journalist and historian, who currently works as the associate director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Minnesota. He’s the co-author (with Matthew Gabriele) of the books Oathbreakers and The Bright Ages, both from HarperCollins. Over the last few years, Perry’s work on history, parenting, disability, and politics has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Daily Beast, Smithsonian Magazine, Slate, CNN, and many others. His website is davidmperry.com, and he can be found on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/lollardfish.bsky.social. CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/adsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Prof. Gabriele and Sara McDougall talk about her new book, a medieval true crime thriller about an alleged sexual assault in medieval France, and how we can know so much about the rich, complicated lives of people who usually don’t appear in our sources.GuestSara McDougall is professor of history at John Jay College of the City University of New York and affiliated with the CUNY Graduate Center. She is the author of Royal Bastards: The Birth of Illegitimacy, 800–1230, Bigamy and Christian Identity in Late Medieval Champagne, and her newest Justice for Jehanne: The Tale of a Medieval Survivor (September 2026). Find her on Instagram and Bluesky. CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’re back at the Cloisters (in NYC) in this episode! Prof. Gabriele is joined by Joanne Pillsbury and Julia Perratorre to talk about the exhibition “Creatures of Myth and Imagination” that compares monstrous(?) hybrids from Europe and the Americas.GuestsJulia Perratore is Associate Curator, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, where she specializes in the art of southern Europe. Many of her recent projects have explored medieval people's relationships to the natural world. See more at https://www.metmuseum.org/departments/medieval-art-and-the-cloisters/teamJoanne Pillsbury, Andrall E. Pearson Curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the author, editor, or co-editor of numerous books and articles on the subject of ancient American art, specifically the Andean region. In 2025, she was recognized with the Order of Merit for Distinguished Service (Grade of Commendator) by the Republic of Peru. See more at https://www.metmuseum.org/fr/departments/ancient-american-art/teamCreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Prof. Gabriele is joined by the National Book Award winning author M. T. Anderson to talk about his new book Stealing Saint Nick. We talk about the saint, the heist and its cast of characters (freaking Matteo!), and writing good history for teens and adults.GuestM. T. Anderson is a National Book Award-winning author. He’s written stories for adults, picture books for children, adventure novels for young readers, graphic novel adaptations of ancient French tales, and several books for older readers (both teens and adults). His satirical book Feed was a Finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the L.A. Times Book Prize, and the first volume of his Octavian Nothing saga, The Pox Party, won the National Book Award and the Boston Globe / Horn Book Prize. His nonfiction book Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad was long-listed for the National Book Award. His new book is Stealing Saint Nick. See more at https://mtanderson.com/ CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Medieval in the neeeeeeews… This week we talk Bayeux Tapestry, the anti-LLM vibes in our classrooms, and how to ethically use technology in studying the past. Plus no one knows about “Game of Thrones” anymore. GuestThomas Lecaque is an Associate Professor of History and the Director of the First Year Experience at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, located on Baxoje, Meskwaki and Sauk lands. His primary research area is on religious violence and apocalypticism from the crusades of the High Middle Ages through the holy wars of colonial North America, but he teaches broadly in the medieval world, vast early America, and game studies. He can also be found on Bluesky at @tlecaque.bsky.social and on LinkedIn.David M. Perry is a journalist and historian, who currently works as the associate director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Minnesota. He’s the co-author (with Matthew Gabriele) of the books Oathbreakers and The Bright Ages, both from HarperCollins. Over the last few years, Perry’s work on history, parenting, disability, and politics has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Daily Beast, Smithsonian Magazine, Slate, CNN, and many others. His website is davidmperry.com, and he can be found on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/lollardfish.bsky.social. CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Prof. Gabriele and Stephen Yeager talk about how medieval “aventure” (adventures) have a lot in common with Twitch streams and the epic Dungeon Crawler Carl phenomenon. Who knew? GuestStephen Yeager is a professor of English at Concordia University, in Montreal. For information about his teaching and research, visit his faculty webpage. CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Prof. Gabriele and Alex talk about caves. Geologic time. Mystical experiences. Hiding stuff from the fuzz. Plus the idea of total darkness is freaky.GuestAlexander D’Alisera is an interdisciplinary historian of medieval Europe, specializing in caves, stone, ritual, and religion. Currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Boston College, he is working on a book titled Medieval Cave People: A North Sea Speleology, c. 400-1200 CE, which unearths the history of ordinary people and extraordinary underground environments, both real and imagined, across medieval Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia.CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitudeshows.com/ Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.SponsorsWant to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.