Ancient History Fangirl

⁠⁠⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Most of us are familiar with the concept of Armageddon: signifying the end times: a battle that takes place at the end of the world.  In the Bible, that word, Armageddon, is a place. It specifically refers to the location of this world-ending battle. And the phrase itself, har Megiddo, is a Hebrew phrase that means something like “the crowded heights.” The thing is, Megiddo was a real town. And in 1457 BC, it was the location of a battle and a months-long siege—perhaps the oldest battle and siege ever recorded. It was the first battle, and the last. Today we delve into the realities and realpolitik of this siege—and what it would have taken to survive. Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Find Jenny's book, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Enemy of My Dreams⁠⁠⁠⁠, and preorder the sequel, Game of Thieves, ⁠⁠through an exclusive deal with Burning Pages⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Find Jenny's book, ⁠⁠⁠Enemy of My Dreams⁠⁠⁠, and preorder the sequel, Game of Thieves, ⁠through an exclusive deal with Burning Pages⁠! In celebration of the release of the epic sequel, Game of Thieves, on December 8, Jenny is bringing you an audiobook clip from her debut novel: Enemy of My Dreams. It’s a sweeping historical epic about a brutal Gothic Warlord (Alaric of the Visigoths) teaming up with a boozy Roman princess to take down an Empire. Here, we meet Julia and Alaric: Alaric at the moment when he decides to turn against Rome, when the injustices visited on him by the Roman people become too much to bear, and Julia in the aftermath of one of her famous parties, nipples gilded, viciously hung over, when she learns that her brother’s transition to power holds serious dangers for her. These two scenes set our hero and heroine on a trajectory of collision. It’s a great way to reintroduce you to the book, to Julia and Alaric, and to let you know that the sequel, Game of Thieves, is coming out December 8! So be sure to preorder today, in audiobook, ebook, or paperback! Performance credit: Lisa Flanagan Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! ⁠⁠ It is the End of Season 15--and we have to say, this was a challenging season for us. We were stepping outside our usual work by focusing on both the ancient and the modern world, but we really felt that the stretch was worth it. We are leaving this season with a healthy amount of trepidation--and even more determination than ever to vote while we still have the right to. Join us as we discuss what we just did, what's in store for next season, and what's going on with our books and creative projects. Find Jenny's book, ⁠⁠Enemy of My Dreams⁠⁠, and preorder the sequel, Game of Thieves, through an exclusive deal with Burning Pages! Get Genn's most recent book, the ⁠⁠Official Lore Olympus Cookbook⁠⁠, here! Find our book Women of Myth ⁠here⁠! And check out Genn and Jenny's individual author Patreons! Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! ⁠ 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. Sponsors and Advertising This episode was brought to you by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free, sell clothes you no longer wear, and keep everything you earn. This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠⁠⁠⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! ⁠ In the last episode of our season, we’re taking an in-depth look at the life and writing of Ovid: pickup artist, poet extraordinaire, and all-around good-time guy who knew where all the best underground raves were in ancient Rome. Ovid loved city life, and he adored tweaking the nose of Rome’s First Citizen through his writing. In this episode, we chart Ovid’s rise and fall--from a cheeky, subversive poet to a tool in Augustus’ autocratic agenda, and finally to an exile. And we compare it to Donald Trump’s handling of his loudest critics—including the press and our nation’s late night TV hosts. Is the Trump regime taking a page out of Augustus’ playbook? And what warning can an exiled poet from 2,000 years ago have for us all today? Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! ⁠ 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. Sponsors and Advertising This episode was brought to you by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free, sell clothes you no longer wear, and keep everything you earn. This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠Sign up to our Patreon to get the exclusive video version of this episode! We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this brilliant crossover episode! Our very own Genn McMenemy made a guest appearance on Liv Albert's Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! to interview the co-authors of the BRAND NEW CAMP HALF BLOOD BOOK: Camp Half-Blood: The Wild Zone! In this episode, Rick Riordan and Annabelle Oh share their mythical inspirations, what's going on at Camp Half Blood in the new series, and more. Sponsors and Advertising This episode was brought to you by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free, sell clothes you no longer wear, and keep everything you earn. This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! ⁠⁠⁠ 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 deadlyYersinia 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. Sponsors and Advertising This episode was brought to you by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free, sell clothes you no longer wear, and keep everything you earn. This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠⁠⁠⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! What can we believe about the Odyssey? This is the question posed by bestselling author Liv Albert, host of the Let’s Talk About Myth’s Baby! podcast, and author of three books including the brand new The Odyssey: A Modern Retelling. It’s an Odyssey for children, but one which readers of all ages will find it very easy to fall in love with. Join us as we delve deep into this ancient tale in a wide-ranging conversation spanning gods, goddesses and monsters; Odysseus’ status as a problematic narrator (and self-admitted liar), and just what is it about him that continues to fascinate. Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! ⁠ 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. Sponsors and Advertising This episode is brought to you by Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free, sell clothes you no longer wear, and keep everything you earn. This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices