When he was only 10 years old, the Yunnan province was reconquered by Chinese forces led by Ming Dynasty generals. His father was killed in the battle that ensued, and he soon found himself among the boys who were captured by the Ming army. He was castrated as was customary for juvenile captives. He survived this ordeal and was forced to serve in the army. Years later, this little Muslim captive from Yunnan became one of the greatest adventurers in history.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/11/18/the-rise-of-a-great-adventurer/

Five is one of the mystical numbers according to Hindu belief.  There are five ingredients prescribed for worship: wine, fish, flesh, lard and chant, corresponding to the five senses in the human body: taste, smell, sight, touch and hearing. It is also believed that nature manifests itself in five forms: earth, water, fire, wind and sky. Each kanya is born of one of these elements, and these five elements of nature formed the essence of their characters.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/11/15/the-five-eternal-virgins-of-ancient-india/

Mariam sponsored the Andalusian Mosque in 859 AD which still stands today. For her part, Fatima began buying properties adjacent to the mosque, thereby significantly increasing the size of the mosque to found the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University.

But they were not the only women who sponsor buildings for their communities.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/11/11/powerful-women-and-higher-education-of-ancient-islam/

The Four Great Beauties are four ancient Chinese women renowned for their beauty which they skillfully exercised to influence Chinese history. Although each of the Four Great Beauties frequently appear as the subjects or objects of arts, one seldom learns much of them beyond their names, descriptions of their looks and brief mentions of their skills, which was then preserved by Confucius as part of his philosophy.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/11/08/the-four-great-beauties-of-ancient-china/

Nice to meet you all and thank you for listening :)

Crossdressing is recorded around the world from the ancient past up to the present. In the ancient world, cross-dressing often mirrored gender-crossing actions of deities. In this context, it was tolerated, even supported, as an aspect of religious devotion. Also in this context, the transformation of gender is often associated with the process of coming closer to divinity by breaking down the categories of ordinary human experience. The manipulation of dress, therefore, is the most visible and convenient way for human beings to do what divine beings accomplish by other means, including crossing gender.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/11/04/ancient-history-of-cross-dressing/

Ancient Greek and Roman world gave us many individuals who were celebrities in their day and whose careers provide us with what we recognize today as different aspects of the modern celebrity culture such as endorsements, groupies and 15 minutes of fame – albeit without the terminology. The price of fame in the ancient world is also surprisingly, and in some cases chillingly, similar with what we see today.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/11/01/celebrity-culture-in-the-ancient-world/

Richard Wagner’s 19th century opera, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of Nibelungen), affectionately known as the “Ring” Cycle, may be considered by many as the height of operatic absurdity, with larger than life staging, costumes and voices. The image is so ingrained in the modern consciousness that opera lovers and non-lovers alike associate the opera, specifically the character of Brunhilde, with a heavy-set female opera singer wearing her hair in pig-tails, costumed with horned helmet and armor. As the opera went on to make its mark on popular culture, from featuring in an episode of Bugs Bunny to inspiring a Quentin Tarantino film, Brunhilde became a more visually recognizable figure, which is not always followed by immediate association to her name and her story.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/10/28/it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/

“Each of the criminals is bound to an iron pillar and the ox-headed demon is in the process of administering punishment—using iron or copper blades he peels the skin of the person’s face, just as a butcher kills a pig and then flays it.” This passage is found in a Chinese Shanshu (“good book” or “morality book”) titled Diyu yu-chi (roughly translated as “Record of a Journey to Hell”). The book emerged in tenth century China and talks about the things that one would find in hell which, of course, include many forms of tortures.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/10/25/the-bureaucracy-of-death/

In the battle against the Samnites in 296 BCE, general Appius Claudius uttered a prayer, “Bellona, if you grant us victory today, I promise to build you a temple.” his prayer was proven to be effective as the Romans proceeded to capture and plundered the Samnite camp, giving a massive amount of booty to their own sodiers.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/10/21/bellona/