We return to North Africa this week to explore some of the most infamous and intriguing characters of early modern history: the Corsairs of the Barbary Coast. What compelled Dutch sailors and English knights to "turn Turk" and sail under the Ottoman flag? What does Miguel de Cervantes have to do with a famous mosque in Istanbul? And were pirate attacks on Ireland an inside job? We going into all this and more in our episode on the notorious pirates of the Mediterranean.

Hosted by Liam, and Russian Sam.

Hey everyone, Russian Sam came down with a stomach virus so we were unable to record an episode for this week. We didn't want to leave you guys without any content for the week. In lieu of an episode, here is a brief historical introduction to Uzbekistan and the first few chapters of the Uzbek comedic autobiographical novel Shum Bola, or Mischievous Boy. Enjoy, and please do let us know if you would be interested in reading more of the adventures of this boy. The audio on the feed for this episode (couldn't send this post without one!) is the main theme song for the 1977 film adaption of Shum Bola. 

https://gladiofree.substack.com/p/the-literature-of-soviet-uzbekistan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjEUg21mJ-c

CIA agent Everette Howard Hunt, Jr is notorious for involvement in the 1954 Guatemalan coup, the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the break-in at the Watergate hotel. But not many people know about most heinous crime: his decades-long side hustle as a hack writer. In this episode, we try to stomach his paranoid 1972 thriller "The Coven," in which a straight-laced attorney uncovers that Black Panthers are colluding with liberal elites in occult ceremonies in the shadows of Washington, DC. We explore what this book says about Hunt's personal anxieties, why his boss Richard Nixon thought the world could be divided into "Orthogonians" and "Franklins," and what the famed G-Man may or may not have been doing in Dallas on November 22, 1963

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Abram.

We’re finally launching our exploration of Moroccan history, the most important country that Americans have hardly heard of. This episode will be a crash course on Moroccan history up until the early modern period. We follow rise of the 'Alawi dynasty that still holds power today, exploring how they came to power, kicked out the conquistadors, and established a massive army of slave-soldiers who helped turn a medieval kingdom into a modern state.

In coming weeks, we’ll explore how French and Spanish colonialists imposed themselves on Moroccan politics and what effect these imperial incursions had on the colony and the metropole. These episodes will correspond with our upcoming republication of the works of Ramón J. Sender, a Spanish antifascist whose 1930 novel The Magnet chronicles imperial blunders in the 1921 Rif War.

Hosted by Liam, and Russian Sam.

We continue our journey into medieval Sicily by following the rag-tag band of Normans who carved out a tiny foothold on the Italian peninsula. In less than 50 years, these French-speaking adventurers and grandchildren of the Vikings would unite Southern Italy and established themselves as the overlords on the advanced and prosperous island of Sicily. We’ll explore how these adventurers like Robert Guiscard and the warrior-queen Sikelgaita were able to defeat popes, emirs, and even Byzantine Emperors and discuss how these new Norman rulers would join, and not destroy, the existing Arab civilization of Sicily.

Hosted by Liam, and Russian Sam.

And we’re back! Liam and Russian Sam return to the early middle ages to explore the unique and unbelievably fascinating history of Medieval Sicily. A true crossroads of civilization, this sun-soaked island has been influenced by cultures from every corner of the Mediterranean and beyond and is an amazing microcosm for the entire history of Europe and the Middle East as well. The first of a two-part series, this episode recounts many incredible stories of Sicily’s Islamic period. Get ready to hear about how Sicily drew Arab adventurers into the cutthroat politics of Italy’s city-states, why you should never accept a dinner invitation from Emir Ibrahim, and how these Islamic newcomers gave us the one Sicilian word that everybody knows.

Hosted by Liam, and Russian Sam.

1100 years ago, the power of the Normans stretched from the British Isles to the Mediterranean. They had become one of the most powerful clans in Europe. Yet their recent ancestors were lowly pagan Vikings. In this episode, we go over the swashbuckling history of the Normans to figure how a group of barbarian pirates were able to fight for their seat at the table of European politics and leave their unique mark on world history.

Further Listening: E30 The Lion in Winter and Medieval Christmas, E36 The Franks, E24 Kievan Rus', E15 The Last Kingdom

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.

As the Zodiac Killer was tormenting San Francisco and captivating the rest of the country, Dirty Harry, a movie about a hard nosed cop who takes down a serial killer called Scorpio, was released. We talk about it, why people may have convinced themselves there were more similarities than there were, and the general topic of escalating violence within society and cinema.

Hosted by Liam, and Abram.

Play it again, Russian Sam. The gang takes a deep dive into the circumstances that produced the most celebrated picture in Hollywood history: Casablanca. We explore how a distant Moroccan port became a cosmopolitan haven for Europe’s refugees, delve into the notorious Vichy French government that ran wartime North Africa, and explain how the most beloved American film almost didn’t happen in this week’s episode.

Note: Sam mistakenly mentions the First and Second Agadir Crises. This was a mistake, these were rather called the Moroccan Crises and the first one is named after Tangiers and happened in 1905-6, while the second one is the Agadir Crisis of 1911.

Hosted by Liam, and Russian Sam.

Everybody’s been talking about The Northman, so we decided to talk about it even more. We break down the meticulous research Robert Eggers put into this movie. From Norse mythology to the details of Viking slavery, Scandinavian state formation, and material culture, we cover the bases to allow our audience to appreciate what a truly alien world this was.

Hosted by Liam, and Russian Sam.