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Was your grandmother a Neanderthal? Did the English language originate in ancient Iran? What's a haplogroup anyway? These questions and more will be answered in our Q&A with returning guest Natasha, a molecular biologist with great insight into what recent breakthroughs in ancient DNA can and can't teach us about our past. This episode goes over the broad strokes of archaeogenetic research, using a few famous case studies to explore discoveries made through genetics as well as potential ethical pitfalls and dangerous misapplications. Plus, we make sure to dive into the hottest gossip and scandals currently tearing the field of ancient DNA research strand by strand.

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Thousands of years ago, the Egyptian princess Scota gave birth to a child who invented the Gaelic language and led his family on a journey through the desert for 440 years. Their descendants would move to Greece and then Spain, before becoming the first humans to finally conquer Ireland from a race of elves called the Tuatha Dé Danann. Meanwhile in Britain, 33 wicked Greek princess each married the Devil and gave birth to 33 terrible giants. Two exiled Trojan princes, Brutus and Corineus, would slaughter these giants and divide the island into two kingdoms called Britain and Cornwall, ruling for thousands of years until the arrival of Julius Caesar. 

Join Gladio Free Europe this to find out why medieval people believed these stories just as strongly as Americans believe that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree. In this episode, Liam and Russian dig into the phenomenon of legendary ancestors: mythical and often supernatural heroes and villains once thought to be the ancestors of entire kingdoms. We recount a few of the most interesting and far-fetched of these stories and explore what this reveals about how medieval people understood their place in the world. Although nobody talks about figures like Scota and Brutus today, their medieval legends played a huge role in the formation of early modern identities and even have unpleasant echoes in nationalism today. Last, we go over why all of us are more likely to be descended from kings and heroes and mythical snake-women than we might think.

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Every kid in America grows up hearing about "The First Thanksgiving" featuring Squanto, the Mayflower, and the surprising nutritional value of dead-fish fertilizer. But this patriotic narrative offers only a tiny glimpse at the astonishing and agonizing history of contact between Europeans and indigenous peoples of New England, who called themselves the Ninnimissinuok. Our multi-part series on 17th century New England begins by examining the beliefs, culture, rapidly-changing politics of nations like the Wampanoag and Narragansett hundreds of years before religious disputes on the other side of the ocean would send English interlopers into their land. We'll also look at colorful figures like George Waymouth and Ferdinando Gorges who were involved in exploration and even failed colonization in New England long before the Pilgrims, as well as the unbelievable stories of indigenous people like Sassacomit and the Tisquantum who were stolen from their homes and brought to Europe, yet managed to make it back in one piece. Last, look into how and why an obscure but probably real celebration between some Pilgrims and Wampanoags became an essential part of our nationalist mythos.

NOTE: The first 5 minutes of audio are lower quality due to an issue with Liam's mic. This Thanksgiving, Gladio Free Europe is thankful for your patience in dealing with this technical issue!

Outro music: Honor Song, a song of the eastern Algonquian peoples including the Wampanoag and the Mi'kmaq 

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At the turn of the century, thousands of Americans believed they had met the messiah: Cyrus Teed, an unassuming doctor from upstate New York.   

In this episode, Liam and Russian Sam explore the dead religion of Koreshanity, a short-lived but influential cult that sought to establish a celibate utopia before the end of days. Fascinating, occasionally frightening, but always uniquely American, Cyrus Teed and the Koreshans are like a skeleton key to understanding this country's spiritual history.  

After an electrifying near-death-experience convinced him that he was bound for greatness and would never die, Teed began preaching an elaborate religious doctrine he called "Koreshanity." Blending Biblical scripture and medieval hermeticism with modern ideas like socialism and feminism, he quickly amassed a devoted following across the United States and promised to build a "New Jerusalem," the largest city the world had ever seen. After his utopian commune ran into trouble in Chicago, Teed and his disciples moved to Florida where they sought to prove one of the central tenets of Koreshanity: that we're all living on the inside of a hollow planet.

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In the heart of Old Prague, in the attic of the Altneuschul Synagogue, lies the inanimate body of a golem, or so the legend goes! We watched the 1920 classic of German cinema The Golem: How He Came Into The World to explore the strange history of this iconic creature, its ancient connection to the mythology of the Ancient Near East, and later Judaism. How did an entity so rooted in traditions of Jewish mysticism come to resonate with people across the globe, Jew and gentile alike? Why are automata such a captivating topic from the start of the Industrial Revolution all the way through today, and how did the golem come to inspire staples of American culture such as Frankenstein, Blade Runner, the Terminator, and beyond? All this and more on the second annual Halloween episode of Gladio Free Europe!

From Godzilla to Game of Thrones, dragons dominate today's pop culture landscape and play a monstrous role in the modern imagination. But how did this obsession with fire-breathing reptiles begin? For this week's episode, Liam and Russian Sam follow the cultural history of dragons across Europe and Asia. We explore why so many cultures imagined their own colossal serpents, diving into paleontology, mythology, and evolutionary psychology to figure out why  these scaly creatures delighted the minds and haunted the dreams of our ancestors for thousands of years.

Hosted by Liam and Russian Sam.

The Magnet is almost here! The GFE team will be republishing Ramón Sender's legendary book Imán in English for the first time in almost 90 years, and all of you get a front row seat! In this special sneak preview, we present a brief analysis of the Rif War as a catalyst for Spanish fascism and the proto-existentialist bent of the novel, followed by excerpts from the book describing the conditions of the poor peasantry of Spain and the painful realities of war.

Hosted by Liam and Russian Sam.

Further listening: E51 - History of Morocco P. 1, E53 - The Barbary Pirates, E54 History of Morocco P. 2

We're back in Morocco! We pick up with the reign of Mawlay Muhammad III, often called the "architect of modern Morocco." In addition to building up several new cities, Muhammad reformed the state through a sweeping decentralization of power. Although effective at dealing with the challenges of his own time, Muhammad's reforms would have negative ramifications down the line. We catch up with his rowdy half-Irish son Yazid and his never-ending series of rebellions, as well as his other son Suleiman, whose tenure would be marked by near constant turmoil.

We also take a deep dive into the foundations of Moroccan society, and the many internal dynamics which defined the country. From taxation to religion to agriculture and the divisions between self-identified Arabs and Imazighen (Berber) peoples, we go beyond personalized explanations for the problems which would plague Morocco both internally and in its relations with the outside world.

We cap the episode off with a riveting conclusion to our Barbary Pirate saga, and the ways that the United States would for the first time wage war halfway across the world. So hop on our brig as we sail to the distant shores of North Africa and enjoy the show!

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