Our friend Fathi joins us to discuss The Time That Remains, a 2009 film that examines the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 through to the present day. A semi-biographic film, in four chapters, about a family spanning from 1948 until recent times attempts to portray the daily life of those Palestinians who remained in their land and were labelled “Israeli-Arabs,” living as a minority in their own homeland.

Check out Fathi’s website, Decolonize Palestine.

Hosted by Russian Sam, Halal Sam, and Fathi.

Further listening: E20 - Zionism

Like all bad things, the Roman Empire came to an end. But why did it take hundreds of years for that to happen? This week, the gang guides us through an astonishingly chaotic period when Rome did NOT fall — the Crisis of the Third Century — and explores how late Roman figures like Constantine, Queen Zenobia, and Julian the Apostate created the medieval world.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.

Further listening: E04 - Barbarians, E28 - Quo Vadis

Our friend James returns to give Russian Sam a crash course in Catholicism and how it differs from other Christian denominations.

Hosted by Russian Sam and James.

The New World gave birth to many colonies we know and love today, but it also birthed some colonies that didn’t quite make it to maturity. We go back to the late 1600s and take a look around the colonies of Sweden (New Sweden), Courland (Tobago), and Scotland (New Caledonia (the other one)).

Hosted by Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.

Mom’s in prison, dad’s newest mistress is your fiancée, and your two little brothers are plotting to kill you! If you thought your Christmas was stressful, try being Richard the Lionheart in 1183. For this week’s episode on the 1968 film The Lion in Winter, we run through the deadly intrigue of the Plantagenet court and chart the history English Christmas along the way. Come troll the ancient Yuletide carols with us to find out whether Santa Claus has anything to do with Odin, why the 12 Days of Christmas really end on January 5th, and if King Richard the Lionheart ever saw a Christmas tree.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.

This week, we popped open a bottle of Soviet Champagne to talk about Russian New Year and the 1997 film Sympathy Seeker. Why is New Year’s Eve such a big deal in the former Soviet Union? Why are there so many paintings of Lenin around a Christmas tree? Is the Soviet version of Santa really an evil spirit from Slavic myth?

All this and more as we dive into the history of holidays in the former USSR and the long history of wars against Christmas.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.

We’re putting the Christ back in Saturnalia this week with an episode on Christianity in the 1st century AD. Maggie guides us through the history of the early church with the help of the 1951 Hollywood epic Quo Vadis, and explains why these ancient religious communities are so significant to Christians today.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, Halal Sam, and Maggie.

Further listening: E04 - Barbarians

Japanese-occupied China was a place of immense violence and constant intrigues. We invited Carl Zha to talk about the 2007 film Lust, Caution and the real-life events that inspired the movie. We glide through the history of Sino-Japanese relations, the reasons for China’s pitiable situation at the turn of the 20th century, and the greatest real life version of “you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain” of the 20th century, the ill-fated story of Wang Jingwei and his collaborationist regime.

Further listening:

After watching a little bit of 90s MTV we decided to talk about the history of suburban extreme sports (skateboarding, roller skating, BMX) and the subculture that grew around it.

Hosted by Liam, and Abram.