Media-eval: A Medieval Pop Culture Podcast

This week we have something a little different, as medievalists Lucy Barnhouse and Winston Black join Sarah to talk about how medieval medicine is represented in popular culture. Lucy and Winston are the editors of the new volume Beyond Cadfael: Medieval Medicine and Medical Medievalism. Join us as we explore the most common tropes of medical medievalism, from leeches to orientalism.

Social Media:
Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod

E-mail: [email protected]

Purchase Beyond Cadfael here: https://trivent-publishing.eu/home/160-232-beyond-cadfael.html

Find Lucy on social media: https://twitter.com/singingscholar

Find Winston on social media: https://mastodon.world/@winstoneblack and https://bsky.app/profile/winstonblack.bsky.social

Sarah and Media-eval’s Netflix Christmas Correspondent Meghan Griffin return to the Netflix Extended Christmas Universe to talk about medievalism in A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby. Yes, the film features a medieval treaty - and a medieval curse! - but more importantly, it raises all sorts of questions about the medieval past of these fake kingdoms whose entire personality is Christmas and that have apparently taken over most of Central-Eastern Europe.

Social Media:
Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod

E-mail: [email protected]

Find Meghan on social media at @MeggGriffin (including but not limited to: https://twitter.com/MeggGriffin)

He may be in decline but he still knows a good movie when he sees it so Ollie returns to argue with Sarah on the merits or lack thereof in the movie Apocalypto(2006).

Is it hi-octane action? Yes!

Does it have a paper thin plot? Absolutely!

Does the politics it represents leave a bad taste in your mouth? Possibly!

Sit back and enjoy as two friends discuss a movie one loves and the other doesn't while both agreeing that the director is a POS.

Sarah and returning Media-eval Doctor Who correspondent Lily Bonnemann are back to tackle their first episode of the New Series, in honor of the 60th Anniversary! Join us for our discussion of The Shakespeare Code, where we explore race, medical practices, and architecture in Elizabethan England.

Further Reading:

April Fool’s! Love’s Labour’s Won at the Globe: https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/blogs-and-features/2021/04/01/shakespeares-globe-uncovers-long-lost-shakespeare-play/

Deborah Harkness, “A View from the Streets: Women and Medical Work in Elizabethan London,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 82:1 (2008): 52-85

Olivette Otele, African Europeans: An Untold History: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/olivette-otele/african-europeans/9781541619937/?lens=basic-books

Social Media:
Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod

E-mail: [email protected]

Find Lily on Tumblr: www.tumblr.com/shadow-academic

Sarah and returning guest Peter Konieczny return to the world of the Three Kingdoms with 2022 anime series Ya Boy Kongming! Join us as we discuss the life story of Zhuge Liang Kongming, premodern Chinese concepts of hell, and the challenges of time travel narratives.



CW for reference to suicide attempt

Social Media:
Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod

E-mail: [email protected]

Find Peter at medievalists.net

It's the spookiest time of the year and I'm not talking about Tax Season.

Sarah want's to talk about a modern "Horror" movie that on the surface doesn't seem to be from the medieval period but when one of the major plot points is about the Spanish Inquisition and the movie seems to absolve certain people of guilt, you can bet they are going to have thoughts!

Sarah and returning guest Tracy Tanoff delve into the everyday lives of nuns in our conversation on Lauren Groff’s novel Matrix. Join us as we explore the work of Marie de France, illness and disability in monasteries, faith and mysticism, and the real stories of queer nuns through a discussion of Groff’s 2021 novel. 



CW for reference to sexual assault (not graphic)

Read the novel Matrix by Lauren Groff: https://bookshop.org/p/books/matrix-lauren-groff/16278801?ean=9781594634505

Check out a take from another medievalist, past guest Lucy Barnhouse, on this book: https://nursingclio.org/2021/12/09/matrix-lauren-groffs-visions-of-the-medieval/

Learn more about medieval women’s and gender history in Judith Bennett’s book History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism: https://bookshop.org/p/books/history-matters-patriarchy-and-the-challenge-of-feminism-judith-m-bennett/12488103?ean=9780812220049

Learn more about lesbians in the Middle Ages: Jacqueline Murray, “Twice Marginal and Twice Invisible: Lesbians in the Middle Ages,” in The Handbook of Medieval Sexuality, ed. by Vern L. Bullough and James A. Brundage. Garland Publishing, 1996, pp. 191-222.

Social Media:
Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod

E-mail: [email protected]

Find Tracy on BlueSky: haveloved

Sarah and fellow medievalist Ryan Szpiech take the podcast to Spain with 2012 Spanish-language miniseries Toledo, Cruce de Destinos. Join us as we explore the life of Alfonso X and his sons, the lived experience of Jews, Christians, and Muslims living in medieval Castile, and the popular understanding of the idea of convivencia in this soap opera-style take on the 13th century.

CW for sexual assault, violence

Social Media:
Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod

E-mail: [email protected]

Find Prof. Ryan Szpiech and learn more about his work: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/ryanszpiech/

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Media-eval is back and this time we are tackling one of the most famous movies that can come under our remit- Gladiator directed by Ridley Scott.

This movie won all the oscars and is a beloved fan favourite BUT did Sarah like it? She has brought Ollie back to argue the merits or lack thereof for this popular movie.

Is Russel Crowe any good? Does Joaquin Phoenix eat enough ham? Is Kingdom of Heaven really better than this? Is it a fridging if they arent even a character?

This might be the closest to a real argument the podcast has ever seen between Host and traitor...I mean guest.

The podcast will be going on hiatus til September so Sarah can spend the summer focusing on research for her new book project! See you in a few months!