Red Connections

In our inaugural movie night episode, Greg and John nominally discuss the 2005 Ridley Scott film Kingdom of Heaven, but mostly use it as a springboard for general discussion of the medieval era in the Mediterranean world.

Topics include: Greg's Golden Path for Europe, frontier cultural dynamics, how Medieval Christendom compares to the Roman Empire, the cultivation of the Thousand Year Stare, and much more.

Apologies for the long delay; Greg moved across the country, then I got sick.

Greg and John catch up, then attempt to follow-up on the first episode, but mostly end up rambling about early 20th century West Asia and colonialism, and eventually hit upon a new format. Other topics include inevitable Chinese Hegemony, the French and British Empires, and the Achaemenid and Assyrian Empires.

Greg, John, and special guest Alex discuss the Red Army Faction, a left terror group active in Cold War West Germany that fundamentally altered the political landscape it acted in. Other topics include the generally fucked vibes of postwar Europe, the global leftist movement's apogee in the 1960s, and the costs of Soviet military might.

Apologies for the delay - Greg's laptop exploded.

Greg and John discuss the origins of the Roman Republic and its rise to Mediterranean Hegemony. Also the British Empire, Europe being a backwater, and why Carthage were the good guys.

Linguistic map of Italy: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Iron_Age_Italy.svg⁠

Roman Expansion: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Roman_conquest_of_Italy.PNG

Roman Hegemony in Italy: https://www.storiespreschool.com/images/social_war_map.jpg

The Western Med before the First Punic War: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/First_Punic_War_264_BC_v3.png

Prelude to the Second Punic War:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Map_of_Rome_and_Carthage_at_the_start_of_the_Second_Punic_War.svg