Professor of ancient history Bret Devereaux concludes his two part evaluation of military strategy in the Lord of the Rings. The Witch King gets two thumbs up. I'm rag tag and bobtail.

Check out the blog for more on the Siege of Gondor, Lord of the Rings and much, much more.

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Roger Crowley takes us through the struggles between the Ottoman Turks and the Knights of St John in the Mediterranean in the mid 1500's.  Astonishing stories. My favourite line 'Once the Venetians learned Bragadin had been skinned alive they were determined to have the battle, on their own if need be'.  Roger's book Empires of the Sea is top rank narrative history - highly recommended. 

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Bret Devereaux is a teaching assistant professor of history at North Carolina State University and is the author of this magnificent blog that covers ancient history generally with military history as the main focus. One of the genius ideas in the blog is to illuminate the subject by analysing fantasy literature. In this episode we talked about the battle of Helm's Deep (with forays into World War II and the world of the Carolingians and much else beside). Saruman's reputation as a general is not enhanced. Bret also spoke about Tolkien's place in the canon of World War I literature. I hope you enjoy it.

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Tom Holland and Agnes Callard are both on top form reviewing the films 300 and Hero and discussing the history behind them. They unpick the politics too. Macabee Callard and I chip in.
If you enjoy the podcast you will definitely enjoy Tom's book, Persian Fire. Highly recommended.

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'They couldn't catch a break'. Invasion, the worst plague in history and climate change. Why the Roman Empire fell. Professor Kyle Harper is a wonderful guide to some really gruesome times. And after listening to the podcast check out his book, The Fate of Rome (or here if you are in the US). It has a great balance between telling a fantastic story and real academic rigour. Highly recommended.

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Professor Abulafia has written a wonderful book, The Boundless Sea (or here if you are in the US)  about 'merchants, explorers, pirates, cartographers and travelers in their quests for spices, gold, ivory, slaves, lands for settlement and knowledge of what lay beyond'.  I enjoyed talking to him enormously.

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Tyler Cowen discusses A Separation and About Elly with me and Agnes and Abe Callard. Towards the end Tyler grills Abe in a session of underrated/overrated (films). 

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In this episode we discussed two Korean films. Parasite and Burning. On the podcast in this episode was Alex Tabarrok who was defending the thesis he outlined in his wonderful blog piece, The Gaslighting of Parasite. Joining me to throw rocks at his theory were Chicago philosopher Agnes Callard and her son Abe.

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In which Agnes and Abe Callard dissect three really great films. All About Eve, Persona and the Iranian docudrama, Close Up. Spoilers throughout.

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Speaking to Philip Matyszak about his books on ancient history and novels.

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