Tides of History

By Wondery / Patrick Wyman

Society & Culture History

What's Tides of History about?

Everywhere around us are echoes of the past. Those echoes define the boundaries of states and countries, how we pray and how we fight. They determine what money we spend and how we earn it at work, what language we speak and how we raise our children. From Wondery, host Patrick Wyman, PhD (“Fall Of Rome”) helps us understand our world and how it got to be the way it is.

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John Maynard Keynes and His...

05.28.2020

John Maynard Keynes was one of the most important figures of the 20th century, creating the economic structures and ideas that defined the Second World War and its aftermath. I spoke with Zach Carter, author of the wonderful new Keynes ...

Tides of History episodes:

05.28.2020 John Maynard Keynes and His Legacies: Interview with Author and Journalist Zach Carter John Maynard Keynes was one of the most important figures of the 20th century, creating the economic structures and ideas that defined the Second World War and its aftermath. I spoke with Zach Carter, author of the wonderful new Keynes ...
05.14.2020 Malta, Lepanto, and the End of an Era We reach the epic conclusion of our series on the early modern period with the Great Siege of Malta and the Battle of Lepanto. Support us by supporting our sponsors! The Great Courses Plus - For access to their entire ...
05.07.2020 The Battle for the Mediterranean For much of the 16th century, the Habsburgs of Spain and the Ottoman Empire waged an epic conflict for control over the Mediterranean. Follow along with two composite characters, a Barbary corsair and a Hospitaller knight, as they raid, pillage, ...
04.30.2020 Charles V and the Failure of Empire Charles V controlled more of Europe than any ruler in centuries, with resources other monarchs could only dream of. But that was never enough to give the Holy Roman Emperor more than a momentary victory; there was always a new ...
04.23.2020 Mike Duncan on Pandemics, Revolutions, and COVID-19 DISCLAIMER: If you do not think that this pandemic is a big deal; if you do not want to hear our personal political views; if you don’t care about present-day politics; if you think that this will somehow offend you; ...
04.16.2020 The Rise of Charles V Charles V was the most powerful European ruler since Charlemagne: king of Spain and Naples, Holy Roman Emperor, and ruler of a whole bunch else besides. How did all of these vast territories, and the central political role that went ...
04.09.2020 Pandemics in History All of us are dealing with the ongoing pandemic in different ways, and I decided to wedge myself into my closet to record an informal talk with you all about pandemics throughout history and what, if anything, they might help ...
04.02.2020 Genetics and the Transformation of Prehistory: Interview with Spencer Wells and Razib Khan Genetics has radically transformed our understanding of prehistory over the past two decades, revealing everything from the existence of brand-new, unknown species to interbreeding between Neanderthals and our human ancestors. I talked to geneticists Spencer Wells and Razib Khan, two ...
03.26.2020 Classic Tides: Plague, Climate, and the End of the Roman World In light of current events, we are re-posting one of my favorite episodes (from December, 2017) on natural disasters and the fall of the Roman Empire. Justinian was the last great Roman emperor, but his reign was plagued by disasters ...
03.19.2020 American Nations, American Union: Interview with Colin Woodard Few books have influenced my view of American history and politics more than Colin Woodard's American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America. We've been divided since the beginning, Woodard argues, and this has influenced ...
03.17.2020 Classic Tides: The Black Death Revisited In light of current events, we are re-posting one of my favorite episodes (from June, 2018) on the Black Death. Between 1346 and 1351, the Black Death killed tens of millions of people - at least half the population - ...
03.12.2020 Suleiman the Magnificent and Ottoman Decline The reign of Suleiman the Magnificent was the high point of the Ottoman Empire, but for centuries, it has also been pegged as the beginning of the empire's long, slow decline into irrelevance. Is this true? Was Suleiman's reign simultaneously ...
03.05.2020 Suleiman the Magnificent and the Apex of the Ottoman Empire Suleiman the Magnificent ruled the Ottoman Empire for forty-six years. During that time, his armies fought everywhere from Iran to Vienna. His navies touched Indonesia and the Straits of Gibraltar. Under his reign, the Ottoman Empire reached its glorious peak. ...
02.20.2020 Pirates! With Leah Sutherland Leah returns to chat with Patrick about one of their favorite topics - pirates. It wouldn't be a Leah episode if we didn't range widely, so we also chat about essays and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Support us by supporting our ...
02.13.2020 The Ottomans, the Safavids, and the War for the Muslim World, 1501-1514 The Muslim world was a vast and diverse place, home to a variety of traditions and schools of thought. The Safavids began as a brotherhood of Sufi mystics, but soon transformed themselves from a religious order to the seeds of ...
02.06.2020 The Ottomans, the Mamluks, and the Clash for Control of the Muslim World While the Ottoman Empire spent most of its early history expanding into Christian Europe, it also faced east, toward the vast, wealthy, and dynamic Muslim world. As the Ottomans grew in prestige and power, a clash with the Mamluks of ...
01.23.2020 Pilgrims, Puritans, and the Battle for New England: Interview with Historian Peter Mancall The Pilgrims and the Puritans dominate our understanding not just of early New England, but also early America and the entire future course of American history. Yet their success and long-term influence weren't foreordained, and they weren't inevitable. Peter Mancall, ...
01.16.2020 The Rising Tide of the Ottoman Empire, 1453-1481 Mehmet the Conqueror captured Constantinople for the Ottoman Empire in 1453 and ended the thousand-year reign of the Byzantine Empire after an epic siege, but he was far from done. For the next three decades, Mehmet led Ottoman armies against ...
01.09.2020 The Dawn of the Age of Exploration What was it like to be on the cutting edge of the Age of Exploration, and what made these enormous leaps possible? To answer those questions, we follow the life of a composite character, a Portuguese sailor named Pedro, on ...
12.19.2019 The Last Battle of the Wars of the Roses What brought the son of a German shoemaker to a blood-soaked English field in June, 1487? In today's episode, we follow the life of a composite character, Hans, an artisan-turned mercenary, on his journey from Augsburg to Stoke Field and ...
12.12.2019 Leah Interviews Dr. Patrick Wyman, PhD, about his upcoming book Leah declared mutiny and there was a small defenestration from the 8th Floor Wondery Studio as she took full creative control of Tides of History. Well, not quite, but she did control the interview. Patrick Wyman guests today to talk ...
12.05.2019 The Life of Margaret, Brewer of London What was it like to be a regular person in the late Middle Ages? We follow the life of a composite character, a brewer in London named Margaret, through her family, work, and marriage. She was a product of her ...
11.28.2019 Minisode: Is Netflix's "The King" Good History? And Winter Reading Recommendations! Leah is back on the show today to discuss The King on Netflix starring Timothee Chalamet as King Henry V, our favorite Sadboi King, as he becomes the greatest king England's ever seen. Overall, we liked it! And if you ...
11.21.2019 The End of the Crusades and the Fall of Acre: An Interview with Historian Roger Crowley Popular historian Roger Crowley returns to the show to discuss his new book, The Accursed Tower: The Fall of Acre and the End of the Crusades, which covers the last great siege of the Crusades at the city of Acre. ...
11.14.2019 Was the Protestant Reformation Inevitable? Was history destined to happen as it did? That's what counterfactuals - alternative scenarios of how things might have gone - are useful for answering. In this episode, we apply them to the Protestant Reformation, one of the key processes ...
11.07.2019 Medieval Merchants The medieval economy underwent a profound transformation, becoming ever more commercialized and monetized. Merchants helped drive that change, moving goods from place to place and profiting on the returns. Today, we meet some of them: an Italian named Francesco Datini, ...
10.31.2019 Persecution, Toleration, and the Rise of Modernity: An Interview with Historian Mark Koyama Religious freedom is a core value of the modern West, but how did it emerge, and why does it matter? Economic historian Mark Koyama, of George Mason University, joins me to discuss his recent book (co-authored with Noel Johnson), Persecution ...
10.17.2019 The Commercial Revolution The roots of the modern economy, based on markets, money, and exchange, lie deep in the Middle Ages. The Commercial Revolution remade the European economy, paving the way for the explosive growth that followed centuries later. Support this show by ...
10.10.2019 The Venetian Empire Venice was a commercial hub, the hinge of the medieval economy, but it was also the center of a remarkable empire that spanned the sea lanes and trade routes of the Mediterranean. The Venetian Empire was an odd beast, beset ...
10.03.2019 The Crusades: An Interview with Dan Jones, Part 2 Here's the rest of our conversation with historian and bestselling author Dan Jones. In Part 1, which you should absolutely listen to if you haven't already, we covered the Crusades in general; this time out, we discuss some of Dan's ...
09.19.2019 Why Rome Never Rose Again: An Interview with Professor Walter Scheidel Alone among the world's regions, western Europe only had one major, long-lived imperial experience: that of Rome. When it fell, nothing like it ever returned again. According to Stanford's Professor Walter Scheidel, that fact had enormous consequences for the long-term ...
09.12.2019 We Join Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie's Guild (And You Should, Too!) When it comes to medieval and early modern economic history it is important to understand guilds, how they functioned, and their effects on society. Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie joins me to talk about guilds and her most recent book, The European ...
09.05.2019 The Crusades: An Interview with Dan Jones The Crusades defined the Middle Ages and left a long legacy behind them. We chat with Dan Jones, author of the upcoming book Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Land, about why this long series of ...
08.29.2019 The Rise of Printing and the Invention of News: An Interview with Professor Andrew Pettegree There’s an interesting history when it comes to books, printing, and the Reformation, all tied together through new technology and business. Professor Andrew Pettegree joins me to talk about all of this and more, as well as his new book, ...
08.15.2019 The Origins and Rise of Venice A swampy lagoon on the Adriatic coast of Italy was not a promising place for a city, but Venice grew from a collection of huts on spits of land to a glittering center of commerce and the heart of a ...
08.08.2019 Boxing, Race, and the Gilded Age: An Interview with Professor Louis Moore Boxing has a long past, one deeply connected to race, labor, and broader developments in American history. Professor Louis Moore joins me to talk about those topics and about his outstanding book, I Fight For a Living: Boxing and the ...
08.01.2019 The Experience of the Italian Wars The Italian Wars changed the face of Europe, but what was it like living through them? Today, we follow the lives of two composite characters to see both how war changed and how it affected the people who participated in ...
07.25.2019 Book Club: Summer Reading Planning a summer vacation and looking for something fun to read? Patrick and Leah have you covered with a few suggestions.
07.18.2019 The Italian Wars, Part 2 In our second episode on the Italian Wars, we explore how Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's vast territories ratcheted up the conflict from a dynastic squabble to a continent-spanning contest of great powers.
07.11.2019 Walls throughout History: An Interview with Professor David Frye What creates civilization, in the most basic sense? According to Professor David Frye, who joins me this week, it's walls - Hadrian's Wall, the Great Wall of China, city walls, and thousands more over the millennia. Support this show by ...
07.04.2019 The Italian Wars, Part 1 The Italian Wars were the defining conflict of the sixteenth century, bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Today, we explore their origins in medieval dynastic infighting and their opening stages, as King Charles VIII ...
06.27.2019 Minisode: Military Revolutions It's a concept! It's a feeling! It's... been a long time since we talked about it. We're throwing it back to 2017 and tracing the evolution of war in the 15th and 16th centuries.
06.20.2019 Why Bother with the Seventeenth Century? An Interview with Professor Keith Pluymers Friend of the show Keith Pluymers returned for a great chat about fuel, environmental history, and why the seventeenth century is worth studying. You can listen to the back catalog of Tides of History, completely ad-free, only on Stitcher Premium. ...
06.13.2019 Condottieri: War for Profit in Renaissance Italy In Renaissance Italy, war was simultaneously art, science, and big business, waged for profit and glory by hired contractors known as condottieri. Today, we follow one condottiere as he makes his way through the dangerous world of mercenary warfare in ...
06.06.2019 Machiavelli's Laboratory: The Politics of Renaissance Italy Renaissance Italy was a political minefield, where backstabbing dukes, ambitious republics, and disloyal mercenaries created a laboratory for political innovation. This environment produced professional armies, the roots of state finance, and modern diplomacy, a legacy Italy left for the rest ...
05.30.2019 Classic Tides: Life in Renaissance Florence We're revisiting an episode of Tides of History we originally released in January 2018. Pay close attention, we're going to be spending a LOT of time in Italy this summer. What was it like to have a front-row seat to ...
05.23.2019 Minisode: Banking We catch up a bit more on Jakob Fugger's personality - or lack thereof - along with some of the other important south German trading firms of the age, the development of the Antwerp financial market, and the connection between ...
05.16.2019 Jakob Fugger: The Richest Man Who Ever Lived? At the end of the fifteenth century, the center of European banking suddenly swung from its birthplace in Italy to south Germany. The key figure in that transition was Jakob Fugger of Augsburg, maybe the richest man who ever lived. ...
05.09.2019 The Rise and Fall of the Medici Bank The Medici name still carries echoes of power and labyrinthine politics. But the Medici got their start as bankers, and built a financial empire that spanned fifteenth-century Europe. Popes, kings, and merchants all did business with the Medici, and the ...
05.02.2019 The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age: An Interview with Stanford's Professor Richard White The Civil War and its decades-long aftermath continue to define American life well into the twenty-first century. Today we chat with Stanford's Professor Richard White, author of The Republic For Which It Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the ...

Older episodes

Tides of History

What's Tides of History about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Tides of History episodes:

John Maynard Keynes and His Legacies: Interview with Author and Journalist Zach Carter

Malta, Lepanto, and the End of an Era

The Battle for the Mediterranean

Charles V and the Failure of Empire

Mike Duncan on Pandemics, Revolutions, and COVID-19

The Rise of Charles V

Pandemics in History

Genetics and the Transformation of Prehistory: Interview with Spencer Wells and Razib Khan

Classic Tides: Plague, Climate, and the End of the Roman World

American Nations, American Union: Interview with Colin Woodard

Classic Tides: The Black Death Revisited

Suleiman the Magnificent and Ottoman Decline

Suleiman the Magnificent and the Apex of the Ottoman Empire

Pirates! With Leah Sutherland

The Ottomans, the Safavids, and the War for the Muslim World, 1501-1514

The Ottomans, the Mamluks, and the Clash for Control of the Muslim World

Pilgrims, Puritans, and the Battle for New England: Interview with Historian Peter Mancall

The Rising Tide of the Ottoman Empire, 1453-1481

The Dawn of the Age of Exploration

The Last Battle of the Wars of the Roses

Leah Interviews Dr. Patrick Wyman, PhD, about his upcoming book

The Life of Margaret, Brewer of London

Minisode: Is Netflix's "The King" Good History? And Winter Reading Recommendations!

The End of the Crusades and the Fall of Acre: An Interview with Historian Roger Crowley

Was the Protestant Reformation Inevitable?

Medieval Merchants

Persecution, Toleration, and the Rise of Modernity: An Interview with Historian Mark Koyama

The Commercial Revolution

The Venetian Empire

The Crusades: An Interview with Dan Jones, Part 2

Why Rome Never Rose Again: An Interview with Professor Walter Scheidel

We Join Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie's Guild (And You Should, Too!)

The Crusades: An Interview with Dan Jones

The Rise of Printing and the Invention of News: An Interview with Professor Andrew Pettegree

The Origins and Rise of Venice

Boxing, Race, and the Gilded Age: An Interview with Professor Louis Moore

The Experience of the Italian Wars

Book Club: Summer Reading

The Italian Wars, Part 2

Walls throughout History: An Interview with Professor David Frye

The Italian Wars, Part 1

Minisode: Military Revolutions

Why Bother with the Seventeenth Century? An Interview with Professor Keith Pluymers

Condottieri: War for Profit in Renaissance Italy

Machiavelli's Laboratory: The Politics of Renaissance Italy

Classic Tides: Life in Renaissance Florence

Minisode: Banking

Jakob Fugger: The Richest Man Who Ever Lived?

The Rise and Fall of the Medici Bank

The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age: An Interview with Stanford's Professor Richard White

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