History of the World podcast

1259 - 1324 - The story behind the book called The Travels of Marco Polo, including who the Polos were and why they traveled to China, and then what was the legacy of this adventure in history.

HISTORY A TO Z (1) - Let's start with the As. Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Archimedes, Augustus, Attila the Hun and Alfred the Great.

Broadcasting alone and in a cold, bare walled studio, here is our usual review of the source material used in the construction of the latest episode.

1260 - The Mongol expansion had reached the Middle East, and their power enabled them to crush the established states up to the Holy Land. The Holy Land was being claimed by an Egyptian Dynasty with Turkic origins, and as such, would also have mastery of horsemanship and archery. Would the Mongols meet their match?

EVENTS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (4) - Continuing our popular series, we explore the stories of the Greek statesman Solon and Cleisthenes, Cyrus the Great liberating the Jews from Babylon, the enlightenment of Prince Siddharta which led to him becoming the Buddha, and the exile of the last king of Rome, Tarquin the Proud.

Looking into some of the books used for the construction of this episode, plus a closer look at the Hejnal and some chit chat about a new bookshop opening near HOTWorld podcast HQ and some redecorating scheduled.

1241 - Simply speaking, this battle is a part of the story of when the Mongols tried to conquer Europe. Hear how the tactical expertise of the Mongols measured up to a European army.

EVENTS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (3) - For your listening pleasure we will be revisiting the founding of the city of Carthage, the introduction of the Ancient Olympic Games, the founding myth of the city of Rome, the accession of Tiglath-Pileser III to the throne of Assyria and the exile of the Jews to Babylon.

Our usual look back at the source material for the episode alongside a description of the approached required to write such a wide ranging episode.

1227 - 1635 - The death of Genghis Khan meant that his descendants would have to share the spoils of the massive empire that he had created. The culture of leadership that he created meant that the Mongols would influence many areas of the world before their ultimate exhaustion.

EVENTS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (2) - This week's magazine takes us on a journey from Ancient Egypt to the biblical Levant, starting with Akhenaten, before speaking of Ramesses II, Moses and Kings David and Solomon of Israel.

Our regular look at the source material for the episode, with a look forward to future volumes and branch outs for the podcast.

1206 - 1227 - In 1206, Genghis Khan was accepted as the leader of the Eastern Steppe tribes and all societies in the known world started becoming targets for the Mongols. Genghis Khan was very successful, but why was this?

EVENTS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (1) - We go way back in history to explore the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, the completion of the Great Pyramid, the creation of the Akkadian Empire, the law code of Hammurabi and the eruption of the volcano of the island of Thera.

Our usual look at the source material which although is in abundance, can still lead to confusion in piecing together the exact sequence of events. Plus some news about the Podcast Show 2024.

1162 - 1206 - This is actually the story of Temüjin, a young boy born of noble stock, and outcast following his father's death. We track Temüjin's incredible rise from humility to grandeur, and find out how he became Genghis Khan.

GREAT JOURNEYS - We explore some of the great journeys, some fruitful, others fruitless. Hannibal's famous trek across the Alps, Zhang Qian's discovery of the Silk Road, the Viking establishment of Kyivan Rus' far from their homeland and the People's Crusade led by Peter the Hermit.

A deeper look into the source material used for the podcast and an addition to the website which will help all HotWorlders access information about those sources quickly and easily. Plus, its the end of an era for the History of the World podcast.

1215 - The Mongols led by Genghis Khan attacked the Jurchen Jin Dynasty of northern China in a battle where patience and tactics would be matched up against a more highly developed city and society.

MASTERS OF WAR (2) - We travel back in time to the 4th Century BCE and the tension filled world of the Greeks and Persians, where the greatest military commanders needed to be truly great to prevail. Featuring Epaminondas, Philip II of Macedon, Darius III of Persia and Alexander the Great.

A look at the source material for the first Mongol episode, alongside an acknowledgement of how history can change somebody's name such as that of Genghis Khan.

1130 - 1214 - Many of us have heard stories regarding the Mongols and their empire, but how much do we know about their origins and how could a peoples with their humble origins have the ability to terrorise developed cultures so successfully?

MASTERS OF WAR (1) - Looking back at some of the greatest military commanders and leaders in history. This week we review Egyptian Pharoah Ramesses II, Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser III, Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great and Athenian General Themistocles.

Our usual look at the source materials that we used for this week's episode, including a look at how Chat GPT has come in useful for targetting important information on the worldwide web.

907 - 1279 - The story of the Song Dynasty takes us from the fall of the Tang Dynasty through to the conquest of China by the Mongols. We will take a closer look at the imperial examination process, innovations in printing, and some controversial changes in national policies.

HUMAN ANCESTORS (2) - We pick up from our last magazine episode and track the story of human ancestry from the emergence of the neanderthals and the first Homo sapiens, through to the events that left Homo sapiens as the last species on earth. We look at the earliest innovations of art and how humans adapted to the varying global climates.

A discussion on the source material used for the Tang Dynasty episode, plus a brief look at what's ahead in 2024, plus some information about the challenges of writing chronological medieval history and pronouncing words in different languages that you have no knowledge of.

581 - 608 - Originating from the unifying Sui Dyansty, the Tang China brought back the glory of an affluent and united Chinese nation for the first time since the days of the Han Dynasty. Overexpansion and a large diversity of ethnicities put pressures on the dynasty that threatened its very existence.

HUMAN ANCESTORS (1) - In this episode we will be going right back to the very beginning, looking into the first upright walkers, then the australopithecines, homo habilis, homo erectus, hand tool construction, fire production and homo heidelbergensis.

668 - 1392 - The period following the Three Kingdoms period was a time for Korea to be unified on and off, but still there were many outside influences trying to conquer the resource rich peninsula. This would also bring positive cultural reforms to the people of the peninsula too.

UNLIKELY VICTORIES (2) - In this edition of the magazine we look back at some of history's victories in battle against the odds. Clontarf (1014), Legnano (1176), Rio Salado (1340) and Agincourt (1415).

8000 BCE - 668 CE - Before Korea was unified by the Kingdom of Silla in the seventh century, a number of polities vied for position both in and north of the Korean peninsula, overseen closely by the societies of China.

UNLIKELY VICTORIES (1) - In this edition of the magazine we look back at some of history's victories in battle against the odds. Salamis (480BCE), Zela (47BCE) and Edington (878)

1333 - 1573 - We march forward in our Japanese story from the collapse of the Kamakura Shogunate as we recognise the rise of a new shogunate which would see challenges to its authority consistently throughout its tenure.

This week's journey back in time will take us to the iconic Crusader Battle of Arsuf, the apogees of the Umayyad Caliphate and the Roman Empire and to the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge.

This podcast episode of the magazine takes a closer look at Ötzi the Iceman, the Roman Emperor Vaspasian, the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in the United States and the Ayyubid Sultan, Saladin. There is also a "state of the podcast" address within this episode.

1185 - 1333 - The Kamakura period of Japanese history saw a time when a military regime took control of the nation, and were subject to the first international invasion of the Japanese islands.

Join us on this busy little tour of history where we will be visiting the pre-historic village of Çatalhöyük, the affluent times in the middle of the second millennium BCE, the Battle of Actium which directly involved the famous Egyptian Queen Pharoah Cleopatra, and how medieval feudalism in Europe became a thing of the past.

1185 - Tension between the clans during the Heian period of Japanese history was reaching boiling point particularly after the Taira clan had expelled the Minamoto from the capital city of Heian-kyu (Kyoto). The result was the outbreak of the Genpei War, and the Battle of Dan-no-ura was the concluding episode of this war.

794 - 1180 - We are covering the period of Japan's history from the relocation of the capital city to Heian-kyō up to the outbreak of the Genpei War.

40000 BCE - 794 CE - We haven't studied Japan in too much detail until now, so it is necessary for us to introduce the story of the islands from the very beginning.

This week's magazine episode takes us back to pre-historic Europe when modern humans met the neanderthals, ancient Mesoamerica where we encounter the Olmecs, Classical Rome where we study the early years of the life of Julius Caesar, and the story of the first Europeans to visit New York City.

1206 - 1526 - After the Ghurids crossed the Khyber Pass, Islam fast became a major religion of the Indian subcontinent, adding to the cultural diversity of these lands, but would this change be short lived or permanent?

In this week's episode we look back on the mysterious Mitochondrial Eve, the mysterious Xia dynasty of ancient China, and the not so mysterious Battle of Carrhae between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Persian Empire.

Any opportunity for everybody to enjoy a debrief episode where we talk in further depth about the experience of making this episode and some of the sources used to get it done.

848 - 1070 - From humble beginnings in the far south, the Chola initially took advantage of territorial expansion before taking to the seas and establishing more power away from mainland India. This episode plots the rise and fall of the Cholas.

This episode essentially talks about the history of history writing, and what history writing has meant for the wider world over the timelines of history itself.

In this week's magazine episode, we will be looking at what chimpanzees can teach us about how our ancestral species communicated with each other, we will be examining the artistry of the Indus Valley Civilisation, and we will be looking at the final conflict of the Second Punic War between the Carthaginians and the Romans.

In this week's magazine we look back at Europe as the Western Roman Empire fell, the Battle of Cannae when Hannibal's Carthaginians met the Romans in battle, the fantastic story of the Trojan War, and how to make your own stone age tool using hard hammering percussion.

In this episode, we'll be looking back at the paleoanthropologist Eugene Dubois; the relationship between the Mycenaeans and the Minoans; the incredible journey of Hannibal across the Alps; and the rise and fall of the Macedonian Empire.

The complete journey from the beginnings of human occupation right through to the aftermath of the death of King Rama IX, and everything in between. We explore the reasons why Thailand has such a unique identity but also how it is a nation of divided opinions.

The History of the World podcast is five years old, so we go back and listen to an excerpt from the first ever episode, as well as looking at the modern evolution of writing, the enigmatic King Pyrrhus of Epirus and the reason why the Mayans caused some to believe that the world would end in the year 2012.

1942 - 1945 - Easy Company were such a closely knit unit of men, that they have been referred to as a "band of brothers", a phrase inspired by the writing of William Shakespeare. Follow the Second World War story of these United States army paratroopers.

1532 - 1624 - With the advent of transatlantic seafaring came the opportunity for Spain to become great. Queen Elizabeth I of England wanted to limit Spanish power and so she would grant her greatest naval commanders a free reign, bringing some great characters to the fore.

Unscripted (52) - In this episode of the podcast, we look back at the day of the Battle of Hastings in England in 1066, the incredible geoglyphic creations of the Nazca cultures of Ancient Peru, the amazing life of the early modern King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolfus, and what happened to Egypt after the fall of the New Kingdom.

800 BCE - 1750 CE - This episode serves as a general overview of the archaeological cultures of North America and their connections to each other, as we learn more about the type of people who were living in the eastern United States before the arrival of Europeans.

1230 - 1492 - The story of the last nation of Al-Andalus is the story of the Emirate of Granada. We determine how it was formed and the sequence of events that led to its destruction.

From the beginning of human nature, the aspect of religion has accompanied us through our evolutionary journey, but what started religion and what factors turned it into what we know today?

Join us on this journey back in time to New Kingdom Egypt, Ptolemaic Egypt, Classical World China, and medieval Iceland.

3400 - 2600 BCE - The Yamnaya Culture was a successful part of the wider Kurgan culture of the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. This Bronze Age culture influenced its neighbours and may have brought Bronze Age culture and modern European language to the European continent, as well as influencing the futures of Persia and India. (True first publish date - 1st May 2013)

1000 - 1453 - The modern countries of Europe were beginning to evolve and mature as they jostled for lands and superiority over one another. Underpinning the status of the new nations was the influence of religion with the Papacy attempting to rule supreme over the kingdoms of Europe and attempting to create a Roman Catholic bubble that may persecute other religious movements at will.

600 - 1085 - The modern nations of Europe begin to emerge as populations civilise, populate and Christianise. The Papacy becomes central to European politics.

1421 - The execution of Jan Hus caused rebellion in the Kingdom of Bohemia, when early Protestants against the Catholic Church rallied to send a message to the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope. This battle is a part of the wider Hussite Wars.

1410 - The Christianisation of the states of north-east Europe left the Teutonic Order with no neighbouring nations to conduct military missions against. As the relatively new nations of Poland and Lithuania tried to establish their status, the Teutonic Order would inevitably become involved.

A special preview of the Ancient World Cup Final between the Ancient Egyptians and The Romans

1242 - Paganism remained dominant in the north-east corner of Europe, but the race to convert the natives brought the Western Catholic Crusaders into conflict with the Eastern Orthodox Russians. The resulting conflict took place on the surface of a frozen lake.

1415 - 1431 - The incredible story of how a young peasant girl managed to convince the French royal court to show a more aggressive attitude to the wars in France and how it was able to turn the tables on the English during the Hundred Years' War.

Something completely new for the History of the World podcast.  While we wait for the new episode, we revive some of the great stories that we have already told in years gone by.  Plus the result of the first semi-final of the History of the World podcast Ancient World Cup.

1415 - King Henry V of England was committed to targetting the French and launched an attack on France to reclaim lost lands and take the hand of the French king's daughter.  Henry would actually end up in a race against time to escape France with his life.

1346 - All of the male descedants of King Philip IV of France had died out, apart from one, King Edward III of England.  The French would find a way to avoid crowning Edward in favour of a cousin and this would cause Edward to raise a massive army and invade the north of France.

1337 - 1453 - The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France and their ruling dynasties, the Plantagenets and the Capetians.  This is a whistle-stop tour of the main events that shaped the conflicts.

1346 - 1353 - It was not the first time that the bubonic plague had hit Eurasia, but this time nobody could have expected the sudden and relentless wave of devastation that affected all of the nations of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

1314 - After the death of King Edward I of England, the Hammer of the Scots, the self proclaimed Scottish king, Robert the Bruce started a campaign of seizing Scottish castles garrisoned by the English.  When Stirling Castle was about to fall to the Scots, King Edward II of England had no choice but to act.

1290 - 1314 - A series of tragedies left the comparatively stable Scottish monarchy in disarray leading to the opportunistic King Edward I of England attempting to enforce overlordship on the Scots.  William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in particular looked to oppose this action.

1166 - 1216 - The events and actions of the reign of King John of England brought about the circumstances from which the highest members of English society sought to challenge the king's authority and lay down some legal terms that would limit the power of the monarch.

1340 - The Muslim taifas of the Iberian peninsula had all been reconquered apart from Granada.  A new threat now emerged from North Africa with ambitions of creating a foothold in the peninsula and taking control of the Strait of Gibraltar.

News about the next proper episode of the podcast and a catch up with some of the e-mails and reviews.

Another festive catch up and an opportunity to discuss the notion of Boxing Day and a bit about its traditional history.

A long awaited catch up with Chris on Christmas Day, with a little look into the whole tradition of Christmas Day and why it even exists as it does.

In this week's unscripted episode, we'll be discussing why there are unscripted episodes at all, we'll be answering History of the World podcast illuminati member, Corben Havener's question about when prehistoric tribes became big enough that not all individual members could know all others, and we'll be looking ahead at the final episodes of our journey through medieval Europe.

1212 - A new wave of powerful Berber Muslims called the Almohads controlled southern Spain.  Castilian raids into Almohad territory brought the Almohad army from Africa, and their aggression caused the Pope to call for a crusade which climaxed with this pivotal battle.

711 - 1102 - The Christianised Visigothic Kingdom was invaded and conquered by the Islamic Caliphate.  The remnants of the Visigoths went north into the mountains and began the process of reconquest (reconquista), to bring the Iberian Peninsula back under Christian rule again.

1176 - Since the days of the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto the Great, during the tenth century, Italy was the poorer brother of Germany.  A key factor within this relationship was the Papacy, and by the latter half of the eleventh century, with the support of the Pope, the Italians had had enough of being the Holy Roman Empire's whipping boys.

1191 - The Battle of Arsuf was the conflict between two of the most celebrated military leaders, Richard the Lionheart and Saladin of the Ayyubids.  The challenges of maintaining discipline in testing circumstances for both armies are highlighted well in this particular showdown.

1187 - After the situation settled down after the Second Crusade, the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt collapsed making way for the Muslim icon, Saladin, to become a national leader and an imperial warlord.  After bringing together a number of Muslim realms, the next target would be the infidels of Christian Outremer.

1099 - 1302 - After the conclusion of the First Crusade, four Christian nation states were established in the Levant.  These Crusader States would have to battle for their survival over the next two hundred years, and this episode focuses on that protracted battle.

1099 - The climax of the First Crusade sees the remainder of the Crusader armies attempt to take control of the Holy City from its newest owners, the Isma'ili Shia Islamic Fatimid Caliphate, with devastating consequences.

1095 - 1098 - The Crusade to the Holy Land was an ambitious undertaking when considering the distance to travel to fight enemies on their own soil.  We look at the motivating factors and the politics of the age to discover why so many people decided to make this dangerous pilgrimage.

768 - 1453 - Unpacking the true meaning of feudalism by examining the different relationships between classes of people living in Western Europe during the medieval period.

739 - 1392 - After an introduction to the Papacy, we concentrate on the period from when the Pope approached the Franks for protection, through to the battles between the peoples of northern Italy who traditionally either supported the Pope or the Holy Roman Emperor.

251 - 1221 - From the isolated hermit lifestyle of Saint Anthony in Egypt through to the medicant style of monasticism of Saint Dominic, we explore the diverse and ever changing fortunes and faces of the first millennium of Christian monasticism.

500 - 1500 - Attackers and defenders evolved in parallel to each other, so we can examine the relationship of archers against armour, and siege engines against defensive walls, as well as the melee weapons of the age and the differences around the world.

300000 BCE - 1492 CE - To understand how communication was possible over long distances in medieval times, we delve into the history of travel from the ancient age, right through to the eve of the Age of Exploration.

536 - The theory of an unproven volcanic eruption that may have been one of the largest eruptions in history.  The theory is explored through writing, science and thought.

1607 - 1674 - The turbulent story of the 17th Century Dutch colony in North America which signified the birth of the modern city of New York, and saw the difficulties faced between European nations and Native American peoples.

5330000 BCE - today - We condense the history of the Mediterranean island of Crete into one episode, plotting the ages of the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Etocretans, Romans, Aghlabids, Venetians, Ottomans and Nazi Germans, as well as the ultimate mother culture of Greece itself.

150000 BCE - today - Who are the Khoisan people and why are they so different to all other human life on the planet?  How has their lifestyle been affected by the many waves of migrations into their lands?  What traditions of their culture have they carried into today's world and where do they fit into today's society?

The final unscripted episode before resuming full episodes next week.  We provide you with a summary of the upcoming episodes and then catch up with all of the latest listener messages and reviews.

A catch up on the listener messages and reviews and a brief mention on who Saxo Grammaticus was and what influence he had on Denmark and literature.