We're Not So Different

Episodes

• June Mailbag: Aurora Borealis 10.06.2026 1h 34m

  folks, we're back and diving into the patron mailbag once again. this time, we answer questions about a host of topics, including: height differences, Aurora Borealis, best Medieval turlet, Traditional Chinese Medicine, battlefield name changes, othering, and spectacular Medieval wizard battles! check it out!cover image is of Aurora Borealis, taken from space.com
• The Life and Death of Jane Boleyn feat Logan Weimer 05.06.2026 2h

  folks, back in January, we brought on Logan Weimer to talk about the unfolding situation in Minneapolis but she was originally supposed to come on the show to talk about her deep interest in the life, death, and afterlife of Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford, lady in waiting to four of Henry VIII's wives and sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn. we cover a whole range of topics, including coerced testimony, the use of "madness" as a tool for silencing unwanted voices, executions for "madness", and the poor treatment Jane has suffered in both scholarly and popular history until very recently.
• Patreon Ep Unlocked: The Day the Dinosaurs Died 27.05.2026 2h 2m

  folks, this is a long one. Luke talks about his Roman Empire: the Chicxulub Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. it's a scripted episode (don't get used to it) chronicling 3 separate stories: the asteroid impact and its aftermath that killed the dinosaurs, the lives of some of those dinosaurs 66 million years ago, and the modern story of how the asteroid impact hypothesis became scientific consensus.a list of sources appears at the end of the episode, go get mad at them if you don't like the way the narrative is presented
• Premodern Iran 4: Vindication 21.05.2026 1h 29m

  folks, we finish up our series on Premodern Iran by looking at Greater Iran from the arrival of the Mongols in 1219 until the fall of the Timurid Empire and the Rise of the Safavids in 1501. we talk internal Mongol civil wars, the Ilkhanate, the Timurid Renaissance, the strains of apocalyptic thought amongst the peasantry, the Iranian Golden Age, and the final vindication of a nearly 900 year old ideological project with the rise of a new ethnic Iranian empire. we hope you enjoyed the series!cover image: the Ulugh Beg Astronomical Observatory and madrasa in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (built in the time of Timur)
• Premodern Iran 3: Towers of Silence 14.05.2026 1h 30m

  folks, we are back with part 3 of our series on Premodern Iran. this time, we get into the long, dark years for Iran and its peoples between the Muslim conquest and the Mongol invasions (651-1221 CE). we talk about how the idea of Iran survived even when the Persian language and Zoroastrianism were both suppressed, how the concept of Iranian identity formed into a real ideological project, why we lack sources, national epics and histories, the language of dissent, and the final grim fate of Zoroastrianism.cover image is recent photo of the Yazd Tower of Silence, which is no longer in use and now serves as a museum.
• Eleanor of Aquitaine feat American Prestige 10.05.2026 1h 22m

  Welcome to the Crusades: The Second Crusade coming Summer 2026this is just a special bonus episode we recorded with Danny and Derek from American Prestige. there will be a regular weekly episode out, the third part of our series on Premodern Iran, the week of May 11. in order to celebrate Mother's Day and the announcement that Welcome to the Crusade is coming back to do the Second Crusade this summer, we got together with American Prestige to talk about Eleanor of Aquitaine. we cover her eventful life, her time on crusade, her awful husbands and sons, her wonderful daughters, her legacy, and more.
• Premodern Iran 2: The Cult of Fire 08.05.2026 1h 27m

  folks, we continue the series on Premodern Iran by picking up with the Sasanid Empire, which swept the Arsacid dynasty away in the 3rd century. we discuss the waxing and waning fortunes of the Sasanids, their wars with Rome, the great heights of Khosrow I, and the long legacy they would leave in their wake after being destroyed by the Arab-Muslim conquest of Iran. we then talk about exactly how and why the Arabs were able to take one of the world's great empires down so quickly, why no formal response was ever mustered, and how the national consciousness of Iran developed under the Sasanids was preserved under the early rule of the Caliphates.cover image is of an extant Zoroastrian Fire Temple in Yazd (taken from Wikimedia commons)
• Premodern Iran 1: The Achaemenid World 30.04.2026 1h 24m

  folks, given recent events and the region's general importance throughout history, we decided to do a short series on Premodern Iran. we start way back during the Ancient era, all the way back in the Bronze Age with the Elamites, then follow the progression of civilizations on the Iranian Plateau. we talk the Achaemenid foundations, Cyrus and Darius, Alexander the Great, Central Asian horse nomads, Zoroastrianism, and more!cover photo: engraved wall relief of a winged bull dating to the Achaemenid period, found in excavated ruins of Susa
• April Mailbag 2: Medieval Skyscraper 23.04.2026 1h 27m

  folks, we are back with another mailbag episode to try and cutdown on the backlog of patron questions. this time, we discuss hamster-style situations, Medieval skyscrapers in Bologna, hangover cures, the Gregorian chant, the Medieval birds and the bees, state monopolies of violence, and more!cover image: conception of what Medieval Bologna may have looked like with numerous towers shooting into the sky, engraving by Tony Pecoraro, 1958. (taken from Wikimedia Commons)
• April Mailbag 1: The Pope is Weak on Crime 15.04.2026 1h 43m

  folks, it's once again time to dive into the mailbag of patron questions. this time, we answer queries about the recent fight between Trump and Pope Leo, menopause, fried chicken, books bound in human skin, historical misconceptions based on a single erroneous account, the Pope being weak on crime, and much more.image: Antichrist seated on the back of Leviathan from the Liber Floridus encyclopedia (c. 1120), taken from Wikipedia Commons
• Medieval Land Mgmt 9: Famine 08.04.2026 1h 34m

  folks, we come to the final episode of our series on Medieval Land Management by discussing famine, the very thing that all these land management practices are trying to guard against. we talk famines, how and why they happen, famine evidence across the world, the Little Ice Age, the Great Famine of 1315-17, and, thankfully, the peasant revolts that often follow in the wake of famines. enjoy!
• Preview: Wolf Hall 1 - Limited Series 03.04.2026 54m

  folks, this is a free preview for the limited series Dr Eleanor recorded with friend of the show Phoebe Roy (Masters of Our Domain, etc.) about season 1 of the Wolf Hall TV show. if you like this episode, you can access all 7 episodes of the limited series for just $15 at: https://www.patreon.com/collection/2087866enjoy!
• Medieval Land Mgmt 8: Livestock 02.04.2026 1h 24m

  folks, in our 8th and penultimate episode on Medieval Land Management, we finally turn to our fellow creatures, specifically those we've domesticated. we talk about the various types of livestock, their distribution around the world before colonization, the different styles of management required, the sheep of the Petro State for Wool, urban hog management, Mongol bands of horses, and the Inca (as a special treat for Luke)
• Medieval Land Mgmt 7: Sailor's Delight 25.03.2026 1h 18m

  folks, there's more water to be discussed because, surprisingly, we kinda use water for everything. we discuss Medieval fishing, including stock ponds, salt harvesting, why you can't get good salt from all the oceans despite them all containing saltwater, why it was faster to travel via water than overland, and more!
• Medieval Land Mgmt 6: Water Water Everywhere 18.03.2026 1h 13m

  folks, we're back with part 6 of the Medieval Land Management series and we're talking about how they dealt with water. first, we talk about Mesopotamian ghosts for a bit then get into Medieval aquaculture, including irrigation, wells, catchment in arid places, how water built civilization, and why rich people ruin everything.
• Medieval Land Mgmt 5: A Coppicing We Will Go 11.03.2026 1h 23m

  folks, we're back to our series on Medieval Land Management with part 5 on forestry. we talk the Medieval obsession with beavers, coppicing, more coppicing, the staggering amount of land dedicated to producing firewood/charcoal in Eurasia, fire maintenance, controlled forest burnings, and an intensive study on forest management in Moravia. enjoy!
• March Mailbag 04.03.2026 1h 16m

  folks, we had take a short break from our Medieval Land Management series due to some scheduling complications (don't worry, it will continue next week) and so we did a mailbag instead. we usually do at least one mailbag episode a month to catch up on the mountain of questions we have from patrons. if you want to ask us questions, please subscribe for just $5 a month. this time, we cover everything from cobblestone streets to cadaver synods to the Florentine Vice to Gilles de Rais, Medieval beach trips, performative masculinity maxxing, and more.
• Medieval Land Mgmt 4: Rice Quest 26.02.2026 1h 26m

  folks, in our 4th episode on Medieval Land Management, we talk about more types of farming. this time, moving to Asia and the Americas to talk the 2 other great Medieval staple crops: rice and maize. we begin in China where rice was domesticated and turned from a dry and crop into a semi-aquatic one about 6,000 years ago. we talk about the spread of rice, how rice paddies work, and how the Song Dynasty used Champa rice to experience a population boom. then we turn to the Americas to talk about maize, its domestication from tiosente, the Three Sisters agricultural program and the milpa system.
• Medieval Land Mgmt 3: Go Wheat Boy Go 19.02.2026 1h 28m

  folks, in the third episode in our series on Medieval Land Management, we talk about how Medieval farming recovered in Italy after the fall of Western Rome, how migrants from both East and West influenced Central European land management and agricultural practices, and why all of these Medieval European farming innovations owe a whole lot more to the Islamic world and specifically the Arab Agricultural Revolution than most would care to admit. also talk of settlement hierarchies and why nomadic peoples eventually adopt sedentism in almost every case.
• Medieval Land Mgmt 2: Labors of the Months 12.02.2026 1h 11m

  folks, it's time to talk about Medieval farming. you've asked us to go in-depth on how it worked and that's what we're doing in this series. we talk about the yearly cycle in the forms of the Labors of the Months, how global climate shifts changed life for Medieval farmers, their understanding of ecological sustainability, and more about manure than you ever wanted to know. enjoy!