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Literature and History

With millions of downloads, hundreds of hours of soundtracked content, and an overall emphasis on the cultural history behind famous works of literature, Literature and History is one of the most popular independent podcasts on its subject. Starting with Sumerian cuneiform in 3,100 BCE, Literature and History moves forward in chronological order through Assyriology, Egyptology, the Old Testament, Ancient Greece and Rome, and the birth of Christianity. The show's current season is on Late Antiquity (or 200-700 CE) and the dawn of the Middle Ages. A typical episode (they average about two hours) features a general introduction to a work of literature, then a full summary of that work that expects no prior knowledge, and finally, an analysis of the cultural, biographical, and historical forces that gave rise to the work in question. Original symphonic and ambient background music is woven throughout each show, and all episodes offer free full, illustrated, footnoted transcriptions as well as quizzes for purposes of review. The show has no advertisements, and its host takes pride in a professional approach that avoids chitchat and ephemera and gets straight to the educational content. You can listen to the episodes in any order, although most listeners begin at the beginning and proceed from there, as the podcast itself is chronologically organized. Doug Metzger finished his Ph.D. in literature in 2011. His chief scholarly interest, following his dissertation work, continues to be 19th-century realism and postbellum American philosophy.
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Now displaying: Page 1
Aug 9, 2024

Second only to the Tanakh, the 63 Tractates of the Talmud are the main text of Rabbinic Judaism, containing the teachings of thousands of ancient rabbis.

Upcoming Seasons:
https://literatureandhistory.com/upcoming-seasons/

Episode 104 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-104

Episode 104 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-104-introduction-to-the-talmud

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Sep 22, 2023

In the twilight of the Western Empire, Boethius (c. 476-523) served as consul, but ended his life imprisoned by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric, writing The Consolation of Philosophy.

Episode103 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-103

Episode 103Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-103-boethius

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Mar 4, 2023

Augustine’s City of God, Part 2 of 2. The second half of the City of God contains some of Late Antiquity’s most influential writings – most notably Augustine’s take on Original Sin.

Episode 102 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-102

Episode 102 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-102-an-old-mans-book

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Feb 4, 2023

Augustine’s City of God, Part 1 of 2. The first half of the City of God is a broadside against paganism – its culture, religion, and history, subjects about which Augustine had much to say.

Episode 101 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-101

Episode 101 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-101-against-the-pagans

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Dec 30, 2022

Augustine’s Confessions, Part 2 of 2. The second half of Augustine’s Confessions contains some of the most famous theology in Christian history.

Episode 100 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-100

Episode 100 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-100-late-have-i-loved-you

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Dec 10, 2022

Augustine’s Confessions, Part 1 of 2. The first half of Augustine’s Confessions tells of his wayward early years, his intellectual journey, and his spiritual awakening.

Episode 99 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-099

Episode 99 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-099-the-boy-who-stole-pears

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Nov 11, 2022

Polyglot Jerome (347-420) had a gigantic impact on all subsequent Christian history, leaving behind a huge body of works, including the Latin Bible.

Episode 98 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-098

Episode 98 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-098-saint-jerome

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Ancient Greece Declassified Tour:
https://www.greecepodcast.com/tour/

 

May 8, 2022

The Dionysiaca, Part 2 of 2. The last surviving Greek epic of antiquity draws to a close with Dionysus fighting wars far to the east, in India.

Episode 97 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-097

Episode 97 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-097-blood-and-ivy

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Oct 31, 2021

The last epic from Greco-Roman antiquity that survives in full, Nonnus’ fifth-century Dionysiaca tells of the wine god Dionysus’ journey eastward, to India.

Episode 96 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-096

Episode 96 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-096-the-last-pagan-epic

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Oct 17, 2021

In 417 CE, the Roman poet Rutilius Namatianus journeyed from Rome back to his homeland of Gaul, not knowing whether there was a home to return to.

Episode 95 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-095

Episode 95 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-095-rutilius-namatianus

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Sep 12, 2021

One of the later Latin poets of the Empire, Ausonius’ expansive body of work gives us a window into the changing world of fourth-century Roman culture.

Episode 94 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-094

Episode 94 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-094-ausonius

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Aug 18, 2021

Sulpicius Severus’ (c. 363-425) life of St. Martin is one of the great hagiographies – a portrait of a timeless saint, but also of a human being and working bishop.

Episode 93 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-093

Episode 93 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-093-severus-life-of-st-martin

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Aug 8, 2021

Athanasius (c. 297-373) wrote a wildly popular biography of the desert hermit St. Anthony, touting the ideals of asceticism and triumph over demonic temptation.

Episode 92 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-092

Episode 92 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-092-athanasius-life-of-antony

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Jul 25, 2021

In Carthage, in 203 CE, a Roman noblewoman and her retinue were butchered in an amphitheater. Learn her story, and the earliest history of Christian martyrs.

Episode 91 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-091

Episode 91 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-091-the-passion-of-perpetua

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Jul 4, 2021

Learn the documentary history behind how the Catholic Church was founded and set up as an organization, together with some of the works of the earliest church fathers.

Episode 90 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-090

Episode 90 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-090-ante-nicene-catholicism

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Jun 19, 2021

Heliodorus of Emesa (3rd/4th century CE) wrote the longest novel to have survived from antiquity, an adventurous romance that reemerged into Europe in the 1500s.

Episode 89 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-089

Episode 89 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-089-the-aethiopica-of-heliodorus

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Great Anthology of Ancient Greek Fiction:
B.P. Reardon's Collected Ancient Greek Novels

 

May 21, 2021

In roughly the 160s CE, the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata wrote A True Story, one of history’s earliest surviving novels, with strong tinges of what we’d call science fiction.

Episode 88 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-088

Episode 88 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-088-ancient-greek-sci-fi

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

May 7, 2021

The satirist Lucian (c. 125-180) was popular in his own time and during the Renaissance, among other things probably being the first author of science fiction.

Episode 87 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-087

Episode 87 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-087-lucian-of-samosata

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Apr 25, 2021

Once pervasively described as a period of fall and decline, today Late Antiquity is often understood as a period of cultural flowering and economic revolution.

Episode 86 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-086

Episode 86 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-086-intro-to-late-antiquity

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Apr 4, 2021

A primer on Biblical canon formation, retrospective on what we’ve covered so far, and introduction to the upcoming season.

Episode 85 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-085

Episode 85 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-085-river

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Mar 14, 2021

After 300 CE, Manichaeism spread quickly from its origins in modern day Iraq and Iran. Recent archaeological discoveries have finally allowed us to learn about it firsthand.

Episode 84 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-084

Episode 84 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-084-manichaeism

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Feb 28, 2021

The Nag Hammadi Library, Codex Tchacos, and Berlin Codex, as they came to light in the twentieth century, radically changed our understanding of early Christianity.

Episode 83 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-083

Episode 83 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-083-gnosticism

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

HarperOne Nag Hammadi Scriptures https://harperone.com/9780061626005/the-nag-hammadi-scriptures/

Jan 31, 2021

Learn the basic tenets and early history of Zoroastrianism, one of the most important and widespread religions in the ancient world, and possibly earth’s oldest living monotheism.

Episode 82 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-082

Episode 82 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-082-zoroastrianism

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Jan 10, 2021

One of the most spectacular pieces of writing in the world’s religious texts, Revelation influenced generations of writers and theologians.

Episode 81 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-081

Episode 81 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-081-revelation

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Writ Large Podcast:
https://www.writlarge.fm/

Oct 14, 2020

The later epistles of the New Testament show early Christian theology expanding and evolving in the ancient Mediterranean.

Episode 80 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-080

Episode 80 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-080-the-general-epistles

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

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