Episodios
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This episode's topic is so literally monumental, we brought in three experts to help us bring it to life. We’re going back more than 3,000 years, to New Kingdom Egypt, to visit two of the job sites that contributed to the production of some of the ancient world’s most iconic monuments. We start with the dynamic duo of Dr Maria Nilsson and John Ward, Nat Geo Explorers and archaeologists who have spent over ten years uncovering the secrets of Gebel el Silsila, the little-known quarry site that supplied the stone for pretty much every major temple you’d see along a ‘hit parade’ Nile River tour. Then, joined by Egyptologist Sofia Aziz, we zero in on the Valley of the Kings site, Deir el Medina, where extraordinarily detailed archaeological and historical records reveal the lives of one group of ancient Egyptian construction workers in astonishing detail. Think worker strikes and social media are a modern phenomenon? Think again. As with so many things, it seems the Egyptians did it first. So, let’s tread the dust of two of their most prolific building sites. Like an Egyptian, of course.
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In this episode, Karen talks with Master Mason Brad Steele about the ancient craft of building in stone, from its ancient origins through the medieval guilds which continue to provide fraternal and educational support to ensure its survival into the future.
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In this episode, Karen talks with actor, director, and theatre historian, Dr Kyle A Thomas. Join us for a peek behind the curtain of European theatre in the Middle Ages. Spoiler alert: piety wasn’t the only value on display in medieval relgious dramas!
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As we move through some holiday down time, celebrate with this WoT classic episode. It’s the story of the department store, or mall, Santa - the origins of the job, who were the big players, and its lasting legacy on the industry of holiday joy. Join us as we talk with Dr. Sheila Hoffman, and hear the tale of the very first Department Store/Mall Santa, in a fireside story with Working Over Time Producer/Writer Aidan Laliberte. (recorded over zoom)
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In today’s episode, which is Part I of II, we examine blacksmithing from the perspectives of the legends and folklore forged from the same fires as the revolutionary iron tools that so fundamentally shaped human experience. What better way to dive into this topic than with our guest, Mark Norman, whose own podcast, The Folklore Podcast, has enjoyed over 1.25 million downloads to date, fueled by compelling content and, of course, a stellar host. With that, let’s gather around the forge.
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Halloween *bonus* Working Right Now episode, with returning guest, Isabella Connor, 17th-19thc New England historian and writer. Isabella loves Salem, and Halloween. Just not together. Tune in to find out why.
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What do you think of when you hear the phrase “public art?" What is it? Who is it for? What is its purpose, anyway? In this episode we explore these questions, and more, through the lens of ancient Greco-Roman sculpture with archaeologist and educator Laura Aitken-Burt.
Spoiler alert: the place and influence of state-sanctioned art strikes us as one of those “universals” of human society, past and present.
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For much of human history, finding shelter was something everyone did on their own, to survive. But with increasing labor specialization in complex societies, the act of designing and building structures evolved into a distinct blend of art and science, becoming the discipline we know today as architecture. But when did this job, as such, become a thing? Today’s guest, Viviano Villarreal-Bueron, has a ripping good take on that, replete with drama, intrigue, and bruised egos aplenty. So - hard hats on - we’re headed to the eternal magnificence of Renaissance Rome.
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Classical historian and baker-in-residence, Dr Owen Rees, walks Karen through the ancient past and present pleasures of breadmaking.
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We’re in the throes of a new space race, and it’s a whole new ballgame from the 1960s Cold War version, when the world’s superpowers duked it out to see who could be the first to send a man into space. Fast-forward to today, and we’re in the wild west of a “space tourism” race.
The SpaceX Inspiration4 mission, slated to lift off TODAY, September 15, 2021, promises to up the ante by launching the first all-civilian mission to orbit the earth, with the express goal of broadening access to space. And this one hits close to home, since Karen had the pleasure and privilege of hosting its Mission Pilot, Dr Sian Proctor, on the podcast last year.
To hear more about Sian’s personal journey to the stars, and the broader context of how women and people of color have fared in the evolution of space travel from the 1960s to the present, tune in to Working Over Time, episode 7. “They Promised Her The Moon:” The Hidden Women of the Space Race.
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In this episode, Karen is joined by Sam Wilson and Jem Duducu to take a look at the job specs and role of a medieval knight. Listen in as they compare the enduring myth of knights and the chivalric code to the brutal reality.
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For decades, the independent toymaker has been eclipsed by corporate toy marketers funding defense-department-sized ad budgets across print, radio, TV, and the internet.
Our chat with thoroughly modern indie toymaker Bobby Vala gives us hope that this hopelessly stacked landscape is shifting, as savvy small operators find ways to harness the power of story to hook and retain players, and engage fans directly through the leveling effects of social media as a direct, two-way communications channel.
Surely this is happy news for players everywhere, from the smallest child to young-at-heart “kidults.”
Recorded over zoom.
Check out Valaverse to see what Bobby’s up to these days.
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The gang’s all here, back in the Breakroom! This time, we’re chatting with production partner and Past Preserver Head Nigel Hetherington about what it’s like to do archaeology in Egypt, and to start a heritage media business.
Join us for another behind-the-scenes look at how Aidan, Raz, and Karen create the podcast, and learn what’s involved in being an expert presenter on unscripted, factual television. Grab a hot cup of something, and we'll meet you there.
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Have you ever seen an ad - on TV, in a magazine, or online - that was so clever it made you laugh out loud? Or just hit so close to home it took you by surprise? What about an ad that was so unbelievably “off” that you couldn’t believe anyone ever thought it was a good idea, much less got it greenlit and broadcast into the great collective consciousness? (that Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad, anyone….?). If you’ve ever wondered where this peculiarly capitalist form of communication came from, wondered why certain marketing campaigns “work” while others crash and burn, or just been curious about the complex psychology behind getting people to open their wallets… well, this is the episode for you. Popular historian and old friend Jem Duducu brings us to the inner sanctum of New York City’s 1920s “Ad Men,” and traces their legacy straight on through to today’s consumer economy, predicated on universal social media channels that paradoxically target individual communications more precisely than ever before. So, grab your fedora and follow me onto the swinging streets of New York City in the Jazz Age, to learn how we got here, and, as always, to think about where we might be headed in the future.
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This episode takes us to some of the deepest, darkest and most awe-inspiring settings planet Earth has to offer. We’re doing a deep dive into, deep diving, as it happens. Specifically, the perilous quest to discover and map unexplored caves in our oceans’ harshest, most remote corners. Our guide is the intrepid Jill Heinerth, a renowned underwater explorer and cave mapper whose projects span decades, and whose insistence that discovery is the driving force of human advancement is an inspiration to us all. Jill’s taking us back to the earliest days of her profession - that’s all the way back to 350 BCE - when ancient divers employed astonishingly complex tools and techniques to explore the oceans whose surfaces were inscrutable, but whose depths yielded deep sea resources and the intangible rewards of piercing that watery veil, to behold an entirely different world. We’ll also examine how the modern profession of underwater exploration is transforming our understanding of what really lies beneath the water that covers over 70% of Earth’s surface, and how what’s -down there- relates to what’s happening -up here-, past, present, and future. So, strap on those “rebreathers” and join our plunge into the vast, uncharted seas. With Jill leading the way, it’s sure to be an adventure to remember.
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Welcome to the emergent beauty industry of the early 20th century: a veritable Wild West that played fast and loose with the latest scientific darling, a new element called radium, which (spoiler alert) exposed users to concerning levels of radiation. Historian Lucy Jane Santos is with us today, to dish on how radium became the secret sauce in a dizzying range of beauty and personal care products, and remained so even after the health hazards were well-understood. So - Without further ado, let’s learn all about the killer cosmetics of the early 20th century beauty industry.
Music by Max Richter
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The current shifting season is the perfect backdrop for our first episode of the season:Greco-Roman Winemakers of the ancient world. Because - who doesn’t need a drink after the last decade *cough cough* We mean "year." That said, people have had lots of reasons to wine (and whine) since - well - ever. And today, we have Dr. Emlyn Dodd, a Greco-Roman Archaeologist who’s gonna take us through the ancient, fascinating, and ever-timely traditions and technologies around wine cultivation, as practiced in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds.
(recorded over zoom) Music by Rolfe Kent
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On today’s episode - our last of this season - we’re addressing an age-old question: “Privateer or Pirate?” Ok, maybe not age old, exactly, but it’s a question I didn’t even know to ask until I spoke with maritime archaeologist Neil Dobson, whose work spans decades of deep-water shipwreck exploration and recovery. In his all his years of studying ships and their legendary captains, none has captured Neil’s imagination, and heart quite so much as that of the famous Captain William Kidd, who was a “privateer” wrongly convicted as a pirate and, as Washington Irving writes in our opening passage, hanged for his “crimes.” If you’re wondering what the heck a privateer is, how one could be confused with a pirate, and above all, why that would be such a terrible thing in the eyes of the law, you’ve come to the right time machine. So - Hoist the sails! Yo ho ho and a bottle of... beer? Well, that’s what Neil says, anyway.
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For the past 60 years, following the trail blazed by Sputnik, we’ve put thousands of satellites into orbit, looping sentinels that serve critical functions in modern society, transmitting TV and radio signals, tracking the weather, and providing communications and positioning channels that serve a range of military and civilian needs. In this episode, we talk about one such technology, which has transformed everyday life for the 4billion people – nearly half the globe’s population - who use smartphones. That’s the GPS tracking feature which means most of us couldn’t get lost, even if we wanted to; and which is making good old paper maps (the ones you never could fold right anyway) increasingly obsolete. Join Karen as she speaks with guest Richard Easton, who brings a unique viewpoint on the roots of this innovation, having grown up as the son of a Naval Research Laboratories physicist who led the charge in developing America’s first satellites in the 1950s, in the Silicon Valley of its time. So - get those white jackets on, we’re headed to the lab! (recorded over zoom)
Follow today's guest on social media: @RDEIL
Find us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/workingovertime
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