Episodes
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Aesop’s fables are among the most familiar and best-loved stories in the world. Tales like “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Dog in the Manger,” and “Sour Grapes” have captivated us for generations. The fables delight us and teach timeless truths. Aesop’s tales offer us a world fundamentally simpler to ours—one with clear good and plain evil—but nonetheless one that is marked by political nuance and literary complexity.
Newly translated and annotated by renowned scholar Robin Waterfield, this definitive translation shines a new light on four hundred of Aesop’s most enduring fables.
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Guy Fawkes et al decide to blow up King James I and the English Parliament. Spoiler alert: it doesn't work...
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The end of the reign of Elizabeth I ends the Tudor dynasty. James I becomes the first of the short-lived Stuart line. His reign begins with no shortage of economic headaches.
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Henry of Navarre spends several years fighting for the crown of France, converts to Catholicism (again), and issues the famous Edict of Nantes.
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Few dynasties have had the impact on a modern state more so than the Tudors on England. Yet, the dynasty lasted hardly more than a century. Elizabeth I, the second born daughter of Henry VIII, who reigned after her younger brother and elder sister, would prove to be the final name on the list. Today we finish her story as the sun sets on Tudor England.
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In this bonus episode, you get a sneak peek of the great stuff going on in Western Civ 2.0. You can join for a free trial by clicking HERE.
After the Third Punic War, the Romans wasted little time turning on each other. Long-standing economic inequality became the issue of the late second century BCE and would, eventually, bring down the republic. In the late 140s, however, Tiberius Gracchus believed his land redistribution scheme might just solve the problem. The Senate felt otherwise. But, in the end, it was not the Lex Agraria per se that cost Tiberius his life. Rather, it was his refusal to play the political game by the old rules. -
England emerges from the defeat of the Spanish Armada, its stock never higher. Yet all around Elizabeth the signs of the end of the Tudor age continue to emerge.
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We enter this episode with an heir and a spare. We end with neither and the end of France's ruling house since the High Middle Ages.
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The "Protestant Wind" fells Philip's Armada, leaving Elizabeth "Eliza Triumphant".
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Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, finally meets her end.
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Catherine D'Medic's favorite son takes over the throne of France. Henri III is going to be notable for many reasons in French history and today we begin his story in earnest.
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Charles IX, fairly or unfairly, will forever be remembered for the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. His death ushers in a new era of uncertainty for both France and England.
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In this episode, we return to England under Queen Elizabeth I. Around Elizabeth, her key advisors grow increasingly uneasy about her seeming unwillingness to do anything about Mary Stuart's repeated efforts to steal her throne. When the Duke of Norfolk becomes implicated, even Parliament can no longer contain its frustration.
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After the death of Selim II, the Ottoman Empire goes into a period of decline. Successive Sultans seem far more interested in doling out favors to their friends and family than expanding the borders of the empire. The Janissaries, never easy to deal with under the best of circumstances, become an increasing drain on the treasury and a problem for the government. It is not over yet for the Ottomans. Not by a long shot. But the days of endless expansion are seemingly over.
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Today we are back in the Ottoman Empire. Selim II takes over for the deceased Suleyman the Magnificent. He continues his father's policies but suffers a major setback at the Battle of Lepanto.
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The swelling tide in France finally explodes in August 1572. Just as it seems like the marriage of the Protestant Henri of Navarre prepares to wed the Catholic Princess Margot and solve the religious crisis once and for all, the kingdom explodes into an orgy of violence.
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Catherine D'Medici does her best to continue charting a course of conciliation but, in this episode, her luck finally runs out. France lurches into not one but two wars of religion in this episode, leaving the kingdom torn and Catherine convinced conciliation with the Huguenots is no longer possible.
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Today I sit down with author DW Gibson and discuss his latest book: One Week to Change the World: An Oral History of the 1999 WTO Protests.
One week in late 1999, more than 50,000 people converged on Seattle. Their goal: to shut down the World Trade Organization conference and send a message that working-class people would not quietly accept the runaway economic globalization that threatened their livelihoods. Though their mission succeeded, it was not without blowback. Violent confrontations between police and protestors resulted in hundreds of arrests and millions of dollars in property damage. But the images of tear gas and smashed windows that flashed across TVs and newspapers were not an accurate representation of what actually happened that week.
In the oral history One Week to Change the World, award-winning journalist DW Gibson pieces together a complex and compelling account of what really went down in Seattle, immersing you in the angst that defined the end of a millennium, complete with fight clubs and Y2K doomsday scenarios. In more than 100 original interviews with protestors, police, politicians, anarchists, artists, activists, union members, and many others, Gibson reconstructs the events in gripping detail; documents its antecedents and aftermath; and shows how so many of its themes remain just as pressing today, including the vitalness and difficulty of grassroots activism, the aspirations and limitations of globalization, the militarization of policing, the sensationalism of the media, and the undeniable power of the people.
Timed to the 25th anniversary of the protests, this book is a page-turning drama, an essential history, and a practical handbook for how to make one’s voice heard.
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Catherine d'Medici and Charles IX take a grand tour of France while religious turmoils continue to simmer.
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In this two-part episode, we follow Elizabeth as she deals with a major northern uprising and potential treason surrounding Mary Stuart. Then we pause and, about twelve years into her reign, look at Elizabeth as a queen in general.
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