The arrival of a terrifying pandemic made medieval people increasingly preoccupied with death, sin and the afterlife. In this episode, Ellie Cawthorne speaks to Helen Carr about spiritual responses to the Black Death, from special prayers to self-flagellation.
The primary sources quoted in this series are mainly taken from:
The Black Death, translated and ed ... Show More
Today
The hidden history behind Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore is one of the most iconic images in US history – but its story is far more complex and controversial than that of a simple sculpture. In this episode, historian Matthew Davis joins Elinor Evans to discuss his latest book, A Biography of a Mountain, which delves int ... Show More
40m 29s
Yesterday
Juana Inés de la Cruz: life of the week
She led “a life that really, in many ways, shouldn't have been possible”. So says historian Paul Gillingham of Juana Inés de la Cruz. This 17th-century polymath and nun challenged a host of social conventions – earning, through her extraordinary books and poems, a place in the pa ... Show More
30m 40s
Sep 2021
God and the Black Death, Part 3
The Black Death was the most fatal pandemic in recorded human history, decimating a late Medieval world unaided by the germ theory of disease. In this episode of Stuff to Blow your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the ways that religion responded to the plague and the effects these e ... Show More
56m 12s
Mar 2020
Classic Tides: The Black Death Revisited
<p>In light of current events, we are re-posting one of my favorite episodes (from June, 2018) on the Black Death.</p><p>Between 1346 and 1351, the Black Death killed tens of millions of people - at least half the population - in Europe and the Middle East. This great mortality, ... Show More
52m 36s
Oct 2023
The Murders of Alexander the Great
<p><em>This episode contains strong language, and references to sexual assault.</em></p><br><p>Alexander the Great - conqueror, legend, <em>murderer</em>. After ascending to the throne at aged 20 in 336BCE, his rule started with mass executions and political assassinations - them ... Show More
43 m
May 2019
Talking with the Soul: A Dialogue about Life and Death
In this Ancient Egyptian poem, a man talks with his own soul about whether it is better to live or die. Read by Barbara Ewing. Translated by Richard Bruce Parkinson. The poem is known from a single copy, c. 1800 BC, whose beginning is lost. It is a dialogue between a man and his ... Show More
15m 38s