After Napoleon occupied Egypt, Europeans became obsessed with the ancient cultures of the Nile. In Britain, the center of Egyptology research was University College London (UCL). At the heart of the UCL program was the Egyptologist, Margaret Alice Murray. During this golden age of Egyptian Archaeology, Murray was training students, running the department, an ... Show More
Nov 18
Max Adams and Colm O’Brien, "Northumbria AD 367-867: Earth Hall, Ring Gift and Heaven’s Field" (Birlinn, 2025)
The story of the lands between the Forth and Humber from the end of the Roman period to the Viking kingdom of York is one of the most richly fascinating in British history. This the age of Lindisfarne and of Bede; of the dramatic hills, valleys and ancient routeways that link the ... Show More
1h 8m
Nov 12
Eric H. Cline, "Love, War, and Diplomacy: The Discovery of the Amarna Letters and the Bronze Age World They Revealed" (Princeton UP, 2025)
From the acclaimed author of 1177 B.C., a spellbinding account of the archaeological find that opened a window onto the vibrant diplomatic world of the ancient Near East In 1887, an Egyptian woman made an astonishing discovery among the ruins of the heretic king Akhenaten’s capit ... Show More
1h 7m
Nov 3
Sarah Griswold, "Resurrecting the Past: France's Forgotten Heritage Mandate" (Cornell UP, 2025)
In Resurrecting the Past: France's Forgotten Heritage Mandate (Cornell UP, 2025), Dr. Sarah Griswold shows how the Levant became a crucial front in a post-1918 fight over the French past—a contingent and contradictory but always hard-charging struggle over a forgotten "heritage m ... Show More
55m 19s
Feb 2021
Bonus Episode: In Conversation: Reframing Black History and Culture
For the past year, Overheard has explored the journeys of photographers and scientists who are focusing a new lens on history. National Geographic presents In Conversation, a special podcast episode featuring explorer Tara Roberts, computer scientist Gloria Washington, and photog ... Show More
42m 25s
Jan 2021
Princesses of Amarna, Wives of Gods with Courtney Marx and ARCE
Recorded 2024. The daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti were not just "ornaments" for their parents. Like many princesses, they also participated in the religious rituals and royal pageantry of the Egyptian government. In this interview, Courtney Marx (MA, George Mason University ... Show More
1h 14m
Feb 2019
Love, Hate, and Sex from the History of Science
<p>This Valentine's Day we could have just brought you some sappy love stories from science's past. But instead we offer you three tales of lust, loneliness, betrayal, pettiness, and not one, but two beheadings.</p> <h2>Credits</h2> <p>Hosts: <a href="file:///profile/alexis-j-ped ... Show More
38m 34s
Apr 2021
Michael Wheeler, "The Athenaeum: More Than Just Another London Club" (Yale UP, 2020)
When it was founded in 1824, the Athenæum broke the mold. Unlike in other preeminent clubs, its members were chosen on the basis of their achievements rather than on their background or political affiliation. Public rather than private life dominated the agenda. The club, with it ... Show More
53m 37s
Apr 2023
Mysteries of Ancient Egypt with Dr. Kara Cooney
🌅🇪🇬🌅Stephen Asma and Paul Giamatti get to the bottom of all your burning questions on Ancient Egypt with UCLA Egyptologist Dr. Kara Cooney. They go deep into mysteries surrounding pyramids, death cults, aliens, mummies and cats from that time period, as well as unexpected top ... Show More
1h 2m
Aug 2023
Travis Holloway, "How to Live at the End of the World: Theory, Art, and Politics for the Anthropocene" (Stanford UP, 2022)
the near universal disappearance of shared social enterprise: the ruling class builds walls and lunar shuttles, while the rest of us contend with the atrophy of institutional integrity and the utter abdication of providing even minimal shelter from looming disaster.
The irony of ... Show More
51m 14s
Mar 2021
Jason Thompson, "Wonderful Things: A History of Egyptology" (AU of Cairo, 2018)
When asked what he saw after reverently peering into the freshly opened tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Egyptologist Howard Carter could only find the words the say “Wonderful Things.” These words have become legend in Egyptology; whether they were actually spoken by Carter or were ... Show More
49m 48s