Al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, better known simply as Salah ad-Din or Saladin, was a Sunni Muslim Arab who became the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria, and was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Saladin led the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in the Levant.
Bonus episodes as well as ad-free episodes on Patreon.
Find us on I ... Show More
Today
The First Dumb Robbery in American History
The man credited with the first big bank robbery in America was, frankly, bad at crime. Isaac Davis made off with $162,821 - or $3 million, in today's money - from the vault of the Bank of Pennsylvania sometime in the middle of the night on August 31st, 1798. This is the story of ... Show More
19m 33s
Mar 2
Iwo Jima: The Marines Hell on Earth
If You want your own Praesidus Iwo Jima Watch then check out my sponsor here Welcome to Iwo Jima, the Marines' Hell on Earth. In February 1945, 70,000 U.S. Marines stormed the black volcanic sands of a tiny, seemingly insignificant island in the Pacific. What they faced was a for ... Show More
1h 25m
Feb 19
The Weird History of Olympic Shenanigans
Olympic history is filled with bizarre, discontinued, and surreal moments, particularly in the early 20th century. Standout oddities include live pigeon shooting, painting/literature competitions, underwater swimming, and a 200-meter obstacle swim in the Seine. There is a lot of ... Show More
32m 17s
Jul 2021
Khalid Ibn al-Walid: The Sword of God
In the 7th century, the world saw the rise of one of the most important religious and political forces in history: Islam. Springing forth from the Arabian Peninsula, within a matter of months, the Islamic Caliphate had become one of the largest empires on Earth. Much of that grow ... Show More
10m 25s
Dec 2023
104. How Persian Religion Changed the World
Three great religions have come out of Persia and all of them have influenced world history. First there was Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic religion, which had significant influence over Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Then there was Mithraism. It began in Persia but, t ... Show More
52m 31s
Jul 2023
The Firebrand from Damascus (Part 1)
Ibn Taymiyyah is known as the “Sheikh of Islam” to his admirers, and to his detractors, one of the most significant antecedents of modern Salafi Jihadism. Simultaneously a genius scholar, brutal warrior and unflinching polemicist, he is one of the most important pioneers of a mil ... Show More
52m 46s
Jul 2023
Khalid Ibn al-Walid: The Sword of Allah (Encore)
In the 7th century, the world saw the rise of one of the most important religious and political forces in history: Islam. Springing forth from the Arabian Peninsula, within a matter of years, the Islamic Caliphate had become one of the largest empires on Earth.
Much of that grow ... Show More
9m 35s
Oct 2023
376. Baghdad: The Forging of Islam (Part 1)
A story of great myth and of huge historical significance, the foundation of Baghdad is a fundamental episode in the development of Islam. The Umayyad Caliphate, the first great Islamic empire, stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the borders of China; no dynasty had ever preside ... Show More
51m 3s