Have listened to all of your episodes. Any chance you will do series on empires in Africa and the Americas prior to European colonization?

I am enjoying this episode so far, but I just wanted to offer a correction. William said he was 2% Micmac. Micmac is actually plural! Micmaw is the singular (and the actual spellings are Mi’kmaq and Mi’kmaw). Jeff Wiseman A Canadian Fan of the show

A great episode (as were other episodes)! I have always wondered if the champa (who practiced a form of Hinduism) in Vietnam was result of the travellers Nd missionaries mentioned in this episode. If your forthcoming book The Golden Road is based on the theme of this book, I can’t wait to get hold of it! Thank you.

Great job team, fantastic chemistry and I appreciate that you both love digging into the history.

I know because I have listened compulsively to every past series they have done and now am obsessively listening to every biweekly episode as it airs. Great historical discussions and wonderful guests who will, without the slightest compunction, relentlessly expand your reading list.

Don’t forget that the empires dehumanize those they deal with like Afghans- as sub humans and savages. While William and Anita can be funny but it is noticeable that the atrocities committed by the British with the retribution army are merely pointed at as “they did their thing”. They killed, raped and burned! But when afghans killed the envading army brutally and many innocents the accounts are emphasized as a child naked in the snow or soldiers talking about it went on and on. Sure you could say how afghans watched their friends burned alive how villages burned and children killed and women raped with details to raise sympathy as was done for the British but no history is written by British and William should not judge the view of all Afghans from this one person Atar so confidently as if he was the embodiment of Afghanistan. No the less British being British and at times it shows I don’t blame you because that’s the capacity you guys have. Over all I like the shows. But you guys need to be straightened up at times as you can’t know all and can’t judge all!

I chanced upon this and was absolutely floored by the effortless style and unique perspectives with a evenly layered chemistry that could be a podcast in itself. However, then you are served historical events with the level of detail and nuances that in very many ways is like when my great grandmother would tell me stories from her long and well lived life. Few episodes later it continues to keep you hooked. Fast forward... after being hooked on to it until i had no more episodes to listen to. The wait for a new episode to be released is near unbearable! Also found out that if i were to toss a brick in the corridors of history, it is likely to hit a Dalrymple!

Really enjoy the podcast, great work. One question, when discussing the fall of the Shah of Shahs you did not delve into the politics of his ouster. Specifically, many of the Iranian diaspora call Khomeini an American plant specifically put in place by Carter to stop the Shah from becoming too “powerful”. I married into the diaspora and hear this repeatedly. I cannot believe that the peanut farmer from Georgia’s administration would orchestrate this, rather belatedly read the public mood and wanted to build an alliance and support the new power in the country. Can you delve into this? Thanks so much.

While listening it becomes annoying to hear all the giggling and congratulating going back and forth. I love history but I am finding your show more and more difficult listen to. You started off great but now we have to part ways. Barb

It’s easy to think you know the general history of a region - then someone comes along and shows you just how little you knew, and makes the journey of that realization enjoyable. Anita & William are amazing hosts, well versed, humble and at times, whacky. History doesn’t have to be serious always, and I’m glad we have an accessible show like this to re-engage with history. I was hooked on the series from the beginning of the East India Company, and found the series on slavery, Russia, and Persia fascinating.