336 episodes

Everywhere around us are echoes of the past. Those echoes define the boundaries of states and countries, how we pray and how we fight. They determine what money we spend and how we earn it at work, what language we speak and how we raise our children. From Wondery, host Patrick Wyman, PhD (“Fall Of Rome”) helps us understand our world and how it got to be the way it is.
New episodes come out Thursdays for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. Listen ad-free on Wondery+ or on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.

Tides of History Wondery

    • History
    • 4.7 • 558 Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

Everywhere around us are echoes of the past. Those echoes define the boundaries of states and countries, how we pray and how we fight. They determine what money we spend and how we earn it at work, what language we speak and how we raise our children. From Wondery, host Patrick Wyman, PhD (“Fall Of Rome”) helps us understand our world and how it got to be the way it is.
New episodes come out Thursdays for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. Listen ad-free on Wondery+ or on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    What Made Classical Greece Special? Interview with Professor Josiah Ober

    What Made Classical Greece Special? Interview with Professor Josiah Ober

    This episode comes out for free on 05/02 and is available early and ad-free for Wondery+ subscribers.

    Sign up on http://wondery.fm/applepodcasts and stay up-to-date on the latest new podcasts and more from Wondery.

    We're often told that Classical Greece lies at the root of our modern world in some way, but what made it a special place? Professor Josiah Ober, author of The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece, joins me to discuss his approach to that question. We discuss the unique political ecology of the Greek city-states, demographic growth, and the role of institutions in making Greece a place quite unlike the rest of the ancient world.

    Warlords, War, and Society in Early Rome: Interview with Professor Jeremy Armstrong

    Warlords, War, and Society in Early Rome: Interview with Professor Jeremy Armstrong

    Rome and war are inseparable topics, but how far back does their connection go? What was war like in the earliest days of the city's rise to prominence? Professor Jeremy Armstrong is an expert on early Rome and warfare in pre-Roman Italy, and he joins me to talk about warlords, generals, and the nature of warfare at Rome's beginning.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 1 hr
    Listen Now: The Price of Paradise

    Listen Now: The Price of Paradise

    When ex-Bunny girl Jayne Gaskin spots the desert island of her dreams for sale online, she decides to risk it all. Trading in their English village home, Jayne and her family relocate to their own private paradise, just off the coast of Nicaragua. And a reality TV crew follows them to film a new show, No Going Back. But soon they all discover that paradise has its secrets. The locals claim the island belongs to them, and it’s been sold illegally. Jayne’s not leaving without a fight. A fight that will soon turn deadly.




    Hosted by Alice Levine.




    Listen to The Price of Paradise on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial by visiting https://wondery.com/links/the-price-of-paradise/

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 6 min
    Classical Greece

    Classical Greece

    We're often told that Greece's Classical period lies at the root of "Western Civilization," but what was actually special about that time and place? Why did it produce so many works of literature, art, architecture, and philosophy that have survived and shaped the millennia to come?




    Patrick's book is now available! Get The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World in hardcopy, ebook, or audiobook (read by Patrick) here: https://bit.ly/PWverge. And check out Patrick's new podcast The Pursuit of Dadliness! It’s all about “Dad Culture,” and Patrick will interview some fascinating guests about everything from tall wooden ships to smoked meats to comfortable sneakers to history, sports, culture, and politics. https://bit.ly/PWtPoD




    Listen to new episodes 1 week early, to exclusive seasons 1 and 2, and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/tidesofhistory

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 38 min
    Carthage, Syracuse, and the Battle for Sicily

    Carthage, Syracuse, and the Battle for Sicily

    By 480 BC, the same year Xerxes and the Persians descended on Greece, Sicily had become a battleground for the rising powers of the Central Mediterranean: Carthage, on one side, and the Greek colony of Syracuse on the other. The result was a massive battle, and its remains still survive in the archaeological record.




    Patrick's book is now available! Get The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World in hardcopy, ebook, or audiobook (read by Patrick) here: https://bit.ly/PWverge. And check out Patrick's new podcast The Pursuit of Dadliness! It’s all about “Dad Culture,” and Patrick will interview some fascinating guests about everything from tall wooden ships to smoked meats to comfortable sneakers to history, sports, culture, and politics. https://bit.ly/PWtPoD




    Listen to new episodes 1 week early, to exclusive seasons 1 and 2, and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/tidesofhistory

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 40 min
    The Archaeology of the Indus Valley Civilization: Interview with Professor Cameron Petrie

    The Archaeology of the Indus Valley Civilization: Interview with Professor Cameron Petrie

    Archaeology is changing quickly, and few people are playing more of a direct role in the wave of fascinating new studies exploring the Indus Valley Civilization, South Asia, and Iran than Professor Cameron Petrie. We talk about his work on South Asia, the scientific revolution in archaeology, and much more.




    Patrick's book is now available! Get The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World in hardcopy, ebook, or audiobook (read by Patrick) here: https://bit.ly/PWverge. And check out Patrick's new podcast The Pursuit of Dadliness! It’s all about “Dad Culture,” and Patrick will interview some fascinating guests about everything from tall wooden ships to smoked meats to comfortable sneakers to history, sports, culture, and politics. https://bit.ly/PWtPoD




    Listen to new episodes 1 week early, to exclusive seasons 1 and 2, and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/tidesofhistory

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 56 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
558 Ratings

558 Ratings

agrippa54 ,

Tides of History

What an incredible podcast. So much information about our ancient ancestors and the scope of human history on a broad scale. Thank you so much for your amazing work!

Ddghjjjgggfrxchh ,

Atmospheric podcast focused on ancient history

Very informative podcasts and gives you a good overview of a particular people’s and time and place, so that you at least have a baseline knowledge. And most of the episodes are only 30mins long. I like that Patrick always begins his episode with a dramatic retelling of an unnamed ancient person who is going about their normal day within the particular region and time that they lived in, along with sound affects that can give us a sense of what that long ago person would have seen and heard. It really gets me into the story; as if I am walking beside them and they aren’t so distant to me, after all.

I’ll say though, the only reason I won’t give a full 5 stars is because Patrick talks very quickly, in general, so I miss a lot of info and have to go back and listen to certain parts. I get it, that he is trying to cover a lot of material in a short period of time.

BanKen69 ,

Not great

Adding to the below paragraph having now listened to more episodes: The more I hear, the more it feels like someone is reading Wikipedia summaries, adding (too many) superlatives, some sound effects, and an ungodly number of advertisements, and calling it a history podcast.

——

Well presented and an enjoyable change of pace from the super detailed history podcasts I’ve previously listened to, but Wondery ads for some of the worst sounding podcasts imaginable are way too frequent, way too long, and read by the most annoying people (hosts of those podcasts) imaginable.

Top Podcasts In History

The Rest Is History
Goalhanger Podcasts
History's Secret Heroes
BBC Radio 4
Dan Snow's History Hit
History Hit
The Spy Who
Wondery
You're Dead to Me
BBC Radio 4
Short History Of...
NOISER

You Might Also Like

The Ancient World
Scott C.
History Time
History Time
The Ancients
History Hit
Fall of Civilizations Podcast
Paul Cooper
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History: Addendum
Dan Carlin
The History of Byzantium
thehistoryofbyzantium@gmail.com

More by Wondery

This Is Actually Happening
Wondery
Keeping It Real: Conversations with Jillian Michaels
Jillian Michaels | Crossover Media Group
British Scandal
Wondery
Good Life Project
Jonathan Fields / Acast
Dr. Death
Wondery
Business Wars
Wondery