Media-eval: A Medieval Pop Culture Podcast

I love podcasts and I love history, and in undergrad I focused on medieval history and literature. I was excited to first discover this podcast, but frequently, the episodes are not about pop culture trying to portray the medieval world, rather,it will be about the ancient world, or early modern/Renaissance, or even much more recent than that. Maybe just call it a history podcast?🤷

I love this podcast! The hosts are very engaging and informative and the guests never disappoint. As a ‘Jewess’ myself, I really appreciate/enjoy Sarah’s angle on Jewish history and women’s history as they are embedded in the medieval period and in the historiographic/pop cultural context. The Ivanhoe episode was so good it made me go reread Ivanhoe, watch the whole 1997 miniseries + Rebecca clips from any version I could find, and then listen to the podcast again! I don’t know how set your media list is for the remaining episodes or how well this it fits the exact remit of the podcast, but I would love it so much if you could cover Discworld - the early books at least are very much based on “medical fantasy” 🙏

I ADORE this podcast. I was looking for someone who had talked about the movie Beckett and low and behold I stumbled upon the history podcast of my dreams. As a Jew and history minor myself this has sparked my interest in the middle ages/medieval period and inspired me to take a class this fall semester focused on that period of western history. Come for the laughs, stay to really learn fascinating facts that I’m sure will eventually come in super handy at bar trivia!

Full disclosure, I have guested on the show twice (Outlaw King and Six the Musical) and had an excellent time, but that has in no way impacted my review of the show. I was a listener long before I was a guest and can say wholeheartedly that Media-Eval is a great show either way. (And come on, what a great pun in the title!) Dr. Decker knows her subject inside and out, and it's a great listen both when the pop culture is on the laughably wrong side (i.e., Braveheart) and when the piece actually tries. I particularly appreciate her views as a Jewish woman looking at these pieces of pop culture which often erase marginalized identities and glorify a white male Eurocentric viewpoint. We need more voices like this critiquing period dramas and I am so happy Dr. Decker continues to make her voice (and the voice of her excellent colleagues and guests!) heard.