![](/assets/artwork/1x1-42817eea7ade52607a760cbee00d1495.gif)
74 episodes
![](/assets/artwork/1x1-42817eea7ade52607a760cbee00d1495.gif)
Subject to Change Russell Hogg
-
- History
-
-
5.0 • 19 Ratings
-
A lot of history episodes and a lot of film episodes. A few other subjects in between!
-
In Sulla's shadow - Ed Watts reappraises Caesar
Professor Ed Watts is a reliably brilliant guest on the show. In this episode he looks at Sulla's career and the blight the cast on the Roman Republic. Ed argues that it is impossible to understand any the great characters - Caesar, Cicero, Cato, Pompey and so on - without understanding the scarring effect of Sulla's rule. In Ed's view Caesar emerges from all this as a man with terrible ambition and many faults but ultimately redeemed by his refusal to follow Sulla's example. Refreshingly rev...
-
Mother Leakey and the Bishop
I can't remember enjoying a story more than Peter Marshall's Mother Leakey and the Bishop. The way Peter tells the story is absolutely brilliant with walk on parts from some very famous characters. At heart though it is a ghost story and the story of how an Anglican Bishop came to be hanged for the crime of sodomy in Dublin in the winter of 1640. Peter is one of the leading historians of the Reformation and won the Woolfson prize for his book Heretics and Believers. And as I say i...
-
Kaldellis on Byzantium - part 2
We cover the miserable tale of the 4th crusade, the Latin Empire and Anthony gives advice on how to write a Byzantium based historical novel. We had fun with this one and I hope you enjoy it.
-
Anthony Kaldellis on Byzantium (Part 1)
If you have any interest at all in Byzantium or in the Roman Empire generally I think you should really enjoy this episode. Professor Kaldellis is one of the leading scholars on Byzantium (East Rome?) and his book The New Roman Empire - A History of Byzantium takes you all the way from the founding of Constantinople to its fall to the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century, more than a thousand years later. The book is a tour de force and despite the scale of the story it is extremely readable and...
-
Hampton Sides - the last voyage of Captain Cook
Hampton has been on the podcast before and if you haven't yet found his books of narrative history I urge you to seek them out. Absolutely thrilling stories but told with real historical skill. Today we talked about Captain Cook's last voyage which ended in 1779. Hampton's book is called The Wide Wide Sea and he pays attention to all parts of the story - Cook was very much only a part of the tale. And do seek out not just the Wide Wide Sea but Hampton's other books. If you enjoy narrative his...
-
The Sin Eater
I am a huge fan of Mike Dash's books. We have talked about Batavia's Graveyard and Tulipomania in past episodes. But Mike also has a fascination for weird semi folkloric stories and in this episode he unearths the truth about that remarkable creature, the Sin Eater.
Customer Reviews
Excellent!
A great history-focused podcast. Guests are well picked and the host regularly asks questions or makes comments that lead to interesting and insightful discussion on topics left unaddressed in the typical book/subject review style podcast.
A Real Gem
Russell has such an engaging manner and is always well prepared for his guests. One of the best interviewers I’ve had the pleasure of listening to. I hope it never ends.
Great history podcast
I stumbled across this show and it’s fantastic. I really appreciate the wide variety of subjects. The guests are invariably fantastic and Russell does a skillful job of engaging them. Highly recommended.