Summary Here comes the parade, want some beads? Okay, so carnival is a prelude to Lent, which is an extremely solemn time in Catholic tradition. So why is it the way that it is in so many places? Let’s talk about it. Notes 1/ It’s late, but it’s up before the end of Lent. lol sob 2/ carnem levare: Latin for putting away (not eating) meat. 3/ The dialog is: Aziraphale: Did you ever meet him? Crowley: Yes…seemed a very bright young man. I showed him all the kingdoms of the world. Aziraphale: Why? Crowley: He’s a carpenter from Galilee. His travel opportunities are limited. (From s1e03) 4/ https ..read more

Synopsis If you’re one of those people who thinks about the Roman Empire a lot because aqueducts are really cool, you’re going to love this. Join Em and Jesse as they discuss the irrigation of the Chengdu Plain, the plumbing of Tenochtitlan, and water management at Machu Picchu. Then we round out our “the middle ages didn’t constantly smell awful” series with a discussion of the history of perfume. Notes 1/ Various news articles about water pollution: Cuyahoga River fires (yes, plural): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/cuyahoga-river-caught-fire-least-dozen-times-no-one-cared-until-1969 ..read more

Summary After a brief discussion of how people brushed their teeth, we move on to the question of where the water they used came from. And yeah, Rome had aqueducts–but so did a lot of places! And the Romans didn’t even build the aqueducts they did have–they took them from the Etruscans! Who may have gotten the idea from the Minoans! Also we talk about China, Harappa, and the Inca. You don’t want to miss this amazing smorgasbord of plumbing knowledge. Notes 1/ This discussion of dentistry is very weird to listen to; as I [Em] am editing this episode, I’m also preparing to get some dental work a ..read more

Summary When Em was a kid, she was told that knights in shining armor didn’t bathe, that Elizabeth I had bathed only three times in her life, and various other assertions. But we know that soap is not a modern invention–the word itself comes from the Latin, and no less than Pliny the Elder discusses how to make it from tallow and ashes. So what constitutes bathing? Were people before the year 1900 CE just terribly smelly all the time? And what were bathrooms–and plumbing–like around the world? Join Em and Jesse for a far-ranging discussion of cleanliness, won’t you? Notes 0/ Em’s new novel, Ol ..read more

Synopsis Are you travelling for Thanksgiving? Believe it or not, “travel” as a thing is not a modern creation. In the middle ages, people visited many remote and far-flung places and brought back notes (and delicious noodles). Join Em and Jesse for travel talk, including Lord Elgin, Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, Zheng He, Margery Kemp, and more. Notes 0/ The actual postcard: I found it in a copy of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, by Oliver Sacks. I was definitely not reading that when the postcard arrived, so…I don’t know how it was saved. 1/ Anyway, in the UK a “subway” means a pedestrian ..read more

Synopsis We’ve all seen that scene in Indiana Jones where he’s clutching an artifact and shouting, “It belongs in a museum!” But nowadays in 2023, we tend to temper that idea–museums are fun, but who gets to hold a particular object, why, and for how long is a point of contention. Join Em and Jesse as they discuss one of the world’s oldest and largest museums, the British Museum. With a collection of over eight million objects, you know there’s some controversial stuff in there. We’ll also discuss other recent British Museum-related controversies, the illegal antiquities market, the difference ..read more

Synopsis Em and Jesse talk about Italian sumptuary laws, which unlike the British ones, were more aimed at women. Then they talk about fashion “dos” of the middle ages. Notes 1/ So, the difference between having a title and being part of the peerage is this. In America, when you earn a lot of money, you get to be part of a special club where you are allowed to accumulate “social dollars” (rizz, street cred, social capital, whatever) and then spend it to get stuff you want (meet Taylor Swift, drive an F1 car, sit at the 50 yard line at the Superb Owl, shoot yourself into outer space). We don’t ..read more

Synopsis What got written illicitly on the walls back before 79 CE? It turns out a lot of stuff! Join Em and Jesse as they discuss the graffiti of Pompeii and also stuff Vikings wrote their names on. Em’s book: Amazon, all other sites. Notes Books! Ancient Graffiti in Context ed. Baird and Taylor: https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Graffiti-Context-Routledge-Studies-ebook/dp/B004OBZWDG Medieval Graffiti: The Lost Voices of England’s Churches by Matthew Champion https://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Graffiti-Voices-Englands-Churches/dp/009196041X Graffiti in Antiquity by Peter Keegan https://www.amazon.c ..read more

Summary Let’s talk about psychedelics in ritual practice. From Hunter S. Thompson’s pilgrimage across the desert to the human sacrifices of the Incan empire in the sixteenth century to the use of opium during the late bronze age, people have been altering their mental states in religious contexts almost since the dawn of civilization. Join Em and Jesse in their second episode about drugs in honor of Em’s killer new novel, Dionysus in Wisconsin. Notes Get the novel! Dionysus in Wisconsin on Amazon, on Bookshop.org, and other sites. Or drop me an email at ehlupton(at)gmail(dot)com to get a signe ..read more

Summary Halloween! A time of candy, Pagan ritual, sexy bus driver costumes, and syncretism. How much of this holiday has been handed down to us from the middle ages, and how much is modern? Join Em and Jesse for an exciting discussion of the medieval version of All Hallows’ Eve, with some fun digressions on ..read more