Homo complexus
Here to make every listener realise that human history and our interaction with the natural world around us is the strangest, most fascinating story of all. Still go and read fiction though.
Episodes
The very symbols that I have used to write this description have a more fascinating past than almost anything you can imagine.
YouTube link to this episode: https://youtu.be/tyOJPYqKqcE
If you want to get in touch:
Email: rmarais824@gmail.com
Instagram: @richardlikeshistory
X: @Skerkwagga1939
Produced by Richard Marais
(0:00) Back to the Bronze Age
(3:22) Ancient Egypt
(9:48) The people of the Bronze Age
(14:07) The Homeric Epics
(15:57) Orig...
What was the world really like 5,000 to 3,000 years ago, when Odysseus supposedly sailed back from Troy?
YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/_Gihp_OUye0
Email: rmarais824@gmail.com
Instagram: @RichardLikesHistory
X: @skerkwagga1939
Produced by Richard Marais
(0:00) The Fertile Crescent and Egypt
(3:30) Europe and 'Ancient Greece'
(7:29) China
(9:13) The Indus
(12:38) Southern Africa: Earth's first iron smelters
(14:16) South Ame...
Why is the Israeli flag blue? Was Yahweh from Arabia or Egypt? And when did the Israelites stop worshipping his wife, Asherah?
YouTube link for this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLswO5O2Ffo
Email: rmarais824@gmail.com
Instagram: @RichardLikesHistory
X: @skerkwagga1939
Produced by Richard Marais
(0:00) 5,000 years of Arabian Sea trade
(2:57) Indigo: India's blue gold
(3:56) Murex snails in the Mediterranean
(5:06) Tekhelet: Bibl...
How did a group of Khoekhoe cattle herders, armed with only fire-hardened spears, scare Western Europe to the extent that the colonisation of South Africa was abandoned for the next 142 years?
If you are interested in learning more about the Battle of Salt River, have a look at this video with Tauriq Jenkins, the Supreme High Commissioner of the Goringhaecona Khoena Council. Really gives you a feel for the place where this extraordi...
If you like what you hear, there is a never-ending amount of fascinating history to unpack and explore. I welcome any suggestions on what to cover as well! At the moment, I'm just doing whatever takes my fancy - I'm particularly in love with the Age of Exploration (15th - 17th centuries AD) at the moment.
Des is an amazing South African historian, covering topics as diverse as the Falklands War and the geology that created the Southern African inland plateau in his broadcasting and podcasting career. Today, we discuss the complex past of the place we both call home, and the stories that have always been far to convenient to ignore.
Please check Des out on his website (https://desmondlatham.blog/), YouTube, or wherever you get your po...
The final chapter in this epic 3-part series. Featuring Atahuallpa's infamous ransom, the rise of Manco, the civil war between the Pizarrists and the Almagristas, the demise of all four Pizarro brothers, the abject failure of King Charles I's 'New Laws' that were meant to improve the lives of indigenous Peruvians, and much more.
YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/bmfoOLYuQfo
Email: rmarais824@gmail.com
Instagram: @R...
The story of the most famous diamond in the world. How did the eye of the Mughal Emperor's dazzling Peacock Throne end up in the Tower of London?
YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/MQTQBn-f8BM
Email: rmarais824@gmail.com
Instagram: @RichardLikesHistory
X: @skerkwagga1939
Produced by Richard Marais
(0:00) What is the Koh-i-Noor?
(3:36) The Peacock Throne of the Mughal Emperor
(4:44) Nader Shah sacks Delhi
(5:40) Ahmad Shah Dur...
Less than 200 Spaniards march into an encampment of over 80,000 Inca warriors. How will they play their cards, and what was Atahuallpa thinking?
YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/iIHHigeQab8
Email: rmarais824@gmail.com
Instagram: @richardlikeshistory
X: @Skerkwagga1939
Produced by Richard Marais
(0:00) Human sacrifice in the Inca Empire
(1:57) The Conquistadors come to Cajamarca
(7:22) The two Hernandos meet Atahuallpa
(...
Who really was the first circumnavigator of the globe? The name every child in the West knows is Magellan, but he died in the Philippines before making it back to Portugal. So who was it? Could it be that we never even knew his real name?
YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/gyhXVEj4PxE
Please go and see Filipino director Lav Diaz's film 'Magellan' if you get the chance. My description of it really does it absolutely no ju...
Most people have no idea that China even had an empress. And what an empress she was. Wu Zetian was part Daenerys Targaryen, part Cersei Lannister - a dragon queen with a vicious streak, and an eye for capable advisers and good scholarship. Joining her in this episode is the Buddhist monk Xuanzang, whose journey from Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an) to the world-famous university of Nalanda (near Patna in India's northeast) in Wu's time...
I'm very excited to present the first episode (PART 1/3) of a new mini-series! Strap yourselves in for some violence (TRIGGER WARNING), terrible human tragedy, and more treasure than you could ever imagine.
This is the tragic story of how European diseases crippled the Inca Empire before the conquistadors even set foot on their lands - meaning Francisco Pizarro was one lucky bastard.
YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/a...
The curious story of how Madagascar came to be the centre of global vanilla production.
YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/saMmAdQibuI
Email: rmarais824@gmail.com
Instagram: @RichardLikesHistory
X: @skerkwagga1939
Produced by Richard Marais
(0:00) Vanilla's origins
(2:31) Enter the French
(3:59) Origins of the Malagasy people
(4:34) The pollination problem
(5:13) Edmond Albius: the enslaved boy wonder
(7:25) Modern synthetic...
You have probably used the phrase "draw a line in the sand" at least once in your life. This is the fascinating story of how this idiom came to enter the English language, with a healthy dose of treasure hunting and Spanish conquistadors to boot.
YouTube link for this episode: https://youtu.be/XDpn1D4-A9I
Email: rmarais824@gmail.com
Instagram: @RichardLikesHistory
X: @skerkwagga1939
Produced by Richard Marais
(0:00) Francisco Pizarr...
Ever wonder how the Spanish Empire got so rich? Well, the truth is even more strange than you can imagine, and the answer isn't gold, but a different precious metal - one that inspired the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise, and cult classics in the West like 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' (a particular childhood favourite of mine). Please share the podcast and subscribe if you enjoyed this one :) You can al...
(EXTENDED VERSION)
In this opening episode, we will sweep through the mists of time, from Greece, to Rome, to Islam's Golden Age - which spanned a full six centuries from roughly 750 - 1350 AD. What would Europe look like today if it weren't for the treasure trove of knowledge housed in Baghdad in the 10th century? And, more importantly, how have we all been affected by the polymath geniuses of the Central Asian Steppe, like Ibn Sin...
In this opening episode, we will sweep through the mists of time, from Greece, to Rome, to Islam's Golden Age - which spanned a full six centuries from roughly 750 - 1350 AD. What would Europe look like today if it weren't for the treasure trove of knowledge housed in Baghdad in the 10th century? And, more importantly, how have we all been affected by the polymath geniuses of the Central Asian Steppe, like Ibn Sina, that the Abbasi...
My name is Richard, and I want history to be fun and interesting for everyone, because when told accurately, it is genuinely one of the most fascinating and deeply human topics that exist. Perhaps even the most.
Other places to find me:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SapiensRichard
Apple Podcasts (audio only): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/homo-complexus/id1896160168
If you want to get in touch:
Email: rmarais824@gmail.com
Ins...
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