Literature and History
With millions of downloads, hundreds of hours of soundtracked content, and an overall emphasis on the cultural history behind famous works of literature, Literature and History is one of the most popular independent podcasts on its subject. Starting with Sumerian cuneiform in 3,100 BCE, Literature and History moves forward in chronological order through Assyriology, Egyptology, the Old Testament, Ancient Greece and Rome, the birth of Christianity, Late Antiquity, and dawn of the Middle Ages. The show's current season is on early Islamic history. A typical episode (they average about two hours) features a general introduction to a work of literature, then a full summary of that work that expects no prior knowledge, and finally, an analysis of the cultural, biographical, and historical forces that gave rise to the work in question. Original symphonic and ambient background music is woven throughout each show, and all episodes offer free full, illustrated, footnoted transcriptions as well as quizzes for purposes of review. The show has no advertisements, and its host takes pride in a professional approach that avoids chitchat and ephemera and gets straight to the educational content. You can listen to the episodes in any order, although most listeners begin at the beginning and proceed from there, as the podcast itself is chronologically organized. Doug Metzger finished his Ph.D. in literature in 2011. His chief scholarly interest, following his dissertation work, continues to be 19th-century realism and postbellum American philosophy.
Episodes
An orphan and caravan trade agent, Muhammad (570-632) lived a fairly ordinary life up until the age of 40. Then, everything changed.
New Songs Page:
https://literatureandhistory.com/songs/
Episode 114 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-114/
Episode 114 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-114-the-life-of-muhammad-part-1
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
Patreon:
http...
Antarah ibn Shaddad, a killer, a lover, and an epic hero, was also one of early Arabic literature's most famous poets.
Parker's Song:
https://youtu.be/bTVWrxfb5wk
Episode 113 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-113/
Episode 113 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-113-antarah-ibn-shaddad
Antarah's Poetry:
War Songs (Library of Arabic Literature)
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonu...
Prior to the dawn of Islam, the Arabian Peninsula had a great poetic tradition, with many genres, and many poets who are still celebrated and studied today.
Episode 112 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-112/
Episode 112 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-112-pre-islamic-arabic-poetry/
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibs86z0py04
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
...
Leading up to the birth of the Prophet Muhammad in about 570 CE, the Arabian Peninsula was an increasingly populous and globally interconnected region.
Episode 111 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-111/
Episode 111 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-111-pre-islamic-arabia/
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
YouTub...
In Episode 110, Literature and History host Doug Metzger answers dozens of listener questions about making the show, books, and how and why the podcast came to be.
Literature and History's Upcoming Seasons:
https://literatureandhistory.com/upcoming-seasons/
The Actual First Novels Bonus Series:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content#tafn
Episode 110 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-110-questions/
...
Episode 109 brings our long season on Late Antiquity to a close, reviews the past 24 programs on the beginnings of the Middle Ages, and introduces our new season on early Islamic History.
The Actual First Novels Bonus Series:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content#tafn
Literature and History's Upcoming Seasons:
https://literatureandhistory.com/upcoming-seasons/
Episode 109 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.co...
One of the great scholars of Late Antiquity, Isidore (c. 560-636) left behind a compendium called the Etymologies, an encyclopedia of his epoch’s knowledge, a book second only to the Bible during the Middle Ages.
Episode 108 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-108/
Episode 108 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-108-isidore-of-seville/
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kT74jAXCA4
Bonus Content:
...
The Merovingian court poet Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-600), at work in Francia in the late 500s, shows us the world of the Middle Ages blooming from Roman ruins.
Episode 107 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-107/
Episode 107 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-107-venantius-fortunatus/
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpQP2na7oFM
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-conten...
The second half of the History of the Franks (591) is a deep dive into the grime and intrigue of the Merovingian dynasty, written in a style that's as medieval as it is classical.
Episode 106 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-106/
Episode 106 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-106-gregory-of-tours-part-2/
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekc6frwUohI
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhisto...
Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594) completed The History of the Franks in 591. The long book's account of Clovis and the Merovingian Dynasty has been one of our most important sources on early Medieval History, ever since.
Episode 105 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-105/
Episode 105 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-105-gregory-of-tours-part-1/
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLz16V1Gr7E
Bon...
Second only to the Tanakh, the 63 Tractates of the Talmud are the main text of Rabbinic Judaism, containing the teachings of thousands of ancient rabbis.
Upcoming Seasons:
https://literatureandhistory.com/upcoming-seasons/
Episode 104 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-104/
Episode 104 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-104-introduction-to-the-talmud
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqpgvj_r...
In the twilight of the Western Empire, Boethius (c. 476-523) served as consul, but ended his life imprisoned by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric, writing The Consolation of Philosophy.
Episode 103 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-103/
Episode 103 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-103-boethius
Song
https://youtu.be/ul1PUVPDAcQ
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
Patreo...
Augustine’s City of God, Part 2 of 2. The second half of the City of God contains some of Late Antiquity’s most influential writings – most notably Augustine’s take on Original Sin.
Episode 102 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-102/
Episode 102 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-102-an-old-mans-book
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYwI5aM4ZP8
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/...
Augustine’s City of God, Part 1 of 2. The first half of the City of God is a broadside against paganism – its culture, religion, and history, subjects about which Augustine had much to say.
Episode 101 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-101/
Episode 101 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-101-against-the-pagans
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3sErObfrVc&pp=0gcJCYsJAYcqIYzv
Bonus Content:
ht...
Augustine’s Confessions, Part 2 of 2. The second half of Augustine’s Confessions contains some of the most famous theology in Christian history.
Episode 100 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-100/
Episode 100 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-100-late-have-i-loved-you
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6wJQNQqq1Q
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
Patreon:
https:...
Augustine’s Confessions, Part 1 of 2. The first half of Augustine’s Confessions tells of his wayward early years, his intellectual journey, and his spiritual awakening.
Episode 99 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-099/
Episode 99 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-099-the-boy-who-stole-pears
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km3WeynabBI
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-c...
Polyglot Jerome (347-420) had a gigantic impact on all subsequent Christian history, leaving behind a huge body of works, including the Latin Bible.
Episode 98 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-098/
Episode 98 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-098-saint-jerome
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx1qZaUHm58
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
Patreon:
https://www.pa...
The Dionysiaca, Part 2 of 2. The last surviving Greek epic of antiquity draws to a close with Dionysus fighting wars far to the east, in India.
Episode 97 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-097/
Episode 97 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-097-blood-and-ivy
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
YouTube:
https://www.y...
The last epic from Greco-Roman antiquity that survives in full, Nonnus’ fifth-century Dionysiaca tells of the wine god Dionysus’ journey eastward, to India.
Episode 96 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-096/
Episode 96 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-096-the-last-pagan-epic
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
You...
In 417 CE, the Roman poet Rutilius Namatianus journeyed from Rome back to his homeland of Gaul, not knowing whether there was a home to return to.
Episode 95 Quiz
https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-095/
Episode 95 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-095-rutilius-namatianus
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcDdTfoe0dI&pp=0gcJCYsJAYcqIYzv
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
...
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