Episode Update: March 2024

As we gather today to mark a remarkable journey through the annals of Greek history, I am filled with gratitude and excitement. Together, we've traversed 83 episodes, spanning the rich tapestry of Greece from its nascent days to the dramatic onset of the Peloponnesian War. Looking ahead, I'm thrilled to contemplate the untold stories that may unfold beyond Alexander the Great's demise. It's a testament to your engagement and curiosity that we're even considering this expansion of our historical horizon. Moreover, I want to share a heartfelt thank you for your steadfast support—without which this podcast couldn't thrive. The evolution of our release schedule to a monthly episode is a move to safeguard the caliber of our storytelling, balancing the growing demands on my time with my commitment to providing you with the best possible listening experience.

Turning our gaze to the revamped Patreon offerings, we've sculpted new tiers with the aim of making our content even more rewarding and accessible. As we forge into the year ahead, anticipate a fresh rhythm of episodes—each one meticulously crafted for mid-month release, while our dedicated patrons can look forward to exclusive early-month content. I invite both our seasoned supporters and newcomers to explore the refreshed Patreon landscape, where a deeper dive into Greek history awaits. Your enthusiasm has been the bedrock of this podcast, and I'm eager to continue this shared passion for the stories that have shaped our world, as we embark on the next chapter of our historical quest.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello everyone, mark here and welcome to this update
episode for March 2024.
So I just wanted to give abrief update of what's been
happening in the series and howthings are looking as we go
forward as well.
There's been a couple ofchanges, so I just want to let

(00:28):
you all know how things aregoing and how things are going
to look in the future.
So I just want to cover overthings such as how things have
been going in the series so far,how the series is going to look
, going forward, and also somechanges that have happened with
Patreon.
So so far in the series, I'vebeen blown away.

(00:51):
It's been fantastic to see thesupport that's come through over
the years.
It's been now four and a bityears since the series has been
going and I've just beenwatching it grow and grow and
more and more people come alongfor the ride and get interested
in Greek history.
It's been great seeing themessages of support coming
through and also seeing all thereviews that you leave about the

(01:12):
show.
It's very encouraging and verymotivating as well for me.
So thank you all for doing that.
So four and a bit years andalso 83 episodes I think we're
up to 83 now.
That's seen us come a fair wayso far.
We've covered the early historyof Greece.

(01:33):
We looked at the archaic age,heading to the Greco-Persian
Wars, spent a bit of time aroundthe Greco-Persian Wars, and
then also we spent we detailed afair few episodes around the
period between the Persianinvasions and heading to the
Peloponnesian War.
My big motivation in wanting todo that was, through my own

(01:57):
reading of Greek history, Ioften found that this period was
neglected somewhat, it onlybeing treated in far less detail
.
So I wanted to try and draw outas much as I could from the
limited information and see whatwe could try and understand
what was taking place in thisperiod.
So I hope you enjoyed our lookover that period.

(02:20):
It was definitely enlighteningto me.
I mean, I'm learning things aswe go along as well.
It's the great thing aboutdoing this series.
Although I've got somewhat ofan understanding of Greek
history, when you're trying tounderstand it on a deeper level,
you definitely learn a lot moreThen.

(02:41):
Now this is basically soon asnow come to the beginning of the
Peloponnesian War, where we arenow, and we're in the first
sort of few years there.
So yeah, it's been a great ride.
I've enjoyed everything so farand I'm looking forward to how
things develop in the future.
And talking about the futuregive you a bit of a sense of how

(03:03):
things are going to look, goingforward.
Obviously, content-wise, we'rein the Peloponnesian War, so
we'll be continuing with thisperiod for some time and we've
got a lot of episodes left justin the Peloponnesian War period.
After this we've got theperiods of hegemonies, where

(03:24):
Sparta, corinth, thebes anddifferent city-states rise to a
position of preeminence.
Then we'll also start lookinginto the rise of Macedon and
their arrival south into Greeklands, and then this will then
develop into the campaigns ofAlexander.

(03:47):
Now I know when I first startedout I sort of spoke about the
death of Alexander being my endpoint in the series, though as I
delve further into the series,I'm unsure that this is where
I'll be ending things.
Obviously, that's still a longway off.
It's many years to go and many,many episodes till we get to

(04:10):
that point.
But as I continue on, I'm notconvinced that's where I want to
end things now.
I want to keep going a bitfurther, but we'll see how
things develop.
But the main thing that's goingto change for this year about
how things are going forward isthat I've become a bit busier in

(04:33):
my personal life and with work,which is putting a bit of
pressure on trying to release anew episode every fortnight.
I do like to spend a fair bitof time researching and getting
the episode ready.
So what I've decided to dobecause I do want to keep a

(04:55):
regular schedule that people canrely on, knowing that the
episode will be released on acertain day at a certain time
I've taken the steps toreleasing once a month.
Now this is basically just sothat I don't burn out trying to
keep up with the schedule I hadbeen keeping now that things
have got a bit busier in life,and it will also allow me to

(05:17):
stay consistent with thereleases.
So I felt like to stayconsistent and reliable.
I just needed to back off therelease schedule a little bit,
and I hope everyone understandsand it will also help me still
release episodes to the samequality that have been coming
out previous.
So that's the main changethat's going to happen just for

(05:42):
this year.
Basically, for the rest of theyear that's how I'm going to
operate and then, heading intothe next year, I'll reassess how
things look and if it seemslike I can up the pace a bit, I
will.
Or if I somehow manage to get abacklog of episodes, then maybe
we can head back to Fortnallair releases and see how things

(06:04):
go from there.
And the other main change has todo with Patreon and how I've
restructured things over there.
So everyone that's already onPatreon you would have got a
message from me just describingthe changes and how to go about
changing to one of the new tierlevels.
Basically, what's happened hereis all the tiers have become a

(06:25):
bit cheaper and I've sort oflumped everything into one tier
just to streamline things.
So what this means is Hoplite.
The Hoplite tier level.
It's $2 a month.
You get your ad free episodesand early access to the series
episodes.
So this is pretty much as itwas before, just for half the

(06:46):
price.
Then the strategist level it's$5 Australian a month.
This was the most popular tierbefore and I've dropped the
price on it a little bit.
Basically, you get the samerewards as the Hoplite Plus.
You also get your monthly bonusepisodes, reference transcripts
and any other projects that dodevelop that become Patreon only

(07:08):
will be featured in this levelas well.
I do have a few in mind.
It's just a matter of gettingthe time to develop them.
Also here, listener involvementis encouraged.
If you've got ideas of whatyou'd like to see covered in
these bonus episodes, I'd loveto hear from you.
I've had a few people in thepast that have reached out and
some interesting episodes havedeveloped around those

(07:30):
discussions.
So that's our strategist level.
Then I've got Archon.
The Archon level is $10Australian.
Basically it is the samerewards as the Strategos.
The only reason I created thisone was in the past I've had
some people reach out asking howthey can provide a bit more

(07:51):
financial assistance.
They weren't necessarilylooking for anything extra for
it, but just wanted to extend abit more support to the show.
So that's why I've just createdArchon level.
Sitting there, you geteverything the same that's in
Strategos.
But what I'm also going to dois at the end of every episode
I'll have like a special sectionwhere I'm gonna give a bit of a

(08:11):
shout out to all the supportersthat are signed up as Archons.
So yeah, no big changes.
It's just three levels.
If you're already on Patreon,I've sent a message that
explains all the changes and howto go about changing your tier
level.
If you haven't signed up forPatreon previously, much

(08:35):
appreciated if you head overjust to have a look at what's on
offer over there.
I think there's something like37 bonus episodes at the moment.
That grows every month.
And, yeah, if you've beenthinking about extending some
support to the show, I would bevery much appreciated if you are
considered supporting us thatway.
Though Patreon isn't the onlyway to support the show, there's

(08:58):
many other ways to do it aswell.
Leaving reviews for the showdefinitely help us out.
Sharing episodes that come upon Facebook or Twitter or other
social media with your friendsand family Basically, anything
that helps spread the word aboutthe show definitely helps out
and is very much appreciated.
But, yeah, they're the mainthings I just wanted to update

(09:22):
everyone on.
Obviously, the two biggestthings were just scaling back
the release schedule for thisyear.
So basically, this is gonnalook like one series episode a
month.
The plan is that this episodewill come out midway through the
month and then the Patreonepisode will come out at the

(09:42):
start of every month and then,yeah, the second major change
was just the restructure onPatreon.
So, yeah, if you're already onPatreon, there's a bit more
detailed information in themessage I sent you all, and if
you haven't signed up to Patreonor have been thinking about it.
Just head over and check it outand see what you think.
But yeah, I think that coverseverything we need to.

(10:05):
But, yeah, thanks everyone forthe support and I look forward
to continuing on for 2024.
Thank you.