We're Not So Different

We're Not So Different

A mostly Medieval history podcast about how we've always been idiots patreon.com/wnsdpod

Episodes

May Questions

May 8, 2025 • 73 mins
folks, we're back with a new mailbag episode as we continue to catch up on the backlog of patron questions. why are we doing it right after the last Q&A? well, frankly, Luke had to travel and didn't have time to write and research a full new episode, so here we are. we answer questions about Medieval joke foods, Qin Shi Huang's mercury-laden tomb, pigeons, Medieval publication timing, the overlapping mystical traditions of Juda...
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Medieval Conclaves

April 30, 2025 • 69 mins
folks, as you might know, there's a papal conclave coming up, what with the passing of Pope Francis and all that, so we decided to talk about the Medieval conclaves. now, technically, conclaves didn't begin until 1059 CE but we're not letting that stop us, we're going all the way back to The Rock himself, Peter, and talking about papal succession through the ages. mostly because, if you only start in 1059, you miss a lot of fun stu...
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April Questions

April 23, 2025 • 70 mins
folks, we're back with more patron questions to answer. we are still catching up, so we dive in and discuss Medieval reclamation of pagan myths, land management practices, political pragmatism, funerary customs, regional political differences, weird English town names, and whether the Catholic Church could've successfully reformed itself enough to stave off the Reformation. check it out!

English town names mentioned:
  • Wolfardiswor...
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Medieval Beauty Standards

April 16, 2025 • 58 mins
folks, we have once again stumbled upon some hilariously-insane social media posts and have decided to relate them back to the Middle Ages. the main gist is this: a twitter user posted about how the Catholic Virgin Mary was an unaging smokeshow and objectively the most beautiful woman to ever live as compared to that ugly hag Protestant Virgin Mary, who is apparently a totally separate individual. She then decided to do some clarif...
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Medieval Women Anna Komnene and Julian of Norwich

April 11, 2025 • 70 mins
folks, we're back with another installment of our occasional Medieval women series where we look back at two influential women from the Middle Ages. today, we look at two who couldn't be more different in most respects: the Byzantine princess and historian, Anna Komnene, and the English anchoress, mystic, and visionary, Julian of Norwich. we talk about what made each of them influential and how they made their marks in male-dominat...
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American Opinions on the Middle Ages (feat David Montgomery)

April 2, 2025 • 63 mins
folks, we're back and it's time to talk about polling! specifically, a recent YouGov poll that asked Americans for their opinions on the European Middle Ages. and before you think the worst, the responses were quite heartening! the Dark Ages myth is now below 50% and seems to be far more popular with older generations and more Americans think about the Middle Ages on a weekly basis than they do about the Roman Empire. there's a lot...
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March Mailbag: More Lady Knights

March 26, 2025 • 68 mins
folks, it's time for us to catch up on some more patron questions with another mailbag! we cover a whole host of topics including our favorite mad king and scheming vizier combos, fascist representations of the Middle Ages, whether city life or country life was preferable, Medieval snow shoveling, manly crying, and much more! Enjoy and subscribe to the patreon to have your questions answered: patreon.com/wnsdpod
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Mail time!

March 21, 2025 • 73 mins
folks, we are behind on our patron questions and so we're making it up starting today. we answer questions on everything from Medieval children's toys, pregnancy tropes, what the HRE would've looked like with sustained hegemony over Italy, the least worst rulers, and more!
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Mystery Plays (feat The Worst of All Possible Worlds)

March 15, 2025 • 74 mins
folks, we love the weird side of Medieval life and one of the weirdest was the mystery play. these were living tableaux depictions of biblical stories that became huge, elaborate stage productions, which were performed during mass before the popes got mad and forbade the clergy from participating, at which point they became secularized by the guilds. but even better, we have guests to share in this weird Medieval fun with us as we ...
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Constantinople 5: The Fall

March 5, 2025 • 83 mins
folks, we've made it 209 episodes into the show and we still haven't done one on the end of the Middle Ages, well that stops now. we conclude out series on Constantinople with The Fall. and this one really lives up to the name, unlike the Western Roman Empire. we say goodbye to Constantinople, the Eastern Roman Empire, the Theodosian Walls, and all the rest as the Ottomans wash it away in a tide of gunpowder, olive oil, and so many...
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Constantinople 4: ...and there's DECLINE

February 26, 2025 • 68 mins
folks, we continue the series on Constantinople with the real decline hours. last week, we started looking at the long, slow decline of the Queen of Cities and the Byzantine Empire but that pales in comparison to the final 400 years. after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, it's all downhill as the Byzantines step on rakes, shoot themselves in the foot, and are the victims of just plain bad luck and historical circumstance. from Manz...
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Constantinople 3: There's Decline...

February 20, 2025 • 76 mins
folks, we're back after a brief hiatus, and back into our series on Constantinople. this time, we take a look at the beginning of the decline of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, which started in 567 after Justinian I's death. but, as civilizational declines go, it wasn't so bad for the first 500 years or so. however, the myriad factors that would lead to the fall of Constantinople were beginning to pile up even before Justi...
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Patreon Ep Unlocked: Habsburg News You Can Use

February 14, 2025 • 74 mins
we decided to take a look at some Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg news that has come up in the past month. first, and more seriously, we look at a study of how Holy Roman Emperors governed from the road through a practice known as itinerant rule and it can be used to trace the rise and decline of the power of the imperial office. then, we move onto the real fun: an article about the recent Habsburg convention in Plano, Texas that oc...
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Constantinople 2: The Golden Years

February 5, 2025 • 78 mins
folks, we're continuing our series on Constantinople. last time we introduced the city via its geography, Constantine making it the capital of the Roman Empire, and the Theodosian Walls. this time, we get into the early Medieval history of the city, which also happens to be the real golden age for Constantinople. beginning under Emperor Justinian I, Constantinople took the mantle of "Rome" seriously and began a long revanchist camp...
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Constantinople 1: Foundations

January 29, 2025 • 64 mins
folks, we were delayed one week due to the storm of the century in the American southeast but things have thawed a bit and we're back on track just in time to start a series on the Queen of Cities, Constantinople. Eventually, it would become the crown jewel city of Medieval Europe, a hub of culture, religion, trade, defense, and more, and, briefly, the most important city in the world before falling to the Ottomans and gunpowder. B...
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Patron Ep Unlocked: Is It Like the HRE

January 24, 2025 • 71 mins
folks, here is an unlocked bonus episode because a winter storm of the century in the American southeast made recording impossible this week. enjoy! the bonus is back for a new year and Luke and Eleanor have been thinking about things and stuff and it's time to ruminate on them. first, Eleanor talks about the way in which rationality and a loss of spirituality supposedly went hand-in-hand with the Enlightenment. it's really been gr...
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Medieval Railways (feat Gareth Dennis)

January 15, 2025 • 71 mins
folks, we all love trains. they're great for moving people and cargo and famously not as bad as cars but did you know that the first railways and trackways were built in the Classical and Medieval eras. that's right, despite what Victorian era propaganda would have you believe, the train didn't simply appear fully formed in the English mind in the 18th century where it was then bestowed upon the rest of humanity. it does in fact ha...
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Catch-up and Witchcraft

January 9, 2025 • 67 mins
folks, so this is the new year? well, we could start with a new series or something but a lot of shit has happened the past few weeks and Eleanor and Luke haven't chatted in a while, so they take some time to catch-up on recent events, both hilarious and horrifying. then, to get back into the swing of Medieval things, we talk about an excellent new academic paper that sheds light on a truly bizarre Late Medieval witchcraft trial, w...
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Year-End Mailbag 2

December 31, 2024 • 62 mins
folks, it's our final episode of 2024 and our 200th regular episode of the show and to celebrate, we've got the conclusion of our year-end mailbag episodes. we answer questions about how cathedrals were cleaned in the Middle Ages, favorite Star Wars ship, banishment, Medieval takeout, mountaineering, early Church politics, and more! enjoy and have a happy new year from us here at the show!
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Bonus Ep Unlocked: Best of 2024

December 24, 2024 • 71 mins
folks, it's no secret that 2024 has been a bit of a bummer, to say the least. however, it's not terribly healthy to always focus on the bad, so we decided to talk about some our favorite stuff we saw, did, read, and heard this year. Luke and Eleanor each chose four things and they go back and forth discussing them, riffing, you know how it goes. feel free to play along leave some of your own favorites from 2024 in the replies here.

...
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