The Burning Archive

This podcast explores the growth of civilizations in different environments, including mud, highlands, seas, and oceans. It discusses the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia, the Aztecs and Incas in MesoAmerica and the Andes, the trading empire of Sri Vijaya in Sumatra and the Malay archipelago, and the Western civilization of the Atlantic. The podcast also touches on the emergence of civilization, trade networks, clashes between nomads and empires, characteristics of highland civilizations, seaboard civilizations, and the role of western Europeans in the Atlantic Alliance.

Explore the adaptability of civilizations in different environments, from deserts of ice to uncultivable grasslands and tropical lowlands. Learn about the remarkable cultures of the Saami, the Scythians, and the City of Benin. Discover how civilizations developed in regions such as grasslands and tropical lowlands, and the challenges they faced. Delve into the history and conquest of the kingdom of Benin, and the surprising achievements of civilizations in rainforests and tropical lowlands.

The podcast explores the concept of the cradle of civilization and its relevance in today's world. It discusses the intricacies of civilizations, including technology and diplomacy. The boundaries of civilizations are critiqued, and Ukraine's role in the clash of civilizations is examined. The podcast challenges the notion of progress in civilizations and explores the concept of cradles of civilization, highlighting their interconnectedness.

Immerse yourself in Renaissance Florence and with the aid of Assassin's Creed take a virtual historical tour through the remarkable lives and turbulent times of the Medici family. For full details of references from this episode see www.theburningarchive.com

When we play computer games, especially role play games like World of Warcraft or Skyrim, it is no surprise we don’t do our day job. Noone wants to play a night elf project manager in WOW or a Nord uber contract driver in Skyrim. In games, we see a different pre-modern world of work - of artisans, craft skills and guilds. Was this world ever real, and what does this fantasy world of work tell us of our collective memory of work and collective organisation? Join Jeff Rich on this fascinating tour of the history of work, guilds and unions, and the global transformations of ideas of work in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. More details on references in the show are at www.theburningarchive.com.

War is terrible. War is troubling. War poses difficult questions for us all. This war in Ukraine, which is spreading globally through sanctions, bans, social media and slogans, presents those questions too. This episode of The Burning Archive responds to a listener question that just might help us get closer to peace, and that make us think of Tolstoy's War and Peace.

What do the listeners of The Burning Archive lovest well - history, poetry, culture, surprising twists and turns of the stories behind our everyday lives. This 5oth and first anniversary edition of The Burning Archive takes a closer look at the line from Ezra Pound's Canto LXXXI - "what thou lovest well will not be reft from thee" - what does it tell us about how we can treat the past as not even past. You can contact me on twitter at @ArchiveBurning or leave a voice message at Anchor/Spotify. Please like and subscribe, rate and review, enjoy and share with your friends. Let more people into the beautiful secret of The Burning Archive podcast. Read more at www.theburningarchive.com.

The Norse myths - Thor, Odin, Freya, the Valkyries, Loki, Ragnorak and the World Tree, Yggdrassil - are so well known, they are almost hidden. We have made them so familiar in games, movies, children's stories - that their original power and strangeness is lost. This guide to Norse myths and the mental world of the Vikings recovers that strangeness with the help of two changes in perspective. 1. A fine book, Neil Price, The Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings (2020), and 2. the view form Lake Ilopango in El Salvador. What does El Salvador have to do with the Norse myths? Listen to the show and find out. Also check out episode 32, This Archive is for the Players, when listener, Isaac Rich, joined the show and asked questions related to the theme of computer games and history, including about the Norse Myths.

In this penultimate special episode on the Ukraine conflict, blooming into a World Crisis, the Burning Archive discusses Joe Biden's references to food shortages and regime change, and then zeroes in on the differing interpretations of history presented by leading figures ranging from Vladimir Putin, Dmitri Medvedev, distinguished historians, Dominic Lieven and Timothy Snyder, and Francis Fukuyama. There will be one more Burning Archive podcast on the Ukraine conflict that will focus on a brilliant listener question received this weekend, and then the discussion of geopolitics will move to a new channel, while the Burning Archive will focus on history and culture.

Is it possible to tell the history of dragons without also speaking of the epics of dragon slayers? In this episode of the Burning Archive, Jeff Rich returns to the questions posed by Isaac Rich in episode 32, This Archive is for the Players, and responds to the question on the history of dragons. Travelling all over the world and, in time, from 1500 BC to the final episode of Game of Thrones, this podcast explores how the magic and the power of dragons has appeared in many cultures - from the Rig Veda to The Song of Ice and Fire, from Beowulf to St George and the Dragon in Vladimir Putin's banner flags, and from World of Warcraft to that great masterpiece of modern culture, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Thanks to Skyrim and World of Warcraft for some sound credits.