We're Not So Different

folks, happy 2026! we're back and we'd love to talk about the Middle Ages but current events have overtaken us and we are forced to talk about the dying empire that is America. we chat about the illegal and baffling kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife, the ramifications of the event on global politics, the murder of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis, and the coming domestic fallout. sorry to start on a bummer but we'll be back to the Middle Ages next time!

we're unlocking this bonus episode because it's the week of New Year, it was originally published in early 2024. if you like it, why not subscribe at patreon.com/wnsdpod. in this episode, we actually talk about a way in which we're very very fucking different from the people of the past, not just those in the Middle Ages, but even our own parents and grandparents: Irony. obviously, dramatic and rhetorical irony have been around since storytelling began but a fully-involved ironic outlook on life is very recent, coming about around the 1800s and irony as a totalizing ethos that permeates all levels of culture and society is so new that it probably didn't start until 1965, at least according to Umberto Eco, and has only gotten more mainstream since then. we want to explore Eco's ideas on enjoyment, postmodernism, irony, and post-irony and look at a way in which we're so different from our forebears that we may as well inhabit two different worlds. so we talk about Eco's story of when irony entered the mainstream in 1965 and then explore what that means for us today and why it might explain both the great generational divide between people born before and after 1978 as well as the reasons our parents wouldn't let us watch the Simpsons. enjoy!

folks, it's time to talk about some fun, important, and symbolic dates from the Middle Ages. we discuss what days of the year they found significant, their attempts at numerology, the fact that the Anno Domini calendar system is off by a few years, and then talk about some of our favorite Medieval dates and what they mean. enjoy and happy holidays!

folks, we're back with another installment of our patron mailbag episodes. we get a lot of great questions from our patrons and so dive in every month to do some catching up. this time, we talk Medieval parades, 9/11 conspiracies, Medieval views on animal and plant extinction, an alternate history, and what TV shows would Medieval people like. enjoy and have a happy holiday!

folks, it's episode 250 and since we love our big, round numbers, we take the time to celebrate. we look back at the show, talk our favorite segments, series, bits, and more. thanks so much for listening to 250 episodes, we're excited to do 250 more in the future!

folks, today we talk about a couple of real big Medieval blunders. Incredibly stupid, shortsighted, and ill-fated decisions that resulted in outsized disasters that changed the course of history. first, Eleanor discusses the White Ship Disaster, which finally answers the age-old question: is it smart to be the heir to the throne, get stinking drunk, have the crew get stinking drunk and then race boats across the English Channel at night? turns out, it's not smart at all and this decision would lead to the English Anarchy. then, Luke looks at one of the biggest blunders in history: the decision by Khwarazamshah Mohammad of the Khwarazmian Empire to execute traders and ambassadors from Genghis Khan and go to war with the Mongol Empire. what are a bunch of steppe archers going to do, adopt siege weapons and become the most powerful fighting force the planet has ever seen? yeah, right! enjoy!

folks, Luke just returned from a vacation to Disney and is here to give us a firsthand update on how the normies are doing and whether they're ready for the return of woke or not. then we catch up on some news of the past week or so, focusing on the continuing decline of the Labour govt in England, the new Epstein files info, the total breakdown of the American Empire, what's going on with the AI economy, and much more. enjoy!

folks, this week we review 28 Years Later, Danny Boyle's 2025 film about the horrors of being British and, a sneaky Medievalist tale, although with a twist. we go in-depth about the Medieval aspects of the small community on Lindisfarne and why the film turns this bucolic nostalgia on its head. but there's more, including talk of zombie members, life finding a way, memento mori, and the horrific introduction of the Jimmy gang. we had a lot of fun with this one and it's a truly thought-provoking film, enjoy!

folks, we're back with another mailbag answering questions dutifully submitted by our amazing patrons. we do these every month to catch up on things and we're back to hit a broad range of topics including: ninjas, siege weapons, Leon Trotsky(?), dancing plagues, papal gifts, and the Peace of God. enjoy!

folks, it's time to talk about music. friend of the show, Dr Eleanor Chan, recently released a new book entitled Duet: An Artful History of Music. so we had her on the show to talk about the universal appeal of music, cave music, Hildegard of Bingen, bagpipes, and much more. enjoy and check out Dr. Chan's work at https://eleanorchan.com/