GREAT JOURNEYS - We explore some of the great journeys, some fruitful, others fruitless. Hannibal's famous trek across the Alps, Zhang Qian's discovery of the Silk Road, the Viking establishment of Kyivan Rus' far from their homeland and the People's Crusade led by Peter the Hermit.

A deeper look into the source material used for the podcast and an addition to the website which will help all HotWorlders access information about those sources quickly and easily. Plus, its the end of an era for the History of the World podcast.

1215 - The Mongols led by Genghis Khan attacked the Jurchen Jin Dynasty of northern China in a battle where patience and tactics would be matched up against a more highly developed city and society.

MASTERS OF WAR (2) - We travel back in time to the 4th Century BCE and the tension filled world of the Greeks and Persians, where the greatest military commanders needed to be truly great to prevail. Featuring Epaminondas, Philip II of Macedon, Darius III of Persia and Alexander the Great.

A look at the source material for the first Mongol episode, alongside an acknowledgement of how history can change somebody's name such as that of Genghis Khan.

1130 - 1214 - Many of us have heard stories regarding the Mongols and their empire, but how much do we know about their origins and how could a peoples with their humble origins have the ability to terrorise developed cultures so successfully?

MASTERS OF WAR (1) - Looking back at some of the greatest military commanders and leaders in history. This week we review Egyptian Pharoah Ramesses II, Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser III, Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great and Athenian General Themistocles.

Our usual look at the source materials that we used for this week's episode, including a look at how Chat GPT has come in useful for targetting important information on the worldwide web.

The podcast explores the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty, the succession of short-lived dynasties, and the rise of the Song Dynasty. It delves into the imperial examination process, innovations in printing, advancements in agricultural technology, and the remarkable water clock created by Su Song. The host reads a listener email and teases upcoming episodes.

HUMAN ANCESTORS (2) - We pick up from our last magazine episode and track the story of human ancestry from the emergence of the neanderthals and the first Homo sapiens, through to the events that left Homo sapiens as the last species on earth. We look at the earliest innovations of art and how humans adapted to the varying global climates.