Past Lives

Patrick Wyman

History is built by people like you, and Past Lives is here to bring their stories to life. Every week, we’ll focus on the lived experiences of real people in the past, from the Stone Age to the near-present. Peasants, laborers, artisans, merchants, soldiers, and the enslaved are far too often overlooked in favor of kings, generals, and politicians; not here. On Past Lives, we keep the focus where it belongs: on the real people who populate our shared past. By understanding them, we can strive to better understand ourselves. These people were us, and we are them. They mattered, and so do you.

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28 episodes
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Avg 31 min
English

Episodes 28

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S2 · E53
Wednesday · 30 min
The Man with a Knife for a Hand (Lombard Italy, Late 6th Century)
Toward the end of the 6th century CE, a man was buried in northern Italy. He had lived an interesting life: born in what is now Hungary, he crossed the Alps as part of the great Longobard migration to Italy. Most surprising of all is the fact that he survived the amputation of his right hand, and replaced the lost limb with a knife. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E52
September 23 · 25 min
Xin Zhui, the Best-Preserved Mummy of All Time
When Chinese archaeologists opened a tomb in the city of Changsha in 1972, they found an undisturbed burial chamber filled with treasures from the early Han Dynasty. At the center was the body of a woman who looked like she had died only days or weeks ago, instead of more than 2,000 years. Go see Patrick, Dr. Claire Aubin, and Manny Fidel draft teams of the greatest assholes in American history on Tuesday, September 29th in New York! Tickets available here: https://admitone.com/events/new-york/community/comedy/tgs-presents-draft-of-shame/54UI98 Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E50
September 16 · 28 min
How Do You Get Bitten by a Lion in Roman York?
Around 1800 years ago, a man was bitten by a lion in the city of York, in what is now northern England. Lions aren't native to York, so how did it get there, and why was it biting this man? The answers to those questions tell us a great deal about the Roman Empire as an interconnected, wide-ranging world, and the sometimes strange practices that interconnection made possible. Go see Patrick, Dr. Claire Aubin, and Manny Fidel draft teams of the greatest assholes in American history on Tuesday, September 29th in New York! Tickets available here: https://admitone.com/events/new-york/community/comedy/tgs-presents-draft-of-shame/54UI98 Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E48
September 9 · 28 min
The Siberian Ice Maiden and the Scythian World
Around 270 BC, a woman died of breast cancer in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. Her tomb, cut into the permafrost, is one of the best-preserved archaeological sites on the planet. Thanks to the ice, everything from her extraordinary tattoos to the silk garments she wore has survived, providing a direct window onto the forgotten world of the Iron Age steppe and the Scythians who dominated it. Go see Patrick, Dr. Claire Aubin, and Manny Fidel draft teams of the greatest assholes in American history on Tuesday, September 29th in New York! Tickets available here: https://admitone.com/events/new-york/community/comedy/tgs-presents-draft-of-shame/54UI98 Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E46
September 2 · 29 min
Weapons Sacrifices and the Long Road to the Viking Age
When we think of Scandinavia, it seems to be a long way from the Roman Empire, with hundreds of miles separating the Rhine and Danube frontiers from the bogs of Jutland and Sweden. Why, then, were hundreds upon hundreds of Roman-made weapons intentionally thrown into these bogs in the third and fourth centuries AD? The answer opens the gate that will eventually lead, many centuries down the road, to the warrior-kings of the Viking Age. Go see Patrick, Dr. Claire Aubin, and Manny Fidel draft teams of the greatest assholes in American history on Tuesday, September 29th in New York! Tickets available here: https://admitone.com/events/new-york/community/comedy/tgs-presents-draft-of-shame/54UI98 Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E44
August 26 · 52 min
Professor Peter Mancall on Understanding Colonial America
Professor Peter Mancall is one of the finest historians of colonial America working today, and he's written a banger of a book, the newest entry in the wonderful Oxford History of the United States series. It's entitled Contested Continent, and it's a book everyone who enjoys American history should read. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E42
August 19 · 29 min
Tollund Man
More than 2,400 years ago, a man living in southern Denmark was hung from a plaited leather cord, then buried in a bog. There he stayed until 1950, when his perfectly preserved face emerged from the peat. We know him as Tollund Man, but who was he in life, and what can we know about the world he inhabited? Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E40
August 12 · 27 min
Bog Bodies
Bog bodies - the age-old remains of people who were submerged in bogs - are an eerie sight. Soft tissue remains, often to an even greater extent than mummies, bringing us face to face with people who died thousands of years ago. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E38
August 5 · 28 min
The Human Sacrifices of the Shang Dynasty
Over more than two centuries, the rulers of Bronze Age China's Shang Dynasty sacrificed at least 13,000 people. Who were they? Where had they come from, and what were their lives like? Thanks to new studies, we can finally take our focus off the Shang elite and move it onto the victims. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E36
July 29 · 30 min
Interview: James Romm - Since You’re Mortal: Life Lessons from the Lost Greek Plays
What can we learn from the past? Professor James Romm, celebrated classicist and prolific author, joins me to discuss his new book Since You're Mortal: Life Lessons from the Lost Greek Plays. We chat about eternal wisdom, dad advice, and whether ancient authors really did have some insights worth sharing. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E34
July 22 · 28 min
The Tomb of Fu Hao and the Rise of the Shang Dynasty
More than 3,000 years ago, a queen was buried in the city of Anyang, China. Hundreds of bone, jade, and bronze artifacts were buried with her, and so were sixteen human sacrifices. This was Fu Hao, a priestess, queen mother, and general, and her tomb tells us precisely how the Shang Dynasty - China's first entry into recorded history - operated. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E32
July 15 · 40 min
Interview: Professor Thomas Asbridge on the Black Death
I've been waiting for someone to write a comprehensive, up-to-date history of the Black Death for years, and if that were all Professor Thomas Asbridge did with his new book The Black Death: A Global History, it would be a monumental achievement. Yet he's also succeeded in capturing the essence of an age in which societies were being crushed under the weight of mass death, the experiences of those who lived through it, and the plague's impact on the world that followed. A delightful conversation with one of the best medieval historians working today. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E30
July 8 · 30 min
The Workers of Deir el-Medina
Who built the extraordinary tombs for Egypt's rulers in the Valley of the Kings? The residents of the nearby village of Deir el-Medina, where for centuries, a specialized workforce trudged back and forth to the Valley to carve out and decorate the stunning final resting places for generations of rulers. Now, thanks to incredible new archaeology, we can understand their lives and experiences. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E28
July 1 · 30 min
Ancient Egypt's Underclass
Considering the richness of our evidence about ancient Egypt, for much of the country's long history we know surprisingly little about the lives of its least humble residents. At the purpose-built new capital of the New Kingdom pharaoh Akhenaten, however, the lowest of Egypt's low were buried in their thousands. Thanks to their bones, we can reconstruct their short, difficult lives. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E26
June 24 · 35 min
Interview: Shannon Chakraborty and Historical Fantasy
Shannon Chakraborty is a bestselling author of wonderful historical fantasy (Daevabad Trilogy, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, The Tapestry of Fate). We chat about creating better fantasy worlds, how history has inspired her, the Cairo Geniza and the medieval Islamicate world, and much more. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E24
June 17 · 29 min
Seqenenre Tao
Thirty-five hundred years ago, an Egyptian king was killed in ghastly fashion. How and why did Seqenenre Tao meet his end? Using a combination of his mummy, advanced techniques of analysis, and old-fashioned history, we explore the death of an Egyptian king. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E22
June 10 · 31 min
A Quick Guide to Ancient Egypt
When we think of mummies, ancient Egypt is the first place to come to mind, and with good reason. But it's probably been a while since most of us have had a refresher on Egypt's long and fascinating history, so today, come with me on a journey along the Nile from the days before the pharaohs to the Bronze Age Collapse. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E20
June 3 · 28 min
The Princess of Xiaohe
Nearly 4,000 years ago, a young woman was buried in the sands of the Tarim Basin in western China. When her coffin was opened just a few decades ago, her face was almost perfectly preserved. We know her as the Princess of Xiaohe, but what was her world really like? Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E18
May 27 · 29 min
Interview: Producer, Writer, and Director Tim Haines on Surviving Earth and Bringing the Distant Past to Life
Tim Haines (Walking with Dinosaurs, Primeval) joins me to discuss making high-quality documentaries about the distant past in the lead-up to the premiere of his new series on mass extinctions, Surviving Earth, which debuts June 10th on Peacock. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
S2 · E16
May 20 · 26 min
Xinjiang: The Crossroads of Eurasia
While Xinjiang - in the extreme west of present-day China - is today a tightly controlled and repressed periphery, but for most of the past 4,000 years, it has been the crossroads at the heart of Eurasia. Practically every important technological and cultural innovation from the Neolithic onward has passed through this corridor, skirting the massive mountains and impassable deserts that block transit across the continent. New archaeological research is transforming how we think about this remarkable place and its history over the long term. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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