Elizabeth R. Andersen's Blog, page 2
October 26, 2021
My Top three medieval podcasts
When I am not reading books written by 11th-century Islamic scholars, I am probably cleaning my house because it has just survived 20 months of remodeling construction. This is all quite tedious, as you can imagine, and I am allergic to cleaning (no, really. I have a dust allergy, and I sneeze my way through every room). I combat the boredom by listening to medieval podcasts. If only they also helped with the sneezing…
Here are a few favorites that I can recommend, especially if you are relatively new to your enjoyment of Medieval history.
The Medieval Podcast
Danièle Cybulskie and Peter Konieczny
Produced by the same people who bring you Medievalists.net, which is a fantastic resource for engaging, entertaining, and educational medieval facts. Host Danièle Cybulskie interviews guests and authors who are notable in their field on a broad range of topics, from medieval uses for honey with Dr. Ilana Krug to an exploration of disability in Byzantium with Christian Laes. Not only are the guests knowledgeable, but Danièle is a fantastic host (I took a class from her over the summer – she really is as kind in person as she sounds on the radio). I love this podcast for its deep exploration of the daily little rituals and objects in the lives of medieval people. They were not so different from us, which brings me to our next podcast…
We’re Not So Different – A podcast about how we’ve always been idiots
Dr. Eleanor Janega and Luke Waters
Irreverent, sassy, and brilliant, the We’re Not So Different is an nsfw exploration into the medieval world and I mean the world. Dr. Janega and Luke cover the usual suspects in Western Europe, and spend time discussing medieval China, Mongolia, Indonesia, and Palestine, to name a few. This is still a relatively new production, and it is fun to see the two hosts find their groove with each other and with the subject matter. It is structured as a conversation between two friends, and they go deep not just into facts and dates but also social constructs and theories that drove people in the middle ages, such as the notion of people being considered “cooked” or “raw” in medieval China (not cannibalism, but a way to differentiate between those who were considered “civilized” and those who were not…if I were to completely oversimplify the topic...which I just did.)
There is content and words (swearing, cussing, potty-mouthed frippery) in this podcast that I don’t feel like explaining to my 9-year old, so I listen to it on my headphones. Tune into their episode on the Crusades for Dr. Janega’s epic takedown of a pedantic reviewer. Give this podcast a 1-star at your own risk!
Noble Blood
Dana Schwartz
If you were a fan of Lore, by Aaron Mahnke as I am, you will probably appreciate Noble Blood, by Dana Schwartz. I first heard about Noble Blood when Ms. Schwartz was a guest speaker on the podcast “You’re Wrong About,” where she debunked myths about Anastasia Romanov. The name really says it all: if you want to hear spooky, sometimes gruesome, sometimes sad stories about the demise or misdeeds of historical nobles, this is for you. It’s like true crime for history nerds. Another nice thing about this podcast is the episodes are relatively short and not quite as dense, so it’s easy to follow along.
Now, I just finished listening to Luke and Dr. Janega dive deep into historical materialism as a setup to their series on feudalism, and now I need to sit and think about it for a while.
Cheers, luvs!
~E.R.A
October 10, 2021
fancy new website!
I’m going to make this short and snappy, because no one reads the first blog post on a site, and they are inevitably very awkward because the author knows that no one will read it, but they feel compelled to write something anyway because we’re trying to be author-ish.
I’ve launched this new site in anticipation of my new book, The Land of God, which will hopefully release to the public in early November, before the American Thanksgiving holidays. The book will be available for pre-order soon!
But no one wants to read a blog where all I do is blather on about my book. I’m going to keep this fun and light, so stick with me and check back every now and then. You might learn something that you never knew about the middle ages!
~ E.R.A
