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Past Lives
30 episodes
Bog Bodies
Ep 40 · Aug 12, 2026 · 28 min
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-perce…
The Human Sacrifices of the Shang Dynasty
Ep 38 · Aug 5, 2026 · 29 min
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…
Interview: James Romm - Since You’re Mortal: Life Lessons from the Lost Greek Plays
Ep 36 · Jul 29, 2026 · 31 min
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 cl…
The Tomb of Fu Hao and the Rise of the Shang Dynasty
Ep 34 · Jul 22, 2026 · 29 min
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…
Interview: Professor Thomas Asbridge on the Black Death
Ep 32 · Jul 15, 2026 · 41 min
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…
The Workers of Deir el-Medina
Ep 30 · Jul 8, 2026 · 30 min
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 ser…
Ancient Egypt's Underclass
Ep 28 · Jul 1, 2026 · 30 min
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 f…
Interview: Shannon Chakraborty and Historical Fantasy
Ep 26 · Jun 24, 2026 · 36 min
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…
Seqenenre Tao
Ep 24 · Jun 17, 2026 · 30 min
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 discussi…
A Quick Guide to Ancient Egypt
Ep 22 · Jun 10, 2026 · 31 min
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 inte…
The Princess of Xiaohe
Ep 20 · Jun 3, 2026 · 28 min
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 d…
Interview: Producer, Writer, and Director Tim Haines on Surviving Earth and Bringing the Distant Past to Life
Ep 18 · May 27, 2026 · 29 min
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 Live…
Xinjiang: The Crossroads of Eurasia
Ep 16 · May 20, 2026 · 27 min
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 remark…
The Corps of Discovery Wasn't Just Lewis and Clark: Interview with Craig Fehrman
Ep 14 · May 13, 2026 · 38 min
New York Times bestselling author Craig Fehrman joins us to discuss his wonderful new book, This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark. We talk about the Corps of Discovery beyond the two captains, the richness of the sources we have to understand the expedition, and what we can learn about North America at the dawn of the 19th century. Buy This Vast Enterprise and support a fantastic author! Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Live…
Gebelein Man and the Roots of Ancient Egypt
Ep 12 · May 6, 2026 · 30 min
In hindsight, ancient Egypt appears to be both eternal and inevitable, but in reality it was neither. Until his untimely death 5,300 years ago, Gebelein Man lived in the Upper Nile Valley, the heartland of the warring petty kingdoms that would eventually morph into the kingdom of the pharaohs. The forces that shaped his life were those that gave birth to the ancient Egypt we recognize later. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord ser…
Ötzi the Iceman
Ep 10 · Apr 29, 2026 · 29 min
Of all the many people who lived in the distant past, we might know Ötzi the Iceman the best. Found in the Ötztal Alps of northern Italy in 1991, Ötzi lived more than 5,300 years ago, but the icy conditions where he died preserved his remains to an extraordinary degree. We know what Ötzi ate for his last meals, where he spent his youth, what materials his clothing was made out of, and even what kinds of parasites infected his digestive tract. The result is an illuminating portrait of a long-dead…
The Shaman of Bad Dürrenberg
Ep 8 · Apr 22, 2026 · 28 min
Nine thousand years ago, a special woman was buried in central Germany. She was her band's shaman, and they interred her with all of the tools of her craft: a feathered headdress with deer antlers, dozens of clinking animal teeth, an extraordinary variety of unusual objects. Who was she, and what can she teach us about the Mesolithic society to which she belonged? 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…
Audiobook Chapter: Lost Worlds
Ep 6 · Apr 15, 2026 · 51 min
Patrick's new book Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World comes out May 5th! Check out a free preview of the first chapter of the audiobook, "The World As It Was," and learn about the Clovis people and reindeer hunters in Europe at the end of the last Ice Age. Preorder in hardcopy, ebook, or audiobook (read by Patrick) here: https://bit.ly/PWLostWorlds. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and…
The Ancient One/Kennwick Man (North America, 8,500 Years Ago)
Ep 5 · Apr 8, 2026 · 25 min
In July of 1996, a skeleton was discovered on the banks of the Columbia River. It belonged to a man who died 8,500 years ago, in a world so distant from our own it hardly seems real, but thanks to detailed studies of his remains, we know more about that man than almost anybody else in the distant past. 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,…
Anzick-1 (North America, 13,000 Years Ago)
Ep 3 · Apr 1, 2026 · 28 min
Thirteen thousand years ago, a baby died in what's now Montana. His people buried him under a rock ledge, and there his bones stayed for millennia. Today, we know the infant as Anzick-1, and he's the only human being we can associate with the widespread and extraordinarily important archaeological group we know as the Clovis Culture - some of the first people to inhabit the ancient Americas. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord ser…
Introducing Season 2: Bodily Experiences
Ep 1 · Mar 25, 2026 · 23 min
When we think about the past, whether we know it or not we're usually thinking in terms of texts: written sources that provide the information we use to understand what happened before our time. But there are many other potential sources of information, and the richest of them all is the human body. In this new season of Past Lives, we explore the experiences of dozens of people who lived over thousands of years through the lens of their remains: skeletons, mummies, and bog bodies. Become a memb…
Recommended Listen: History Daily
Ep 32 · Mar 18, 2026 · 33 min
Today we’re sharing a podcast that Patrick really loves: History Daily. History Daily tells the fascinating stories of what happened “on this day” in history, and new episodes come out every weekday. Since we just finished our season on slavery, the first episode focuses on the uprising that led to freedom for the captives on the slave ship Amistad in the 19th century and the second on the Roman siege of Masada way back in the first century AD. Enjoy! Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/Pa…
Why Slavery Matters
Ep 30 · Mar 11, 2026 · 20 min
Slavery is a huge topic, but we've covered an enormous amount of ground from ancient Assyria to the 20th century, and now we can come to some conclusions about why slavery matters. 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 w…
Matilda McCrear, the Clotilda, and the Last Survivors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Ep 28 · Mar 4, 2026 · 28 min
In July of 1860, the last slave ship to reach the United States arrived in Mobile Bay. The Clotilda held 103 captives, Yoruba people from present-day Nigeria. Eighty years later, one of those captives - known by then as Matilda McCrear - died in Alabama. She was the last known survivor of the Middle Passage experienced by more than 12 million Africans. 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…
Olaudah Equiano's Atlantic World
Ep 26 · Feb 25, 2026 · 29 min
Olaudah Equiano is one of the most fascinating people in human history: enslaved as a child in West Africa, trained as a sailor who traveled from the Equator to the Arctic and everywhere in between, but later in life, one of the most impactful writers of his age. Equiano's autobiography is a firsthand guide to the world of Atlantic slavery and what it did to those whom it touched. Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and fou…
Moll and the Indian Slave Trade in Colonial America (18th Century)
Ep 24 · Feb 18, 2026 · 25 min
While the horrors of the Middle Passage are familiar to most, it's less well known that countless indigenous people were trafficked into slavery in the Americas. One of them was Moll, who was abducted in the Carolinas, transported to Boston, and lived for years before eventually making her escape. 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 an…
Maddalena, the Medici, and Slavery in the Renaissance (Florence, 15th century)
Ep 22 · Feb 11, 2026 · 27 min
We don't usually think of the Italian Renaissance - the time of Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Borgias - as a world of slaves, but there were many enslaved people in Florence, Rome, Venice, and Genoa. One of them was Maddalena, whose life took her from the Black Sea to the household of Cosimo de Medici, one of the richest and most powerful men in Europe. 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…
Sultan Baybars (Mamluk, 13th Century)
Ep 20 · Feb 4, 2026 · 28 min
Sultan Baybars started his life as a Kipchak Turk on the steppe and ended it as the ruler of the most powerful state in the Islamic world. Slavery - military slavery, the practice of taking boys and training them as soldiers - was his pathway to power, but what did it mean for him and the thousands of others forced into that life? 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 hi…
Freedmen, Work, and Race in Colonial Philadelphia: Interview with Professor Keith Pluymers
Ep 18 · Jan 28, 2026 · 42 min
My dear friend Professor Keith Pluymers joins me to discuss a man listed in a Philadelphia city account book as "Negro Joe," and we try to reconstruct what his life, work, and experience of the city would have been. 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 independen…
Saint Patrick, Slavery, and the Fall of the Roman Empire
Ep 16 · Jan 21, 2026 · 27 min
Saint Patrick is one of the most famous individuals who lived in the late Roman Empire, but long before he became the apostle of the Irish, he was a Romano-British teenager who was abducted from his home and enslaved for six years. 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-pe…
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