Episodes

  • Catch-up and Witchcraft

    Catch-up and Witchcraft
    Jan 9 2025
    folks, so this is the new year? well, we could start with a new series or something but a lot of shit has happened the past few weeks and Eleanor and Luke haven't chatted in a while, so they take some time to catch-up on recent events, both hilarious and horrifying. then, to get back into the swing of Medieval things, we talk about an excellent new academic paper that sheds light on a truly bizarre Late Medieval witchcraft trial, which has all the hallmarks of the Early Modern witch trials but is like 200 years too early or a cloistered conspiracy in the vein of The Name of the Rose. but in this case, it really happened, and that's only scratching the surface of the weirdness.

    The article is: The Devil at Citeaux: The Trial for Witchcraft of Regnault Robergeot (1481-1482) by Maxime Gelly-Perbellini

    here's a link to the article: https://journals.openedition.org/criminocorpus/16417
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Year-End Mailbag 2

    Year-End Mailbag 2
    Dec 31 2024
    folks, it's our final episode of 2024 and our 200th regular episode of the show and to celebrate, we've got the conclusion of our year-end mailbag episodes. we answer questions about how cathedrals were cleaned in the Middle Ages, favorite Star Wars ship, banishment, Medieval takeout, mountaineering, early Church politics, and more! enjoy and have a happy new year from us here at the show!
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Bonus Ep Unlocked: Best of 2024

    Bonus Ep Unlocked: Best of 2024
    Dec 24 2024
    folks, it's no secret that 2024 has been a bit of a bummer, to say the least. however, it's not terribly healthy to always focus on the bad, so we decided to talk about some our favorite stuff we saw, did, read, and heard this year. Luke and Eleanor each chose four things and they go back and forth discussing them, riffing, you know how it goes. feel free to play along leave some of your own favorites from 2024 in the replies here.

    Everything for Everyone: https://www.commonnotions.org/everything-for-everyone?srsltid=AfmBOoq8xpVrmXOORY8GVoKpXJc_oazoti90tTbFe94bh-axkvc08XEP

    State and Revolution: https://www.intpubnyc.com/browse/state-and-revolution/
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Year-End Mailbag 1

    Year-End Mailbag 1
    Dec 18 2024
    folks, it's the end of the year and that means we're having holiday fun and making merry but also that we're crunched for time, so we won't be starting any new series or anything like that. instead, we're diving back into the backlog of questions from our patrons for not one but two episodes here at the end of the year, though there will be an unlocked bonus episode for the week of Christmas stuck in between them. in part 1, we talk about our favorite dumb ways for noblemen to die, what elements of Medieval cooking we'd like to see return, state-mandated cucking, Medieval male hairstyles, and which Medieval figure we'd make a TV miniseries about. and if you enjoyed this and want your questions answered, subscribe to our patreon for just $5 a month at patreon.com/wnsdpod.
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    58 mins
  • On Mysticism (feat Simon Critchley)

    On Mysticism (feat Simon Critchley)
    Dec 11 2024
    folks, we've made no secret that we love mysticism on the show. we've talked about it on various episodes and some of our faves were mystics including Hildegard, Marguerite Porete, St. Francis, and more. so we were naturally interested when philosopher Simon Critchley published a new book, entitled On Mysticism: The Experience of Ecstasy in October 2024, and he agreed to come on the show. we talk his new book, why the term "mysticism" is a misnomer but an indispensable one, what we can learn from mysticism, and how we can apply it in our daily lives. by way of introduction, Simon Critchley is an English philosopher, author, Liverpool football fan, and podcaster who has written numerous books and essays on subjects ranging from Heidegger and modern philosophy to the morality of suicide to association football (soccer) to David Bowie, and more. you can find his new book everywhere or you can visit his site here: https://simon-critchley.com/
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Gladiator II Review (feat Patrick Wyman)

    Gladiator II Review (feat Patrick Wyman)
    Dec 5 2024
    folks, Ridley Scott has just released another one of his patented, late-era slopfests and we couldn't be more ready. that's right, it's your Gladiator II review, wherein we are forced to admit that we sometimes really enjoy the slop. so we brought returning champion Patrick Wyman back on the show to use his Roman history expertise to break down this oddly-paced, mess of a film with an anemic plot that we all nevertheless enjoyed. turns out, some fun spectacle, nice visuals, and Denzel Washington doing a great villain turn will cover a multitude of sins. now sit back, let the historical inaccuracy wash over you, and join us in the slop zone.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Shogun 2: Seppuku Power Hour

    Shogun 2: Seppuku Power Hour
    Nov 27 2024
    folks, we're back with more fun with part two of our review of the 2024 Hulu series, Shogun. last time we learned that a soulful white boy in a strange land can listen and learn and even find a nice, soulful Japanese girl who's just emo enough to fall for him. but this time, we learn that all of that was simply a ruse to draw us deeper into the Yoshii Toranaga show! Hiroyuki Sanada gives one of the best TV performances ever as the mastermind behind the reunification of Japan at the end of the turbulent Sengoku Period and the rise of a new shogunate to lead the realm into the Edo Period and the future. oh and there's so much seppuku this time around, nope, no shortage of disemboweling here.
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • Shogun 1: The First Evangelical Weeb

    Shogun 1: The First Evangelical Weeb
    Nov 20 2024
    folks, you asked and now you shall receive. we're here to review the 2024 Hulu series, Shogun, based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell. we talk about the first five episodes this time and then we'll talk about the second five on next week's show. but first we start with the historical basis, as is our wont, and tell you about how a series that takes place in the year 1600 is actually Medieval and also Feudal, with a capital-F. then we dive in headfirst and ask the question that has long plagued mankind: is it truly possible for a soulful white boy to learn? does he smoke too good? is his girl too bad? are they going to try and kill him? will he be gifted a kimono? well, join us to find out as we review the first half of the excellent Hulu series, Shogun.
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    1 hr and 30 mins