🎙️ Podcasts
Popular shows, newest episodes first. Audio plays straight from each publisher; Banana News only keeps titles, dates and links.
Shows in History
- American History TellersAudible
- Behind the BastardsCool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts
- Fall of Civilizations PodcastFall of Civilizations Podcast
- History That Doesn't SuckProf. Greg Jackson
- HistoryExtra podcastImmediate
- LoreAaron Mahnke
- Noble BloodiHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild
- Our Fake HistoryPodcastOne
- RevolutionsMike Duncan
- Ridiculous HistoryiHeartPodcasts
- Slow BurnSlate Podcasts
- The AncientsHistory Hit
- The Rest Is HistoryGoalhanger
- Tides of HistoryAudible / Patrick Wyman
- You Must Remember ThisKarina Longworth
History
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Bonus Episode - Ponzi Empires, Thieving Saints, and Skin Grafts
In this Bonus Episode Sebastian takes questions from listeners about the series on the original Ponzi Scheme. The host investigates the history of the expression "robbing Peter to pay Paul", locates early usages of the phrase "getting Ponzied", and muses about whether all expansionist empires are actually just big…
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198: The Pacific Tide Turns at Coral Sea & Midway
“It was almost unbelievable, but I was seeing it. Almost simultaneously, three [Japanese] carriers were wiped out. I knew what it meant. By golly, we did it!” This is the story of a battle that changed how wars are fought at sea—and of the thin margin between disaster and destiny. In the spring of 1942, Japanese…
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Ancient Slaveries
Slavery was foundational to ancient societies, but it was never a single thing: The experiences of the enslaved varied dramatically depending on when and where they lived, who owned them, and most of all, the jobs they had to do. Slavery was never good, but there were better and worse versions, and in this episode…
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Decoder Ring | Is Culture Stuck?
It’s a weird time for culture. There is more of it than ever before, it’s more accessible than ever before, but so little of it feels original. New movies are based on old stories, new songs are recycling old hooks, and fashion trends are cycling so fast that everything’s in. Has our culture grown stagnant? The author…
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Episode #243 - What Was Ponzi's Scheme? (Part II)
Charles Ponzi's remarkable rise and fall played out over the course of a wild eight month period. He went from being a failed importer-exporter mired in debt to Boston's most talked about self-made millionaire in a matter of weeks. After rebranding his company as the Securities Exchange Company, Ponzi started offering…
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Past Lives: Saint Patrick, Slavery, and the Fall of the Roman Empire
Check out Patrick's new show, Past Lives ! You can listen on your platform of choice through the links here , and be sure to subscribe to the Patreon for tons of bonus content - Q and As, interviews with fantastic historians, and much more. Saint Patrick is one of the most famous individuals who lived in the late…
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Mailbag!
It's been quite a while since I've answered listener questions, so here are a bunch on everything from the best depictions of siege warfare in movies to the pre-Indo-European languages of Europe. Patrick launched a brand-new history show! It’s called Past Lives, and every episode explores the life of a real person who…
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197: The Doolittle Raid & the Bataan Death March (Spring 1942)
“We had been promised relief but none was coming, and all of us in Bataan shared a sense of betrayal.” This is the story of the United State’s earliest—and most disastrous—days of war in the Pacific. Almost immediately following Pearl Harbor, America and the Axis powers exchange rapid-fire war declarations. While…
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Recent Discoveries in the Ancient Americas: Professor Shane Miller Returns
Every year, new archaeological discoveries claim to rewrite what we think we knew about the ancient Americas, but how much can we trust the initial reports we see? Professor Shane Miller, now of the University of Alabama, joins me again to place the White Sands footprints and other key sites in their proper context.…
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Decoder Rings Back | Why the Mona Lisa?
We are really lucky to get lots of listener suggestions for the show, more good questions than we can possibly answer in a mailbag episode once or twice a year. So we’re starting a new segment we call… Decoder Rings Back! Every month, host Willa Paskin will personally call up a listener to answer their question. In…
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Episode #242 - What Was Ponzi's Scheme? (Part I)
The name Charles Ponzi has become synonymous with financial frauds. In 1920 the formerly obscure Italian immigrant suddenly became one of the most famous men in Boston when his Securities Exchange Company started offering investors remarkable returns. Ponzi claimed that he had discovered an ingenious method of using…
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Doing Business in Mid-Republican Rome
The rise of the Roman Republic was built on conquest and war, but also on the massively expanding economy of Italy as a whole and Rome in particular. What was it like to live through that, and what did an expanding economy actually mean? Patrick launched a brand-new history show! It’s called Past Lives, and every…
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196: An Epilogue to Pearl Harbor with Steve Twomey
With the December 1941 surprise attack on the US naval base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, our story has officially come to the United States’ entry into the Second World War. Professor Jackson told that story in episode 194, and in 193 we covered the long buildup to the war with Japan; yet, the attack on Pearl Harbor is one…
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Interview with Professor Tom Birkett on "Runes: A Concise History"
Runic writing carries connotations of magic and fantasy, but it was a widespread, useful, and long-lasting system of writing. Professor Tom Birkett has written a fantastic overview of runic writing that returns it to the real time and place in which it existed - Runes: A Concise History . Patrick launched a brand-new…
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How Alexander the Great's Soldiers Spent Their Money
Let's imagine a Macedonian soldier during the time of Alexander the Great. How did this man, whom we'll call Red Cleitus, spend the vast amounts of coin he plundered and earned as he and his comrades fought their way across Asia? Patrick launched a brand-new history show! It’s called Past Lives, and every episode…
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195: Holiday Special IX: Chanukah in Warsaw & Christmas in Washington, D.C.
“This year very few Hanukkah candles were lit.” / “This is a strange Christmas Eve.” This is the story of 1941’s wartime holiday season. It’s difficult to conjure up a more miserable picture than the Warsaw Ghetto, but Jewish residents are doing their best to stay close to their faith in spite of the dismal…
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Two Murders at the Dawn of History (Lost Worlds Audiobook Preview)
Patrick's new book, Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World, launches May 5th, 2026! Check out this audiobook preview chapter on two murders around 5,300 years ago, hear about everything we can learn from Otzi the Iceman in the Alps and Gebelein Man in Egypt, and be sure to preorder the…
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The Slate Culture Gift Guide
Hark, the holiday season is upon us—and with it the most solemn of festive traditions: a gift guide! In this video and podcast special, Slate hosts Dana Stevens, Chris Molanphy, and Willa Paskin beam-in from their collective hearths to deliver unto the internet their favorite gifts for culture lovers this holiday. In…
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Decoder Ring | Mailbag: Yo-Yos, Sandboxes, and Encores
Decoder Ring listeners write in with some excellent mysteries, and for our last episode of the year we’re solving three of them. Why do children play in boxes full of sand? Why do rock bands pretend like the show is over when everybody knows they’re coming back for an encore? And what was up with those school…
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Past Lives: Nanaya'ila'i and the Bleeding Edge of the Assyrian Empire
Check out a scripted episode of Patrick's new show, Past Lives ! Nearly 2,700 years ago, a woman and her daughter were ripped away from their homes in what is now Iran by the soldiers of the Assyrian Empire. Nanaya'ila'i was one of thousands upon thousands of people to experience the violence that accompanied…
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The Economic Life of Megakles, Farmer of Classical Athens
We've talked about how rich classical Athens was, but what did that mean for an average person living at the time? In this episode, we follow the life of a composite character, an Athenian citizen farmer named Megakles, to see how the economic developments of the classical age shaped daily life in Athens. Patrick…
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194: Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941
“Man your battle stations! This is no sh*t!” This is the story of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s 7:55 on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. 183 Japanese aircraft descend on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Sailors awaken to a nightmare as “Battleship Row” becomes a graveyard, hundreds of…
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Doing History through Movies: Interview with Dr. Jason Herbert
Like many of you, I first fell in love with history through the movies. Dr. Jason Herbert hosted a podcast called Historians at the Movies , now retitled Reckoning with Jason Herbert , that focuses on films depicting the past and what historians think about them. We have a delightful conversation about some of our…
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Listen to Patrick's New History Podcast, Past Lives
Patrick has a new history podcast, Past Lives ! It's all about the experiences of real, everyday people throughout the human past, people just like you. Listen to the first full episode, "On Historical Storytelling," right here, and then go subscribe to the Past Lives feed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast…
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Decoder Ring | “Videomate: Men” (Encore)
Videomate: Men was a VHS tape released in 1987 featuring 60 single men pitching themselves as dates to women on the other side of the TV screen: “The love of your life could be on your TV tonight!” the box reads. In retrospect, Videomate: Men is a bizarre and hilarious time capsule, but at the time it was one of many…
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Why Was Classical Athens So Rich?
Ancient Greece was rich compared to other ancient societies, and Athens was the richest place of all within ancient Greece. But why? The answer lies not just in the silver lodes of Attica or access to the sea; it was about democracy, law, and institutions, which made people feel safe doing business in Athens. Patrick…
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193: The Empire of the Rising Sun: Military Imperialism in Japan (1853–1941)
“To be perfectly frank, the ways you and I look at the Chinese are fundamentally different. You seem to think of them as human, but I see them as pigs.” This is the origin story of the Empire of the Rising Sun. After an uninvited visit from one Commodore Matthew Perry and his four black ships, Japan opens its doors to…
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Patrick's New History Show, Past Lives, Launches December 3rd!
From Patrick Wyman (host of Fall of Rome and Tides of History) comes Past Lives, a brand new podcast! Every week, we’ll focus on the lived experiences of real people from the past, bringing their stories to life. The first season of Past Lives is available December 3rd! Be sure to subscribe to the feed now…
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Decoder Ring | How Protein Muscled Its Way to the Top
Americans are currently besotted with protein. It’s touted as being good for muscle growth, weight loss, skincare, mental acuity, longevity, and much else besides. It’s sold to men, women, children, the elderly— you can even buy protein for your pets. The protein supplement market alone is worth $21 billion and…
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20. Persia - An Empire in Ashes
In the highlands of the Iranian Plateau, a collection of enormous pillars reach up to the sky... In this episode, we tell the story of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Find out how this remarkable ancient power sprung up from the rubble of a ruined world to become the most powerful human society on earth. Hear how they…
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