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Doug Metzger

With millions of downloads, hundreds of hours of soundtracked content, and an overall emphasis on the cultural history behind famous works of literature, Literature and History is one of the most popular independent podcasts on its subject. Starting with Sumerian cuneiform in 3,100 BCE, Literature and History moves forward in chronological order through Assyriology, Egyptology, the Old Testament, Ancient Greece and Rome, and the birth of Christianity. The show's current season is on Late Antiquity (or 200-700 CE) and the dawn of the Middle Ages.

A typical episode (they average about two hours) features a general introduction to a work of literature, then a full summary of that work that expects no prior knowledge, and finally, an analysis of the cultural, biographical, and historical forces that gave rise to the work in question. Original symphonic and ambient background music is woven throughout each show, and all episodes offer free full, illustrated, footnoted transcriptions as well as quizzes for purposes of review. The show has no advertisements, and its host takes pride in a professional approach that avoids chitchat and ephemera and gets straight to the educational content. You can listen to the episodes in any order, although most listeners begin at the beginning and proceed from there, as the podcast itself is chronologically organized.

Doug Metzger finished his Ph.D. in literature in 2011. His chief scholarly interest, following his dissertation work, continues to be 19th-century realism and postbellum American philosophy.

Literature and History

The second half of the History of the Franks (591) is a deep dive into the grime and intrigue of the Merovingian dynasty, written in a style that's as medieval as it is classical.
 
 Episode 106 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-106
 
 Episode 105 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-106-gregory-of-tours-part-2
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 106: Gregory of Tours, Part 2

The Merovingian court poet Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-600), at work in Francia in the late 500s, shows us the world of the Middle Ages blooming from Roman ruins.
 
 Episode 107 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-107
 
 Episode 107 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-107-venantius-fortunatus
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 107: Venantius Fortunatus

One of the great scholars of Late Antiquity, Isidore (c. 560-636) left behind a compendium called the Etymologies, an encyclopedia of his epoch’s knowledge, a book second only to the Bible during the Middle Ages.
 
 Episode 108 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-108
 
 Episode 108 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-108-isidore-of-seville
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 108: Isidore of Seville

For thousands of years, cuneiform was the means of transmitting information through space and time in the Ancient Near East. Then, something happened.
 
 Episode 1 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-001
 
 Episode 1 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-001-the-tower-of-babel
 
 Episode 1 Song:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXGtHWka5mI
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 1: The Tower of Babel (Cuneiform)

The Enuma Elish and the Atrahasis, in circulation 3,800 years ago, were Mesopotamia’s creation and flood epics, making them 1,000 years older than Genesis.
 
 Episode 2 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-002
 
 Episode 2 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-002-before-the-flood
 
 Episode 2 Song:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxED2Xa3R3Y
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 2: Before the Flood (The Enuma Elish and Atrahasis)

The Epic of Gilgamesh, composed 3,000-5,000 years ago, and first translated in the 1860s and 70s, was one of the greatest literary discoveries of all time.
 
 Episode 3 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-003
 
 Episode 3 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-003-he-who-saw-the-deep
 
 Episode 3 Song:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJJurdC3OIg
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 3: He Who Saw the Deep (The Epic of Gilgamesh)

In the 3,500 year old Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, we can find the roots of the world’s religions.
 
 Episode 4 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-004
 
 Episode 4 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-004-divine-judgment
 
 Episode 4 Song:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PU9SWp9ZdE
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 4: Divine Judgment (The Book of the Dead)

We know about Ancient Egypt’s pyramids, temples, and sarcophagi. What about its folktales and stories?
 
 Episode 5 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-005
 
 Episode 5 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-005-beneath-the-obelisks
 
 Episode 5 Song:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvGM-FzbOpI
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 5: Beneath the Obelisks (Ancient Egyptian Fiction)

Ancient Egypt produced a great deal of proverbs and wisdom literature. Some of it even slipped into the bible. But how wise is wisdom literature?
 
 Episode 6 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-006
 
 Episode 6 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-006-the-pros-and-cons-of-wisdom
 
 Episode 6 Song:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlzZi68n7n8
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 6: The Pros and Cons of Wisdom (Ancient Egypt's Wisdom Literature)

Before Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato, there was a grouchy farmer poet whose Works and Days continues to fascinate us.
 
 Episode 7 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-007
 
 Episode 7 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-007-hesiods-lands-and-seasons
 
 Episode 7 Song:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbxMLMJBWg
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 7: Hesiod's Lands and Seasons (Hesiod's Works and Days)

Learn the basic tenets and early history of Zoroastrianism, one of the most important and widespread religions in the ancient world, and possibly earth’s oldest living monotheism.
 
 Episode 82 Quiz:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-082
 
 Episode 82 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-082-zoroastrianism
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Episode 82: Zoroastrianism

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