I have been fairly busy the last month– more so than even usual with three kids all in extracurricular activities– and one of the more interesting things to occupy my spare time has been the History of England Podcast. And I thought the History of Rome Podcast was long! The History of England has run over a hundred episodes so far, and has just reached the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War! It has obviously entertained me, and I dare say educated me, or I would not have listened so long. It occasionally gives episodic updates on what else is going on in Europe, and obviously a lot of English history post-1066 is intertwined with France’s history, so you’re getting a somewhat wider view than you might think. Combined with Norman Centuries and 12 Byzantine Rulers and you’re getting a much wider view of the Dark and Middle Ages, especially. Can’t wait to fill it out with the History of France in English, maybe the Medieval Archives and the British History Podcast, and even the History of English Podcast…and I can’t wait for somebody to start a Holy Roman Empire podcast! Real opportunity there, people!!
Posts Tagged ‘Podcasts’
The History of England Podcast
September 25, 2013Dark Ages History Podcasts
August 27, 2012
I listen to a lot of podcasts while commuting and painting figures. Lately, I have been trying to fill my time with podcasts on the history of the Dark Ages. Saga has been a lot of fun, rules wise, but I can’t claim to be very knowledgeable about the period. Rome fell, the Vikings came, Western governments started to be entangled in questionable Middle East wars, and the Normans conquered England. Getting more in depth in the period, though, has really revealed a lot more interesting history. Here’s what I have been listening to:
The History of Rome: I have mentioned the History of Rome Podcast here before. It is complete now, and a wealth of material, covering the ENTIRE history of Rome from the mythical origins to the fall of the Western Empire. Most of it obviously isn’t directly related to the Dark Ages, but it is almost necessary background material. I’m continually surprised at how much of the Dark Ages still revolves around and is directly influenced by the Roman Empire.
12 Byzantine Rulers: The natural place to go after the History of Rome, 12 Byzantine Rulers is highlights of the Eastern Empire, starting with Diocletian and ending with Constantine XI and the fall of Byzantium to the Ottomans in 1453.
Norman Centuries: By the author of 12 Byzantine Rules, Norman Centuries follows the founding of the Normans by Rollo until– so far– William the Good of Sicily.
Europe from its Origins: I listened to Europe from its Origins a while ago, and honestly, it just didn’t take root at the time. It’s really due for a relisten now that I have a much better context to place it in. Irritatingly to me, this is technically a video podcast, but the video is largely superfluous, making the extra space it takes up wasted. Also, some of the background music combined with the narrator’s mild manner can lull you to sleep!
Irish History: I recently discovered the Irish History Podcast on the Miniatures Page. It appears to be very slowly published, but what I’ve heard so far has been pretty interesting. It also has links to some related podcasts I haven’t checked out yet.
British History: I made note of the British History Podcast a while back, but forgot about it until gathering info for this list! I haven’t listened to it yet, but it certainly looks interesting.
General History: There are some general history podcasts out there, notably Hardcore History and History According to Bob. I’m not crazy about the presentation of either of these podcasts– Hardcore History is ridiculously overdramatic, and Bob’s presentation is a little monotonous and irritating. However, it would be useful to scour these for applicable episodes. Also, In Our Time from BBC4, another regular listen of mine.
The History of Rome Podcast
January 8, 2011
Whew! I have been listening to the History of Rome podcast and have finally caught up! It’s really quite nice– good audio quality, well-spoken history and fairly comprehensive; it is so far almost 48 hours of podcast covering Rome from the legendary flight of Aeneas from the Trojan War well before Romulus and Remus founded Rome in 753 BC until, most recently, the reign of Emperor Probus, ending in 282 AD. I just finished listening to the last episode as I painted up some of my 29th ID, and I’m kind of sad I don’t have another episode to immediately launch into. At least this will let me catch up on the last two WWPD: News From the Front episodes I have missed.
Being Human
February 1, 2010A ghost, a vampire and a werewolf walk into a bar… That’s not a joke, but hopefully was the lead in to the elevator pitch for the BBC’s science fiction show, Being Human. Hat tip to the THACO podcast’s Best Geek Media of 2009 episode for turning me on to this. I’ve only watched the first two episodes of season one, but I have really enjoyed them so far. I’m a fan of Doctor Who and Torchwood, but this show completely lacks their camp and has high quality writing and acting. I’m really looking forward to continuing the series.
Shoutout!
August 11, 2009I’m a little behind the curve, but I bought the Geekly McNerdigan shoutout on d6 Generation ep. 37 for Mik‘s birthday.
What Have You Been Working On?
February 3, 2009What Are You Working On has been out a while, but I’m just now catching up on it. I really enjoy it, as it covers both RPGs and miniatures in about the ratio I game. Plus, one of the hosts is Scott Pyle of SuperFigs, an awesome system and a very nice guy, based on my meetings with him at Historicon.
Noisemaker's Podcast
January 18, 2009I’ve been catching up on noisemaker’s podcast, I have enjoyed it. It’s a good quality podcast that doesn’t focus on mainstream games, and brings some solo gaming in to play, which I enjoy. Take a listen.
Sweet Uncharted Seas
December 29, 2008Craig of the d6 Generation has some really sweet pictures of his Uncharted Seas set up. Everybody seems to like this game. I’m trying to stay away, but the siren call is hard to resist…
This Week in Wargaming
December 6, 2008I just started listening to This Week in Wargaming. I like it. The presentation isn’t pretentious, and the audio is very listenable. I will be following this regularly.
The d6 Generation
April 22, 2008The d6 Generation is a fairly new gaming podcast. I haven’t got to hear much yet, but they appear to have started strong and I can’t wait to give the whole series a listen.
Little Lead Heroes 
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