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Literature and History 

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…

60 episodes available · plays inline · no app required
  1. Episode 124: The Last Great War of Antiquity
    Apr 15, 2026 ·02:13:39
  2. Episode 123: An Introduction to the Hadiths
    Mar 15, 2026 ·02:01:19
  3. Episode 122: The Early Abbasid Caliphate
    Feb 15, 2026 ·02:25:25
  4. Episode 121: The Umayyad Caliphate
    Jan 15, 2026 ·02:15:00
  5. Episode 120: The Rashidun Caliphate
    Dec 15, 2025 ·02:24:45
  6. Episode 119: The Qur'an, Part 3: Origins
    Oct 22, 2025 ·02:19:04
  7. Episode 118: The Qur'an, Part 2: Ordinances
    Oct 15, 2025 ·02:17:06
  8. Episode 117: The Qur'an, Part 1: Overview
    Oct 8, 2025 ·02:06:58
  9. Episode 116: The Life of Muhammad, Part 3: Conquest
    Sep 15, 2025 ·02:04:10
  10. Episode 115: The Life of Muhammad, Part 2: Community
    Aug 15, 2025 ·02:15:39
  11. Episode 114: The Life of Muhammad, Part 1: Cobwebs
    Jul 15, 2025 ·02:21:52
  12. Episode 113: Antarah ibn Shaddad
    Jun 15, 2025 ·02:04:08
  13. Episode 112: Pre-Islamic Arabic Poetry
    May 14, 2025 ·02:19:43
  14. Episode 111: Pre-Islamic Arabia
    Apr 15, 2025 ·02:22:19
  15. Episode 110: Questions
    Mar 22, 2025 ·02:20:50
  16. Episode 109: Cornerstones
    Mar 15, 2025 ·02:09:42
  17. Episode 108: Isidore of Seville
    Feb 15, 2025 ·02:14:12
  18. Episode 107: Venantius Fortunatus
    Jan 15, 2025 ·02:12:04
  19. Episode 106: Gregory of Tours, Part 2
    Dec 14, 2024 ·02:07:57
  20. Episode 105: Gregory of Tours, Part 1
    Nov 7, 2024 ·02:27:06
  21. Episode 104: An Introduction to the Talmud
    Aug 9, 2024 ·02:21:51
  22. Episode 103: Boethius
    Sep 22, 2023 ·02:21:10
  23. Episode 102: An Old Man's Book (Augustine's City of God, Part 2 of 2)
    Mar 4, 2023 ·02:27:38
  24. Episode 101: Against the Pagans (Augustine's City of God, Part 1 of 2)
    Feb 4, 2023 ·02:15:31
  25. Episode 100: Late Have I Loved You (Augustine's Confessions, Books 9-13)
    Dec 30, 2022 ·02:05:20
  26. Episode 99: The Boy Who Stole Pears (Augustine's Confessions, Books 1-7)
    Dec 10, 2022 ·01:55:25
  27. Episode 98: The Life and Works of Saint Jerome
    Nov 11, 2022 ·02:09:43
  28. Episode 97: Blood and Ivy (Nonnus' Dionysiaca, Books 25-48)
    May 8, 2022 ·02:32:27
  29. Episode 96: The Last Pagan Epic (Nonnus' Dionysiaca, Books 1-24)
    Oct 31, 2021 ·02:13:58
  30. Episode 95: Rutilius Namatianus
    Oct 17, 2021 ·02:02:49
  31. Episode 94: Ausonius
    Sep 12, 2021 ·01:53:16
  32. Episode 93: Severus' Life of Saint Martin
    Aug 18, 2021 ·01:57:50
  33. Episode 92: Athanasius' Life of Antony
    Aug 8, 2021 ·02:06:20
  34. Episode 91: The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity
    Jul 25, 2021 ·02:12:15
  35. Episode 90: Ante-Nicene Catholicism
    Jul 4, 2021 ·02:04:22
  36. Episode 89: The Aethiopica of Heliodorus
    Jun 19, 2021 ·02:12:29
  37. Episode 88: Ancient Greek Sci-fi
    May 21, 2021 ·01:55:58
  38. Episode 87: Lucian of Samosata
    May 7, 2021 ·01:42:06
  39. Episode 86: An Introduction to Late Antiquity
    Apr 25, 2021 ·02:22:55
  40. Episode 85: River
    Apr 4, 2021 ·01:56:26
  41. Episode 84: Manichaeism
    Mar 14, 2021 ·01:58:32
  42. Episode 83: Gnosticism
    Feb 28, 2021 ·02:15:35
  43. Episode 82: Zoroastrianism
    Jan 31, 2021 ·02:19:26
  44. Episode 81: Revelation
    Jan 10, 2021 ·02:17:59
  45. Episode 80: The General Epistles
    Oct 14, 2020 ·02:03:36
  46. Episode 79: The Pauline Epistles
    Sep 25, 2020 ·02:17:02
  47. Episode 78: The Book of Acts
    Sep 11, 2020 ·02:15:35
  48. Episode 77: The Gospels
    Jun 30, 2020 ·02:40:08
  49. Episode 76: Judea Under Herod
    Jun 7, 2020 ·01:51:58
  50. Episode 75: Dusk and Starlight
    Apr 25, 2020 ·02:06:24
  51. Episode 74: Marcus Aurelius (The Meditations)
    Mar 14, 2020 ·01:51:06
  52. Episode 73: The Golden Ass (Apuleius' The Golden Ass)
    Feb 29, 2020 ·02:34:31
  53. Episode 72: Bread and Circuses (Juvenal's Satires)
    Feb 14, 2020 ·01:51:16
  54. Episode 71: The Gods Depart (Statius' Thebaid)
    Jan 29, 2020 ·02:16:30
  55. Episode 70: Rome's Forgotten Epic (Statius' Thebaid)
    Sep 9, 2019 ·01:55:05
  56. Episode 69: Rome's Comic Novel (Petronius' Satyricon)
    Aug 26, 2019 ·02:00:09
  57. Episode 68: Love Means Sin (Seneca's Phaedra)
    Aug 5, 2019 ·01:34:31
  58. Episode 67: Jaws Dripping Blood (Seneca's Thyestes)
    Jul 17, 2019 ·01:12:49
  59. Episode 66: Stoicism, Seneca, St. Paul
    Jun 26, 2019 ·01:34:20
  60. Episode 65: Seneca and the Julio-Claudians (The Life of Seneca)
    Mar 30, 2019 ·02:06:35
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