S8 Ep266: HOME PREPAREDNESS AND SURVIVAL TACTICS DURING WILDFIRES Colleague Danielle Clode. Clode details essential preparedness strategies for those living in fire-prone areas, emphasizing that home design features like sealed underfloor spaces are critical to pre

S8 Ep266: THE SCIENCE OF COMBUSTION AND FIRE-ADAPTED VEGETATION Colleague Danielle Clode. The discussion turns to the science of combustion, focusing on fire-adapted vegetation like Eucalyptus and Mountain Ash, which rely on fierce fires and sunlight to regenerate.

S8 Ep266: INDIGENOUS FIRE MANAGEMENT AND THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN WILDFIRES Colleague Danielle Clode. In this interview, Danielle Clode discusses the historical context of Australian wildfires, noting that early European explorers like Captain Cook frequently obse

S8 Ep265: SHOW 12-29-25 CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR THE PRINCESS'S MUSEUM AT THE DAWN OF HISTORY Colleague Moudhy Al-Rashid. Moudhy Al-Rashidintroduces Ennigaldi-Nanna, a princess and high priestess of the moon god in the ancient city of Ur. Excavato

S8 Ep264: THE REASSERTION OF ANCIENT EMPIRES Colleague Gregory Copley. Copley contends that China is reasserting its identity as an empire, with the Communist Party seeking legitimacy by connecting with imperial history despite previous rejections of the past. Simi

S8 Ep264: CONSTITUTIONS, BELIEF, AND THE EMPIRE Colleague Gregory Copley. Copley describes the US Constitution as the "de facto crown" holding the American empire together, though it faces challenges from populist movements. He argues that a "faith-based electorate

S8 Ep264: THE DANGERS OF TRANSACTIONAL NATIONALISM Colleague Gregory Copley. Copley warns that suppression in republics often leads to uncontrollable demands for liberty, citing the collapse of the Shah's Iran and the USSR. He distinguishes between "tribal national

S8 Ep264: THE RETURN OF THE NOBLE MONARCH Colleague Gregory Copley. Gregory Copley argues that the world has reached "peak republicanism," where republics have become inefficient political battlegrounds. He defines nobility not as a class structure, but as a qualit

S8 Ep264: PLATO'S LETTERS AND THE WHITEWASHING OF DION Colleague Professor James Romm. The conversation examines Plato's thirteen letters, specifically the five Romm believes are genuine regarding the Syracuse affair. Plato viewed himself as a wise lawgiver capable

S8 Ep264: PHILOSOPHER KINGS AND THE RIVER OF HEEDLESSNESS Colleague Professor James Romm. James Romm explores Plato's Republic, arguing that philosophers make the best kings because they perceive the true "forms" of justice rather than earthly shadows. The discussi

S8 Ep264: THE TYRANT WHO BECAME A SCHOOLTEACHER Colleague Professor James Romm. Professor James Romm discusses the surprising fate of Dionysius II, the tyrant of Syracuse. After the Corinthian leader Timoleon arrived to liberate the city, Dionysius surrendered and

S8 Ep264: REVOLUTION, ASSASSINATION, AND CHAOS Colleague Professor James Romm. Dion launched an invasion to liberate Syracuse, but the revolution unleashed chaotic populist passions he could not control. After ordering the assassination of a rival, Dion fell into a

S8 Ep264: A PHILOSOPHER OBSERVES A COMING WAR Colleague Professor James Romm. At the Olympic Games, Plato met the exiled Dion and learned that the tyrant had confiscated Dion's property and given his wife to another man. Despite the growing tension, Plato visited S

S8 Ep264: THE BANISHMENT OF DION Colleague Professor James Romm. Plato returned to Syracuse to tutor Dionysius the Younger, hoping to create an enlightened monarch, but found a court defined by drunkenness and immaturity. The experiment failed when Dion, Plato's al

S8 Ep264: PLATO'S FAILED FIRST MISSION TO SICILY Colleague Professor James Romm. Professor Romm details Plato's background, including his connection to the Thirty Tyrants in Athens and his philosophy of "forms." Plato was invited to Syracuse by Dion, who hoped the

S8 Ep264: THE SELF-IMDULGENT TYRANTS OF THE WEST Colleague Professor James Romm. James Romm introduces Syracuse as a dominant power in the 4th century BCE under the rule of Dionysius the Elder, who rose from clerk to autocrat. Dionysius fortified the city's geograp

S8 Ep264: HOMEWORK AND HEARTACHE IN ANCIENT SCHOOLS Colleague Moudhy Al-Rashid. Excavations of a "schoolhouse" in Nippur revealed thousands of practice tablets, showing the messy first attempts of children learning to write. These artifacts include literary account

S8 Ep264: GILGAMESH AND THE BIRTH OF WRITTEN LEGEND Colleague Moudhy Al-Rashid. Al-Rashid discusses Cuneiform, a writing system used for over 3,000 years to record languages like Sumerian and Akkadian. She details the Epic of Gilgamesh, a tale of a tyrannical king

S8 Ep264: THE STORIES TOLD BY MESOPOTAMIAN BRICKS Colleague Moudhy Al-Rashid. Moudhy Al-Rashid explains how millions of mud bricks reveal the history of ancient Mesopotamia, from the construction of massive temples to the 9-kilometer wall of Uruk. These bricks were

S8 Ep264: THE PRINCESS'S MUSEUM AT THE DAWN OF HISTORY Colleague Moudhy Al-Rashid. Moudhy Al-Rashid introduces Ennigaldi-Nanna, a princess and high priestess of the moon god in the ancient city of Ur. Excavators discovered a chamber in her palace containing careful