Literature and History

A podcast by Doug Metzger

Categories:

Arts History

105 Episodes

  1. Episode 25: Lyrical Ballistics (Sappho, Pindar, Archilochus, and Greek Lyric Poetry)

    Published: 9/15/2016

  2. Episode 24: God May Relent (The Bible's Prophetic Books)

    Published: 9/1/2016

  3. Episode 23: Love. Desire. Exegesis. (The Song of Songs/Solomon)

    Published: 8/25/2016

  4. Episode 22: Fatalism (The Book of Ecclesiastes)

    Published: 8/16/2016

  5. Episode 21: The Bible's Magic Trick (The Book of Psalms)

    Published: 7/27/2016

  6. Episode 20: The Problem of Evil (The Book of Job)

    Published: 7/15/2016

  7. Episode 19: The One Who Struggles with God (The Historical Books and Biblical Archaeology)

    Published: 6/29/2016

  8. Episode 18: The 613 Commandments (The Pentateuch's Prescriptive Materials)

    Published: 6/15/2016

  9. Episode 17: Roots of the Pentateuch (The Pentateuch and Comparative Mythography)

    Published: 6/1/2016

  10. Episode 16: Four Main Parts (Introduction to the Bible's Structure)

    Published: 5/25/2016

  11. Episode 15: Canaan (Biblical History and Archaeology)

    Published: 5/13/2016

  12. Episode 14: The Autumn Leaves (Homer's Odyssey, Books 17-24)

    Published: 4/27/2016

  13. Episode 13: His Mind Teeming (Homer's Odyssey, Books 9-16)

    Published: 4/19/2016

  14. Episode 12: Kleos and Nostos (Homer's Odyssey, Books 1-8)

    Published: 4/13/2016

  15. Episode 11: Who Was Homer? (Homer's Iliad, Books 17-24)

    Published: 3/27/2016

  16. Episode 10: Homer's Gods (Homer's Iliad, Books 9-16)

    Published: 3/27/2016

  17. Episode 9: Glittering Bronze Men (Homer's Iliad, Books 1-8)

    Published: 3/27/2016

  18. Episode 8: Before Orthodoxy (Hesiod's Theogony)

    Published: 2/12/2016

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

    Published: 2/12/2016

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

    Published: 2/12/2016

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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.