Podcasts by History in the Making
HITM uses character focused storytelling to convey the ideas of the past that have shaped us today. We dive into wars and politics to see how the values of nations and their populations have reacted to the world around them. This is social evolution and biography wrapped in storytelling. This is History in the Making. HITM is currently in Season 1. Season 1 covers much of the classical age of Greece including the “invention” of democracy, the Persian Wars, politics of Pericles and Themistocles, the Golden Age, the Peloponnesian Wars, and much more.
Further podcasts by Rob Sims
Podcast on the topic Gesellschaft und Kultur
All episodes
2: Demes and Demagogues from 2022-04-21T11:17:27.166465
Democracy emerges in clear view from the shadows of history but not everybody welcomes it. The various political sides of Athens try to find a governing balance while threats of civil war force ...
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6: The World Reshuffled from 2022-04-21T11:17:27.092560
The gloves come off. Themistocles and Aristides face off in the Assembly. Distant scuffles between Athens and Persia flame up into full scale war. The Persian wave crashes on the beaches of Mara...
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8: No Half Measures from 2022-04-21T11:17:27.088384
We all have that friend who is over the top reckless, but they have nothing on Themistocles. Themistocles gambles it all in the culmination of his genius, the Battle of Salamis. He then makes su...
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9: Plataea from 2022-04-21T11:17:27.085799
This special, full-length episode frames the Battle of Plataea with voting practices of the ancient world. As it turns out, voting in Sparta was quite similar to going to a football match. Thing...
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13: Ascension from 2022-04-21T11:17:27.073149
Are you tired of being in Athens’ alliance? No one cares. Athens develops various carrots and sticks to make friends and keep rebellions in check. The return of Cimon means Athens once again beg...
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15: The Shrinking World from 2022-04-21T11:17:27.068982
The Greek world is getting smaller. Athens and Sparta are the sole dominating powers in Greece and cities are forced to consider what sides they will choose. The grandeur of Athens continues to ...
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21: Echoes of Glory from 2022-04-21T11:17:27.047464
Nicias and Alcibiades have both gained political power but can’t push past the other. The gridlock is broken when representatives from a Sicilian town show up asking for help and offering to foo...
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23: Resurgence from 2022-04-21T11:17:26.993428
Athens is broke. The sole hope for retaining its empire rests in their fleet of triremes at Samos. To make matters worse a Spartan fleet, supported by a Persian army and Syracusian ships, has we...
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24: Liquidation from 2022-04-21T11:17:26.990454
More than twenty years into the Peloponnesian War Athens has given nearly everything to the fight, but more is required. Sparta requests peace but Athens refuses and looks for more resources to ...
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28: Epilogue with Dr. John Hale from 2022-04-21T11:17:26.977163
Today we welcome Dr. John Hale to the show, author of the book Lords of the Sea. It is a compelling look at the history of Athens, largely from the seat of a rower’s bench behind an oar. The New...
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Living, Breathing History in Ancient Athens from 2019-02-11T17:45
Living, Breathing History in Ancient Athens is the talk I gave at the Sound Education conference in November 2018. Listen to it a audio only version of it right here. You can find more on the co...
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27: Epilogue with Dr. Melissa Lane from 2018-04-26T21:19
Today we welcome Dr. Melissa Lane to the show, author of the book The Birth of Politics. Her book was the final straw in convincing me to start the show and centers around eight political ideas,...
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26: Legacy from 2018-04-18T01:00
Athens leaves us their legacy in the Season 1 finale. https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1604.html
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25: A Splendid Rope from 2018-02-27T06:00
The Peloponnesian War comes to a sudden and unexpected end. The defeated will face the fate the victor thinks it deserves. We witness both timid and brutal approaches to war and are forced to as...
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22: Traitor is Such an Ugly Word from 2017-12-22T05:31
After the disaster of the Sicilian Expedition, the largest defeat in the history of Athenian Democracy, the whole Mediterranean world expected Athens to fall. Refusing to surrender the Athenian ...
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20: That Leviathan from 2017-08-13T05:01
Nicias and Alcibiades struggle for control of Athens after a power vacuum appears. The back and forth leads to an Athens that pursues no grand strategy but plays a game of rapid, hectic tactics....
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19: They Created A Desert from 2017-05-24T05:01
Bolstered by a recent victory, Athens follows Cleon further into war in hopes of achieving absolute victory. There are many areas where victory is needed. Once back on the streets of the city we...
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18: The Hanging Shield from 2017-04-28T09:00
After many years of a brawler fight something has to give. A daring general in Athens considers new strategies while playwrights bring the full weight of the ancient press (the theatre) to bear ...
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17: Fear, Fate and Power from 2017-04-19T05:01
Fear and anger can convince us to do terrible things. It is often only once we take time to collect ourselves that we see how outrageous our actions were. As the first few years of the Peloponne...
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16: Bonus - The Funeral Oration from 2017-03-30T05:01
Things get beautiful around minute 15. At a funeral, we discuss what makes a life worth living and, in doing so, we reveal the things we truly value. This is the bonus episode of Pericles’ Funer...
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16: The Olympian has Fallen from 2017-03-25T05:01
Athens and Corinth take the preemptive measure of fighting a battle to avoid a war. This works about as well as it sounds. A series of conferences afterwards determine the fate of Greece. Speech...
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14: Helen of Athens from 2017-02-16T06:01
A lone woman comes to Athens. In a span of six years she somehow becomes a household name. Meanwhile, Athens tries to find some more permanent peace solution with Sparta as they face rebellions ...
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12: Linchpins and Puppeteers from 2017-01-12T06:01
Democracy reaches its peak in Athens as the city reaches east to Egypt and war at last breaks out with Sparta. The power of Athens’ version of the Supreme Court is partially dissolved and return...
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11: The Groundwork of an Empire from 2016-12-22T06:01
Athens swells into an economic powerhouse and plays with the idea of trying on an empire. Many of the most powerful men in Greece are reshuffled during the growing pains as rumors of corruption ...
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10: The Leagues and an Extraordinary Gentleman from 2016-12-16T06:01
Before there was the Roman Empire there was the Roman Republic. Before the Athenian Empire, there was the Delian League. Greece is split down the middle and as Athens grow more and more powerful...
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7: Shattered Timbers, Shattered Spears from 2016-11-17T06:01
The full force of Persia is directed against Greece. A fragile Greek alliance attempts to withstand the blow at the Battle of Thermopylae. Meanwhile, Themistocles maneuvers the resulting politic...
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5: Persia Stirs from 2016-07-14T04:30
An emboldened Athens sails across the Aegean to support revolts against Persia. In doing so they eventually gain the undivided attention of the world’s superpower. The international troubles dri...
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4: Entanglement from 2016-06-30T06:20
International politics suck a willing Athens into tangling with Persia while Sparta considers converting the Athenian government by force. With all this at stake, the political juggernauts of At...
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3: The Spartan Legacy from 2016-06-16T02:57
Sparta is more than spears, although there are also plenty of spears. We wade through the murky history of Sparta while watching their migration into Greece. As much as we think of Spartans as G...
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1: The Athenian Shield from 2016-05-19T01:39
Greece, as we recognize it, begins where the Dark Age ends. We meet some of the earliest known reformers that drop the first hints of democracy in reaction to the stresses of coming out of the D...
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