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History Unbound
Jump into world history with a bird's eye view of the human story. Your host, Dr. Scott Swartsfager, uses his PhD in history and years of teaching to connect the world across time. Too often historians focus on names and dates rather than the juicy story of how we came to be who we are today. History should never be boring because it’s our story! Each week he unfolds another chapter in the history of the world from a bird’s-eye view. This history is engaging, interesting, and relevant. This is the history you want to know, not what you were forced to learn. This is History Unbound.
For more information about speaking engagements, or to see Dr. Swartsfager's other works, please visit saswarts.com. To support the podcast and get bonus features and content please visit patreon.com/historyunbound.
Episodes
23 episodes
Season Finale: China - Three Dynasties and a Really Weird Fashion
We're back in China and not a minute too soon. There's a lot going on, from the fall of the Han Dynasty through the Sui, Tang, and into the Song. This also is the final episode of season 1. Tune in soon for season 2 and a lot more o...
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Episode 21: The Birth of Islam
With the Byzantine Empire along the Mediterranean, and the Sassanid Empire in Persia, the last of the classical empires ruled the world. Then something happened in the desolate peninsula of Arabia that would change the balance of power in the M...
Episode 20: Byzantium - Rome in the East
In the last episode, we talked about the fall of the western Roman Empire. But what about the other half? This episode looks at the Byzantine Empire led by two brash young visionaries - Justinian and Theodora. They dream about putting Rome back...
Episode 19: Rome after Rome
Yes, we're back in Rome, looking at the fall of the western Roman Empire and what happened next. You could also think of this episode as Christianity Part 2, since the Roman Church was gaining power in the 5th century and continued to grow afte...
Episode 18: India in the Classical Age - A Little Bit A' Maurya
We are looking at India again in an age of Buddhism and Hinduism living in harmony. Its the Mauryan and Gupta Dynasties and an almost-unified India. But does it last? And what do they accomplish, really? And what does it have to do with Star Wa...
Episode 17: The Han Dynasty - China Meets Rome
We're finally back in China. It's after the fall of the Qin Dynasty, and there's a new emperor in town. But unlike the 11-year-long Qin, the Han Dynasty lasted for 400 years. What happened during that time? And what happens when China's most po...
Episode 16: Roman Religion - How Christianity Conquered the West
We're still in the Roman Empire, but today we're looking at the religions of Rome. It's the Greek religion repackaged, but it's also uniquely Roman with religion on every level of society, and the emperor as the supreme religious leader. ...
Episode 15: The Roman Empire - A New Age
Julius Caesar has been killed, and it's a dark day for Rome. They can't move forward into something new and they can't go back to what they had. Then Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, takes matters into his own hands and creates a new Rome. ...
Episode 14: The Roman Republic - What Have They Ever Done for Us?
Now that we've looked at Alexander and the spread of Hellenism, we shift our attention to a fledgling Rome. They outgrow the Etruscans, expand across the Italian Peninsula, and take on the big power in the Mediterranean. Somehow they prevail an...
Episode 13: Alexander the Great, The Conqueror of Worlds
We are back in Greece 150 after the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. The Poleis are weak from a century of infighting, and Phillip II steps onto the stage. He has modernized the barbarian kingdom of Macedon and spends the next 12 years conquerin...
Episode 12: Religions in Classical India, or How to Put the Bodhi in your Sattva
We need to have a discussion about the first dynasties of India, but first we need to talk religion. Three to be exact - Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. These religions are foundational to understanding India, classical and modern. So prepare ...
Episode 11: The Shaping of China
We're back in China this week, picking up where we left off. It's a new dynasty, followed by two hundred years of civil war. But which of the seven waring states will unify China? We'll get there, but first let's look at three philosophies that...
Episode 10: The Greeks we Know and Love
This is part two of the early Greeks. This is Athens and Sparta, The Persian Wars, and the Peloponnesian War. Is this really the origin of the marathon? Did the movie 300 get it right? Can your host really fit the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding...
Thanksgiving Special - What it Might Have Been Like
This is a short episode in celebration of Thanksgiving. Was it really like we think it was? Tune in for a short history of the holiday.
Episode 9: Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts
This is our first look at the Greek world in their Archaic phase. We'll talk about the Myceneans and Minoans, and examine Homer and the Trojan War. Did the movie Troy get it right? This is also the first episode with a new format - off script! ...
Episode 8: Cyrus the Great, The Prince of Persia
This episode could easily be part two from last week. Here we talk about the rise of the Persian Empire under the brilliant leadership of Cyrus the Great. He dominated the Anatolian Plateau and the Middle East and, after conquering Babylon, ret...
Episode 7: The Hebrews - Ya' gotta' be different
Israel is in the spotlight these days and some historical context might help us to understand things better. This is the first episode on Hebrew history beginning with the creation of the world and going all the way to the Babylonian captivity....
Indigenous America: The Olmec and Maya
This is our first trip to the Americas and, honestly, it's one of my favorite cultures. We look at human migration into North and South America through Siberia and Austronesia, and the amazing civilizations that develop in what is today Mexico,...
Riverworld Part Three: Aryans Who Won't go Home
This episode is the last in a three-part series on the rise of early civilizations around water. We look at the formation of India's Harapan society, the influence of Indo-Europeans who brought all their stuff with them, and the formation of In...
Riverworld Part Two: The Gift of the Nile
This is the second episode of a three-part series on the world's first civilizations. Egypt was a grand civilization with a really weird history. Pharaohs, pyramids, mummies, and a complex and cool religion. They were also one of the first peop...
Riverworld Part One: The Land Between two Rivers
It all started here, with the world's first civilization. It was a land between two rivers known as Mesopotamia. But this was not just the first civilization. It was also home to the world's first superhero - a king named Gilgamesh. Here we loo...
Episode 2: My Name is Neo
Human beings are fully modern now and are entering the new stone age, or Neolithic period. Hunter gatherers have been following their food since the end of the ice age, but when they start to slow things down, they settle neolithic villages. Th...