Episode 63 The Lessons of History - The Burning Archive podcast explores how the past is not dead, the past is not even past. But if that is so, what are the uses and lessons of history? How can history be used for guidance in our lives, and to advise governments on the big decisions that shape... Continue Reading →
Two new podcasts on America and Australian Foreign Policy
I have released two new podcasts on the crises in America and the challenges of a multipolar world for Australia.
The making of my podcast marathon on Civilizations
I have just released episode 55 of the Burning Archive podcast. This episode is about the concept of civilization, in both the legendary game Civ I-VI and in the traditions of history-writing. Civilization, the game, is soon to be released in its 7th edition. In this episode of The Burning Archive I respond to a... Continue Reading →
The Making of my podcast on the Medici
Today I have recorded, edited and released the latest episode of The Burning Archive podcast - The Medici in Games and in History
Burning Archive Podcast 52 Professions and Guilds in Games and History
This morning I released the latest Burning Archive podcast. In games, we see a different pre-modern world of work - of artisans, craft skills and guilds. Was this world ever real, and what does this fantasy world of work tell us of our collective memory of work and collective organisation? Join me on this fascinating tour of the history of work, guilds and unions, and the global transformations of ideas of work in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Podcast 31 – Seven Basic Plots vs 1001 Nights of Stories
This episode of The Burning Archive examines tragedy and comedy, the story of the story of stories, the seven basic plots, and how even historians write their histories with these plots. But can the inventiveness of great storytellers really be limited to seven basic plots. Will Scheherazade outwit, outlast and outplay the critics?
Podcast # 30 – Three Faiths. One Holy Land.
Podcast 30 of the Burning Archive discusses the claims of Judaism, Christianity and Islam on the State of Israel and the Universal City of Jerusalem.
Podcast 28 & 29 – The Crusades, Parts I and II
What were the crusades and how did they give birth to modern European nations? What made the crusaders and their opponents believe faith justified violence, that they fought a just war, a holy war, a jihad?
Podcast 27 – Silk Worms. Silk Trade. Silk Roads.
Episode 27 of the Burning Archive podcast asks: How did the Byzantine Empire acquire the secrets of silk production from China, and what does it tell us about the history of silk, the diffusion of silk trade across the world, and the Silk Roads of Eurasia?
Podcast 26 – Beowulf
In October 1731 there was a fire in the Ashburnham House residence of the Keeper of the King’s libraries in Westminster London. The fire threatened the one and only manuscript of the Old English poem, Beowulf. It was rescued by the librarian and others leaping from the window, clasping manuscripts. Singed but intact, Beowulf was literally saved from a Burning Archive. The episode is available on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast 24 & 25 – The decline and Fall of Rome, Parts I and II
In Part I Jeff Rich sets out the story arc of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, and sets the scene for a more detailed discussion of why it fell and its legacy in Part II. The episode is available on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast #23 – The Eight Hour Working Day
How did the eight hour working day come into being, and is it still relevant to us today? In this episode the Burning Archive Jeff Rich will talk about how the eight hour day emerged in response to the industrial revolution, and what it means in the stressed out contemporary world after the “fourth industrial revolution”.
The Burning Archive 