This week, Media-eval ventures a bit outside its usual chronology … as after all, Sarah can’t resist an opportunity to dunk on Ridley Scott. Join Sarah and guest Miranda Sachs, a historian of modern France, as we discuss Ridley Scott’s 2023 film Napoleon. What about Napoleon got left out of the film, and why does it matter? Was the French Revolution quite as bad as the film implies? (Hint: No). And why is the film’s central thesis that Napoleon was bad at sex? 

Social Media: Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod
E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com
Find Miranda Sachs at her faculty page: https://www.txst.edu/history/people/faculty-staff/sachs.html, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MirandaSachs, and on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mirandasachs.bsky.social

Napoleon

Media-eval this week goes from 1500 to 2000 to 2500 in Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain. Join Sarah and guest Marisa Macias as we attempt (with moderate success) to make sense of this movie. Are all the Hugh Jackman’s and Rachel Weiszes the same person? What was Isabella I of Castile really like? And why on earth are filmmakers so dedicated to not knowing what the Spanish Inquisition is? 

Social Media: Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod
E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com
Find Marisa on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@madmodworld

The Fountain

Sarah and returning Media-eval Doctor Who correspondent Lily Bonnemann return for New Series season 5 episode, The Vampires of Venice! Join us as we explore vampire lore, the history of Venice, and the real lives of powerful wealthy women (most of whom are NOT fish-aliens) in early modern Venice.

Social Media: Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod
E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com
Find Lily on Tumblr: www.tumblr.com/shadow-academic

Doctor Who, Vampires Of Venice

Ollie returns to talk about a season of a tv show he enjoyed and simultaneously got really annoyed at.

Sarah is very patient with him and they also have a really interesting discussion on what makes an adaptation good and what mistakes adaptations often make.

Wheel of Time season 2

Media-eval this week is transported back to (sort of) Ancien Regime France. Join Sarah and returning guest Peter Konieczny for a discussion of anime series I’m in Love with the Villainess! We get into how we distinguish medieval from early modern (and whether we should), food history (ever wondered when they first invented crème brûlée?), and class dynamics in the late medieval and early modern world.

Social Media: Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod
E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com
Find Peter at http://www.medievalists.net

I'm in Love with the Villainess!

Join Sarah and returning Media-eval Doctor Who correspondent Lily Bonnemann for a trip into the late 17th century with New Series season 6 episode, The Curse of the Black Spot. We get to talk Mughal emperors, sirens, and, of course, pirates!

Social Media: 
Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod 
E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com 
Find Lily on Tumblr: www.tumblr.com/shadow-academic

Doctor Who, The Curse Of The Black Spot

If a movie is released and no-one is there to see it, does it make a sound....and lots of historical errors?
James Purefoy is back and he is once again making a movie that is fun but not necessarily...good? Ollie has a good time and Sarah has a mild breakdown at just how many things this movie gets wrong!

Ironclad

Happy Passover! Media-eval celebrates by once again dunking on Ridley Scott. Join Sarah and her mother, Beth Greenfeld, as we talk about the biblical and historical inspirations behind 2014 film Exodus: Gods and Kings, and attempt to answer such questions as: Why is Moses now a military leader? What’s up with all the brownface? What happened to the women in the Exodus story? And how did medieval Jews celebrate Passover? 

Social Media: 
Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod 
E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com 
Find Beth on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bethg20904 
Learn more about medieval haggadot in Marc Michael Epstein’s excellent book: https://www.academia.edu/2439145/The_Medieval_Haggadah_Art_Narrative_and_Religious_Imagination

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Magic and mystery are part of their history … and now they’re featured on Media-eval! Join Sarah and returning guest Mabel Slattery as we tackle Disney animated series Adventures of the Gummi Bears. What you might expect: discussions about knightly culture and medievalism for children. What you might not expect: discussions about expulsions and refugee crises in the medieval world. 

Social Media: Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod 
E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com
Find Mabel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slatteroo/ and stream her comedy, featured on: https://www.twitch.tv/blizzardcomedy 
Buy Sarah’s award-winning book The Fruit of Her Hands: https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-09330-7.html. Use promo code KZO24 for a 40% discount!

Adventures of the Gummi Bears

This week, Media-eval explores premodern China with anime series The Apothecary Diaries! Join Sarah and returning guest (and Media-eval anime correspondent) Peter Konieczny as we explore the lived experiences of women in medieval China, from servants to courtesans, concubines to apothecaries. 

CW: The series includes depictions of suicide/suicidal ideation and sexual harassment and assault, which we discuss in the episode.

Social Media: Twitter: twitter.com/mediaevalpod 
E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com 
Find Peter at www.medievalists.net

The Apothecary Diaries

Sarah Ifft Decker, a medieval historian, explores how movies, tv, and books depict the medieval world. What did they get right? What did they get wrong? And what do they tell us about how modern people think about the medieval past?

I'm in Love with the Villainess!

Media-eval: A Medieval Pop Culture Podcast

Related tracks