This week’s most noteworthy podcast episodes take up the subjects of the histories of significant plants, access to the commons in England, and a famous medical illustration.
Noteworthy Podcasts (Week Ending 19 September 2025)
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Basilisks and Beowulf
When you or I read “The Hobbit,” or “The Dragon Riders of Pern,” or even perhaps “The Apocalypse of John,” it’s rather unlikely that we think of the dragons depicted therein as objectively real creatures – either in the distant past or in the present (well, at least it is for me). That’s because in our post-modern world, we divide the things we can prove or at least think can be proven from those that we deem to exist exclusively in human imagination. However for those living in the British Isles a millennium ago – give or take a few centuries – such creatures as dragons were unquestionably as real as the person sitting next to you in the mead hall.
The Marvelously Multifaceted Mr. Newton
Most of us likely first heard the name Isaac Newton when we were in primary school. For some, it may have been in a classroom; for others it may have been while viewing a television program – most likely a cartoon. However, in most all instances, I’d be willing to wager that the name was […]
Winters in the World
As one who measures the year by more than one calendar, I often find my attention piqued when presented with methods of doing so from the past with which I was previously unfamiliar. Such was recently the case when, whilst listening to the History Extra podcast, I found myself wholly enrapt with Dr. Eleanor Parker’s presentation of her recently published book “Winters in the World; A Journey Through the Anglo-Saxon Year.”