# Literature and History

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057.md
RSS feed: https://literatureandhistory.libsyn.com/rss
Official site: http://literatureandhistory.com
Author: Doug Metzger
Episodes: 125

## Resource

With millions of downloads, hundreds of hours of soundtracked content, and an overall emphasis on the cultural history behind famous works of literature, Literature and History is one of the most popular independent podcasts on its subject. Starting with Sumerian cuneiform in 3,100 BCE, Literature and History moves forward in chronological order through Assyriology, Egyptology, the Old Testament, Ancient Greece and Rome, the birth of Christianity, and the early Middle Ages. The show's current season is on early Islamic history. A typical episode (they average about two hours) features a general introduction to a work of literature, then a full summary of that work that expects no prior knowledge, and finally, an analysis of the cultural, biographical, and historical forces that gave rise to the work in question. Original symphonic and ambient background music is woven throughout each show, and all episodes offer free full, illustrated, footnoted transcriptions as well as quizzes for purposes of review. The show has no advertisements, and its host takes pride in a professional approach that avoids chitchat and ephemera and gets straight to the educational content. You can listen to…

## Machine-readable

JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/literature-and-history-1050057
Markdown: https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057.md

## Episodes
- [Episode 125: The Zoroastrian Bundahisn](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-125-the-zoroastrian-bundahisn) — 2026-05-15T13:51:00+00:00
- [Episode 124: The Last Great War of Antiquity](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-124-the-last-great-war-of-antiquity) — 2026-04-15T15:48:00+00:00
- [Episode 123: An Introduction to the Hadiths](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-123-an-introduction-to-the-hadiths) — 2026-03-15T14:00:00+00:00
- [Episode 122: The Early Abbasid Caliphate](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-122-the-early-abbasid-caliphate) — 2026-02-15T17:49:00+00:00
- [Episode 121: The Umayyad Caliphate](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-121-the-umayyad-caliphate) — 2026-01-15T17:01:00+00:00
- [Episode 120: The Rashidun Caliphate](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-120-the-rashidun-caliphate) — 2025-12-15T16:46:00+00:00
- [Episode 119: The Qur'an, Part 3: Origins](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-119-the-qur-an-part-3-origins) — 2025-10-22T16:10:00+00:00
- [Episode 118: The Qur'an, Part 2: Ordinances](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-118-the-qur-an-part-2-ordinances) — 2025-10-15T14:59:00+00:00
- [Episode 117: The Qur'an, Part 1: Overview](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-117-the-qur-an-part-1-overview) — 2025-10-08T14:31:00+00:00
- [Episode 116: The Life of Muhammad, Part 3: Conquest](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-116-the-life-of-muhammad-part-3-conquest) — 2025-09-15T18:02:00+00:00
- [Episode 115: The Life of Muhammad, Part 2: Community](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-115-the-life-of-muhammad-part-2-community) — 2025-08-15T15:30:00+00:00
- [Episode 114: The Life of Muhammad, Part 1: Cobwebs](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-114-the-life-of-muhammad-part-1-cobwebs) — 2025-07-15T21:22:00+00:00
- [Episode 113: Antarah ibn Shaddad](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-113-antarah-ibn-shaddad) — 2025-06-15T16:50:00+00:00
- [Episode 112: Pre-Islamic Arabic Poetry](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-112-pre-islamic-arabic-poetry) — 2025-05-14T14:26:00+00:00
- [Episode 111: Pre-Islamic Arabia](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-111-pre-islamic-arabia) — 2025-04-15T15:09:00+00:00
- [Episode 110: Questions](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-110-questions) — 2025-03-22T15:23:00+00:00
- [Episode 109: Cornerstones](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-109-cornerstones) — 2025-03-15T14:37:00+00:00
- [Episode 108: Isidore of Seville](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-108-isidore-of-seville) — 2025-02-15T16:28:00+00:00
- [Episode 107: Venantius Fortunatus](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-107-venantius-fortunatus) — 2025-01-15T11:00:00+00:00
- [Episode 106: Gregory of Tours, Part 2](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-106-gregory-of-tours-part-2) — 2024-12-14T21:00:00+00:00
- [Episode 105: Gregory of Tours, Part 1](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-105-gregory-of-tours-part-1) — 2024-11-07T21:11:00+00:00
- [Episode 104: An Introduction to the Talmud](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-104-an-introduction-to-the-talmud) — 2024-08-09T01:54:00+00:00
- [Episode 103: Boethius](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-103-boethius) — 2023-09-22T01:44:00+00:00
- [Episode 102: An Old Man's Book (Augustine's City of God, Part 2 of 2)](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-102-an-old-man-s-book-augustine-s-city-of-god-part-2-of-2) — 2023-03-04T17:19:00+00:00
- [Episode 101: Against the Pagans (Augustine's City of God, Part 1 of 2)](https://stenobird.com/podcast/literature-and-history-1050057/episode-101-against-the-pagans-augustine-s-city-of-god-part-1-of-2) — 2023-02-04T18:24:00+00:00

## Actions

Episode pages expose an explicit `request_transcript` action. A page view does not automatically enqueue transcription.