{"podcast":{"title":"Western Civ","slug":"western-civ-780766","podcast_index_feed_id":780766,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/5553835/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://www.westerncivpodcast.com","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/a45449e0f8427d59666fc5dfcf007a95.jpg","author":"Adam Walsh","episode_count":594,"summary":"A fast-moving history of the western world from the ancient world to the present day. Examine how the emergence of the western world as a global dominant power was not something that should ever have been taken for granted. This podcast traces the development of western civilization starting in the ancient Near East, through Greece and Rome, past the collapse of the Western Roman Empire into the Dark Ages, and then follows European and, ultimately, American history as the western world moved into a dominant world position.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-18T00:18:32.647147+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/western-civ-780766"},"episode":{"title":"Episode 542: Meat Grinder","slug":"episode-542-meat-grinder","published_at":"2026-06-26T14:00:03+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/western-civ-780766/episode-542-meat-grinder","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/western-civ-780766","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-542-meat-grinder--71734115","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/71734115/e542.mp3","summary":"1916 is one of the most depressing years in human history and today we're covering it. This is the year that makes World War One the horror it is. This is the year of Verdun, of the Somme, and of countless deaths on other fronts. It is also the year everyone starts wondering: will it all be worth it? Support Western Civ","meta_description":"1916 is one of the most depressing years in human history and today we're covering it. This is the year that makes World War One the horror it is. This is…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2863,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/western-civ-780766/episodes/episode-542-meat-grinder/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/western-civ-780766/episode-542-meat-grinder.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}