See, I’d argue that structural issues underly and in some cases create each of the ideological problems that you lay out.

Yeah, I can’t possibly understand what might make you think about these things right now.

Exactly. Political systems and the institutions that comprise them have breaking points, and as much as they might bend and absorb structural change before then, they’ll eventually snap under pressure.

Stick to sports

Oh, hell no, just doing another thing as well. Keith is tremendously smart, and like I wrote in the post, we drink beer and talk about this shit anyway. Might as well record it and put it out there.

A best-fit line through a scatter plot is another possible metaphor.

Oh, did they take a break from “Hitler Escaped to Argentina, Part 757"?

Thank you for listening!

Yes sir, check out the fifth episode - “Just How Screwed Up Was the Later Roman Empire?” for a discussion. It’s a really complicated topic that I’m not sure I fully grasp - there are folks who have worked on it for decades without coming to a consensus - but I tried to explain the broad outlines.

Not their work specifically, but I use a great deal of archaeological stuff.

So, I talk about the catastrophe vs. evolution thing in a few different episodes; it’s a cop-out to say both, but it really was, especially depending on where exactly you’re talking about (Britain: catastrophe; southern Gaul: evolution). I lean a little more toward the catastrophe side in general, though. The economy…

Good question! Gladiator seemed mostly correct, and I thought Centurion did pretty well with it. The Spartacus series (which is beyond awesome) was a little overblown, though.

Thank you for the kind words! I’m working on the production - I’d literally never used a recording program before I did the first episode, and I hope you can tell the difference between the latest episodes and the first few.

Really appreciate you (and everyone else!) listening.

I’m totally with that. I’ve never been about the idea that things need to be dumbed down for non-specialists; you just need to put in the kinds of terms that actual human beings, rather than siloed-off academics, can understand. Comparative thinking is a valuable tool for conveying complex material.

Good question. I’m limited by the times and places I know well, but I’m partial to these two:

The Huns came up as several of 16 “Great Turkic Empires” throughout history. Pan-Turkism is kind of a different beast than straight-up nationalism, though.

If anybody has any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.

Thank you, appreciate that!

Jabba will be covered in the “wretched hives of scum and villainy” segment of episode 16.

Eastern Michigan vs. Old Dominion >>>> Ammianus Marcellinus