Past Lives

Weekly stories about everyday people throughout history AI summary

Patrick Wyman Visit website › History · EN · 54 episodes · latest 2026-11-11

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What it is about

History is built by people like you, and Past Lives is here to bring their stories to life. Every week, we’ll focus on the lived experiences of real people in the past, from the Stone Age to the near-present. Peasants, laborers, artisans, merchants, soldiers, and the enslaved are far too often overlooked in favor of kings, generals, and politicians; not here. On Past Lives, we keep the focus where it belongs: on the real people who populate our shared past. By understanding them, we can strive to better understand ourselves. These people were us, and we are them. They mattered, and so do you.

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
© 2025

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Latest episodes

Interview: Professor Neil Price on the Viking Age - The Sea-King and the Sorceress

2026-11-11 · 32 min · Season 2, episode 65

Professor Neil Price is one of the world's leading experts on the archaeology of the Viking Age. His new book, The Sea-King and the Sorceress, is even more compelling than his outstanding Children of Ash and Elm. We…
Introducing Before The Moment with Nile Rodgers

2026-11-11 · 3 min

How did successful people actually get where they are? Before The Moment is hosted by music icon Nile Rodgers, who sits down with some of music's biggest names to go back to that fascinating point when success wasn't…
Bodily Experiences: Conclusion

2026-11-04 · 27 min · Season 2, episode 63

We've reached the end of "Bodily Experiences," and it's time to reflect on what we've learned from talking about dozens of past people whom we know through their remains. The most fundamental insight is how much we can…
Introducing Before The Moment with Nile Rodgers

2026-11-04 · 3 min

How did successful people actually get where they are? Before The Moment is hosted by music icon Nile Rodgers, who sits down with some of music's biggest names to go back to that fascinating point when success wasn't…
The Life and Death of a Soldier in the Wars of the Roses (Towton 16)

2026-10-28 · 34 min · Season 2, episode 61

What was it like to fight in a medieval battle? The discovery of a mass grave associated with the 1461 Battle of Towton, in the midst of the Wars of the Roses, offers concrete and horrifying answers. Here, we focus on…
Introducing Before The Moment with Nile Rodgers

2026-10-28 · 3 min

How did successful people actually get where they are? Before The Moment is hosted by music icon Nile Rodgers, who sits down with some of music's biggest names to go back to that fascinating point when success wasn't…
Interview: Professor Kyle Harper on Mass Extinction and the Future of Life

2026-10-21 · 40 min · Season 2, episode 59

Kyle Harper is one of the most wide-ranging, curious, and rigorous scholars working today, and he's outdone himself with his latest book, available everywhere now -The Last Animal: Human History and the Fate of Life on…
Selling Books from the Dawn of Print to the Twenty-First Century: Interview with Professor Andrew Pettegree

2026-10-14 · 37 min · Season 2, episode 57

The history of the book is a fascinating topic, and Professor Andrew Pettegree has taught us all more about the business of print and how books actually circulated than anyone else. His new release, The Bookshop: A…
Leprosy, Plague, and Life in Anglo-Saxon England

2026-10-07 · 27 min · Season 2, episode 55

The small Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Edix Hill, in Cambridgeshire, isn't one of the more impressive examples of the type: no gold or silver or kings buried in boats. It nevertheless contains a wealth of information about…
The Man with a Knife for a Hand (Lombard Italy, Late 6th Century)

2026-09-30 · 31 min · Season 2, episode 53

Toward the end of the 6th century CE, a man was buried in northern Italy. He had lived an interesting life: born in what is now Hungary, he crossed the Alps as part of the great Longobard migration to Italy. Most…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Owner: Past Lives
Oldest episode in feed: 11/2025 · over a year
Typical length: 28 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone

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