Episodes

  • Medieval Greenland

    Medieval Greenland
    Jan 21 2026
    folks, Greenland is in the news for fairly stupid, very American reasons, so we decided to take a look back at Greenland during the Middle Ages. how did the Norse setup a colony on Greenland and keep it going in relatively European style for so long? what were their interactions like with the indigenous American groups? what were their lives like? and what happened to cause the end of the Greenlandic Norse settlements by about 1450?
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 22 mins
  • January Mailbag

    January Mailbag
    Jan 15 2026
    folks, it's January and time for another dive into the Patron mailbag. if you would like to ask questions like these, you can subscribe for just $5 a month at patreon.com/wnsdpod. today, we talk about Medieval understandings of the Roman Republic, confirmations, Medieval Home Alone, Glup Shittos, and a counterfactual about friends of the show, the Mongols and the Theodosian Walls.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 19 mins
  • The Dying Empire

    The Dying Empire
    Jan 9 2026
    folks, happy 2026! we're back and we'd love to talk about the Middle Ages but current events have overtaken us and we are forced to talk about the dying empire that is America. we chat about the illegal and baffling kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife, the ramifications of the event on global politics, the murder of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis, and the coming domestic fallout. sorry to start on a bummer but we'll be back to the Middle Ages next time!
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 26 mins
  • Patreon Ep Unlocked: We're Very Very Different: Irony

    Patreon Ep Unlocked: We're Very Very Different: Irony
    Jan 2 2026
    we're unlocking this bonus episode because it's the week of New Year, it was originally published in early 2024. if you like it, why not subscribe at patreon.com/wnsdpod. in this episode, we actually talk about a way in which we're very very fucking different from the people of the past, not just those in the Middle Ages, but even our own parents and grandparents: Irony. obviously, dramatic and rhetorical irony have been around since storytelling began but a fully-involved ironic outlook on life is very recent, coming about around the 1800s and irony as a totalizing ethos that permeates all levels of culture and society is so new that it probably didn't start until 1965, at least according to Umberto Eco, and has only gotten more mainstream since then. we want to explore Eco's ideas on enjoyment, postmodernism, irony, and post-irony and look at a way in which we're so different from our forebears that we may as well inhabit two different worlds. so we talk about Eco's story of when irony entered the mainstream in 1965 and then explore what that means for us today and why it might explain both the great generational divide between people born before and after 1978 as well as the reasons our parents wouldn't let us watch the Simpsons. enjoy!
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Famous Medieval Dates

    Famous Medieval Dates
    Dec 24 2025
    folks, it's time to talk about some fun, important, and symbolic dates from the Middle Ages. we discuss what days of the year they found significant, their attempts at numerology, the fact that the Anno Domini calendar system is off by a few years, and then talk about some of our favorite Medieval dates and what they mean. enjoy and happy holidays!
    Show More Show Less
    55 mins
  • December Mailbag

    December Mailbag
    Dec 17 2025
    folks, we're back with another installment of our patron mailbag episodes. we get a lot of great questions from our patrons and so dive in every month to do some catching up. this time, we talk Medieval parades, 9/11 conspiracies, Medieval views on animal and plant extinction, an alternate history, and what TV shows would Medieval people like. enjoy and have a happy holiday!
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 2 mins
  • WNSD 250th Episode Spectacular

    WNSD 250th Episode Spectacular
    Dec 10 2025
    folks, it's episode 250 and since we love our big, round numbers, we take the time to celebrate. we look back at the show, talk our favorite segments, series, bits, and more. thanks so much for listening to 250 episodes, we're excited to do 250 more in the future!
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Medieval Blunders

    Medieval Blunders
    Dec 4 2025
    folks, today we talk about a couple of real big Medieval blunders. Incredibly stupid, shortsighted, and ill-fated decisions that resulted in outsized disasters that changed the course of history. first, Eleanor discusses the White Ship Disaster, which finally answers the age-old question: is it smart to be the heir to the throne, get stinking drunk, have the crew get stinking drunk and then race boats across the English Channel at night? turns out, it's not smart at all and this decision would lead to the English Anarchy. then, Luke looks at one of the biggest blunders in history: the decision by Khwarazamshah Mohammad of the Khwarazmian Empire to execute traders and ambassadors from Genghis Khan and go to war with the Mongol Empire. what are a bunch of steppe archers going to do, adopt siege weapons and become the most powerful fighting force the planet has ever seen? yeah, right! enjoy!
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 28 mins