Episodes

  • Medieval America (Cahokia) with Sarah Baires

    Medieval America (Cahokia) with Sarah Baires
    Mar 25 2026

    North America? Of course you did. We have Dr. Sarah Baires about that, specifically Cahokia - a city of about 20,000 people outside (modern) St. Louis that was bigger than Rome was at the same time.



    Guest

    Dr. Sarah Baires received her PhD in anthropological archaeology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2014, and her research focuses on why humans built and populated urban environments. She examines how people living on the peripheries of early cities became socially, culturally, and economically integrated, with particular attention to the Native American city of Cahokia, North America’s largest pre–European contact urban landscape north of Mexico. Her book Cahokia and the North American Worlds is out now. See more at her website.



    Credits

    • Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
    • Editor: Julia Schifini
    • Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
    • Art: Ulysses Gabriele
    • Multitude: https://multitude.productions



    Find American Medieval Online

    • Website: AmericanMedieval.com
    • Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
    • Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
    • YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
    • Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social



    About Us

    American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

    After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

    Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://multitude.productions/ads


    Sponsors

    • Thanks for listening to American Medieval. Hope you’re enjoying the show. And I hope you’ll enjoy another Multitude podcast – Pale Blue Pod. Pale Blue Pod, or PBP to its friends, is hosted by Dr. Moiya McTier and her best friend ConStar, who during the show demystify space one topic at a time. It’s astronomy, and fun. Have a listen wherever you listen to podcasts every Monday.


    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    53 mins
  • Medieval Printing (and why LLMs are crap) with Sonja Drimmer

    Medieval Printing (and why LLMs are crap) with Sonja Drimmer
    Mar 18 2026
    Did you know that the earliest printing press is from the 13th century? And that the idea of print in the Middle Ages was pervasive and very different from ours? Plus, so-called “AI” is bad for education and I’m sorry to any fans of the Beatles. GuestSonja Drimmer is associate professor of medieval art in the Department of the History of Art & Architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She writes about medieval manuscripts, early printed books, and all of the technologies that have mediated them. Her next book, Impressive Politics: Print before the Press in Late Medieval England is forthcoming in 2027. More info available at sonjadrimmer.com. CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitude.productions Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://multitude.productions/ads SponsorsSpirits is a history and comedy podcast focused on folklore, mythology, and the occult, told through the lens of feminism, queerness, and modern adulthood. Julia and Amanda get together each week to learn more about a different story from mythology and folklore over drinks. That's everything from the mythological origins of major franchises like Lord of the Rings and Wonder Woman, to modern urban legends, to a roundup of werewolf stories from around the world. They’ve been doing it for 9 years, but are still going strong. Head to spirits podcast dot com, or search for Spirits wherever you download your podcasts. New episodes on Wednesdays.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    59 mins
  • The Voynich Manuscript with Lisa Fagin Davis

    The Voynich Manuscript with Lisa Fagin Davis
    Mar 11 2026
    Aliens! Not really. In this episode, Prof. Gabriele and Lisa talk about the travels of medieval manuscripts (including why there are so many right here in the USA - only Alaska doesn’t have any!), but also the inscrutable and mysterious Voynich Manuscript, with its puzzling script and compelling (weird) illustrations.GuestLisa Fagin Davis received her PhD in Medieval Studies from Yale University in 1993. She has catalogued medieval manuscript collections at Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, the Walters Art Museum, Wellesley College, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Boston Public Library, and several private collections. Her publications include: several books, numerous articles in the fields of manuscript studies and codicology; and the monograph, La Chronique Anonyme Universelle: Reading and Writing History in fifteenth-century France (a translation, critical edition and detailed study of a fifteenth-century French world chronicle) (Brepols Publishers, 2015). Dr. Davis has taught Latin Paleography at Yale University and regularly teaches an Introduction to Manuscript Studies at the Simmons University School of Library and Information Science. As of 2023, she is the regular Latin Paleography and Fragmentology instructor at The Rare Book School (University of Virginia). Dr. Davis was elected to the Comité international de paléographie latine in 2019 and has served as Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America since 2013. See more at https://medievalacademy.academia.edu/LisaFaginDavisCreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitude.productions Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://multitude.productions/ads SponsorsJoin the Party will soon be no more, so it’s time to catch up. After 9 years, the crew are hanging it up, so check out this Multitude show and get in on the action as GM Eric and the emphatic players Amanda, Brandon and Julia welcome everyone to the table. The current campaign is a superhero high school, but you can also check out the back catalog – pirates, bugs, superheros, wizards, elves, and then the stuff from the campaigns themselves. Head over to join the party pod dot com, or search for it on your favorite podcast app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    58 mins
  • Russian Medievalisms with Eugene Smelyansky

    Russian Medievalisms with Eugene Smelyansky
    Mar 4 2026
    This episode ranges over 19th-century history and why they thought of the Middle Ages as vibes, to the vast varieties of experiences of minority communities in medieval Europe, to how Putin uses the Middle Ages politically in contemporary Russia. Plus we righteously hate on Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations.”GuestEugene Smelyansky is an Assistant Professor of History at Washington State University, specializing in persecution and marginalization in late medieval Europe, and the uses and abuses of the medieval past during later periods. He is the author of Heresy and Citizenship: Persecution of Heresy in Late Medieval German Cities, The Intolerant Middle Ages: A Reader, and, most recently, Medievalisms and Russia: The Contest for Imaginary Pasts. His website is eugene-smelyansky.com CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitude.productions Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://multitude.productions/ads SponsorsSimple and Clean is a show where hosts Mischa Stanton and Mayanna Berrin (and friends) talk about Kingdom Hearts, a little video game franchise about really big feelings. Join us as we discuss the plot, characters, world building, music, fashion, fanbase, and more. Never heard of Kingdom Hearts? That’s okay! They're here to break it down for you, explain why they love it, and hopefully to convince you that this weird little story deserves a place in your heart. New episodes every Sunday, wherever you listen to podcasts!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    51 mins
  • Medieval Islam (and Race) with Rachel Schine

    Medieval Islam (and Race) with Rachel Schine
    Feb 25 2026

    This episode focuses mostly on medieval Islam, including a cool medieval epic about a warrior woman and her son. But also we talk about why theory is good (it is), and how medievals - not just in the Islamicate world - thought about enslaved peoples and race difference. It’s different, but kind of similar, to how we do today.



    Guest

    Rachel Schine is an assistant professor of Arabic and History at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on racialization and Afro-Arab connections in the medieval Islamic world. Her first book, Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race, was awarded the Middle East Medievalists' Book Prize, and work on her second book is currently supported by a membership at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton. You can follow her on Bluesky at @rachelschine.bsky.social.



    Credits

    • Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
    • Editor: Julia Schifini
    • Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
    • Art: Ulysses Gabriele
    • Multitude: https://multitude.productions



    Find American Medieval Online

    • Website: AmericanMedieval.com
    • Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
    • Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
    • YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
    • Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social



    About Us

    American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

    After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

    Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://multitude.productions/ads


    Sponsors

    • Just a reminder to check out one of my favorite other podcasts, This Guy Sucked - another sibling show on Multitude. It's a history podcast for haters by haters. Join historian Dr. Claire Alban and a new expert every week to see why no dead person is safe. Everyone from Charlemagne to James the Second to Phyllis Schlafly. They all sucked in their own way. New episodes every Thursday. Check it out now.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    56 mins
  • American Holy War with Thomas Lecaque

    American Holy War with Thomas Lecaque
    Feb 18 2026

    Prof. Gabriele and Thomas talk about holy war and the end of the world and why early white Americans were kind of like medieval Europeans.



    Guest

    Thomas Lecaque is an Associate Professor of History and the Director of the First Year Experience at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, located on Baxoje, Meskwaki and Sauk lands. His primary research area is on religious violence and apocalypticism from the crusades of the High Middle Ages through the holy wars of colonial North America, but he teaches broadly in the medieval world, vast early America, and game studies. He can also be found on Bluesky at @tlecaque.bsky.social and on LinkedIn.



    Credits

    • Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
    • Editor: Julia Schifini
    • Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
    • Art: Ulysses Gabriele
    • Multitude: https://multitude.productions



    Find American Medieval Online

    • Website: AmericanMedieval.com
    • Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
    • Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
    • YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
    • Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social



    About Us

    American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

    After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

    Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://multitude.productions/ads


    Sponsors

    • Pale Blue Pod is an astronomy podcast for people who are overwhelmed by the universe but want to be its friend. Astrophysicist Dr. Moiya McTier and her best friend ConStar demystify space one topic at a time with open eyes, open arms, and open mouths (from so much laughing and jaw-dropping). By the end of each episode, the cosmos will feel a little less “ahhh too scary” and a lot more “ohhh, so cool!” New episodes every Monday.


    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 hr
  • Spectrum of Desire with Nancy Thebaut and Melanie Holcomb

    Spectrum of Desire with Nancy Thebaut and Melanie Holcomb
    Feb 11 2026
    Prof. Gabriele and guests today are talking about sex, baby. About you and me. About all the good things and the bad things that may be. Sorry. But we are talking about medieval sex and desire with Nancy Thebaut and Melanie Holcomb, who have co-curated the great exhibition “Spectrum of Desire: Love, Sex, and Gender in the Middle Ages” at the Cloisters Museum in NYC.GuestsNancy Thebaut is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Oxford & tutorial fellow at St Catherine’s College. Her research interests range widely, from Carolingian & Ottonian liturgical manuscripts to the study of gender & sexuality across media. Melanie Holcomb is a curator in the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she has organized or co-organized numerous exhibitions including Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages (2009), Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven (2016). Melanie’s projects have been fueled by a career-long fascination with how art works—the functions it serves and methods it uses to communicate. CreditsHost & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com Editor: Julia SchifiniMusic: “Sleeping Bags” by OTEArt: Ulysses GabrieleMultitude: https://multitude.productions Find American Medieval OnlineWebsite: AmericanMedieval.com Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social About UsAmerican Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://multitude.productions/ads SponsorsSince you're listening to a podcast, why not another sibling podcast from Multitude? Wow, if true, is your one-stop internet culture shop explaining how what's happening online shapes the world. The hosts, tech culture journalist Amanda Silberling and science fiction author slash attorney Isabel J. Kim Esquire, ask those burning questions on everyone's minds. I mean, they've talked about heated rivalry, how chat GPT sucks and and enshitification, among other things. Check out the podcast now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    52 mins
  • Wow if True / American Medieval on Medieval Memes and Other Internet Stuff

    Wow if True / American Medieval on Medieval Memes and Other Internet Stuff
    Feb 4 2026

    Enjoy this special collab episode with "Wow if True," a podcast on internet culture and sibling in the Multitude Collective. Prof. Gabriele, Isabel J. Kim, and Amanda Silberling talk about your most favorite (and least favorite) medieval memes and various other internet stuff.


    Guests

    See more about Amanda and Isabel at this link.

    You already know about Prof. Gabriele.


    Credits

    • Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
    • Editor: Julia Schifini
    • Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
    • Art: Ulysses Gabriele
    • Multitude: https://multitude.productions



    Find American Medieval Online

    • Website: AmericanMedieval.com
    • Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
    • Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
    • YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
    • Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social



    About Us

    American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

    After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

    Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://multitude.productions/ads


    Sponsors

    • Tiny Matters is an award-winning podcast about tiny things, from molecules to microbes, that have a big and often surprising impact on society. Hosts and former scientists Sam Jones and Deboki Chakravarti embrace the awe and messiness of science, and you can learn about bunny pregnancy tests in the Milky Way and the Iron Lung, for example. I mean, that's all pretty cool, right? Anyway, this sibling pod from Multitude is brought to you by the American Chemical Society, a nonprofit scientific organization based in Washington DC. Look for new episodes every Wednesday.


    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 hr and 2 mins