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Doug Metzger

With millions of downloads, hundreds of hours of soundtracked content, and an overall emphasis on the cultural history behind famous works of literature, Literature and History is one of the most popular independent podcasts on its subject. Starting with Sumerian cuneiform in 3,100 BCE, Literature and History moves forward in chronological order through Assyriology, Egyptology, the Old Testament, Ancient Greece and Rome, the birth of Christianity, and the early Middle Ages. The show's current season is on early Islamic history.

A typical episode (they average about two hours) features a general introduction to a work of literature, then a full summary of that work that expects no prior knowledge, and finally, an analysis of the cultural, biographical, and historical forces that gave rise to the work in question. Original symphonic and ambient background music is woven throughout each show, and all episodes offer free full, illustrated, footnoted transcriptions as well as quizzes for purposes of review. The show has no advertisements, and its host takes pride in a professional approach that avoids chitchat and ephemera and gets straight to the educational content. You can listen to the episodes in any order, although most listeners begin at the beginning and proceed from there, as the podcast itself is chronologically organized.

Doug Metzger finished his Ph.D. in literature in 2011. His chief scholarly interest, following his dissertation work, continues to be 19th-century realism and postbellum American philosophy.

Literature and History

The second half of the History of the Franks (591) is a deep dive into the grime and intrigue of the Merovingian dynasty, written in a style that's as medieval as it is classical.
 
 Episode 106 Quiz
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-106/
 
 Episode 106 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-106-gregory-of-tours-part-2/
 
 Song
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekc6frwUohI
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
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Episode 106: Gregory of Tours, Part 2

The Merovingian court poet Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-600), at work in Francia in the late 500s, shows us the world of the Middle Ages blooming from Roman ruins.
 
 Episode 107 Quiz
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-107/
 
 Episode 107 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-107-venantius-fortunatus/
 
 Song
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpQP2na7oFM
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
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Episode 107: Venantius Fortunatus

One of the great scholars of Late Antiquity, Isidore (c. 560-636) left behind a compendium called the Etymologies, an encyclopedia of his epoch’s knowledge, a book second only to the Bible during the Middle Ages.
 
 Episode 108 Quiz
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-108/
 
 Episode 108 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-108-isidore-of-seville/
 
 Song
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kT74jAXCA4
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
 X
 https://x.com/lahpodcast

Episode 108: Isidore of Seville

Episode 109 brings our long season on Late Antiquity to a close, reviews the past 24 programs on the beginnings of the Middle Ages, and introduces our new season on early Islamic History.
 
 The Actual First Novels Bonus Series:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content#tafn
 
 Literature and History's Upcoming Seasons:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/upcoming-seasons/
 
 Episode 109 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-109-cornerstones/
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
 X
 https://x.com/lahpodcast

Episode 109: Cornerstones

In Episode 110, Literature and History host Doug Metzger answers dozens of listener questions about making the show, books, and how and why the podcast came to be.
 
 Literature and History's Upcoming Seasons:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/upcoming-seasons/
 
 The Actual First Novels Bonus Series:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content#tafn
 
 Episode 110 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-110-questions/
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
 X
 https://x.com/lahpodcast

Episode 110: Questions

Leading up to the birth of the Prophet Muhammad in about 570 CE, the Arabian Peninsula was an increasingly populous and globally interconnected region.
 
 Episode 111 Quiz
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-111/
 
 Episode 111 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-111-pre-islamic-arabia/
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
 X
 https://x.com/lahpodcast

Episode 111: Pre-Islamic Arabia

Prior to the dawn of Islam, the Arabian Peninsula had a great poetic tradition, with many genres, and many poets who are still celebrated and studied today.
 
 Episode 112 Quiz
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-112/
 
 Episode 112 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-112-pre-islamic-arabic-poetry/
 
 Song
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibs86z0py04
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
 X
 https://x.com/lahpodcast

Episode 112: Pre-Islamic Arabic Poetry

For thousands of years, cuneiform was the means of transmitting information through space and time in the Ancient Near East. Then, something happened.
 
 Episode 1 Quiz
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-001/
 
 Episode 1 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-001-the-tower-of-babel
 
 Song
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXGtHWka5mI
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
 X
 https://x.com/lahpodcast

Episode 1: The Tower of Babel (Cuneiform)

The Enuma Elish and the Atrahasis, in circulation 3,800 years ago, were Mesopotamia’s creation and flood epics, making them 1,000 years older than Genesis.
 
 Episode 2 Quiz
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-002/
 
 Episode 2 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-002-before-the-flood
 
 Song
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxED2Xa3R3Y
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
 X
 https://x.com/lahpodcast

Episode 2: Before the Flood (The Enuma Elish and Atrahasis)

The Epic of Gilgamesh, composed 3,000-5,000 years ago, and first translated in the 1860s and 70s, was one of the greatest literary discoveries of all time.
 
 Episode 3 Quiz
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-003/
 
 Episode 3 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-003-he-who-saw-the-deep
 
 Song
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJJurdC3OIg
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
 X
 https://x.com/lahpodcast

Episode 3: He Who Saw the Deep (The Epic of Gilgamesh)

Virgil’s Georgics (c. 29 BCE), or agriculture poems, show the poet reaching his full strength as a writer, and using an old form to analyze the history around him.
 
 Episode 53 Quiz
 https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-053/
 
 Episode 53 Transcription:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-053-then-came-hard-iron
 
 Song
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzNAutei6wA
 
 Bonus Content:
 https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content
 
 Patreon:
 https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory
 
 YouTube:
 https://www.youtube.com/@literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Instagram:
 https://www.instagram.com/literatureandhistorypodcast/
 
 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/literatureandhistory
 
 TikTok:
 https://www.tiktok.com/@lahpodcast
 
 Bluesky:
 https://bsky.app/profile/lahpodcast.bsky.social
 
 X
 https://x.com/lahpodcast

Episode 53: Then Came Hard Iron (Virgil's Georgics)

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