Podcast · History

Past Lives

by Patrick Wyman · English · History

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 overl

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 29 min
Latest: 14 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

14 Oct 2026 · 37 minNew

Selling Books from the Dawn of Print to the Twenty-First Century: Interview with Professor Andrew Pettegree

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 History of Bookselling from the Dawn of Print to the Twenty-First Century focuses on the enigmatic booksellers who actually got the books from printers to readers, and why that step can't be taken for granted.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

S2 · E55 · 7 Oct 2026 · 27 min
Leprosy, Plague, and Life in Anglo-Saxon England
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 daily life, how the ties of affection and kinship made a community, and even what happened when plague arrived in the English countryside.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence…
S2 · E53 · 30 Sep 2026 · 31 min
The Man with a Knife for a Hand (Lombard Italy, Late 6th Century)
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 surprising of all is the fact that he survived the amputation of his right hand, and replaced the lost limb with a knife.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a…
S2 · E52 · 23 Sep 2026 · 26 min
Xin Zhui, the Best-Preserved Mummy of All Time
When Chinese archaeologists opened a tomb in the city of Changsha in 1972, they found an undisturbed burial chamber filled with treasures from the early Han Dynasty. At the center was the body of a woman who looked like she had died only days or weeks ago, instead of more than 2,000 years.Go see Patrick, Dr. Claire Aubin, and Manny Fidel draft teams of the greatest assholes in American history on Tuesday, September 29th in New York! Tickets available here: https://admitone.com/events/new-york/community/comedy/tgs-presents-draft-of-shame/54UI98Become a member now at…
S2 · E50 · 16 Sep 2026 · 29 min
How Do You Get Bitten by a Lion in Roman York?
Around 1800 years ago, a man was bitten by a lion in the city of York, in what is now northern England. Lions aren't native to York, so how did it get there, and why was it biting this man? The answers to those questions tell us a great deal about the Roman Empire as an interconnected, wide-ranging world, and the sometimes strange practices that interconnection made possible.Go see Patrick, Dr. Claire Aubin, and Manny Fidel draft teams of the greatest assholes in American history on Tuesday, September 29th in New York! Tickets available here:…
S2 · E48 · 9 Sep 2026 · 29 min
The Siberian Ice Maiden and the Scythian World
Around 270 BC, a woman died of breast cancer in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. Her tomb, cut into the permafrost, is one of the best-preserved archaeological sites on the planet. Thanks to the ice, everything from her extraordinary tattoos to the silk garments she wore has survived, providing a direct window onto the forgotten world of the Iron Age steppe and the Scythians who dominated it.Go see Patrick, Dr. Claire Aubin, and Manny Fidel draft teams of the greatest assholes in American history on Tuesday, September 29th in New York! Tickets available here:…
S2 · E46 · 2 Sep 2026 · 29 min
Weapons Sacrifices and the Long Road to the Viking Age
When we think of Scandinavia, it seems to be a long way from the Roman Empire, with hundreds of miles separating the Rhine and Danube frontiers from the bogs of Jutland and Sweden. Why, then, were hundreds upon hundreds of Roman-made weapons intentionally thrown into these bogs in the third and fourth centuries AD? The answer opens the gate that will eventually lead, many centuries down the road, to the warrior-kings of the Viking Age.Go see Patrick, Dr. Claire Aubin, and Manny Fidel draft teams of the greatest assholes in American history on Tuesday, September 29th in New York! Tickets…
S2 · E44 · 26 Aug 2026 · 53 min
Professor Peter Mancall on Understanding Colonial America
Professor Peter Mancall is one of the finest historians of colonial America working today, and he's written a banger of a book, the newest entry in the wonderful Oxford History of the United States series. It's entitled Contested Continent, and it's a book everyone who enjoys American history should read.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent…
S2 · E42 · 19 Aug 2026 · 29 min
Tollund Man
More than 2,400 years ago, a man living in southern Denmark was hung from a plaited leather cord, then buried in a bog. There he stayed until 1950, when his perfectly preserved face emerged from the peat. We know him as Tollund Man, but who was he in life, and what can we know about the world he inhabited?Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent…
S2 · E40 · 12 Aug 2026 · 28 min
Bog Bodies
Bog bodies - the age-old remains of people who were submerged in bogs - are an eerie sight. Soft tissue remains, often to an even greater extent than mummies, bringing us face to face with people who died thousands of years ago.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you. See…
S2 · E38 · 5 Aug 2026 · 29 min
The Human Sacrifices of the Shang Dynasty
Over more than two centuries, the rulers of Bronze Age China's Shang Dynasty sacrificed at least 13,000 people. Who were they? Where had they come from, and what were their lives like? Thanks to new studies, we can finally take our focus off the Shang elite and move it onto the victims.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your…
S2 · E36 · 29 Jul 2026 · 31 min
Interview: James Romm - Since You’re Mortal: Life Lessons from the Lost Greek Plays
What can we learn from the past? Professor James Romm, celebrated classicist and prolific author, joins me to discuss his new book Since You're Mortal: Life Lessons from the Lost Greek Plays. We chat about eternal wisdom, dad advice, and whether ancient authors really did have some insights worth sharing.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent…
S2 · E34 · 22 Jul 2026 · 29 min
The Tomb of Fu Hao and the Rise of the Shang Dynasty
More than 3,000 years ago, a queen was buried in the city of Anyang, China. Hundreds of bone, jade, and bronze artifacts were buried with her, and so were sixteen human sacrifices. This was Fu Hao, a priestess, queen mother, and general, and her tomb tells us precisely how the Shang Dynasty - China's first entry into recorded history - operated.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past…
S2 · E32 · 15 Jul 2026 · 41 min
Interview: Professor Thomas Asbridge on the Black Death
I've been waiting for someone to write a comprehensive, up-to-date history of the Black Death for years, and if that were all Professor Thomas Asbridge did with his new book The Black Death: A Global History, it would be a monumental achievement. Yet he's also succeeded in capturing the essence of an age in which societies were being crushed under the weight of mass death, the experiences of those who lived through it, and the plague's impact on the world that followed. A delightful conversation with one of the best medieval historians working today.Become a member now at…
S2 · E30 · 8 Jul 2026 · 30 min
The Workers of Deir el-Medina
Who built the extraordinary tombs for Egypt's rulers in the Valley of the Kings? The residents of the nearby village of Deir el-Medina, where for centuries, a specialized workforce trudged back and forth to the Valley to carve out and decorate the stunning final resting places for generations of rulers. Now, thanks to incredible new archaeology, we can understand their lives and experiences.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and…
S2 · E28 · 1 Jul 2026 · 30 min
Ancient Egypt's Underclass
Considering the richness of our evidence about ancient Egypt, for much of the country's long history we know surprisingly little about the lives of its least humble residents. At the purpose-built new capital of the New Kingdom pharaoh Akhenaten, however, the lowest of Egypt's low were buried in their thousands. Thanks to their bones, we can reconstruct their short, difficult lives.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a…
S2 · E26 · 24 Jun 2026 · 36 min
Interview: Shannon Chakraborty and Historical Fantasy
Shannon Chakraborty is a bestselling author of wonderful historical fantasy (Daevabad Trilogy, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, The Tapestry of Fate). We chat about creating better fantasy worlds, how history has inspired her, the Cairo Geniza and the medieval Islamicate world, and much more.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and…
S2 · E24 · 17 Jun 2026 · 30 min
Seqenenre Tao
Thirty-five hundred years ago, an Egyptian king was killed in ghastly fashion. How and why did Seqenenre Tao meet his end? Using a combination of his mummy, advanced techniques of analysis, and old-fashioned history, we explore the death of an Egyptian king.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make…
S2 · E22 · 10 Jun 2026 · 31 min
A Quick Guide to Ancient Egypt
When we think of mummies, ancient Egypt is the first place to come to mind, and with good reason. But it's probably been a while since most of us have had a refresher on Egypt's long and fascinating history, so today, come with me on a journey along the Nile from the days before the pharaohs to the Bronze Age Collapse.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent…
S2 · E20 · 3 Jun 2026 · 28 min
The Princess of Xiaohe
Nearly 4,000 years ago, a young woman was buried in the sands of the Tarim Basin in western China. When her coffin was opened just a few decades ago, her face was almost perfectly preserved. We know her as the Princess of Xiaohe, but what was her world really like?Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us…
S2 · E18 · 27 May 2026 · 29 min
Interview: Producer, Writer, and Director Tim Haines on Surviving Earth and Bringing the Distant Past to Life
Tim Haines (Walking with Dinosaurs, Primeval) joins me to discuss making high-quality documentaries about the distant past in the lead-up to the premiere of his new series on mass extinctions, Surviving Earth, which debuts June 10th on Peacock.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show.…
S2 · E16 · 20 May 2026 · 27 min
Xinjiang: The Crossroads of Eurasia
While Xinjiang - in the extreme west of present-day China - is today a tightly controlled and repressed periphery, but for most of the past 4,000 years, it has been the crossroads at the heart of Eurasia. Practically every important technological and cultural innovation from the Neolithic onward has passed through this corridor, skirting the massive mountains and impassable deserts that block transit across the continent. New archaeological research is transforming how we think about this remarkable place and its history over the long term.Become a member now at…
S2 · E14 · 13 May 2026 · 38 min
The Corps of Discovery Wasn't Just Lewis and Clark: Interview with Craig Fehrman
New York Times bestselling author Craig Fehrman joins us to discuss his wonderful new book, This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark. We talk about the Corps of Discovery beyond the two captains, the richness of the sources we have to understand the expedition, and what we can learn about North America at the dawn of the 19th century. Buy This Vast Enterprise and support a fantastic author!Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book…
S2 · E12 · 6 May 2026 · 30 min
Gebelein Man and the Roots of Ancient Egypt
In hindsight, ancient Egypt appears to be both eternal and inevitable, but in reality it was neither. Until his untimely death 5,300 years ago, Gebelein Man lived in the Upper Nile Valley, the heartland of the warring petty kingdoms that would eventually morph into the kingdom of the pharaohs. The forces that shaped his life were those that gave birth to the ancient Egypt we recognize later.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and…
S2 · E10 · 29 Apr 2026 · 29 min
Ötzi the Iceman
Of all the many people who lived in the distant past, we might know Ötzi the Iceman the best. Found in the Ötztal Alps of northern Italy in 1991, Ötzi lived more than 5,300 years ago, but the icy conditions where he died preserved his remains to an extraordinary degree. We know what Ötzi ate for his last meals, where he spent his youth, what materials his clothing was made out of, and even what kinds of parasites infected his digestive tract. The result is an illuminating portrait of a long-dead human being.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the…
S2 · E8 · 22 Apr 2026 · 28 min
The Shaman of Bad Dürrenberg
Nine thousand years ago, a special woman was buried in central Germany. She was her band's shaman, and they interred her with all of the tools of her craft: a feathered headdress with deer antlers, dozens of clinking animal teeth, an extraordinary variety of unusual objects. Who was she, and what can she teach us about the Mesolithic society to which she belonged?Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence…
S2 · E6 · 15 Apr 2026 · 51 min
Audiobook Chapter: Lost Worlds
Patrick's new book Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World comes out May 5th! Check out a free preview of the first chapter of the audiobook, "The World As It Was," and learn about the Clovis people and reindeer hunters in Europe at the end of the last Ice Age. Preorder in hardcopy, ebook, or audiobook (read by Patrick) here: https://bit.ly/PWLostWorlds.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a…
S2 · E5 · 8 Apr 2026 · 25 min
The Ancient One/Kennwick Man (North America, 8,500 Years Ago)
In July of 1996, a skeleton was discovered on the banks of the Columbia River. It belonged to a man who died 8,500 years ago, in a world so distant from our own it hardly seems real, but thanks to detailed studies of his remains, we know more about that man than almost anybody else in the distant past.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent…
S2 · E3 · 1 Apr 2026 · 28 min
Anzick-1 (North America, 13,000 Years Ago)
Thirteen thousand years ago, a baby died in what's now Montana. His people buried him under a rock ledge, and there his bones stayed for millennia. Today, we know the infant as Anzick-1, and he's the only human being we can associate with the widespread and extraordinarily important archaeological group we know as the Clovis Culture - some of the first people to inhabit the ancient Americas.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and…
S2 · E1 · 25 Mar 2026 · 23 min
Introducing Season 2: Bodily Experiences
When we think about the past, whether we know it or not we're usually thinking in terms of texts: written sources that provide the information we use to understand what happened before our time. But there are many other potential sources of information, and the richest of them all is the human body. In this new season of Past Lives, we explore the experiences of dozens of people who lived over thousands of years through the lens of their remains: skeletons, mummies, and bog bodies.Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and…

About Past Lives

Past Lives is a English history podcast from Patrick Wyman. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Patrick Wyman
Language: English
Category: History
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 29 min
Latest episode: 14 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1852618120

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