The Byzantine Empire - UCSD lecture podcast

Even if you are more than casually interested in history and trying to get the general narrative of western history right, you run the risk of missing out on a hugely important player The Byzantine Empire. Historian Gibbon wrote off Byzantium as the eastern remnant of the Roman empire and left the idea that it was eternally in decline. One thousand years of decline - 476 to 1453 CE. Yet, even if it were eternally in decline, The Byzantine Empire was the bridge for backward Europe to the East and the buffer between vulnerable Europe and the Muslim expansion.

In the world of podcast the sole broadcaster of Byzantine history was podcasting veteran Lars Brownworth with the legendary 12 Byzantine Rulers. A formidable new addition, will be now UCSD's history lecture series by Matthew Herbst HIEU 104 - Byzantine Empire (feed). So far, three lectures have been added to the series and they look very good. Herbst uses his own style in retelling the story of Byzantium, covering the same material as Brownworth. In comparison, Brownworth is shorter, delivering a pleasantly crafted monologue; Herbst is obviously lecturing, but also more extensive. Herbst gives more explanation for example on the complicated theological issues that color the political landscape of Byzantium, such as Arianism and Nestorianism.

In the end, as the fate of UCSD lectures is, the podcast will last until the end of the semester and then be cast away - be sure to download them all before the end. Also, the lectures suffer from the usual UCSD automatic recordings, they quit before the end and they might start too early, too late and have silences. In addition the lectures are recorded at a very low volume. Use MP3gain to increase the level. (The level is around 77db and I have cranked it up to 100db which gave a bit of distortion. Next time I'll try 90dB).

More:
Byzantine Culture on Entitled Opinions,
Sources (12 Byzantine Rulers),
Byzantine Conclusion (12 Byzantine Rulers),
The Byzantine Empire on Podcast (12 Byzantine Rulers),
Byzantine Podcast (12 Byzantine Rulers).

What is a feed?

In nearly every podcast review I write, I use the word 'feed', assuming you understand what that is and what you need it for. Here I want to briefly explain 'feed', just in case, for anyone who could use it.

The feed to a podcast is a link through which you can subscribe to the podcast. It is not the same as a link to the podcast's website or to the podcast's audio files. It is a link to an especially coded list of the audio files. The code of this list can be read by your reader (like Google Reader) or your podcatcher (like iTunes). This list is updated whenever a new episode of the podcast comes out. When you are subscribed, your podcatcher will download that new file for you, without you having to go and look for it. (For instructions how to subscribe read my instruction how to subscribe to podcasts.)

For this reason, whenever I write about a podcast I give the link to its website and between brackets to the (feed), in order to quickly allow you to copy that feed's link and subscribe. In case I did not give the feed's link, click through to the website and over there you will find the link to the feed. Or else, you could search with the name of the podcast in iTunes's directory and find it there.

The code that is used in the feed is called RSS. I have also written more extensively about RSS (What is RSS - Read Anne is a Man automatically), but in short it is this. RSS is a push technology that pushes new web content to anyone who has subscribed to it. It is used more widely than podcasts. Also websites such as my blog use RSS, but wherever RSS is used, it works always the same. The user takes a subscription by using the feed.

More basic instructions:
Listen on line,
Download audio files,
Get iTunes,
Put feeds in iTunes,
What is podcasting in 3 minutes,
Video explaining RSS.

The fourth part of the world - NBIH

The last episode of New Books In History treated the circumstances of the discovery of the Americas. From Columbus's idea to sail to the Indies by going westward to the first map that fully recognized the Americas as a separate continent. A fourth part of the world, named after Amerigo Vespucci.

To this end host Marshall Poe interviewed Toby Lester and he gave a thrilling account of how the Americas got shape in the concept of the world. In this respect one needs to immediately set aside the myth that people thought the world was flat. It was known the world was round and there was even relatively sound data about the extent of the Asian continent in addition to a fairly accurate idea of the circumference of the earth. On the basis of those data Columbus's journey was folly, considering the vast amount of ocean that needed to be crossed. An intermediate continent was not expected and Columbus just thought he'd found some islands along the way when he got onto Hispaniola. Like the Canary Islands and the Azores.

We all know Vespucci eventually sailed around and this is how the new continent got its name. And since the world had always been conceptually assumed to consist of three parts (Europe, Africa and Asia), this was the fourth. This we know quite well, but the really interesting part of the show is the description of how the idea of what was lying in the west got shape. Starting from the discovery of the Canary Islands, through Columbus's journey, the development of ideas and additional data from the likes of Vespucci. In this respect you should listen and pay special attention to the finer details around the Canary Islands - it has nothing to do with canaries, more with dogs. And: the islands were inhabited - I never knew that.

More NBIH:
How the Soviet system imploded,
Vietnam War perspectives,
1989 - Padraic Kenney,
The Ossie twilight,
The first day of LBJ.

Poetry on Podcast

There are several ways I have seen literature (in the widest sense) find its way to podcast. The most straightforward is the audio book on podcast. I have reviewed several of the productions by Librivox which have an enormous amount of books from the public domain read by volunteers and supplied on free podcasts. A little bit more can be found in the example of Julie Davis on her podcast Forgotten Classics who reads the books and accompanies them with comments that amount to a literature lesson. An example that I recommend wholeheartedly is the Uncle Tom's Cabin reading she did.

Other examples are podcasts that perform the literature, either through audio-drama (I have reviewed a couple of Dutch examples) or the author giving a reading performance of his work as Dave P. does on Namaste Stories.

One can also talk about literature, as does George Miller on Podularity. Right now I am listening to his interview with Hillary Mantel about her book Wolf Hall which is a fictional account of the life of Thomas Cromwell. Another podcast that talked about literature just recently was Open Source where Christopher Lydon spoke with poet Rick Benjamin.

Now there is the literary genre that I have hardly run into on podcast and which, if you think about it, demands podcast: poetry. I have done one amateur podcast that was named Irving Poetry Podcast and there is poetry performance (though with a tongue in cheek) on the Dutch Ronflonflon. What is there other than that? There should be a world of poetry on podcast.

Dear readers, do you know of any you can recommend?

Report a podcast (2)

Maybe I should stop complaining about not getting enough feedback on the blog. It is not getting me any more feedback anyway and there is one type of response I get so much of, I cannot handle it and that is the Report a Podcast section.

Podcasts of the most varied kinds are reported to me with a request to review. I used to want to review them all, but I have given up on those that simply do not fit well with the main stream of this blog. However, I loath to see all that effort go wasted and so here is an idea for change:

If you want to submit a podcast for reviewing, accompany it with a small description or review of your own. If I do not come round reviewing the podcast that same month (or even week if the flow will expand some more), I will post what YOU have written at the end of the month (or week). And thus, none of the recommendations have to go lost.

You can communicate your podcast tips by leaving a comment anywhere in the blog or send me a mail, Anne Frid de Vries (in one word) AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk. Less preferable to me, though it can work as well is letting me know through Twitter or Facebook or Stumbleupon.

Before you report, check with the list of reviewed podcasts. There are so many of them, yours may be there already.

To begin, here is one such request that has been lying around:

Hi Anne,
I recently discovered your site on a google alert and have spent more time than I should listening to and enjoying (for the most part) the range of podcasts you've listed. I've been working my podcast for a year or so and would like your input. http://crankyolddoods.blogspot.com
Thanks for your consideration and for your hard work at maintaining your site.
Greg

History of India - the search goes on

I have finished the lecture series at UCLA by professor Vinay Lal about the history of India (feed). As written before: it was not an easy ride. I ascribe this to the fact that I had next to no former knowledge about India in general and its history in particular. Yet, a fellow blogger (varnam) criticizes professor Lal to 'teach in a very confusing manner'. Whatever is truth in the matter, for me the bottom-line is that there is a great need for more podcasts on India. In that respect I appreciate any recommendation I can get.

In general Lal's course seems to be partly conducted in response to Hindu nationalism. Lal doesn't spend much time to define Hindu nationalism, nor does he show where it hits the scene and who are the main figures involved. Yet, what is made clear over the entire course, which covers 5000 years of history, is that the interpretation of India's history is greatly politicized by Hindu nationalism and Lal disagrees with its tenants - whatever they are.

Hindu nationalism needs to be distinguished from Indian nationalism, which enters the scene in the 19th century and whose most famous figure head is Gandhi. Indian nationalism, is the movement that began to strive for independence. The goal for one such as Gandhi was to have a unified India containing both Hindus and Muslims. Implicit in this goal is that India as a cultural entity is carried by both these religious communities. The Hindu nationalists - apparently - seem to believe that true Indian equals Hindu.

In this respect Lal is unclear about Hindu nationalism, but makes a point in using another term in the discourse: Communalism. Communalism is a social cultural approach to people, culture and tradition and poses religion at the pinnacle of human identity. In the communalist view, one can be man, living in Delhi, Hindi speaker, but ultimately one is a Hindu, or alternately, a Muslim. In that view one is not a Bengali first and a Muslim or Hindu second. The religious identity politics that is founded by the communalist view makes the coexistence of Muslims and Hindus more problematic and tends to view the Muslim element in India History as intrusive. Lal on the other hand claims that for example the Moguls are profoundly Indian and an the Mogul empire is an integral part within Indian history, even if it is Muslim.

All of this material is so rich, one simply must have more podcasts to get a better picture. If I walk backwards through the course I can mention a couple of tremendously fascinating subjects which are touched upon by only few or no other podcasts I know of:

The life and works of M.K. Gandhi - half a lecture in Lal's course and some attention in Berkeley's Introduction to nonviolence

The rise of Indian nationalism and unrest in the 19th century (with the rebellion of 1857) - Hardly more than a lecture and a half with Lal and no other podcast to cover even a bit of this.

British India (under the company and under the Crown) - Few lectures with Lal. In courses that touch on British History, here and there one will touch upon India, but I do not recall anything substantial on the top of my head.

The Moguls - What little you have in Lal can be nicely supplemented and compared with UCSD's MMW4

The Guptas - What little you have in Lal can be nicely supplemented and compared with UCSD's MMW3

Hindu texts; Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata - Lal uses these extensively to relate to Indian History until the Middle Ages. For me this is the most confusing part. Which podcasts brings some order?

Indus Valley Civilization - There is a very old issue from David Kalivas' World History that touches upon this civ, as well as five minutes in Engines of our Ingenuity. Lal's contribution is to show how even this history is politicized.

Lal's last remark in the course made a huge impression on me. He said to make a distinction between Indian Civilization and the Indian State. The Indian state may be very young, but Indian Civilization is very old. Also, the civilization stretches much further than the state. Civilization can be much richer and contradictory than a state can be.

More History of India:
8 podcasts I listened to,
History of India or Europe?
History of India.