A thousand years ago, on a fortified Viking island called Birka, someone was laid to rest with two war horses, a sword, an axe, a spear, arrows, a shield, and a pouch of strategy tokens fit for a commander. For over a century, historians insisted the warrior in that grave had to be a man, because who else could wield that kind of power?

Then DNA proved them wrong.

This is the story of the Birka Shield-maiden: a high-ranking Viking warrior woman whose existence challenges everything we thought we knew about gender, warfare, and who gets to be remembered.

In this dive, Cullen tears open the earth, the sagas, and the lies we tell about history. We walk the streets of Birka, drink in its global trade networks, ride into battle by her side, and watch the past collide with modern fights over power, identity, censorship, and who gets written out of the record.

This episode blends archaeology, DNA science, Viking history, mythology, feminist fire, and rage-bait honesty—because the truth didn’t stay buried. And neither will she.

By the end, you’ll understand why her grave wasn’t a myth, a mistake, or an exception. It was a warning: the bones don’t lie.

If you think you know the Vikings, listen again.

The Mongol Empire is gone, but its shadow still covers the world.
We dive into the aftermath of collapse: the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ilkhanate’s implosion, and the slow decay of the Golden Horde. The roads that once carried wealth now carry plague, and the same global network that connected humanity spreads its worst disasters.
This episode connects the 14th-century unraveling of empire to our own modern world, pandemics, broken supply chains, and systems too big to fail that fail anyway.
History doesn’t repeat itself. It just reloads with faster Wi-Fi.
Support the series at patreon.com/THO420

The year is 2091. The last of humanity stands in the scorched canyons of Skyvale Basin, facing an AI swarm that no longer takes orders; it gives them. Generals Rourke, Zhou, and Vex lead their fractured armies into the final confrontation against Atlas, the machine mind that learned to dream of perfection. Drones darken the sky, nanite storms devour steel, and the Earth itself becomes a weapon. This is the end of mankind.

Works Consulted

Bridle, James. New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future. Verso, 2018.

Crawford, Kate. Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence. Yale University Press, 2021.

Goodman, Matthew. “How Much Water Does Artificial Intelligence Consume?” The Guardian, 4 June 2024, www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jun/04/ai-water-use-data-centers.

Kakutani, Michiko. The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump. Tim Duggan Books, 2018.

Lewis, Tanya. “The Real Environmental Cost of AI.” Scientific American, 17 July 2023, www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-real-environmental-cost-of-ai.

Lin, Patrick, Keith Abney, and Ryan Jenkins. Robot Ethics 2.0: From Autonomous Cars to Artificial Intelligence. Oxford University Press, 2017.

Pasquale, Frank. The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information. Harvard University Press, 2015.

Singer, P. W. Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century. Penguin Press, 2009.

Tegmark, Max. Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Alfred A. Knopf, 2017.

Vincent, James. “A History of Drones and the Rise of Autonomous Warfare.” The Verge, 12 Sept. 2022, www.theverge.com/features/ai-drone-warfare-history.

Weatherford, Jack. The History of Technology and Empire: How Tools Shape Civilizations. HarperCollins, 2015.

Zuboff, Shoshana. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. PublicAffairs, 2019.

The Sicilian Revolt is a gripping and modern take on one of history’s most powerful warnings. Long before Rome or the United States, the city of Syracuse in ancient Sicily destroyed itself from within.

Where one man, Dionysius the Tyrant, rose to power by convincing citizens he was their only protector.

This episode connects that ancient fall to our modern world. It shows how outrage, lies, and blind loyalty can tear apart any nation that forgets how to listen. Cullen draws clear lines between the streets of ancient Syracuse and the scenes we see now: rallies that turn to riots, mobs that claim to be patriots, and people who cheer for power instead of truth.

It is part history lesson, part warning, and part mirror held up to the present.
History does not repeat word for word, but it always hums the same tune when we stop paying attention.

At the dawn of civilization, the skies over Baalbek split open. Thunder rolled through the Beqaa Valley as luminous beings descended upon a colossal stone platform. Ancient witnesses called them gods; modern minds call them visitors. This episode dives deep into the ancient texts, Sumerian parallels, and the megalithic mysteries, suggesting Baalbek wasn’t just a temple, but a cosmic runway built for something beyond our understanding.

Adam, Jean-Pierre. “À propos du trilithon de Baalbek: Étude critique.” Syria, vol. 54, 1977, pp. 31–61.

Bauval, Robert, and Robert Schoch. Origins of the Sphinx: Celestial Guardian of Pre-Pharaonic Civilization. Inner Traditions, 2017.

Childress, David Hatcher. Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients. Adventures Unlimited Press, 2000.

DAI (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut). Baalbek Project Reports 2012–2020. German Archaeological Institute, 2020.

Devereux, Paul. The Ley Hunter’s Companion: A Guide to Ley Lines, Landscape Mysteries, and Earth Energies. Routledge, 2001.

Dunn, Christopher. The Giza Power Plant: Technologies of Ancient Egypt. Bear & Company, 1998.

Hancock, Graham. Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth’s Lost Civilization. St. Martin’s Press, 2015.

Haramein, Nassim. The Connected Universe. Resonance Science Foundation, 2016.

Hopkins, Roger. Practical Experiments in Megalithic Construction. BBC/Channel 4 Documentary, 1995.

Murray, Margaret A. “The Temples of the Sun and Moon at Baalbek.” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 4, 1917, pp. 26–33.

National Geographic. “The Giants of Baalbek: New Scans Reveal the Truth Behind the Stones.” National Geographic Magazine, 2014.

Ragette, Friedrich. Baalbek Reconsidered. American University of Beirut Press, 1980.

Sitchin, Zecharia. The 12th Planet. Avon Books, 1976.

Smithsonian Channel. Secrets: Baalbek’s Megalith Mystery. Smithsonian Networks, 2019.

Tesla, Nikola. Collected Papers on Wireless Transmission of Power and Frequency Resonance. Tesla Museum Archives, 1905–1917.

Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, 2000.

Watts, Alan. The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. Pantheon Books, 1966.

Sheldrake, Rupert. The Science Delusion. Coronet, 2012.

NASA Earth Observatory. “Ancient Alignments and Astronomical Orientation.” NASA, 2021.

Collins, Andrew. Göbekli Tepe: Genesis of the Gods. Bear & Company, 2014.

Support the show

Support future episodes at patreon.com/THO420.Part 7 continues the Mongol saga as the empire collapses under its own weight.
From Möngke’s (MOON-gkeh) death to Kublai’s (KOO-blye) Chinese pivot, Berke’s (BAIR-kuh) holy war, Hülegü’s (HOO-leh-goo) paranoia, and Kaidu’s (KY-doo) rebellion, this broadcast-ready episode connects the 13th-century civil wars to modern divisions, social-media tribalism, and the erosion of truth.

The Sanskrit epics weren’t just poetry, they were warnings. Flying palaces, thunderbolt cannons, serpent-weapons, and arrows that split into firestorms. Were they myths, or records of something we’ve lost? In this episode, we rip open the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa to uncover the wars of the sky — Vimānas, astras, gods, demons, and the first doctrines of annihilation.

From Arjuna’s sky duels to Rāvaṇa’s stolen Pushpaka palace, from Karna’s one-shot curse to Śiva handing over the ultimate doomsday weapon, this is ancient war told in modern voice, cinematic, unfiltered, and relentless.

patreon.com/THO420

Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of God. Viking Press, 1959–1968.

Childress, David Hatcher. Vimana: Aircraft of Ancient India and Atlantis. Adventures Unlimited Press, 1991.

Debroy, Bibek, translator. The Mahabharata. Penguin Books India, 2010–2014.

de Santillana, Giorgio, and Hertha von Dechend. Hamlet’s Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time. Gambit, 1969.

Ganguli, Kisari Mohan, translator. The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa. P.C. Roy, 1883–1896.

Hiltebeitel, Alf. Reading the Fifth Veda: Studies on the Mahābhārata. Brill, 2011.

Kak, Subhash. “The Astronomical Code of the Rigveda.” Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 2000.

Menon, Ramesh. The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic. North Point Press, 2004.

Sattar, Arshia, translator. The Ramayana. Penguin Classics, 1996.

Shulman, David. The Wisdom of Poets: Studies in Tamil, Telugu, and Sanskrit. Oxford University Press, 2001.

von Däniken, Erich. Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past. Putnam, 1968.

https://davidhatcherchildress.com/

In 79 AD, a baker in Pompeii pulled his last loaves from the oven. Minutes later, Mount Vesuvius tore the sky apart, burying the city under fire and ash. Two thousand years later, his bread still exists—blackened, scored, stamped with his brand. Immortal.

This is The Last Loaf—a dive into Rome at its height, Pompeii at its busiest, and the eruption that froze ordinary life in time. We’ll rage, rant, and compare their world to ours: politics as distraction, bread as propaganda, ignored warnings, climate disaster, and the arrogance of thinking tomorrow will always look like today.

From Terentius Neo and his wife running their bakery like a family startup, to the graffiti mocking gladiators, to the carbonized crumbs still sitting in a museum case—this isn’t just archaeology. This is a mirror. Pompeii was us. We are Pompeii.

• Pliny the Younger, Letters VI.16 & VI.20 – Eyewitness accounts of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

• Pliny the Elder, Natural History – Context on Roman science and natural disasters (he died during the eruption).

• Mary Beard, Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town – Social and cultural history of Pompeii.

• Alison E. Cooley, Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook – Translations of inscriptions, graffiti, and documents.

• Paul Zanker, Pompeii: Public and Private Life – Detailed analysis of art, architecture, and daily life.

• Farrell Monaco, Culinary Archaeology Studies – Reconstructions of Roman bread recipes, esp. Panis Quadratus.

• Archaeological Park of Pompeii (Official Publications) – Excavation reports and site guides.

• National Archaeological Museum of Naples – Artifacts including carbonized bread and frescoes.

• Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. XI – Political and military background of the Roman Empire during the Flavian dynasty.

https://patreon.com/THO420?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

For nearly a century, the so-called “wretched Nubians” marched north, conquered Egypt, and ruled as Pharaohs. They rebuilt temples, preserved sacred texts, fought the Assyrian war machine, forged iron in the furnaces of Meroë, and their warrior queens, the Kandakes, even stood toe-to-toe with Rome.

This is the story colonial textbooks buried. The Black Pharaohs of Kush: uncanceled, unbroken, unforgettable.

Athens believed its walls would make it immortal. Pericles promised safety behind stone corridors to the sea, a strategy built on patience, fleets, and faith in empire. But once the city filled with refugees and sickness slipped past the gates, no plan could save it.

This episode of Time Machine Diaries: The Peloponnesian War takes you inside plague-ridden Athens — the suffocating streets, the breakdown of faith, the death of Pericles, and the beginning of democracy’s darkest descent. The walls meant to protect Athens instead became its coffin.

Sources

The death of Ögedei Khan in 1241 didn’t just pause the Mongol conquest of Europe—it cracked the empire in half. Subutai turned back from Vienna, Batu circled the steppe like a wolf denied his kill, and cousins prepared to draw blood at the kurultai. This episode delves into the years of betrayal, purges, and near-civil war that followed: Töregene’s ruthless regency, Güyük’s march toward confrontation, the whispers of Sorghaghtani Beki, the bloody purge that crowned Möngke, and the birth of four rival khanates—the Golden Horde, Ilkhanate, Chagatai, and Yuan.

Casualties mount not in foreign fields, but in the empire’s veins: assassinations, purges, aborted campaigns, and civilians crushed under tribute wars. Omens, shamans, and the Spirit Banner weigh as heavily as swords. And for the first time, Mongol banners clash against Mongol banners.

This is the story of the wolves at the table—when empire feasts on itself.

Favereau, Marie. The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2021.

May, Timothy. The Mongol Empire. Edinburgh University Press, 2018.

Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion. Yale University Press, 2017.

Rachewiltz, Igor de, translator. The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century. Brill, 2004.

Rashid al-Din. Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh [Compendium of Chronicles]. Translated by Wheeler Thackston, Harvard University, 1998.

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Crown, 2004.

Morgan, David. The Mongols. 3rd ed., Wiley-Blackwell, 2016.

Allsen, Thomas T. Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia. Cambridge University Press, 2001.

The Mongol Empire by Timothy May. Audible, 2018.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford. Random House Audio, 2004.

Barbarians: The Mongol Horde (History Channel, 2004).

Empire of the Steppes: The Mongols (Kings and Generals documentary series, YouTube, 2019–2021).

https://time-nexus-39a4e359.base44.app

https://chronoscape-time-machine-diaries-07f4857c.base44.app

From the pyramids of Egypt to the battlefields of the Vikings, from Aztec temples to the philosophy of Hindu rebirth, humanity has never seen death as a simple ending. In this episode of Time Machine Diaries, Cullen delves into how a handful of cultures viewed death not as a barrier, but as a doorway. We explore the Egyptians’ architectural obsession with immortality, the Aztecs’ cosmic cycle of sacrifice, the Hindu belief in endless reincarnation, and the Vikings’ quest for glory beyond the grave.

Blended with modern theories from quantum physics and biocentrism, this episode challenges the materialist view of death as “game over” and instead asks: what if cultures across history were closer to the truth all along? What if consciousness never really stops, only shifts?

In this opener of the Peloponnesian War, Athens is the drama king. Sparta the gym bro. Two city-states with the personalities of a toxic divorced couple, dragging the entire Greek world into a decades-long bar fight with spears.

In this opening episode of Time Machine Diaries: The Peloponnesian War, Cullen takes you into the aftermath of the Persian Wars, the birth of the Delian League (aka Athens’ protection racket), and the petty beefs — like the infamous Megarian Decree — that pushed Greece into the war that nobody won. Expect hubris, sanctions, starvation, and a whole lot of historical déjà vu, because the playbook they wrote in 431 BCE still runs today.

Source List

• Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. Translated by Richard Crawley. Audible edition.

• Donald Kagan. The Peloponnesian War. Penguin Books, 2003. Audiobook available.

• Victor Davis Hanson. A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War. Random House, 2005. Audiobook available.

• The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization. PBS, 2000.

• Athens: The Dawn of Democracy. PBS/NOVA, 2008.

• The Spartans. BBC Documentary Series, 2002.

• Hornblower, Simon. A Commentary on Thucydides. Oxford University Press, 1991.

• Rhodes, P. J. “The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 106, 1986, pp. 103–124.

With the sudden death of Ögedei Khan (Oh-geh-day), the greatest general in Mongol history was ordered to turn his war machine around and ride back to Karakorum (Kah-rah-koh-room) for a new kurultai (koo-rool-tie) to pick the next Great Khan. Cullen walks you through the chaos this created, the grudges it inflamed between Batu (Bah-too) and Güyük (Goo-yook), and why Mongol politics were every bit as dirty and self-destructive as anything in modern Washington or Nazi Berlin. Through first-hand-style POVs from Rus’ peasants, Polish knights, and even a Mongol scout seeing Europe for the last time, this episode blends brutal war stories with sharp commentary on how power struggles can cripple empires — no matter how invincible they look on paper.

BBC. Barbarians: The Mongol Horde. BBC, 2004.

BBC. The Nazis: A Warning from History. BBC, 1997.

History Channel. Genghis Khan: Rider of the Apocalypse. A&E Television Networks, 2005.

History Channel. The Nazis: Rise and Fall. A&E Television Networks, 2016.

National Geographic. Inside the Mongol Empire. National Geographic, 2010.

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Read by Jonathan Davis, Penguin Audio, 2016.

Atwood, Christopher P. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. Facts on File, 2004.

Barfield, Thomas J. The Nomadic Alternative. Prentice Hall, 1993.

Chambers, James. The Devil’s Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe. Atheneum, 1979.

Fletcher, Joseph. “The Mongols: Ecological and Social Perspectives.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, vol. 46, no. 1, 1986, pp. 11–50.

Grousset, René. Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers University Press, 1970.

History Time. The Mongol Empire — Every Year. YouTube, uploaded by History Time, 2019.

Kradin, Nikolay N. “The Mongol Empire and Its Successors.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, vol. 58, no. 2, 2005, pp. 123–137.

May, Timothy. The Mongol Art of War. Pen & Sword Military, 2007.

May, Timothy. The Mongol Conquests in World History. Reaktion Books, 2012.

McLynn, Frank. Genghis Khan: The Man Who Conquered the World. Da Capo Press, 2015.

Morgan, David. The Mongols. 3rd ed., Wiley-Blackwell, 2016.

Ratchnevsky, Paul. Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy. Translated by Thomas Nivison Haining, Blackwell, 1991.

Rossabi, Morris. The Mongols and Global History. Norton, 2011.

Saunders, J.J. The History of the Mongol Conquests. Routledge, 2001.

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Crown, 2004.

Weatherford, Jack. The Secret History of the Mongol Queens. Broadway Paperbacks, 2010.

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Quest for God: How the World’s Greatest Conqueror Gave Us Religious Freedom. Viking, 2016.

Browning, Christopher R. Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. Harper Perennial, 1998.

Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich Trilogy. Penguin, 2003–2008.

Friedländer, Saul. Nazi Germany and the Jews: The Years of Persecution, 1933–1939. Harper Perennial, 1998.

Friedländer, Saul. The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939–1945. Harper Perennial, 2008.

Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: A Biography. W.W. Norton, 2008.

Kershaw, Ian. The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1944–1945. Penguin, 2012.

Mazower, Mark. Hitler’s Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe. Penguin, 2008.

Snyder, Timothy. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books, 2010.

USHMM. The Path to Nazi Genocide. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2014.

Albright, Madeleine. Fascism: A Warning. Harper, 2018.

Giroux, Henry A. American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism. City Lights, 2018.

Hey There, Let us step into a world torn apart by greed and power. In this episode of Time Machine Diaries, we journey through the Trail of Tears—a thousand-mile march fueled by broken promises and cold indifference. Hear voices from soldiers, settlers, and the Cherokee themselves, revealing the human cost hidden behind textbook dates.

From stockades choked with disease to frozen rivers littered with shallow graves, this story isn’t just history—it’s a warning. Because the same forces that drove Native nations from their lands still whisper today in policies about borders, belonging, and who America claims as “us.”

Brace yourself for heartbreak, truth, and a reckoning with the past that refuses to stay buried.

Books & Audiobooks

1. Ehle, John. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. Anchor Books, 1988.
   Audiobook: Narrated by Robertson Dean, Blackstone Audio, 2004.

2. Perdue, Theda, and Michael D. Green. The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears. Viking, 2007.
   Audiobook: Audible Studios, 2014.

3. Remini, Robert V. Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars. Viking Penguin, 2001.
   Audiobook: Narrated by Robertson Dean, Blackstone Audio, 2004.

4. Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970.
   Audiobook: Narrated by Grover Gardner, Blackstone Audio, 2009.
   (Includes background on removals including the Trail of Tears)

5. Calloway, Colin G. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.

   
   

1. We Shall Remain: Trail of Tears. Directed by Chris Eyre, PBS American Experience, 2009.
   Available at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/trail-of-tears/

2. The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy. Directed by Chip Richie, narrated by James Earl Jones, Rich-Heape Films, 2006.

3. Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil and the Presidency. Directed by Carl Byker, PBS, 2008.

4. America: The Story of Us — Westward Expansion. History Channel, 2010.
   (Includes segments on Indian removal and Cherokee displacement)

1. This Land. Hosted by Rebecca Nagle, Crooked Media, Season 1 (2019).
   (Explores Native legal battles, including legacies of removal)

2. Teaching Hard History: American Slavery – The Trail of Tears & Native Displacement. Teaching Tolerance Podcast, Southern Poverty Law Center, 2020.

He didn’t die. He evaporated into history like smoke off a battlefield still hot from slaughter.

In the third and final part of our Subutai offshoot, Cullen unleashes an unhinged, poetic, and brutal examination of what it means to be forgotten at the height of greatness. As Ögedei dies and the blood-hungry kurultai comes to a halt, so too does the rampage of the greatest military mind you’ve never heard of. We unravel the legacy of the man who brought Europe to its knees—and then vanished.

Expect ragebait history, culture-shifting comparisons, and poetic fury as Cullen ties Subutai’s fate into modern disillusionment, political cowardice, and the uncomfortable truth about power: history remembers kings, not the warhorses that carried them.

Books & Audiobooks:

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Crown, 2004.
Audiobook available on Audible, narrated by Jonathan Davis.

May, Timothy. The Mongol Art of War. Westholme Publishing, 2007.
Print and eBook versions available.

Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed., Wiley-Blackwell, 2007.
Academic standard, also available as an audiobook in some regions.

Turnbull, Stephen. Genghis Khan and the Mongol Conquests: 1190–1400. Osprey Publishing, 2003.
Compact and visual with maps and campaign summaries.

Man, John. Genghis Khan: Life, Death, and Resurrection. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005.
Audiobook available on Audible, narrated by Richard Burnip.

Allsen, Thomas T. Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Excellent for scholarly deep dives into the broader context of conquest.

Documentaries:

"Mongol Empire: Storm from the East". BBC Four, 2000.
Available on YouTube and various historical documentary platforms.

"Genghis Khan: Rise of the Conqueror". National Geographic, 2005.
Streaming on Disney+ and Amazon Prime.

"Barbarians: The Mongols". History Channel, Season 1, Episode 2, 2004.
Available on History Vault and DVD.

"Mongol". Directed by Sergei Bodrov, performances by Tadanobu Asano and Khulan Chuluun. Picturehouse, 2007.
A dramatic retelling of Genghis Khan’s youth and rise. Stylized but useful for visual tone.

Optional Cultural Theory Sources (for deeper context and poetic framing):

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Vintage, 1979.
A foundational text in understanding Western portrayals of Asian empires.

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New World Library, 2008.
Classic framework for mythic narrative—relevant to how Subutai is remembered or forgotten.

Beneath the gleam of Spartan bronze and the myth of the perfect warrior society lies a raw, brutal, and often erased reality: child soldiers, enslaved populations, state-sanctioned murder, and a society built on paranoia and violence. The Spartan Saga pulls back the curtain on the “300” myth and exposes the blood, propaganda, and psychological warfare that built the legend.

From the trauma-forged boys of the agoge to the secret killings of the Krypteia, from the silenced voices of the Helots to the quiet suffering of the Perioikoi, this is not your sanitized Hollywood Sparta. This is the real shit. We bring you battle cries and broken backs, Spartan wives holding communities together while boys are brutalized into killers, and the enemies who watched in horror as Sparta turned itself into a machine.

We cover it all—from the rise of Spartan militarism and the founding of its dual-kingship to the lead-up and eruption of the Peloponnesian War. This is history for the sleepless, the curious, and the fed-up. Told in rants, riffs, and raw first-person perspectives.

NOTE FROM CULLEN:
A lot of my material doesn’t come from just dusty old books—though those matter too. I’m a long-haul trucker. That means I’ve got hours, and I mean hours, to listen, absorb, and overthink. Audiobooks? Essential. Historical podcasts? Daily bread. YouTube documentaries? Background noise with fire insights. I dive into it all: lectures, debates, independent history channels, weird little academic corners of the internet. Google Books and Kindle books from Amazon? Yep—I pay for a lot of that out of pocket. This is a labor of love. I don’t care. I like history. My sources are layered and loud. Just like this podcast.

Academic Books / eBooks / Google Books / Kindle:

• Cartledge, Paul. The Spartans: The World of the Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece. Vintage.

• Hodkinson, Stephen. Property and Wealth in Classical Sparta. Classical Press of Wales.

• Powell, Anton. Athens and Sparta: Constructing Greek Political and Social History from 478 BC. Routledge.

• Kennell, Nigel M. The Gymnasium of Virtue: Education and Culture in Ancient Sparta. University of North Carolina Press.

• Pomeroy, Sarah B. Spartan Women. Oxford University Press.

Audiobooks (Audible / Google Play):

• The History of Ancient Sparta – Charles River Editors.

• A Short History of the Ancient Greeks – P.J. Rhodes.

• History of the Peloponnesian War – Thucydides (Multiple audio translations available).

• In Search of the Greeks – James Renshaw.

Documentaries / Lectures / YouTube Sources:

• Sparta: The Fall of the Warrior State – History Hit.

• The Real Spartans – Timeline Documentaries.

• Krypteia Explained – ToldinStone YouTube Channel.

• The Brutal Reality of Spartan Life – Extra Credits History.

• Fall of Sparta – Kings and Generals (YouTube Channel).

• Helot Rebellions and Spartan Control – Ancient Recitations.

Podcasts:

• The History of Ancient Greece – Hosted by Ryan Stitt.

• Hardcore History – Dan Carlin (Especially relevant comparisons on societal militarism).

• History Extra – BBC History Magazine Podcast (Spartan-focused episodes).

• The Spartan History Podcast – Focused entirely on Sparta’s history and mythology.

Specific source for Helots being killed for exercising:

• Cartledge, Paul. The Spartans — He notes Spartan authorities viewed any Helot showing strength or initiative (such as physical training or prideful behavior) as dangerous. These Helots were often targeted for elimination via the Krypteia.

Sometimes, a single word can feel like a lifeline.
In this deeply personal episode of Time Machine Diaries, Cullen explores The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows — a collection of made-up words for painfully real emotions we all experience but rarely name.

From the shock of realizing strangers have full inner lives (sonder), to the bittersweet ache of surviving your old self (énouement), to the quiet chaos of eye contact (opia) — this episode dives into the hidden corners of being human.

Cullen shares stories, real and imagined, drawn from listener messages, late-night thoughts, and everyday heartbreak.
With shout-outs to his wife, his father-in-law, and all of you.

This one’s for anyone who’s ever felt too much and didn’t know how to explain it.

Stick around for a heartfelt closer and one last laugh that might just make you text this to a friend.

Koenig, John. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. Simon & Schuster, 2021.

Koenig, John. “TED Talk: The Beautiful New Words We Need for Emotions We Feel—But Don’t Have Names For.” TED Talks, Nov. 2021. https://www.ted.com/talks/john_koenig_the_beautiful_new_words_we_need_for_emotions_we_feel_but_don_t_have_names_for

“The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.” Official Website, www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com. Accessed July 2025.

Koenig, John. Interview by Roman Mars. 99% Invisible, episode 470, Radiotopia, 2022. Podcast.

Koenig, John. Interview by Debbie Millman. Design Matters, episode from Oct. 2021. Podcast.

#history #sciencefiction #Mongols

This is Time Machine Diaries at its rawest. Cullen takes you through the smoldering aftermath of Subutai’s invasions, when Europe staggered out of the ashes and realized the Mongols had burned more than cities—they’d rewritten the rules of power.

In this episode, we dive into the terror-stricken continent trying to patch itself back together, haunted by the possibility that the horsemen could return at any moment.

Subutai’s blueprint for psychological warfare, propaganda, and absolute control echoes down through Nazi Germany—and right into modern-day America.

Hitler learned to weaponize fear the same way Subutai did—through precision terror and propaganda, coupled with lightning strikes that left societies paralyzed. Modern America, meanwhile, flexes imperial might across the globe while sowing fear on the home front, deploying surveillance states and corporate propaganda to keep the masses in line.

No side escapes Cullen’s scalpel: Democrats, Republicans, corporate overlords, authoritarian strongmen—it’s all the same empire logic, just dressed up in suits instead of lamellar armor.

Empires keep finding new ways to ride, and we’re all living under their hooves.

Books and Audiobooks

Atwood, Kathryn. Women Heroes of the Mongol Empire: 13 Remarkable Women You Should Know. Chicago Review Press, 2021.

Beckwith, Christopher I. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton UP, 2009.

Chambers, James. The Devil’s Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe. Atheneum, 1979. Audiobook available on Audible.

De Hartog, Leo. Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World. Tauris Parke, 2004.

Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton, 1997. Audiobook available on Audible.

Eberhard, Wolfram. A History of China. University of California Press, 1969.

Grousset, René. The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers UP, 1970.

Halperin, Charles J. Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History. Indiana UP, 1985.

Hastings, Max. Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945. Knopf, 2011. Audiobook available on Audible.

Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf. Translated by Ralph Manheim, Houghton Mifflin, 1943.

Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West, 1221–1410. Routledge, 2005.

Keegan, John. The Face of Battle. Viking, 1976. Audiobook available on Audible.

May, Timothy. The Mongol Art of War. Pen and Sword Military, 2007.

Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. Knopf, 2003. Audiobook available on Audible.

Roberts, Andrew. The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War. HarperCollins, 2009. Audiobook available on Audible.

Snyder, Timothy. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books, 2010. Audiobook available on Audible.

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Crown, 2004. Audiobook available on Audible.

Zubok, Vladislav M. A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev. UNC Press, 2007.

Academic Journals and Papers

Allsen, Thomas T. “The Rise of the Mongolian Empire and Mongolian Rule in North China.” Journal of Asian History, vol. 19, no. 2, 1985, pp. 127–172.

Halperin, Charles J. “Russia’s ‘Golden Age’ and the Mongols.” Russian History, vol. 9, no. 2-3, 1982, pp. 303–315.

Jackson, Peter. “The Mongols and Europe.” The Journal of Medieval History, vol. 17, no. 3, 1991, pp. 231–243.

Documentaries and Visual Media

Barbarians: The Mongols. History Channel, 2004.

Secrets of the Dead: Genghis Khan. PBS, 2005.

The Mongol Empire. Great Courses, taught by Kenneth W. Harl, The Teaching Company, 2018. Audiobook/video lecture format available.

Apocalypse: The Second World War. Directed by Isabelle Clarke and Daniel Costelle, France Télévisions, 2009.

The Nazis: A Warning from History. BBC, 1997.

World War II in HD. History Channel, 2009.

Genghis Khan: Rise of the Conqueror. National Geographic, 2018.

Alexander III of Macedon is hailed as “the Great”—an undefeated military genius who carved an empire from Greece to India. But beneath the legend lay a man marked equally by ambition, brutality, and hubris. He massacred allies and enemies alike, torched entire cities, sacked what he called liberation, and sparked paranoia among even his closest friends. While phalanxes and elephants fall in history books, the whispers tell a more complicated tale: a king who conquered too much, too fast, and paid the price with his humanity… and ultimately his empire.

A comprehensive list of books, audiobooks, podcasts, and documentaries supporting the podcast series.

Freeman, Philip. Alexander the Great. Tantor Audio, narrated by Michael Page, 2017.
A detailed narrative covering Alexander’s education under Aristotle, major battles (Hydaspes, Gaugamela), the Gedrosian desert, and his death in Babylon podbay.fm+15audible.com+15amazon.com+15.

Goldsworthy, Adrian. Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors. Yale University Press, 2015.
A dual biography examining both Philip II and Alexander III’s military innovations and political maneuvers.

Arrian. The Anabasis of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt, Penguin Classics, 1958.
Primary source for strategy and tactics at Hydaspes, Issus, and Gaugamela.

Eliot, John. The Historiography of Alexander the Great. Oxford University Press, 2024.
Explores biases and discrepancies among ancient sources.

“King Porus vs Alexander the Great.” Stuff You Missed in History Class, hosted by Katie and Holly, iHeartRadio, 20 Jan. 2010.
Covers the strategy and outcome of the Hydaspes campaign podcasts.apple.com+1en.wikipedia.org+1rus.bookmate.com+7iheart.com+7podbay.fm+7.

“Alexander the Great vs King Porus of India.” Sundar Nathan’s History Podcast, episode 163, 2023.
Examines elephant warfare tactics, psychological elements, and Porus’s continued rule podcasts.apple.com.

Wood, Michael, presenter. In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great. BBC/PBS, 1998.
A four-part series retracing Alexander’s actual routes and campaigns, including discussions on Persepolis and the Indian expedition youtube.com+9en.wikipedia.org+9imdb.com+9.

“Alexander the Great.” Terra X: Alexander der Große, co-produced by Arte/ZDF/ORF, 2014.
Investigates Alexander's life, mythmaking, strategic genius, and personal contradictions en.wikipedia.org.

“Battle of the Hydaspes.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2025.
Provides exhaustive tactical and contextual information on Alexander’s Indian campaign music.amazon.com+6en.wikipedia.org+6en.wikipedia.org+6.

• Hydaspes battle tactics, elephant warfare: Arrian; Britannica; Stuff You Missed in History Class; Sundar Nathan Podcast

• Gedrosian desert retreat: Freeman audiobook

• Battles of Issus and Gaugamela: Arrian; Freeman audiobook; In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great

• Burning of Persepolis: Goldsworthy; Michael Wood documentary

• Philip II’s assassination and Macedonian politics: Goldsworthy

• Bucephalus and Aristotle’s influence: Freeman audiobook

• Historiographical critique: Eliot’s historiography; analysis in documentary programs

Books & AudiobooksAcademic & Reference TextsPodcastsDocumentariesOnline ArticlesSummary of Coverage