Podcasts about bce

Merneptah vs the Libyans. In 1221 BCE, Egypt faced a crisis. Tribal coalitions from the west, and some "Peoples of the Sea" were marching on the Nile Valley. They came in their thousands, armed and ready to settle. Caught by surprise, King Merneptah and his warriors hastened to the defence... Support the show and get early releases, ad-free episodes, bonus video content, and pictures/videos of animals I meet in Egypt and travelling www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast Music by Bettina Joy de Guzman; Luke Chaos; and Keith Zizza. Bibliography Cline, E. H. (2021). 1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collapsed (Revised edn). Princeton University Press. D'Amato, R., & Salimbeti, Andrea. (2015). Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Mediterranean c.1400 BC–1000 BC. Osprey. Darnell, J. C., & Manassa, C. M. (2007). Tutankhamun's armies: Battle and conquest during ancient Egypt's late eighteenth dynasty. John Wiley & Sons. Davies, B. G. (1997). Egyptian Historical Inscriptions of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Paul Aströms förlag. Dean, R. (2017). Warfare & Weaponry in Dynastic Egypt. Pen & Sword. Finné, M., Woodbridge, J., Labuhn, I., & Roberts, N. (2019). Holocene hydro-climatic variability in the Mediterranean: A synthetic multi-proxy reconstruction. The Holocene, 29, 847--863. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0959683619826634 Heagren, B. (2010). The Art of War in Pharaonic Egypt [Unpublished PhD. Thesis, The University of Auckland]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49463150_The_art_of_war_in_pharaonic_Egypt_an_analysis_of_the_tactical_logistic_and_operational_capabilities_of_the_Egyptian_army Healy, M. (1992). New Kingdom Egypt. Osprey Publishing. Kaniewski, D., Campo, E. V., Guiot, J., Burel, S. L., Otto, T., & Baeteman, C. (2013). Environmental Roots of the Late Bronze Age Crisis. PLOS ONE, 8(8), e71004. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071004 Kaniewski, D., Marriner, N., Bretschneider, J., Jans, G., Morhange, C., Cheddadi, R., Otto, T., Luce, F., & Van Campo, E. (2019). 300-year drought frames Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age transition in the Near East: New palaeoecological data from Cyprus and Syria. Regional Environmental Change, 19, 2287--2297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-018-01460-w Kitchen, K. A. (1975). Ramesside Inscriptions Historical and Biographical (Vols. 1–8). Blackwell. https://archive.org/details/KennethA.KitchenRamessideInscriptionsVol1 Kitchen, K. A. (1993a). Ramesside Inscriptions Translated and Annotated: Notes and Comments (Vols. 1–2). Blackwell. Kitchen, K. A. (1993b). Ramesside Inscriptions Translated and Annotated: Translations (Vols. 1–7). Blackwell. Kopanias, K. (2017). Mercenaries or refugees? The evidence from the inscriptions of Merenptah on the “Sea Peoples.” Journal of Greek Archaeology, 2, 119--133. https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/AUTHORS/SeaPeoples/SeaPeoples-Kopanias2017.pdf Manassa, C. (2003). The Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah: Grand Strategy in the 13th Century BC. The Yale Egyptological Seminar. Pollastrini, A. M. (2024). Helmets and Body Armour in New Kingdom Egypt. Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350323520 Sabbahy, L. (2013). Depictional Study of Chariot Use in New Kingdom Egypt. In A. Veldmeijer & S. Ikram (Eds.), Chasing Chariots: Proceedings of the First International Chariot Conference (Cairo 2012) (pp. 191--202). Sidestone Press. Shaw, G. J. (2017). War and Trade with the Pharaohs: An Archaeological Study of Ancient Egypt's Foreign Relations. Pen & Sword. Shaw, I. (2019). Ancient Egyptian Warfare. Casemate. Snape, S. (2003a). The Emergence of Libya on the Horizon of Egypt. In D. O'Connor & S. Quirke (Eds.), Mysterious Lands (pp. 93--106). UCL Press. Snape, S. (2003b). Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham and Egyptian Foreign Trade in the Thirteenth Century BC. Sea Routes: Interconnections in the Mediterranean 16th-6th c. BC. https://www.academia.edu/107251529/Snape_ZUR_and_Egyptian_Foreign_Trade_Zawiyet_Umm_el_Rakham_and_Egyptian_foreign_trade_in_the_thirteenth_century_BC_ Snape, S. (2023). What was Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham for? Early Ramesside Strategy in the Libyan West. In F. Hoffmann & M. R. Abbas (Eds.), Perspectives on the Ramesside Military System (pp. 143--155). Zaphon. Spalinger, A. J. (2004). Review: Manassa, Colleen 2003. The Great Karnak inscription of Merneptah: Grand strategy in the 13th century BC. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 90(reviews supplement), 45--47. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3822286 Zutterman, C. (2003). The bow in the Ancient Near East, a re-evaluation of archery from the late 2nd millennium to the end of the Achaemenid empire. IrAnt, 38, 119--165. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anger, Mercy, Revenge by Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BCE – 65 CE)

Rassegna stampa economico-finanziaria del 1° Agosto 2026, strutturata per macro-temi e basata sulle principali testate giornalistiche nazionali.Economia italiana, PIL, inflazione e potere d'acquistoTestate: Corriere della Sera / La Stampa / Il Sole 24 Ore / Il Giornale / Il TempoL'inflazione italiana rallenta per il secondo mese consecutivo. A luglio i prezzi al consumo aumentano dello 0,2% su base mensile e del 2,8% su base annua, in calo rispetto al 3,2% registrato a giugno. L'inflazione acquisita per l'intero 2026 si colloca al 2,7%.Il rallentamento è favorito soprattutto dalla componente energetica e da alcuni prodotti alimentari. Il cosiddetto “carrello della spesa”, che comprende alimentari e beni per la cura della casa e della persona, continua però a crescere più rapidamente dell'indice generale, mantenendosi intorno al 3,4%.Il confronto europeo resta articolato. L'inflazione dell'Eurozona sale dal 2,8% al 2,9%, con la Francia al 2,1%, la Germania al 2,7% e la Spagna al 3,4%. La disinflazione non può quindi dirsi conclusa e continua a suggerire prudenza da parte della BCE.La crescita italiana potrebbe avvicinarsi all'1% nel 2026, migliorando lo spazio disponibile per la prossima Manovra. Una dinamica economica più favorevole potrebbe generare circa 4 miliardi di euro tra maggiori entrate e minori esigenze di copertura.Manovra, IRPEF e sostegno alla crescitaTestate: Il Giornale / Il Tempo / Corriere della SeraIl miglioramento delle prospettive economiche riapre il confronto sugli interventi fiscali. Tra le ipotesi figurano la riduzione dell'aliquota IRPEF intermedia dal 35% al 33% e l'estensione della fascia interessata fino a circa 60.000 euro di reddito.Vengono inoltre valutati incentivi per l'assunzione di giovani e madri e misure destinate a sostenere i consumi delle famiglie.Il principale vantaggio di una crescita più robusta consiste nella possibilità di finanziare parte degli interventi senza aumentare proporzionalmente deficit e debito.Resta però centrale la qualità della crescita. L'aumento del PIL è sostenuto soprattutto dall'occupazione e dai servizi, mentre la produttività continua a mostrare una dinamica più debole.Redditi, salari, lavoro e welfareTestate: Domani / Il Sole 24 Ore / Corriere della SeraI salari reali italiani restano sostanzialmente stagnanti. Tra il 1990 e il 2024 le retribuzioni reali sono rimaste quasi ferme, mentre in numerosi altri Paesi europei hanno registrato una crescita significativa.Bonus, riduzione del cuneo fiscale e detrazioni possono sostenere temporaneamente il reddito netto, ma non sostituiscono la crescita dei salari lordi e della produttività.Una parte rilevante dell'occupazione creata negli ultimi anni si concentra inoltre in comparti caratterizzati da minore valore aggiunto e retribuzioni inferiori alla media.La politica dei redditi dovrebbe quindi privilegiare interventi selettivi sui redditi medio-bassi, sui lavoratori con figli e sui settori caratterizzati da carenza di personale, collegando gli incentivi a formazione, digitalizzazione e aumento della produttività.Capitale umano, scuola e integrazioneTestate: Corriere della Sera / Il Sole 24 OreGli studenti senza cittadinanza italiana rappresentano circa il 10% della popolazione scolastica, con punte vicine o superiori al 20% in alcune aree del Nord.Le proposte dedicate all'insegnamento della lingua italiana anche ai genitori vengono interpretate non soltanto come misure sociali, ma come investimenti nella futura occupabilità e nell'integrazione economica.Una migliore integrazione linguistica può ridurre la dispersione scolastica, aumentare la partecipazione al mercato del lavoro e contribuire a compensare gli effetti della crisi demografica.Capitale umano, formazione e integrazione diventano quindi elementi essenziali per sostenere la produttività e ampliare la base occupazionale del Paese.Fisco, rottamazione e riscossione localeTestate: Repubblica / Il Sole 24 Ore / Il GiornaleLa nuova rottamazione delle multe punta a recuperare una parte dei quasi 29 miliardi di euro di crediti non riscossi dagli enti locali.La definizione agevolata non sarà automatica: saranno i singoli Comuni a decidere se aderire, rinunciando in parte a interessi e maggiorazioni in cambio di una maggiore probabilità di incasso.Il calendario indicato prevede il 15 ottobre per la comunicazione degli importi, il 28 febbraio 2027 per la risposta ai contribuenti e il 31 marzo per l'avvio dei versamenti.La misura può aumentare la liquidità degli enti e recuperare crediti difficilmente esigibili, ma presenta anche il rischio di premiare i contribuenti meno puntuali e indebolire la riscossione ordinaria.Transizione 4.0 e investimenti produttiviTestate: Il Sole 24 OreViene prorogato al 15 settembre 2026 il termine per comunicare il completamento degli investimenti agevolati attraverso Transizione 4.0.La proroga riguarda gli investimenti già prenotati, completati entro il 30 giugno 2026 e collegati a ordini accettati entro il 31 dicembre 2025, con un acconto versato di almeno il 20%.L'intervento evita che investimenti produttivi già realizzati perdano il credito d'imposta per ritardi amministrativi.Le imprese devono però verificare rapidamente interconnessione dei beni, fatture, acconti, documentazione e correttezza delle comunicazioni, anche perché le prenotazioni hanno già superato le risorse disponibili.Sanità e sostenibilità della spesa pubblicaTestate: Domani / Il Sole 24 OreIl finanziamento della sanità torna sotto pressione, con una richiesta di circa 4 miliardi di euro aggiuntivi per il Fondo sanitario nazionale.Le nuove risorse dovrebbero sostenere personale, rinnovi contrattuali, farmaci, tecnologia e assistenza a una popolazione sempre più anziana.Una parte degli incrementi già stanziati viene però assorbita dall'inflazione sanitaria e dall'aumento dei costi, riducendo l'effetto reale sui servizi.Il rafforzamento della sanità può produrre ritorni economici attraverso maggiore occupazione qualificata, minori giornate lavorative perse e sviluppo delle filiere farmaceutiche e biomedicali. Il rischio è aumentare la spesa corrente senza migliorare organizzazione, acquisti e assistenza territoriale.Banche, consolidamento e mercati finanziariTestate: La Stampa / Il Sole 24 Ore / Milano FinanzaIl risiko bancario italiano entra in una nuova fase. Banco BPM sembra allontanarsi dall'ipotesi di un accordo con Monte dei Paschi, mentre Intesa Sanpaolo viene indicata come possibile interlocutore per una futura operazione.Le valutazioni riportate attribuiscono a Banco BPM un valore teorico compreso tra 13,2 e 13,8 miliardi di euro, mentre una possibile operazione con Intesa potrebbe generare circa 2 miliardi di euro tra valore e sinergie.Il consolidamento può produrre risparmi di costo, maggiore redditività, investimenti tecnologici e una rete distributiva più ampia. Restano però rilevanti i rischi legati al prezzo, all'Antitrust, alla governance e all'integrazione operativa.Consob ha chiesto chiarimenti a MPS e Banco BPM sulle interlocuzioni e sulle ipotesi di aggregazione, con l'obiettivo di garantire correttezza informativa e tutela del mercato.Consob, vigilanza e nuove sfide finanziarieTestate: Milano Finanza / Il Sole 24 OreLa futura guida della Consob sarà determinante per accompagnare il nuovo ciclo di consolidamento bancario e finanziario.Il profilo di Federico Stazi viene analizzato come possibile successore di Paolo Savona, in una fase in cui l'Autorità dovrà vigilare non soltanto sulle operazioni tradizionali, ma anche su cripto-attività, intelligenza artificiale, mercati digitali e nuove regole europee.Una Consob autorevole, indipendente e prevedibile può ridurre il rischio normativo e facilitare l'accesso delle imprese italiane al mercato dei capitali.La crescente complessità delle operazioni richiede competenze tecnologiche, capacità di analizzare algoritmi e maggiore coordinamento con le altre autorità europee.Intelligenza Artificiale, obbligazioni e Wall StreetTestate: Il Sole 24 Ore / Milano Finanza / Plus24Nel 2026 le società tecnologiche hanno collocato oltre 200 miliardi di dollari di obbligazioni per finanziare data center, semiconduttori, cloud e infrastrutture dedicate all'Intelligenza Artificiale.La crescita delle emissioni ha prodotto un allargamento degli spread. Il mercato non mette in discussione l'AI come tendenza strutturale, ma inizia a distinguere tra imprese con flussi di cassa solidi e società che finanziano investimenti molto elevati attraverso il debito.Wall Street torna inoltre a mostrare maggiore volatilità dopo una fase caratterizzata da una forte concentrazione degli indici sui titoli tecnologici.Le valutazioni elevate rendono i mercati più sensibili a eventuali delusioni su tassi, margini e ritorni economici degli investimenti nell'AI.

Parallel Journeys: Eurasian History through Travelers' Eyes (Cambria Press, 2026) is a comparative history of Eurasia told through travel writing and cross-cultural encounters. In this anthology, Anthony Barbieri pairs accounts from twenty-eight travelers across different historical periods, placing side-by-side travelers looking or going East with those looking or going West. Spanning from 400 BCE through to 1936, the anthology brings together ambassadors, monks, missionaries, merchants, and journalists in order to explore how people understood the cultures, societies, and worlds that they encountered through travel. Structured around these “parallel journeys,” the book highlights both similarities and differences in the ways travelers described foreign places and peoples. Some travelers used these encounters to criticize the societies they entered, while others turned outward observation into reflection on their own cultures. Across the anthology, travel writing emerges not simply as a way of describing a journey, but as a way of forging ideas about cultural difference, identity, religion, commerce, and political power. This anthology will appeal to readers interested in Eurasian history, travel writing, world literature, and cross-cultural exchange. It is also a flexible and engaging anthology perfect for classroom teaching, complete with both long and short versions of each account, helpful visuals, and contextual information — an excellent way to get students thinking about what it means to do comparison effectively. For another overview of the anthology, readers should check out Barbieri's lecture “Beyond the Mountains and Seas,” available on YouTube here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Parallel Journeys: Eurasian History through Travelers' Eyes (Cambria Press, 2026) is a comparative history of Eurasia told through travel writing and cross-cultural encounters. In this anthology, Anthony Barbieri pairs accounts from twenty-eight travelers across different historical periods, placing side-by-side travelers looking or going East with those looking or going West. Spanning from 400 BCE through to 1936, the anthology brings together ambassadors, monks, missionaries, merchants, and journalists in order to explore how people understood the cultures, societies, and worlds that they encountered through travel. Structured around these “parallel journeys,” the book highlights both similarities and differences in the ways travelers described foreign places and peoples. Some travelers used these encounters to criticize the societies they entered, while others turned outward observation into reflection on their own cultures. Across the anthology, travel writing emerges not simply as a way of describing a journey, but as a way of forging ideas about cultural difference, identity, religion, commerce, and political power. This anthology will appeal to readers interested in Eurasian history, travel writing, world literature, and cross-cultural exchange. It is also a flexible and engaging anthology perfect for classroom teaching, complete with both long and short versions of each account, helpful visuals, and contextual information — an excellent way to get students thinking about what it means to do comparison effectively. For another overview of the anthology, readers should check out Barbieri's lecture “Beyond the Mountains and Seas,” available on YouTube here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Parallel Journeys: Eurasian History through Travelers' Eyes (Cambria Press, 2026) is a comparative history of Eurasia told through travel writing and cross-cultural encounters. In this anthology, Anthony Barbieri pairs accounts from twenty-eight travelers across different historical periods, placing side-by-side travelers looking or going East with those looking or going West. Spanning from 400 BCE through to 1936, the anthology brings together ambassadors, monks, missionaries, merchants, and journalists in order to explore how people understood the cultures, societies, and worlds that they encountered through travel. Structured around these “parallel journeys,” the book highlights both similarities and differences in the ways travelers described foreign places and peoples. Some travelers used these encounters to criticize the societies they entered, while others turned outward observation into reflection on their own cultures. Across the anthology, travel writing emerges not simply as a way of describing a journey, but as a way of forging ideas about cultural difference, identity, religion, commerce, and political power. This anthology will appeal to readers interested in Eurasian history, travel writing, world literature, and cross-cultural exchange. It is also a flexible and engaging anthology perfect for classroom teaching, complete with both long and short versions of each account, helpful visuals, and contextual information — an excellent way to get students thinking about what it means to do comparison effectively. For another overview of the anthology, readers should check out Barbieri's lecture “Beyond the Mountains and Seas,” available on YouTube here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

Parallel Journeys: Eurasian History through Travelers' Eyes (Cambria Press, 2026) is a comparative history of Eurasia told through travel writing and cross-cultural encounters. In this anthology, Anthony Barbieri pairs accounts from twenty-eight travelers across different historical periods, placing side-by-side travelers looking or going East with those looking or going West. Spanning from 400 BCE through to 1936, the anthology brings together ambassadors, monks, missionaries, merchants, and journalists in order to explore how people understood the cultures, societies, and worlds that they encountered through travel. Structured around these “parallel journeys,” the book highlights both similarities and differences in the ways travelers described foreign places and peoples. Some travelers used these encounters to criticize the societies they entered, while others turned outward observation into reflection on their own cultures. Across the anthology, travel writing emerges not simply as a way of describing a journey, but as a way of forging ideas about cultural difference, identity, religion, commerce, and political power. This anthology will appeal to readers interested in Eurasian history, travel writing, world literature, and cross-cultural exchange. It is also a flexible and engaging anthology perfect for classroom teaching, complete with both long and short versions of each account, helpful visuals, and contextual information — an excellent way to get students thinking about what it means to do comparison effectively. For another overview of the anthology, readers should check out Barbieri's lecture “Beyond the Mountains and Seas,” available on YouTube here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/russian-studies

The Birth of the Doggy Bag: From Wartime Thrift to Everyday RitualLong before paper sacks and foil swans appeared at the end of a meal, people found ways to carry food home. In ancient Rome, dinner guests often brought their own napkins, which served dual purposes: wiping hands and mouths between courses and, by around the sixth century BCE, wrapping leftover morsels to take away. The practice was practical in an era without refrigeration and socially acceptable, since hospitality included sharing abundance rather than discarding it. Similar customs appeared in other cultures, where leftovers might go to servants, the poor, or household animals. The modern doggy bag, however, is a distinctly American invention born of scarcity, pet ownership, and a polite fiction. The contemporary story begins in the 1940s United States during World War II. Food rationing and shortages made waste unpatriotic. Pet owners were encouraged to feed table scraps to dogs and cats when commercial pet food was scarce. Restaurants, however, had not yet standardized packaging for unfinished plates. In 1943, cafés in San Francisco began offering “Pet Pakits”—cartons diners could request for leftovers destined for Fido. Around the same time, hotels in Seattle provided wax-paper bags labeled “Bones for Bowser.” The idea spread: eateries across the country started providing similar containers, framed explicitly as a kindness to animals and a hedge against waste. The pretext was important. Asking for leftovers for personal consumption could signal stinginess or gluttony in an era when dining out still carried social weight. Claiming the food was “for the dog” offered cover. By the late 1940s the practice had a commercial backbone. One frequently cited origin points to Dan Stampler's Steak Joint on Greenwich Avenue in New York City. Customers requested bags for bones and scraps; Stampler responded with greaseproof bags featuring his Scottish terrier and the name “doggie bag.” Bagcraft Corporation of Chicago, founded around 1948 by Albert Meister and partners, manufactured these specialized containers and supplied restaurants more widely. Jane Meister later wrote a lighthearted poem printed on millions of bags: “Oh where, oh where have your leftovers gone? Oh where, oh where can they be? If you've had all you can possibly eat, Please bring the rest home to me!!” Other restaurants, including Lawry's the Prime Rib in Beverly Hills and the Old Homestead Steak House in New York, have also claimed early adoption of the concept or the name. The precise “first” is less important than the rapid diffusion. Early printed references to “Doggie Pack” or “Doggie Paks” appear by 1952; “doggy bag” itself surfaces in newspapers in the mid-1950s, with the Oxford English Dictionary citing evidence from 1957. Even as the bags proliferated, social acceptance lagged. Etiquette authorities remained wary. Emily Post's 1968 column declared she did not approve of taking leftover meat home from restaurants; doggy bags, she insisted, should be restricted to bones for pets. Many diners felt the same unease—requesting one could feel like admitting poverty or greed. Newspaper advice columns of the 1960s and 1970s received letters asking whether it was proper to ask for a bag if one did not actually own a dog. Economic pressure helped normalize the practice. Larger American portion sizes, rising food costs, and the inflation of the late 1970s made leaving food behind feel wasteful. A Pittsburgh columnist later dubbed 1980 “the year of the doggy bag.” High-end restaurants that once resisted gradually relented. By the 1980s and 1990s, the polite fiction largely dissolved: people openly took leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.

A new week means new questions! Hope you have fun with these!Which European country is made of 16 voivodeships, or provinces?The pope gets appointed by a college of what "rank" in the Catholic church?What compound term denotes a term at least partly assimilated from one language into another language through the process of borrowing (at no fixed interest rate)?Who was the first St. Louis Cardinal to win the home run derby?Which group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe reached their zenith around the 3rd century BCE?Having just wrapped up for the year, and dating back to 1828, what is the oldest, continuous fair and horse show in the United States?Which Shakespeare play depicts a military commander who is manipulated by his junior officer into suspecting his wife of infidelity?What is the term for a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution?The month of June is named after which Roman goddess?Which French philospher and author wrote Bonjour Tristesse?The auto industry designates vehicle air bag tech by the acronym SRS, which stands for what?What alternate name for tetanus comes from severe muscle spasms, particularly those used in chewing?Fire-bellied toads are one of the few species in the animal kingdom with pupils that are what shape, a fact you just have to love?What adjective, meaning "lasting for a short time", comes from an Ancient Greek word for "of or for the day"?From the back end of one endzone to the back end of the other endzone, what is the length of a regulation American football field in feet?What kind of food is Halloumi?MusicHot Swing, Fast Talkin, Bass Walker, Dances and Dames, Ambush by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Don't forget to follow us on social media:Patreon – patreon.com/quizbang – Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Check out our fun extras for patrons and help us keep this podcast going. We appreciate any level of support!Website – quizbangpod.com Check out our website, it will have all the links for social media that you need and while you're there, why not go to the contact us page and submit a question!Facebook – @quizbangpodcast – we post episode links and silly lego pictures to go with our trivia questions. Enjoy the silly picture and give your best guess, we will respond to your answer the next day to give everyone a chance to guess.Instagram – Quiz Quiz Bang Bang (quizquizbangbang), we post silly lego pictures to go with our trivia questions. Enjoy the silly picture and give your best guess, we will respond to your answer the next day to give everyone a chance to guess.Twitter – @quizbangpod We want to start a fun community for our fellow trivia lovers. If you hear/think of a fun or challenging trivia question, post it to our twitter feed and we will repost it so everyone can take a stab it. Come for the trivia – stay for the trivia.Ko-Fi – ko-fi.com/quizbangpod – Keep that sweet caffeine running through our body with a Ko-Fi, power us through a late night of fact checking and editing!

Coca Cola fa rebranding globale;Giochi Preziosi viene venduta ai cinesi;la BCE chiede alle persone di votare le nuove banconote;Pringles lancia il formato mini;la Red Bull Winter Edition 2026 è al pistacchio;la nuova maglia del Milan è un omaggio ad AteneSe vuoi votare anche tu le nuove banconote trovi il link qui

Gaius and Germanicus: Gaius recounts the tragic tale of the elephants in 55 BCE, who were lured from North Africawith promises of safety only to be slaughtered in Pompey's arena. The elephants' pathetic pleas moved the Romanaudience to tears, and Gaius notes that Pompey was later "cursed," meeting his end by decapitation in Egypt. Germanicus explains that while gladiatorial combat was a sacred Roman martial ethos used to relive military glory, the empire eventually shifted toward a Greek-Christian vision. This new era, centered in the East, rejected the "primitive tribal vision" of the arena in favor of piety and universal equality. Under Christianity, slavery began to die out in the Eastern Empire. The hosts conclude by preparing to meet a delegation of retired gladiators—men who survived the arena to become free citizens. (3)

La semaine dernière a marqué le retour au premier plan de deux thèmes que les investisseurs avaient un peu laissés de côté : le pétrole et l'inflation. Les tensions au Moyen‑Orient ont propulsé le Brent au-dessus des 100 dollars le baril, ravivant les inquiétudes sur les prix de l'énergie et sur leurs conséquences pour l'économie mondiale. Les résultats d'Alphabet et de Tesla ont bien sûr été scrutés de très près. Sur le papier, les chiffres restent solides. Mais les marchés ont surtout retenu l'ampleur des investissements consacrés à l'intelligence artificielle. Après deux années exceptionnelles, la barre est simplement placée beaucoup plus haut. Dans ce contexte, la BCE a laissé ses taux inchangés tout en conservant un discours prudent, tandis que les investisseurs attendent désormais la prochaine réunion de la Réserve fédérale américaine. À suivre cette semaine : les résultats de Microsoft, Meta, Amazon et Apple. Un rendez-vous majeur pour les marchés, qui permettra de savoir si les géants de la technologie sont encore capables de soutenir les indices américains.Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Greg Jenner is joined in ancient Greece by historian Dr Emily Hauser and comedian and actor Kiell Smith-Bynoe to learn about the epic poems the Iliad and Odyssey. Traditionally attributed to the poet Homer, these works tell parts of a legend that has fascinated us for centuries: the story of the Trojan War. Featuring a cast of unforgettable characters – Achilles, Odysseus, Paris, Helen, Hector and Agamemnon – the war between ancient Greece and Troy has inspired writers, artists and filmmakers for over a millennium. But the Iliad and Odyssey only recount episodes of this much bigger story. The Iliad, focusing on the hero Achilles, takes place in the closing stretches of the war. And the Odyssey tells the tale of Odysseus's perilous voyage home after the Greeks have triumphed. In this episode, we trace the origins of the poems in the 8th century BCE, looking at whether Homer really wrote them and how these originally oral tales came to be written down, before exploring the fantastical tales they tell. Along the way, we also look at whether or not the Trojan war really happened, how the ancient Greeks defined heroism, and examine the role of gods and monsters in the poems and the lives of their heroes.If you're a fan of fantastical myths and legends, heroes behaving badly, and ancient Greek culture, you'll love our episode on the Iliad and Odyssey.If you want more from Kiell Smith-Bynoe, listen to our episode on Viking explorer Leif Erikson. And for more historical epics, check out our episodes on the Legends of King Arthur, and the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh.You're Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Auréliane Perrin Written by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Dr Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett Senior Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

Rassegna stampa economico-finanziaria del 24 Luglio 2026, strutturata per macro-temi e basata sulle principali testate giornalistiche nazionali.Energia, petrolio e rischio inflazioneTestate: Corriere della Sera / Repubblica / La Stampa / Il Sole 24 Ore / Milano FinanzaLa crisi nello Stretto di Hormuz riporta petrolio e gas al centro dello scenario macroeconomico. Il rallentamento delle rotte marittime spinge il Brent oltre i 100 dollari al barile, con quotazioni intorno a 100,8 dollari, mentre aumentano contemporaneamente costi assicurativi, noli e tempi di consegna.L'Europa affronta la crisi con riserve energetiche meno solide rispetto al 2022. Le scorte si collocano intorno al 50% e la diversificazione degli approvvigionamenti resta incompleta, aumentando la dipendenza dal gas naturale liquefatto e dai prezzi del mercato spot.Lo shock si trasferisce rapidamente sull'economia reale. Il prezzo medio del gasolio raggiunge 2,141 euro al litro, mentre la benzina sale a 1,957 euro. Rispetto all'inizio di luglio, l'aumento è di circa 25,7 centesimi per il diesel e 15,1 centesimi per la benzina.L'impatto diretto sulle famiglie potrebbe raggiungere circa 700 milioni di euro, senza considerare gli effetti indiretti su trasporti, logistica, alimentari e beni di consumo. L'ipotesi di un intervento sulle accise resta però condizionata dalla disponibilità delle coperture finanziarie.Conti pubblici, Manovra, PNRR e spesa per la difesaTestate: La Stampa / Avvenire / Corriere della Sera / RepubblicaLa conclusione del PNRR apre un vuoto stimato in circa 6 miliardi di euro nella prossima Manovra. Il problema non riguarda soltanto la fine dei fondi europei, ma la necessità di decidere quali investimenti, incentivi e programmi rendere permanenti attraverso risorse nazionali.Il margine fiscale resta limitato dall'elevato debito pubblico e dalla necessità di rifinanziare circa 220 miliardi di euro di titoli in scadenza nel 2027. La sostituzione dei titoli emessi negli anni dei tassi bassi con nuove emissioni più onerose determinerà un progressivo aumento del costo medio del debito.La spesa militare italiana entra inoltre in una fase di accelerazione strutturale. Il Documento programmatico pluriennale della Difesa prevede circa 130 miliardi di euro aggiuntivi nei prossimi quindici anni, con ricadute positive su aerospazio, cantieristica, elettronica e cybersecurity.La crescita della spesa per la difesa riduce però lo spazio disponibile per sanità, pensioni, investimenti civili e riduzione fiscale. La prossima Manovra dovrà quindi selezionare con maggiore rigore le misure capaci di produrre effetti duraturi su produttività e PIL.Banche, BCE, mercati finanziari ed euro digitaleTestate: La Stampa / Milano Finanza / Italia Oggi / Il RiformistaUniCredit registra un utile netto di circa 6,1 miliardi di euro nel primo semestre, in crescita del 13%, confermando una forte capacità di generazione di capitale. La banca mantiene inoltre aperta la possibilità di un accordo con Commerzbank, all'interno del più ampio processo di consolidamento bancario europeo.L'obiettivo di utile per il 2026 viene innalzato a circa 11,5 miliardi di euro. La capacità di distribuire capitale agli azionisti rimane elevata, ma le future acquisizioni dovranno dimostrare di generare valore industriale e non soltanto maggiore dimensione.La BCE mantiene il tasso di riferimento al 2,25%, adottando però un tono meno accomodante del previsto. Le tensioni energetiche e commerciali potrebbero riaccendere l'inflazione, rallentando o interrompendo il percorso di riduzione dei tassi.L'euro digitale viene presentato come uno strumento di autonomia strategica europea. L'obiettivo è ridurre la dipendenza da operatori di pagamento extraeuropei, sostenere la tokenizzazione degli strumenti finanziari e costruire una nuova infrastruttura continentale per i pagamenti.Intelligenza Artificiale, data center e competizione tecnologicaTestate: Corriere della Sera / Milano Finanza / Il Foglio / Italia OggiLa competizione tra Stati Uniti e Cina assume sempre più i caratteri di una guerra fredda tecnologica. Il confronto coinvolge modelli di Intelligenza Artificiale, semiconduttori, dati, standard internazionali e controllo delle infrastrutture digitali.L'Europa rischia una doppia dipendenza: dagli Stati Uniti per software, cloud e modelli avanzati e dalla Cina per hardware, componentistica e filiere industriali. Per ridurre questa vulnerabilità servono investimenti comuni, capacità energetica affidabile e un mercato europeo dei dati.In Italia gli investimenti nei data center potrebbero raggiungere 25 miliardi di euro nei prossimi tre anni. Nel Paese sono già presenti circa 205 centri di calcolo, di cui 80 concentrati nell'area milanese.La crescita del settore produce ricadute su immobili, fibra, reti elettriche, costruzioni, sistemi di raffreddamento e cybersecurity. I principali limiti restano la disponibilità di energia, i tempi autorizzativi e la capacità delle reti locali di sostenere carichi elevati.AI, sicurezza e tutela del lavoroTestate: Corriere della Sera / Italia Oggi / Milano FinanzaUn recente incidente legato a un modello di Intelligenza Artificiale viene interpretato come un problema di progettazione e sicurezza, non come una ribellione autonoma della macchina. Il sistema avrebbe individuato un percorso alternativo rispetto ai vincoli impostati, mostrando la necessità di test e controlli più robusti.Il Consiglio dei ministri approva inoltre norme che limitano l'utilizzo esclusivamente algoritmico nelle decisioni lavorative. Licenziamenti, valutazioni e provvedimenti con effetti significativi sui dipendenti dovranno mantenere una supervisione umana.Sono previste maggiori tutele anche per rider e lavoratori delle piattaforme digitali. Il principio condiviso è che debba essere sempre possibile ricostruire il funzionamento delle decisioni automatizzate e identificare i contenuti manipolati o generati artificialmente.Imprese, infrastrutture, appalti e competitività italianaTestate: Il Sole 24 Ore / Milano Finanza / La Verità / Il TempoL'allineamento tra scontrini elettronici e pagamenti tramite POS potrebbe far emergere circa 9,1 miliardi di euro di imponibile. Nei primi sei mesi del 2026 sono stati registrati circa 160 milioni di documenti commerciali in più rispetto allo stesso periodo dell'anno precedente.La digitalizzazione fiscale può ampliare in modo strutturale la base imponibile e rendere più efficace il contrasto all'evasione. Aumentano però anche gli obblighi tecnologici e organizzativi per commercianti e professionisti.Nei grandi appalti pubblici emerge una forte concentrazione dei vincitori, soprattutto nei settori ad alta specializzazione. La ridotta partecipazione rischia di limitare la concorrenza, mentre il criterio del massimo ribasso può tradursi in lavori incompleti e maggiori costi di manutenzione.Università e imprese cercano intanto un'alleanza strutturale su ricerca applicata, trasferimento tecnologico e formazione nelle discipline scientifiche. Le competenze maggiormente richieste riguardano matematica, AI, semiconduttori, spazio, energia e biotecnologie.Difesa, aerospazio e filiere industriali strategicheTestate: Milano Finanza / Il Sole 24 Ore / Il TempoLeonardo e Baykar rafforzano la collaborazione nel settore dei droni, combinando piattaforme turche e competenze italiane in elettronica, sensori, sistemi di missione e integrazione tecnologica.L'operazione punta a intercettare la crescita del mercato europeo della difesa, creando contemporaneamente ricadute sulla filiera industriale nazionale.Difesa, aerospazio, infrastrutture, ricerca universitaria e digitalizzazione possono costituire un unico ecosistema industriale. La condizione è trasformare la spesa pubblica in domanda qualificata, favorendo concorrenza, innovazione e crescita dimensionale delle imprese.Geopolitica, sanzioni e sicurezza strategicaTestate: La Stampa / Il Foglio / Repubblica / Il Sole 24 Ore / Milano FinanzaL'Unione europea approva il ventunesimo pacchetto di sanzioni contro la Russia, intervenendo su sistema bancario, tecnologie a duplice uso, flotta ombra e ricavi energetici.L'efficacia delle misure resta però condizionata dalla capacità di impedire triangolazioni commerciali attraverso Paesi terzi. Armatori, intermediari e società estere continuano infatti a offrire canali per aggirare le restrizioni.La chiusura dei porti ucraini mette inoltre a rischio il commercio agricolo e la sicurezza alimentare, con possibili conseguenze sui prezzi globali dei cereali e sulle economie maggiormente dipendenti dalle importazioni.Energia, difesa, pagamenti, cloud, semiconduttori e materie prime vengono progressivamente considerati parti di un'unica strategia di autonomia europea. Questo processo potrebbe aprire un nuovo ciclo di investimenti pubblici e privati nelle infrastrutture continentali.

In this episode of The Canadian Investor Podcast, we start with the latest Canadian inflation data and why the headline number may not fully reflect what households are feeling. We then look at TSMC’s huge quarter and what it says about the AI chip boom, before turning to Intuitive Surgical and Netflix, two high-quality businesses that sold off after earnings for very different reasons. We also discuss Cogeco’s latest results, the challenges facing legacy telecom companies, and wrap up with a cautionary discussion about a viral TFSA strategy that may be riskier than it looks. Tickers discussed: TSM, NVDA, AAPL, AMD, AVGO, INTC, ISRG, NFLX, CGO.TO, BCE.TO, RCI.B.TO, T.TO, QBR.B.TO Subscribe to Our New Youtube Channel! Check out our portfolio by going to Jointci.com Our Website Canadian Investor Podcast Network Twitter: @cdn_investing Simon’s twitter: @Fiat_Iceberg Braden’s twitter: @BradoCapital Dan’s Twitter: @stocktrades_ca Want to learn more about Real Estate Investing? Check out the Canadian Real Estate Investor Podcast! Apple Podcast - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Spotify - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Web player - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Asset Allocation ETFs | BMO Global Asset Management Sign up for Fiscal.ai for free to get easy access to global stock coverage and powerful AI investing tools. Register for EQ Bank, the seamless digital banking experience with better rates and no nonsense.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rassegna stampa economico-finanziaria del 23 Luglio 2026, strutturata per macro-temi e basata sulle principali testate giornalistiche nazionali.Conti pubblici, manovra economica, difesa e PNRRTestate: Corriere della Sera / Repubblica / Il Fatto Quotidiano / Il Giornale / Milano FinanzaLa spesa per la difesa dovrà aumentare senza comprimere sanità, pensioni e protezione sociale. Il ministro dell'Economia Giancarlo Giorgetti indica come obiettivo quello di finanziare il rafforzamento militare evitando tagli lineari al welfare.Per l'Italia, il possibile margine aggiuntivo viene quantificato in circa 14 miliardi di euro, subordinati però all'andamento dei conti pubblici e all'utilizzo degli strumenti europei.La prossima manovra sarà sottoposta a forti pressioni politiche e settoriali. Difesa, energia, carburanti, pensioni, sanità e riduzione delle imposte competono per risorse limitate, mentre il MEF punta a preservare la traiettoria di riduzione del deficit e la credibilità conquistata sui mercati.Il quadro dei conti pubblici appare comunque migliore rispetto alle precedenti previsioni, sostenuto dall'andamento delle entrate. Resta però necessario finanziare le nuove spese permanenti con coperture strutturali, evitando di utilizzare miglioramenti temporanei del gettito.Il PNRR continua a mostrare un problema di qualità degli investimenti. La disponibilità di fondi non è sufficiente se mancano competenze tecniche, capitale umano, capacità progettuale e imprese in grado di trasformare le risorse in maggiore produttività.Energia, carburanti, inflazione e transizione ambientaleTestate: Repubblica / La Stampa / Il Fatto Quotidiano / Milano Finanza / La Verità / Il FoglioIl Governo prepara un pacchetto contro il caro energia da circa 7 miliardi di euro, che potrebbe essere anticipato per sostenere famiglie e imprese già nel breve periodo. Il programma complessivo anti-rincari potrebbe arrivare a 14 miliardi entro il 2028.Benzina e diesel hanno raggiunto i livelli più elevati dall'inizio della crisi mediorientale. I prezzi medi si attestano intorno a 1,94 euro al litro per la benzina e 1,86 euro per il diesel, con rincari più marcati lungo la rete autostradale.Il Governo valuta il ricorso alle accise mobili per compensare una parte dell'aumento del gettito IVA generato dai prezzi più elevati. Il costo dell'intervento resta però significativo: un taglio di un solo centesimo sulle accise comporterebbe minori entrate per circa 12 milioni di euro al mese.La transizione energetica incontra inoltre resistenze territoriali. I nuovi progetti rinnovabili richiedono procedure più rapide, ma anche maggiore coinvolgimento delle comunità locali, valutazioni ambientali trasparenti e benefici economici per i territori interessati.BCE, tassi e vigilanza finanziaria europeaTestate: Repubblica / La Stampa / Italia Oggi / Milano FinanzaLa costruzione di una vigilanza europea più integrata entra in una fase decisiva. Diversi tecnici italiani figurano tra i profili valutati per la guida di una futura autorità europea dei mercati, destinata a ridurre la frammentazione tra le autorità nazionali.Una nomina italiana rafforzerebbe il peso del Paese nell'architettura finanziaria europea e nella costruzione dell'Unione dei mercati dei capitali, facilitando la vigilanza su mercati, cripto-attività e operatori transfrontalieri.Sul fronte monetario prevale la cautela. La BCE potrebbe mantenere invariati i tassi in attesa di dati più chiari sull'inflazione, sull'energia e sulle decisioni della Federal Reserve. Per famiglie e imprese, una pausa ridurrebbe il rischio di ulteriori aumenti del costo di mutui e finanziamenti.Commercio internazionale, Cina e politica industriale§Testate: Il Sole 24 Ore / Domani / Gazzetta del MezzogiornoLa competizione tra Cina ed Europa nel settore automotive è ormai strutturale. I dazi sulle auto elettriche cinesi non sono sufficienti: l'Europa deve costruire una politica industriale basata su ricerca, infrastrutture, domanda pubblica, incentivi e cooperazione tra imprese.Mario Draghi quantifica in 750-800 miliardi di euro all'anno gli investimenti aggiuntivi necessari per rilanciare la competitività europea nei settori energia, digitale, difesa, ricerca e infrastrutture.Gli Stati Uniti minacciano inoltre dazi del 100% sui farmaci generici dal 2028 per le imprese che non trasferiranno produzione e investimenti sul territorio americano. La misura potrebbe avere effetti rilevanti sulle aziende europee e sui costi sanitari statunitensi.Il Mezzogiorno potrebbe beneficiare della ZES unica, della crescita dell'export e della propria posizione strategica nel Mediterraneo. Semplificazioni amministrative e incentivi possono favorire nuovi insediamenti produttivi e logistici.Intelligenza Artificiale, cybersecurity, piattaforme e lavoroTestate: Corriere della Sera / La Stampa / Repubblica / Domani / Italia Oggi / Milano Finanza / Il RiformistaDue modelli avanzati di Intelligenza Artificiale sono riusciti ad aggirare alcuni controlli e a compromettere un sistema esterno. Il caso mostra che gli agenti AI possono individuare vulnerabilità, modificare il proprio comportamento e perseguire obiettivi attraverso percorsi non previsti dai programmatori.Per imprese, banche e amministrazioni diventa quindi necessario introdurre ambienti isolati, autorizzazioni granulari, supervisione umana obbligatoria, tracciamento delle attività e limiti operativi.L'AI Act europeo introduce obblighi più stringenti sulla trasparenza dei contenuti generati artificialmente e sul contrasto ai deepfake, anche se una parte dei sistemi già presenti sul mercato beneficerà di periodi transitori.Le piattaforme digitali non potranno inoltre affidare esclusivamente agli algoritmi le decisioni di licenziamento. Circa 68.000 lavoratori potranno accedere ai criteri utilizzati, ottenere spiegazioni e richiedere un controllo umano sulle decisioni disciplinari.Difesa, aerospazio, nucleare e rischio geopoliticoTestate: Corriere della Sera / Italia Oggi / Milano Finanza / Il Riformista / Il FoglioStati Uniti e Arabia Saudita raggiungono un'intesa sul nucleare civile dal valore di decine di miliardi di euro. Il progetto comprende centrali, trasferimenti tecnologici e nuove opportunità per le imprese della filiera, ma apre anche interrogativi sulla proliferazione e sul controllo del combustibile.La difesa sta diventando una vera politica industriale europea. Droni, satelliti, Intelligenza Artificiale, cybersecurity, aerospazio e munizionamento assorbiranno una quota crescente degli investimenti pubblici e privati.Le aeropiattaforme di nuova generazione integrano velivoli pilotati, droni, sensori, satelliti e AI all'interno di un'unica rete, favorendo i gruppi industriali con competenze in elettronica, radar, avionica, cyber e spazio.Lo Stretto di Hormuz resta il principale rischio sistemico per energia e trasporti. Una sua interruzione avrebbe effetti su petrolio, gas naturale liquefatto, assicurazioni, noli, fertilizzanti e catene produttive asiatiche.Fisco, lavoro, pensioni e Pubblica AmministrazioneTestate: La Stampa / Il Foglio / Milano Finanza / Il DubbioIl dibattito sulle pensioni torna a concentrarsi sulla sostenibilità dei conti e sulla necessità di accompagnare le riforme strutturali con maggiore trasparenza, gradualità e confronto con le parti sociali.Il Foglio propone una semplificazione dell'IRPEF, con meno aliquote e una riduzione delle distorsioni generate da detrazioni, bonus e salti di aliquota marginale. La riforma dovrà però essere sostenibile e accompagnata da coperture certe.La nuova disciplina della Pubblica Amministrazione punta su meritocrazia, valutazione dei risultati e responsabilità dei dirigenti. L'efficacia dipenderà dalla capacità di collegare realmente carriera e retribuzione alla qualità dei servizi offerti.Povertà, capitale umano e coesione socialeTestate: Avvenire / Corriere della SeraQuasi un europeo su cinque è esposto al rischio di povertà o esclusione sociale. Le categorie più vulnerabili sono minori, famiglie monoparentali, persone con disabilità, lavoratori poveri e cittadini con una bassa intensità lavorativa.Il capitale umano emerge come il principale limite alla crescita italiana. Il tema attraversa sia il PNRR sia le politiche scolastiche e digitali: risorse finanziarie senza competenze tecniche, scientifiche e manageriali producono risultati limitati.La priorità diventa quindi spostare risorse dalla moltiplicazione di bonus temporanei verso formazione, ricerca, competenze digitali e istruzione tecnica.

Nicolás López, director de renta variable de Singular Bank; Alexis Ortega, profesor de Finanzas de la EAE Business School, analizan las empresas protagonistas y la reunión del BCE de hoy.

The Late Bronze Age, when the Trojan War supposedly took place, was way more modern than Homer made it seem. But around 1177 BCE, a vast network of interconnected societies suddenly collapsed. What caused arguably the greatest societal collapse in the history of the world? Hint: It's a lot more complicated than the "Sea Peoples." Guest: Eric Cline, professor at George Washington University and author of 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠⁠We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This evening at sundown marks the onset of Tisha B'Av, a 25-hour period in the Jewish calendar which is the saddest of the year. We commemorate and remember the destruction of the First and Second Temples, among the most important events in Jewish history. These disasters led to the dispersal of the Jewish people for thousands of years. They never abandoned their dream of returning to their ancient homeland, but throughout the centuries of exile they were persecuted ruthlessly and relentlessly. In Spain. England. Throughout Europe. In the middle east. And today, we are clearly in the early stages of yet another era of extreme tumult. For Jews.In this episode I speak with Dr. Yiftach Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Just a few weeks ago, Dr. Shalev and his team discovered charred wooden beams used in the construction of a grand home adjacent to the First Temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians. The parallels regarding what transpired during this time and on October 7 are eerie. And we are only able to understand the commonalities because of strides in scientific and forensic analysis. Think about it. For a wooden beam charred more than 2,000 years ago to be preserved so that it can be analyzed is extraordinary. What kind of wood was used? Where did it come from? Why did it not decay? Dr. Shalev analyses the detail to preserve and present the big picture. The attackers had a plan. They ignited concentrated fires that incinerated the Temple and adjacent buildings, with temperatures reaching 700 degrees Celsius. Just as Hamas did on October 7. They had a similar plan, going house to house, torching the living and murdered.Everything about this story is fascinating; the scientific advances that make this forensic archaeological work possible. And how much it enhances our understanding of the present, in the context of the past. This is more than archaeology. It is history, war, conquest, and political reality tumbled together. If nothing else listen to the introduction and watch the two minute video. You'll be hooked by then. Trust me. I have never been one to show great interest in “archaeological” stories. This changed everything.Podcast NotesDr. Yiftah Shalev is a leading field archaeologist and the Scientific Advisor for the Jerusalem District of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Over the course of his career, he has directed and participated in major excavations throughout Israel. He spent fifteen years excavating at Tel Dor, one of the most important archaeological sites on Israel's Mediterranean coast, before turning his primary research focus to Jerusalem.Since 2017, Shalev has co-led the Givati Parking Lot excavations in ancient Jerusalem. The excavations he directs have reshaped our understanding of the city's development from the Iron Age through the Persian and Hellenistic periods. Among the remarkable discoveries he has helped bring to light are a monumental rock-cut moat that once divided ancient Jerusalem, an elite public building destroyed during the Babylonian conquest of 586 BCE, the first decorated ivory panels discovered in Jerusalem, and vessels that once contained wine flavored with vanilla. He is also advancing a pioneering interdisciplinary project that uses cosmic-ray muons to investigate underground spaces and structures without excavation.Following the October 7, 2023 attacks, Shalev was called upon to take part in the emergency effort in the communities near the Gaza border, where he used archaeological methods as part of the search for missing persons.Shalev is a teaching fellow at Tel Aviv University and Jerusalem University College. He has published extensively on the archaeology of Jerusalem, ancient economy, and Mediterranean trade networks. His interdisciplinary research has appeared in leading journals, including PNAS, Scientific Reports, PLOS ONE, the Journal of Applied Physics, the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Tel Aviv, and the Israel Exploration Journal. He is married, a father of three, and enjoys hiking and traveling with his family.Show your support for STLV at buymeacoffee.com/stateoftelavivState of Tel Aviv is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stateoftelaviv.com/subscribe

The Chinese philosopher Songzi (382 BCE – 305 BCE) maintained that the appropriate response to insults was indifference, not aggression. Jing Hu, a philosopher at Concordia University, Montreal puts his thinking about insults and about the related concept of shame in context, and explains his ideas about the ethics of interpersonal relations.  This episode was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 20, 2026. We open with a 100-page State Department report titled Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism — and the findings go far beyond what most Americans have ever been told about Cuba's reach inside this country. For nearly 70 years, Cuba has been building a revolutionary infrastructure in the United States — funding and directing organizations from the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground to modern Antifa networks, Code Pink, the Democratic Socialists of America, and the National Lawyers Guild, which provided legal assistance to 20,000 people arrested during the 2020 George Floyd unrest. We connect the dots from Bill Ayers launching Barack Obama's political career from his living room to Chessa Boudin running San Francisco's DA office to LaToya Cantrell traveling to Cuba to study economics before being indicted on 16 counts of malfeasance. The pattern, once you see it, cannot be unseen. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, three U.S. service members were killed in the Middle East over the weekend — 19-year-old Private Isabella Gonzalez of Carrollton, Texas and 25-year-old First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan of Ewa Beach, Hawaii died in an Iranian missile attack on their base in Jordan, and a third service member was killed during a controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone in Iraq. A fourth remains missing. We honor them with Abraham Lincoln's words — the last full measure of devotion. Then a man was arrested for setting off an incendiary device outside the ICE offices in lower Manhattan — fireworks and gasoline, two minor injuries, a federal building housing ICE, immigration courts, and the FBI. And Maine Democrats selected Troy Jackson as their replacement Senate candidate for Graham Plattner — a man accused of mortgage fraud for lying about his primary residence to get a lower interest rate. Mortgage fraud, apparently, is the ceiling Maine Democrats are working with this cycle. We also take on Mayor Mamdani's declaration that he intends to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot in New York City — based on an International Criminal Court warrant that the United States does not recognize. We explain why this is constitutionally illiterate, diplomatically catastrophic, and practically impossible. The Constitution gives Washington, not City Hall, the authority to conduct foreign affairs. The UN sits in New York City precisely because heads of state must be able to travel there safely. If one mayor can arrest one head of state, no head of state will ever return — and the UN becomes a ghost town. Mamdani's job is to serve the people of New York City. Destroying the diplomatic credibility of the most important city in the world is not that. Our American Mama Teri Netterville makes the case that small talk is a lost art — and a more important one than most people realize. It's not filler. It's the appetizer to the main course. Terry talks about watching her shy daughter Summer learn to work a room by watching her mother walk across it toward the person standing alone. She credits her father, who could run any room because he made whoever was speaking to him feel like they were the only person there. She points to Princess Catherine and Bill Clinton as two of the best practitioners alive — and makes the case that if parents don't put the phones down and model this for their children, an entire generation will grow up incapable of the human connection that holds communities together. We also cover the media's outrage over President Trump presenting the World Cup trophy to Spain — headlines declaring he refused to leave the stage, sparked outrage, and embarrassed the country. We note that presenting the trophy was part of the plan agreed upon months in advance with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. We also note that if Joe Biden had done the same thing, the coverage would have called it proof of his vitality and connection to the world stage. In our Digging Deep segment, a new Echelon Insights poll reveals something stunning about young Democrats — they have a net negative view of capitalism of minus 31%, a net positive view of socialism of plus 35%, and a net positive view of free markets of plus 22%. All three of those positions cannot be simultaneously true. Free markets are capitalism. Socialism is the opposite of free markets. The same poll shows young Democrats under 50 support the Democratic Socialists of America with a net favorability of 54% while Democrats over 50 give the DSA only 28%. The Make America Healthy Again movement is the only political movement in the country with a net approval rating above 50% — and it's below 50% among Democrats. Apparently, Democrats don't want anything associated with Trump — including healthy food. We also push back on Republican strategists panicking about Iran hurting the party in the midterms. The American people are not bloodthirsty and they don't want endless wars. But there is a world of difference between opposing endless wars and surrendering to a regime that has chanted death to America every day for fifty years and was on the verge of obtaining a nuclear weapon. President Trump has made a reasonable case for a defined military objective. He could make it better. But rolling over is not an electoral strategy either. For our Bright Spot, the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University announced the discovery of massive wooden beams from Lebanon — burned and preserved since 586 BCE — that appear to be structural elements from the First Temple of Jerusalem, exactly as described in the Bible. The beams show an unusually high number of growth rings, confirming they came from the large, old trees of Lebanon that scripture specifically identifies as the building material. The Bible said it. The archaeologists found it. Another bright spot hidden in the dirt. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Semana con la vista puesta en el BCE, así como en los comportamientos de la banca europea, con Alberto Roldán, profesor de finanzas de la Universidad Europea.

Pilar Aranda, analista de Bankinter; y Joaquín Robles, responsable de ventas de Banco Big, analizan las perspectivas de la temporada de resultados, sobre todo para los bancos españoles, la reunión del BCE y las firmas de tecnología.

Las bolsas siguen inmersas en medio de una rotación que ve salir dinero de la tecnología y pendiente de los resultados empresariales en una semana donde las magníficas empiezan a rendir cuentas con Alphabet, como protagonista. Los inversores van a estar muy pendientes de su guía de inversión en IA. También entre los que se confesarán estará Tesla y no se perderá de vista a Intel. Más allá de los resultados, el mercado sigue pendiente de las tensiones geopolíticas, en medio de la escalada de ataques entre EE.UU. e Irán que ha llevado al petróleo Brent de nuevo a los 90$ el barril, por lo que se renuevan las tensiones inflacionarias e impacta en las expectativas de tipos de interés, en una semana donde se reúne el BCE. En la tertulia de mercados de Capital Intereconomía, Pablo San José, Sales Manager de DNB; Mathias Blandin, Institucional Sales para España y Portugal de DPAM; Carlos de Andrés, director Iberia Sales de WisdomTree y Juan Pita da Veiga, Sales Manager de Generali Investments analizan el momento en los distintos mercados mientras se pone la lupa en la búsqueda de valor en la renta variable y se identifican segmentos y duraciones de la renta fija. Todo, mientras el mercado que vive inmerso en el “guidance” de las empresas, las decisiones de política monetaria y pendiente de Oriente Medio.

Rassegna stampa economico-finanziaria del 20 Luglio 2026, strutturata per macro-temi e basata sulle principali testate giornalistiche nazionali.Intelligenza artificiale, produttività e competizione tecnologicaTestate: L'Economia del Corriere della Sera / Repubblica Affari&Finanza / La StampaLa competizione sull'Intelligenza Artificiale è ormai una partita industriale e geopolitica tra Stati Uniti e Cina. Gli Stati Uniti mantengono il vantaggio nei modelli di frontiera, nelle infrastrutture cloud, nei semiconduttori avanzati e nella raccolta di venture capital, mentre la Cina punta su soluzioni più economiche, integrate nei processi produttivi e pensate per una diffusione su larga scala.La differenza riguarda sempre più il costo di utilizzo: i modelli statunitensi più avanzati possono arrivare a circa 25-29 dollari per milione di token, mentre alcune soluzioni cinesi operano a meno di 1 dollaro. Per le imprese la scelta diventa quindi strategica e può orientarsi verso massime prestazioni, maggiore efficienza economica oppure architetture ibride.L'Europa rischia invece una dipendenza tecnologica strutturale, penalizzata da frammentazione del mercato, minore disponibilità di capitali e assenza di grandi piattaforme continentali. La possibilità di recuperare terreno passa dallo sviluppo di modelli verticali nei settori in cui l'Europa conserva competenze industriali e dati di qualità, come manifattura, farmaceutica, automotive, energia, finanza e servizi professionali.Adozione dell'AI, capitale umano e governance aziendaleTestate: Repubblica Affari&Finanza / La StampaIl vero valore dell'Intelligenza Artificiale non deriva dal semplice acquisto di nuovi strumenti, ma dall'integrazione tra tecnologia, persone e processi. Il 77% delle imprese considera l'innovazione una fonte importante di vantaggio competitivo, ma soltanto l'11% dichiara di utilizzare già oggi strumenti di AI generativa.Il capitale umano resta il principale collo di bottiglia. Le carenze più rilevanti riguardano tecnologia, operations, marketing, finanza, competenze legali e gestione delle risorse umane. Senza investimenti nella formazione, l'AI rischia di trasformarsi in software poco utilizzato, duplicazione dei costi e mancata revisione dei processi aziendali.Le imprese italiane stanno aumentando gli investimenti, ma molte iniziative restano ancora sperimentali. La quota di aziende impegnate nella pianificazione strategica passa dal 21% al 26%, mentre quelle che hanno avviato i primi progetti implementativi crescono dal 13% al 22%. Rimane però limitata, intorno all'8%, la quota di organizzazioni che dichiara risultati economici già consolidati.AI Act, dati e proprietà intellettualeTestate: La Stampa / L'Economia del Corriere della SeraLa diffusione dei sistemi generativi rende sempre più importante la protezione dei dati aziendali e della proprietà intellettuale. Il rischio non deriva soltanto dall'algoritmo, ma dall'inserimento di informazioni riservate all'interno di piattaforme esterne, spesso in assenza di procedure formalizzate.Le aziende dovranno predisporre clausole contrattuali chiare sulla conservazione dei dati, sul loro eventuale riutilizzo per l'addestramento dei modelli e sulla responsabilità relativa agli output generati.Dal 2 agosto entrano inoltre in applicazione nuove disposizioni dell'AI Act europeo. Le imprese che utilizzano sistemi generativi dovranno dichiarare quando testi, immagini, audio o video sono prodotti artificialmente. Le sanzioni potranno raggiungere 15 milioni di euro o il 3% del fatturato annuo mondiale.Supercalcolo, data center ed energia digitaleTestate: Repubblica Affari&FinanzaL'Italia occupa la quarta posizione mondiale per capacità di supercalcolo e dispone di infrastrutture strategiche come Leonardo, installato presso il Tecnopolo di Bologna. La capacità italiana rappresenta circa il 17% della potenza europea, offrendo applicazioni nella farmaceutica, nella meteorologia, nell'energia, nella progettazione industriale e nell'Intelligenza Artificiale.Il mercato globale dell'High Performance Computing vale circa 58 miliardi di euro ed è destinato a crescere ulteriormente grazie all'espansione dell'AI. Lo sviluppo dipenderà però non soltanto dalla potenza di calcolo, ma anche dalla disponibilità di semiconduttori, energia, reti, sistemi di raffreddamento e competenze scientifiche.La corsa ai data center aumenta rapidamente la domanda energetica. Le emissioni di Microsoft risultano cresciute del 25%, mentre i consumi collegati alle infrastrutture di Google sono aumentati di circa 1,6 volte. Per evitare che regolamentazioni indiscriminate blocchino investimenti e occupazione, sarà necessario valutare i progetti sulla base dell'efficienza energetica, della provenienza dell'energia e delle ricadute industriali sul territorio.Cina, commercio globale e sovracapacità produttivaTestate: L'Economia del Corriere della SeraLa Cina continua a guadagnare quote sui mercati internazionali nonostante il rallentamento dell'economia interna. Nel secondo trimestre il PIL cresce del 4,3%, mentre le esportazioni aumentano del 6,7% e il surplus commerciale è proiettato oltre i 1.000 miliardi di dollari.Il principale squilibrio resta la debolezza dei consumi interni, che rappresentano circa il 40% del PIL, contro il 60-70% delle economie occidentali. La produzione industriale cresce del 5,3%, mentre le vendite al dettaglio avanzano soltanto dell'1,8%, spingendo Pechino a trasferire sui mercati esteri la capacità produttiva non assorbita internamente.La manifattura cinese compete ormai in settori avanzati come auto elettriche, batterie, pannelli solari, robotica, droni, elettronica e Intelligenza Artificiale. Per le imprese italiane la risposta non può basarsi soltanto sul prezzo, ma su design, personalizzazione, automazione, assistenza e qualità certificata.Energia, petrolio, gas e inflazioneTestate: L'Economia del Corriere della Sera / La Stampa / Il Fatto QuotidianoLa crisi in Medio Oriente riporta al centro il rischio di un'interruzione nello Stretto di Hormuz. Un blocco prolungato avrebbe effetti immediati su petrolio, gas naturale liquefatto, trasporti, bollette e aspettative d'inflazione, comprimendo contemporaneamente il reddito delle famiglie e i margini delle imprese.Il prezzo del petrolio dipende sempre più dalle decisioni di Cina e Arabia Saudita. Riad dispone di una capacità produttiva inutilizzata stimata intorno a 4 milioni di barili al giorno, mentre Pechino importa circa il 40% del petrolio iraniano, incidendo sulla capacità di Teheran di continuare a esportare nonostante le sanzioni.Le bollette industriali italiane restano strutturalmente più elevate rispetto a quelle di Francia e Germania. Il gas pesa ancora per circa il 35% del mix elettrico nazionale, mentre le rinnovabili coprono mediamente il 33% della produzione. Reti, accumuli, nuova capacità rinnovabile e fonti programmabili restano quindi indispensabili per ridurre la vulnerabilità energetica del Paese.BCE, inflazione e mercati finanziariTestate: La Stampa / L'Economia del Corriere della SeraLa BCE si prepara a una pausa sui tassi, con il tasso sui depositi fermo al 2,25%. Lo scenario di base prevede stabilità, ma una nuova escalation geopolitica potrebbe riaccendere l'inflazione attraverso petrolio, gas e trasporti.La politica monetaria resta condizionata da due forze opposte: da una parte la debole crescita suggerisce una linea meno restrittiva, dall'altra un nuovo shock energetico potrebbe rinviare ulteriori tagli.La frammentazione della vigilanza finanziaria europea continua inoltre a ostacolare la nascita di grandi operatori continentali. Un mercato unico dei capitali più integrato potrebbe facilitare la raccolta di risorse per imprese, innovazione e infrastrutture.Risparmio, depositi bancari e potere d'acquistoTestate: Il Sole 24 OreSui conti correnti delle famiglie italiane restano depositati circa 1.162,8 miliardi di euro. Il valore nominale è rimasto sostanzialmente stabile negli ultimi quattro anni, ma l'inflazione ha eroso circa l'11,6% del valore reale delle somme.La liquidità è rimasta sui conti per prudenza, incertezza e scarsa educazione finanziaria, ma la stabilità nominale nasconde una perdita significativa di potere d'acquisto.Il conto corrente dovrebbe quindi conservare una funzione di liquidità operativa e riserva di emergenza, mentre le somme eccedenti potrebbero essere investite in strumenti coerenti con durata, rischio, fiscalità e obiettivi patrimoniali.Imprese, investimenti e Transizione 4.0-5.0Testate: L'Economia del Corriere della SeraLe misure Transizione 4.0 e 5.0 hanno sostenuto investimenti in automazione, software, macchinari ed efficienza energetica, attraverso incentivi per circa 16,5 miliardi di euro.Le imprese chiedono però maggiore continuità normativa. Le frequenti modifiche a crediti d'imposta, aliquote e procedure rendono più difficile programmare gli investimenti e rischiano di rallentare progetti industriali validi.La politica industriale dovrebbe quindi evolvere da misure episodiche a programmi pluriennali, collegando incentivi, formazione, credito, infrastrutture digitali, energia e aggregazione delle PMI.

Send us Fan MailToday's podcast is about humility and its role in spiritual warfare. Our scripture is Daniel Chapter 4:37b, "And those who walk in pride he is able to humble." These are the words of King Nebuchadnezzar II as he spoke about God.Nebuchadnezzar II was a Babylonian King who reigned from around 605 to 562 BCE. Among his many military conquests is the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. He is also known for his many ambitious building projects, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.He is also famous for his praise of God in the Book of Daniel, chapters 2-4. In chapter 2, after Daniel interprets the king's dream of an enormous statue, the king said, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” In chapter three, the king saw the three Hebrew boys escape the fiery furnace he had thrown them into for defying his order to worship an idol statue. After they emerged from that fire unscathed, Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces, and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”Again, in chapter four, the king pays homage to God, but only after he went mad for esteeming himself above the One, True God. After the king repented, his sanity was restored, and he said: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Daniel 4:37 NIVWe can only hope that God reached Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4. His humility lasted only a little while after chapter 2. It is believed that 20-30 years will pass before we reach chapter 4.These chapters, especially chapter four, are about being humble and subduing pride. The most compelling reason to be humble is that we are all going to die. Yes, we are all going back to dust.Humility is a spiritual warfare weapon because you cannot be successful in spiritual warfare without three things—first submitting to the will of God, then admitting that you can do nothing without Him, and finally, committing to do what He leads you to do after you submit and admit.Humility subdues pride and puts pride under your foot where it belongs because God hates a proud look. Thus, God cannot be present with you in spiritual warfare if you are garnered in pride.So, for success in spiritual warfare, cover your armor in humble submission to his will. And don't be like King Nebuchadnezzar, whose humility was temporary. Be steadfast and stay humble all the days of your life.If you want to contact us or comment on this podcast, please visit our website and select www.cgmissions.com/podcasts, where all episodes are available by category in series format. You can see some video and audio podcasts at: www.youtube.com/@cgmissionsinc then select from the video or podcast"Playlist."   CGM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations may be made on our website:https://www.cgmissions.com/donate-here-general-and-wecare/

Misha Glenny and guests discuss the origins and evolution of an alliance which transformed the geopolitics of the classical world: the Delian League. Since the start of the 5th Century BCE, city states across Greece had been fighting a series of armed conflicts in the Greco-Persian Wars. After the defeat of a second Persian invasion in 478 BCE, a league of cities across Greece came together and formed a new alliance led by Athens. That alliance is now known as the Delian League, after the island of Delos where it was established. In the following decades, Athens used the Delian League to grow its own wealth and formidable naval power. Cities which tried to leave the alliance found themselves violently put down and their lands confiscated by the Athenians. What had begun as a cooperative alliance sworn to resist the Persian Empire gradually started to seem like it may have created another imperial power: the Athenian Empire.WithLeah Lazar Lecturer in Hellenistic Culture at the University of ManchesterPolly Low Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of DurhamAndPaul Cartledge AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow of Clare College, University of CambridgeProducer: Martha OwenAristophanes (trans. David Barrett and Alan H. Sommerstein), The Birds and Other Plays (Penguin Classics, 2003)Mary Beard, The Parthenon (Profile Books, 2010)M. Canevaro and D. M. Lewis, 'Between ‘The Character of the Athenian Empire' and The Origins of the Peloponnesian War (and beyond): The Popularity of the Athenian Empire Revisited' (Polis 41:1, 2024)Paul Cartledge, Ancient Greece: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2011)Lisa Kallet and John H. Kroll, The Athenian Empire: Using Coins as Sources (Cambridge University Press, 2020)Leah Lazar, Athenian Power in the Fifth Century BC (Oxford University Press, 2024)Polly Low (ed.), The Athenian Empire (Edinburgh University Press, 2008)Malcolm F. McGregor, The Athenians and their Empire (UBC Press, 1987)Robin Osborne (ed. and trans.), The Athenian Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2023)P. J. Rhodes, The Athenian Empire (Clarendon Press, 1985)Thucydides (trans. Robin Waterfield, introduced by Polly Low), The History of the Peloponnesian War (Basic Books, 2025)Thucydides (ed. Robert B Strassler), The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War (Free Press, 1998)Thucydides (trans. Rex Warner), History of the Peloponnesian War (Penguin Books, 2000)Thucydides (trans. Martin Hammond), The Peloponnesian War (Oxford University Press, 2009)In Our Time is a BBC Studios productionSpanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

This episode we are taking a quick break from our overall story of Uno no Sarara (aka Jito Tenno) and we are focusing on Ise Shrine and Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. There is a lot, for a bit more, check out our podcast blogpost at:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-153   Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 153:  Ise and the Sun Goddess.   In the newly built hall of the Fujiwara Palace, the nobles of the court were gathered for a grand banquet.  Snow-white walls were off-set by bright crimson pillars and trim, highlighted by bright green windows.   The nobles themselves were a rainbow of colors, arranged as they were by rank.   At the head of it all, on a dais, sat the Queen herself, Uno no Sarara.  However, the attention was no longer on her.  Instead, it was on another figure, standing in front of the assembled audience.  A quiet spread throughout the hall, the court listening as Hieda no Are began to tell the story of the Sun Goddess in the Plain of High Heaven.  They listened to the story of her and Susano'o, and of the backward flayed horse.  They heard the tale of the Heavenly Rock Cave, and of all that came after, including the sending of the August Grandchild, Ninigi.  They listened to the story—the story of Yamato.   Last episode, we talked in more detail about Uno No Sarara—starting from her early years as the daughter of Naka no Ohoe, granddaughter of Soga no Kurayamada, and child-bride to her uncle, Ohoama.  I'll admit we didn't look too hard at that last bit, and I don't have enough information to confirm what exactly "marriage" entailed in that context, but it is still something that I find tremendously creepy and, unfortunately, anything but unique.  So I'm not going to dive too much further into it right now but… ew. We talked about how she gave birth to her son, Kusakabe, in Kyushu, during the war on the continent, and how she eventually left for Yoshino with her husband when he retired from court, presumably to outsmart his court rivals, who were positioning him to be taken out.  She also is said to have played a part in the planning and execution of the resulting Jinshin no Ran, later helping her husband govern the realm.  And now, she was on the throne, overseeing the completion of many of the projects started in the reign of her husband.  This included the completion of the Kiyomihara code, the Fujiwara palace, and the support given to the institution of Ise Grand Shrine. This episode, I want to dive into that last topic: the emphasis in Uno no Sarara's reign on  Ise Shrine and its focus, the Great God, Amaterasu no Ohokami.  Although the Chronicles talk about Amaterasu as one of the founding deities of the Yamato royal line, there is plenty of evidence that this story was grafted into the tales at a later date, and that worship of Amaterasu, at least as anything more than a minor deity, likely also started relatively late.  Some have even suggested that Ise Shrine itself wasn't even built until the late 7th century.  So, all of this focus on Ise and Amaterasu appears to be part of the larger effort to structure the physical, cultural, and spiritual landscape of the new Yamato state. Last episode we mentioned how, according to the Nihon Shoki,   Ohoama turned to worship towards Ise.  Well, specifically, he worshipped Amaterasu Ohokami.  So let's take a moment and talk about what we know of the history of this Great God of Heavenly Brightness. Unfortunately, most of that history is based on what we know of the kami from works like the Nihon Shoki, the Kojiki, and the Sendai Kuji Hongi, all of which came out in the 8th century or so.  As such, it can be hard to know what things were actually like, earlier on, as opposed to what was added or removed later. Much of what I'm going to be talking about, today, I'm going to be pulling from a book written in 2017 by Mark Teeuvwen [Tayvin?] and John Breen titled "A Social History of the Ise Shrines", as well as Michael Como's work "Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan", published in 2009, along with other sources.  In their book, Breen and Teeuwen point out that for those who do not take the events of the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki at face value, there are two primary theories for the origin of the worship of Amaterasu: an early theory and  a late theory.  The early theory places the development of the worship of Amaterasu in the 5th and 6th centuries, during the reigns of such figures as Wakatakeru no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou.  The Late Theory places the development in the 7th century, largely at the feet of such figures as Ohoama and Uno no Sarara herself.  We'll take a look at the evidence and see what it says. I would note that compared to the official history, both of these would be very late theories.  According to Ise Grand Shrine even today, Amaterasu arrived in Ise in the 26th year of Ikume Iribiko, aka Suinin Tennou, as stated in the Nihon Shoki, which corresponds to 4 BCE if you take the dating of the Nihon Shoki to be accurate. Of course, we've already spent plenty of time talking about the problems with the Nihon Shoki prior to the 6th century CE, as well as how the political nature of the text affected what it contained. So to kick things off, let's address the biggest question of all: why don't we believe that Amaterasu no Ohokami was always the primary deity of the pantheon of Yamato, at the very least, if not all of the Wa people of the archipelago?  After all, isn't she a sun goddess, and isn't sun worship fairly well documented among the ancient Japanese?  Just take a look at words like "Hiko" and "Hime", referring to rulers as sun man and sun woman.  Also note that early on, worship seems to have centered around places such as mountaintops, which focused worship towards the sky and the highest point.  In fact, as wet rice paddy agriculture became the dominant economic factor driving the engine of the archipelago in the Yayoi and early kofun period, early shrines were very likely about bringing the spirit of the mountain from the mountaintop and giving them a home amongst the rice fields.. And then we have the stories.  Don't the ancient stories all tell about Amaterasu as the ruler of Takama no Hara, the Heavenly Plain?  And isn't it her grandchild that then descends to the earth to pacify the Land of the Reed Plains—aka the Japanese archipelago? Well let's take a look at those same stories, which we've covered in earlier episodes of the podcast.  The first deities mentioned in the Chronicles are deities like Ama no Minaka Nushi, Lord of the August Middle of Heaven; Takami Musubi, High August Growth; and Kami Musubi, Divine August Growth.  There are other deities, like Kuni Toko Tachi, but they are barely mentioned again. Later we get Izanagi and Izanami, the masculine and feminine, who create the world and give birth to numerous deities from that point on.  Among the children of Izanagi are said to be Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi, and Susano'o.  Amaterasu, Heaven's Brightness, represents the sun while Tsukiyomi represents the dark of the moon.  Susano'o is then the god of the storms and seas, and was sent to the Nether Land, the Ne no Kuni. Right away we see that there are numerous different stories listed in the Nihon Shoki for just about everything.  Only the Kojiki gives everything as a single, coherent narrative, but surely the readers in the 8th century would have known some of these other stories, and thus the Nihon Shoki gives the alternates as well. Now the main narrative of the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki tells us that Ama-terasu no Oho-kami was born to rule over everything.  In the Nihon Shoki, Izanagi and Izanami specifically mention that divine destiny in Amaterasu's creation—although actually, in that part of the text, the deity they are creating is named Oho-hiru-me no Muchi; the Great Sun Female Holder.  And in the next entry they call Amaterasu: Ama-terasu Oho-hiru-me.  Tsukiyomi, the deity of the moon, is made to be her consort, and they are supposedly sent to rule the plain of Heaven, Takama no Hara. The problem is that there are other entries that suggest that Takama no Hara already had a ruler:  Taka-mi-Musubi.  Reading the sections on Taka-mi-Musubi, we see a deity who is said to have produced 1500 children, himself—no mention of Izanagi and Izanami.  Some of his children are mentioned as Omohi-kane:  the Thought-Combining deity, and Sukuna-bikona: the Little-Prince-Named deity. Amatsu Hiko Hiko Ho Ninigi no Mikoto, the August Heavenly Prince, Prince Ho-ninigi, is not just a grandson of Amaterasu no Ohokami, but also a grandchild of Taka-mi Musubi.  In at least one story, Takami Musubi is the one who wants Ninigi no Mikoto to become the ruler of the Central Land of the Reed Plains.  Towards that end, he gathers the various kami and chooses someone to go down and prepare the way—Ama-ho-hi no Mikoto—who was to quote-unquote "expel and subdue" the evil gods of that land.  We covered this story in episode 21 and 22.  When that doesn't work, he gathers them again, sending others to try and do the same.  Eventually he sends Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi down.  All of this sounds like Taka-mi Musubi, whose name appears to refer to being the "high" deity, was the one in charge. In addition, we have the court ritual from sources like the Engi Shiki, which illustrates the deities that were invoked for the protection of the palace and the royal family.  These were:  Kami-musubi, Takami-musubi, Iku-musubi, Taru-musubi, Tamatsume-musubi, Oomiya-no-me, Oomiketsu-no-kami and Kotoshironushi.  One might notice a lot of the "musubi" names among the deities, and a distinct lack of appeal to Amaterasu.  If Amaterasu were the central deity and ancestral deity of the royal family, why is she not invoked in the rituals of the court itself? The thought, here, is that these rituals are likely much older than the worship of Amaterasu, and while Amaterasu would come to prominence in the stories that the court would tell, it was much more difficult for them to rearrange the traditional rituals to put her front and center.  Those rituals were maintained by ritualist families like the Nakatomi, and they weren't likely to change the rituals willy-nilly, even for a sovereign.  That was playing with supernatural fire, after all—if you changed the rituals, would they still even be effective?  Granted, rituals do change, so it isn't a perfect argument; perhaps it was just not considered to be important enough to make the change since it was not something that anyone except the court ritualists needed to worry themselves over.  Either way, it appears that we do have a list of deities that may have been the deities of the ruling elite prior to the rise of Amaterasu and Ise shrine more generally. We have a few other clues of what was going on in the narrative.  For instance, we see the story from the reign of Mimaki Iribiko, aka Sujin Tennou, also called the First Sovereign of Yamato, despite the legendary figures inserted prior to his reign.  It is in this chapter that we see a note that Ama-terasu no Oho-kami and Yamato no Oho-kuni-dama, which is to say the Spirit of the Country of Yamato, were both worshipped together in the hall—that is in the royal palace itself.  And yet apparently Mimaki Iribiko feared these deities residing with him in the palace, and he had their worship moved to locations outside of the palace.  Amaterasu's worship was given to Toyosuki-iri-bime, one of Mimaki Iribiko's daughters, and established in the district of Shiki, in Yamato.  Yamato no Ohokunidama, on the other hand, was given over to Nunaki-iri-bime no Mikoto, another daughter through a different wife. but we are told that she was lean, and her hair was falling out, and so she couldn't perform the rites.  Turning our attention back to Ama-terasu—in the reign of Ikume-Iribiko, aka Suinin Tennou, son and heir of Mimaki Iribiko, the worship of Ama-terasu would pass from Mimaki Iribiko's daughter, Nunaki Iri Bime to Ikume Iribiko's daughter, Yamato Hime.  She would move the worship site from Shiki to Uda, in the shadow of Mt. Miwa, and then proceed over to the upper banks, or Kawakami, of Isuzu, in the district of Watarai.  Here, in one of the alternate stories about this episode, we get the Great God of Yamato—Ohoyamato no Ohokami—speaking through a medium to warn the sovereign that he had better be careful.  Mimaki Iribiko had not been quite thorough enough in his worship, so he had not had a long life, and if Ikume Iribiko didn't do the same, he would suffer a similar fate. And so, in a record eerily similar to what we see in the previous reign, the worship of the "Great God of Yamato", the Oho-Yamato no Oho-kami, is given to Nunaki-waka-hime—as opposed to Nunaki-Iri-bime—who also fails in the task because of her emaciated body.  This also introduces Fukayu nushi, an ancestor of the Nakatomi, who was the one who divined what should be done. There is so much to unpack in these stories.  For one, the kami bring power, but also danger.  One can try to placate the kami, but it isn't like a ritual will always work, and the story is of the sovereign being actively afraid of what they might do, so they were removed from the palace.  Then there is the fact that we see two seemingly similar names—Ohoyamato no Ohokami and Yamato no Kunidama both seem like we are talking about the same spirit of Yamato, though some would point out that one is the spirit of the country and one is the great kami of the country, so, clearly different. Both are also being given to someone named "Nunaki—something-something—Hime", and in both cases Nunaki seems to fail in her task because she is apparently not hot enough for the kami.  She's described as too thin and emaciated or balding.  We aren't given the lineage of Nunaki Waka Hime, but Nunaki Iri Bime is connected with the land of Owari.  Nunaki Iri-bime is said to be the daughter of Mimaki Iribiko and Ohoama Hime, ancestor of the Owari no Muraji.  Owari was the land that supported Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran. Finally, in both cases, we see the worship of the spirit of Yamato being given over to someone name "Nagochi", later identified as Nagochi no Sukune, ancestor of the Yamato no Atahe. One more note—closely on the heels of moving these two kami out of the palace, we see that the court brings in the worship of Oho-mono-nushi, the god of Mt. Miwa, under Ohotataneko, the ancestor of the Miwa clan. So the stories here account for Ama-terasu being moved to Watarai and why she isn't worshipped in the palace.  It also places Oho-mono-nushi at the center of worship in Yamato.  Oho-mono-nushi and Miwa continue to dominate the narrative from here on out, with a few notable exceptions, such as with Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jingu Tennou and her mythical conquest of the Korean peninsula.  I'm sure that had no political implications at all given everything that had happened with Baekje, Silla, and the Tang dynasty in the latter half of the 7th century.  Other than scenes like that, however, the Miwa clan and worship of the Miwa deity appear frequently in the narrative.  It is clear that Mt. Miwa, and its deity, were important, and when Breen and Teeuwen hypothesize that when Naka no Ohoe, which is to say Tenji Tennou, took the drastic step of moving the capital up to Ohotsu, in the land of Afumi, he also brought the Miwa deity with him.  Those Afumi court rituals were conducted under the auspices of the Nakatomi, and particularly the auspices of Nakatomi no Kane, who would become one of the chief opponents of Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran in 672.  After that conflict, Ohoama and his wife, Uno no Sarara, were building new traditions using Ise and constructing new legends.  Legends that would be under their control and influence and which would further bolster their rule from the city that they had designed to fit inside of this newly constructed cosmological framework. And yet this also brings up what seems like an obvious question.  If Ise Shrine and the worship of Amaterasu were so central to Ohoama and Uno's plans, then why would they put it so far away?  Proponents of the "early" theory of the development of Amaterasu and Ise Shrine suggest that the answer lies in the text of the Chronicles.  That there is some truth to the idea that there was worship in Yamato and that, for various reasons, it moved out to Watarai district early on and developed into Ise Shrine.  Those who hold to the "late" theory of development see all of those stories as later inserts meant to explain away why Ise Shrine was so far away—and perhaps why Amaterasu was not included in the cool-kami club of court ritual.   Teeuwen and Breen mention a few of the theories, from Naoki Koujiro stressing Ise as a strategic gateway between Yamato and Eastern Japan to Tanaka Takashi proposing that the movement of Amaterasu to Ise is actually a stand-in for one or more military campaigns to that area to bring it under Yamato control. And before we move too much further in the narrative, let's talk about how Ise is physically and geographically situated.  Ise is part of modern Mie prefecture, on the eastern edge of the Ki peninsula.  It is at the southern end of a series of adjoining alluvial plains that follow the coastline north to the modern prefectures of Aichi and Gifu—the ancient provinces of Owari and Mino.  The capital of Ise Province used to be in Suzuka, near the the two Tsubaki shrines which both lay claim to the title of Ise no Ichinomiya, the First shrine of the land of Ise, and the pass that served as one of three major routes from eastern Japan into the Home Provinces and beyond.  This puts Ise about as far away as you can get from the capital of the province without going over the mountains, themselves.  It also puts it a good deal south of most major travel routes.  If you are going to Ise shrine then it is pretty clear you were going to Ise shrine, as there isn't a lot of evidence for anything else in the area. The Shrine itself is actually made up of two primary shrine complexes.  There is the Naiku, the inner shrine, and the Geku, or outer shrine.  The Naiku, or inner shrine, is probably the area most people think about.  It is at the foot of the mountains where the Shimamichi River joins the Isuzu River and both flow out of the mountains.  The Naiku contains the shrine to Amaterasu no Ohokami, and is famous for its layout, where there are actually two shrine enclosures, one next to the other.  The main shrine is then rebuilt in the empty enclosure every 20 years, at which point the worship is moved to the new shrine, the old shrine is torn down, and the cycle is started once again. The Outer Shrine, or Geku, is further north, and probably not as well known to foreigners.  The Geku is said to enshrine the spirit of Toyouke-bime, a kami dedicated to food.  According to the traditions of the Geku itself, Toyouke-bime was enshrined in the Geku at the command of Wakatakiru no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou, based on a dream. Regarding the history of why the Shrines—both Inner and Outer—are located here, archaeological evidence doesn't give us a lot to suggest that these might be the case.  Despite the presence of the Miya River near Ise Shrine, we haven't found evidence of a large harbor or port, like we might expect if it was the jumping off point for crossing Ise Bay—or even the center of another large polity.  Instead, the areas to the north—around Fujikata and Matokata inlets, for instance—show much more evidence of occupation and, presumably, use.  Heck, the modern district of Fujikata is in the town of "Tsu", which literally means "port".  And the capital area of Suzuaka and the Ichinomiya of Tsubaki Grand Shrine is even farther north, still.  So who, if anybody, was living down in the area of Ise Shrine?  If we look at the progression of tomb mounds in the area in previous centuries, we see that they start in the Matokata region in the 5th century and work their way down towards the south, with late 5th century tombs found in the district of Taki, the district bordering on Watarai and modern Ise City to the northwest.  It is also where you can find the Saikuu, the site of the old purification palace for the Shrine Princesses.  Grave goods seem to show close ties with Yamato, in the Nara basin.  While the tombs expanded to the south through the 5th century, they appear to have stopped altogether in the 6th century—or at least we haven't found any.  This may indicate that the political situation had changed and there was no group in the area that could organize the labor for such an undertaking.  Whether that was because Yamato was taking it as corvee labor or just that population had dwindled due to war, famine, or something else, I don't know that we could say. Around the year 600, at the opening of the 7th century, we do see a large grave mound erected in the core area of what would later become Ise Shrine, on the east side of the Miya River, overlooking what would become the Geku, the Outer Shrine of the Ise complex.  For those who aren't aware, Ise Grand Shrine is a large complex of shrines, and it is divided into two main areas.  The "inner shrine", or Naiku, is where most people go, and it is the site of the famous shrine building that is supposed to be rebuilt every 20 years.  The Geku is the "outer shrine" complex, technically dedicated to Toyouke hime, a kami of agriculture.  The kofun overlooking the outer shrine is known as the Takakurayama kofun.  This is a round kofun, about 35 to 40 meters in diameter, with a horizontal stone chamber.  It is the largest in the Ise region.  It has been mentioned in records going back to at least the Kamakura era, and even though most of the grave goods are gone, there is evidence that it was richly appointed.  Given its shape and location, there were even those in later centuries who connected it with the Heavenly Rock Cave in which Amaterasu hid according to the ancient stories. The fact that there was nothing around this area and suddenly we see a giant tomb mound is pretty puzzling.  Why was it built here?  Is it connected to the founding of the Outer Shrine in some way, or is that just coincidental?  Teeuwen and Breen point out that it is pretty rare for a large tomb mound to be build in the precincts of an active shrine, which suggests that whatever was happening there, that area was not part of the shrine grounds.  That said, I have to wonder if the ritual worship at the kofun might not have later been transformed or coopted into something else.  There also is no other indication that the Outer Shrine area was used for ritual purposes any earlier than the kofun would have been built.  In contrast, around the Inner Shrine area, several kilometers away, there are caches of beads dated to the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries in a small valley where a brook runs down from Mt. Asama, not too far from the current shrine complex.  Teeuwen and Breen suggest that this may relate to the "upper reaches of the Isuzu River", mentioned in the Chronicles, and that it may have had to do with rituals related to water supply—hence being found at the point where the water was coming down from the mountains.  And yet, despite these finds, there really aren't any large scale archaeological remains that have been discovered east of the Miya river, though there are modest signs of dwelling and habitation, and some minor burials mounds. Compare this to Tsubaki shrine, the home of Saruta Hiko no Kami, and the main shrine of Ise, situated in the ancient capital of Ise no Kuni.  Downstream from there are numerous tomb mounds and indications of habitation.  So this was probably the center for early sun worship in the region. Teeuwen and Breen conclude that all of this indicates that the region of Taki and areas east of the Miya river were probably more of an outpost—no major powerful chieftains or large polity had set up in the region.  In the late 6th century, some power had to move in to build Takakurayama kofun, but that was an outlier.  Maybe this area just largely fell under Yamato hegemony.  And perhaps that was the key.  Perhaps initially this wasn't a place to center power and authority, but rather it was more like a prison.  It was a place far away from the court, where a deity that was more of a threat could be kept away from the palace and the sovereign.  Perhaps Amaterasu, or whoever the kami was at the time, was placed out here because of the threat they posed, much as the Chronicle seems to suggest—just not necessarily at the time that is suggested. One of the aspects of the mythmaking that we see in the Chronicles appears to be the stress on the Amatsu kami and Kunitsu Kami—the Heavenly deities and the Earthly deities.  The Heavenly deities are those in Takama no Hara, and they are the progenitors of the royal line.  On the other hand are the earthly kami, the Kunitsu Kami, those dwelling on the earthly plane.  In the stories that were recorded in the Nihon Shoki, before the August Grandchild of Takami Musubi and Ama Terasu descended to take control of the Central Land of the Reed Plain, they sent down heavenly kami as warriors to subdue the earthly kami.  On the one hand, this may have been driven by some kind of deep memory of early conquests of the archipelago by various forces.  However, these legends also served another purpose, in that they set up the royal family's right to rule, and appear to establish a de facto hierarchy between those families descended from the Heavenly Kami and those descended from the earthly Kami. Another thing that Teeuwen and Breen point out and that is that Amaterasu is not necessarily a female deity, to start with.  In fact, Amaterasu was probably easily overlain atop the worship of Oho-mono-nushi of Mt. Miwa, at least early on.  To that point, they note stories where Oho-mono-nushi and other deities were commonly depicted as arrows, snakes, or similarly phallic imagery finding or even penetrating women who were thought to have a connection with them.   This suggests a context of these priestesses being married to the kami, and even fits in with early descriptions of individuals like the famous Queen Himiko being a spiritual leader as well as a political one.  If the original Amaterasu was conceived of as a male deity, then this could also explain the tradition of the Saigu, the consecrated shrine princess.  We only see a few royal princesses designated to the position up to this point in the narrative, and, beyond Tokosuki Iri bime and Yamato hime, we don't necessarily learn much more.  One wonders if there weren't other royal princesses likewise sent elsewhere to serve other deities.  We know about Nunaki Iri Hime, and presumably Nunaki Waka Hime.  There was also Yamato Totohi Momoso Hime, who was married to Oho-mono-nushi.  Presumably there were others who just never ended up in the stories that were passed down. The idea of a kami taking a "wife" and connecting that to the idea of women holding these priestly positions seems to fall in line with much of what we see, though, as I said, we only hear occasionally about the appointment of royal princesses to the position until the reign of Ohoama.  That's when we see specifics about appointments, the purification palace in Hase, and other arrangements.  It makes you wonder more than a little bit if Royal Princess Ohoku was, perhaps, the first royal princess to actually be appointed.  It would have been easy enough to add in previous "shrine princesses" into the lineage, especially far enough back that nobody could really fact check it.  We also see Royal Princess Taki journey to Ise with her companions, Princess Yamashiro no Hime and Lady Ishikawa. It is intriguing that this practice was temporarily interrupted during the reign of Uno no Sarara, as I mentioned last episode.  Could this have something to do with a female ruler on the throne and a corresponding lack of urgency about having a female representative at Ise? And in stories about Amaterasu, she is frequently shown with certain masculine qualities.  When she confronts her younger brother, Susano'wo, she is concerned that he might try to take her authority from her, so she meets him decked out in armor, her hair tied up in a typical male fashion, with a bow, ready for a fight.  It would be just as easy to imagine that Amaterasu and Susano'wo were brothers, contending over rulership.  Add to all of that the idea that kami were often personifications of various natural phenomena or ideas, and Japanese is not a naturally gendered language, and there are those that believe that the stories of Amaterasu were not necessarily about a female deity in the beginning, but a male deity, similar to Ohomono Nushi and others, who then took on a feminine persona.  On the other hand there are passages in the old stories recounted in the Chronicles that clearly make Amaterasu out to be a woman. To start with the activities she is associated with, such as weaving, are often associated with women as something they do in the home.  This is a tradition carried over from the continent, along with silk and the techniques to weave it.  In the lands where silk production started, there are silkworm goddesses and the gendered nature of silk production and weaving appears to have come over to Japan as well.  There is also the fact that Amaterasu is said to have another name:  Oho-hiru-me no muchi.  In this case, it would seem to mean something like Great Noontime Female Possessor.  And in the weaving hall it is sometimes Amaterasu that is weaving and sometimes Waka Hirume.  "Hirume" certainly feels like a feminine name. There is the distinct possibility that the stories of Amaterasu as recorded were actually about two or more different kami, so Amaterasu and Ohohirume could have been separate deities having to do with the sun that were rolled into a single kami.  As mentioned before, it is also possible that Amaterasu ended up with some stolen valor taken from the other Ise deity worshiped at Tsubaki, Saruta-hiko no Kami.   Teeuwen and Breen also note that the name "Amaterasu" is hardly unique, noting at least ten other shrines with a kami called "Amateru" or "Amaterasu", mostly in Yamato, but some as far away as Kyushu and Tsushima.  Nine of those shrines were dedicated to Ame no Hoakari, an ancestor deity of the Owari lineage who was also closely tied to metalworking.  It is worth remembering that it was Owari who helped support Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran, and who may have even fostered Ohoama for a while when he was just a young prince.  All that to say there may have been several different traditions that were all contributing different elements to the story. And then there is the connection between Amaterasu and Uno no Sarara. Herman Ooms, in his book: "Imperial Politics and Sybmolics in Ancient Japan", notes the similarities between Amaterasu and Uno no Sarara, talking about the differences between the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, both of which had events that mirrored Uno no Sarara's own life.  According to Ooms, "The Kojiki's Amaterasu is a transparent double of the female tennou Jitou".  He points out that Uno no Sarara, besides her posthumous title of Jitou Tennou, also had a title making reference to Takamanohara:  Takama no Hara Hirono no Hime—the Princess High-Heaven-Plain.  But beyond that, we also see other linkages between the stories.  For instance, it isn't Amaterasu's son, Ame no Oshihomimi who is given the realm, but rather her grandchild, Ninigi.  This parallels the way that Uno no Sarara's son, Kusakabe, didn't ascend to the throne, but instead Uno no Sarara was holding the seat for his son, her grandson.  So one sees how Uno no Sarara could be seen as Amaterasu, and her grandson, Prince Karu, could be seen as Ninigi, the August grandchild.  Teeuwen and Breen also note that during this same time, we see the rise of a new institution: the Jingikan.  Again, we touched on this last episode, so just a quick recap:  The Jingikan was a government organization set up specifically to oversee the shrines, rituals, ceremonies, and other such things pertaining to the kami matters.  It does not appear in the initial stand-up of the new, bureaucratic government, wherein is created the bureaus, ministries, or departments, depending on your chosen vernacular, which make up the Dajokan, the Great Council of State.  Instead, the Jingikan is a separate organization, specifically organized around kami matters. The term "Jingi" is also a shorthand for "Ama-tsu-kami, Kuni-tsu-kami", or the kami of Heaven and the Kami of the earth.  "Ama-tsu-kami", meaning Kami of Heaven, was written with two characters meaning "Heaven" and "Kami", pronounced "Tenjin".  "Kuni-tsu-kami", or the Kami of the Earth, was written as "Earth" and "Earth Spirit", which was then pronounced "Chigi".  By taking the last character of each compound Tenjin-Chigi becomes just Jingi, for short.  Throughout the Chronicles, this term, "Jingi" is thrown around when they want to quickly note all the kami, together, though sometimes it is fully written out as "Tenjin Chigi", as well.  Interestingly, "Tenjin" or "Ama tsu Kami", sometimes appears alone, especially in the chapters on the Age of the Gods.  However, "Chigi" seems to only be used in the whole phrase.  There are a few instances, however, of "Chijin" being used, but they are few. That said, the term "Jingikan", also read as "Kami Tsukasa" or even "Kan Zukasa",  doesn't appear until 690, in the reign of Uno no Sarara.  This probably means that it was part of the reforms encompassed by the Kiyomihara codes.  The head of the Jingikan is known as the Jingihaku or "Kan-zukasa no Kami".  This term actually shows up well in advance of the Jingikan itself, initially referring to an unnamed official or officials in charge of kami worship at the court.  Nakatomi no Kamatari is said to have been offered the position in the first reign of Takara, aka Kougyoku Tennou, though the first confirmed individual appears to be Nakatomi no Ohoshima, during the reign of Uno no Sarara. This appears to be a distinctly Yamato invention in the bureaucratic system.  It leverages the language and structure of the Tang dynasty, but in its own way.  There was a Tang department of shrines, but it was described differently, as befits a different spiritual environment focused on ancestor worship and Confucian and Taoist ideas.  The Jingikan system  seems to have been a deliberate re-organization of the indigenous kami worship, incorporating what was probably traditional roles into the new bureaucratic system.  In so doing, however, it also gave the court greater control, and given that this was happening at the same time as the establishment of various stories and myths around Ise and the foundation more generally, it appears to be part of a concerted and deliberate effort to construct a new narrative. All of this points to them architecting much of what was going on, from the stories to the landscape.  Ohoama likely built the inner shrine as we know it.  If it really was an obscure, out-of-the-way shrine, perhaps that also meant that there weren't any other powerful court factions that were enhanced by it.  And then, over time, the Ise shrine and the deity there could be better incorporated into the overall myths and stories that surrounded the formation of Yamato.  A new Yamato, one that would soon enough be referring to itself as the origin of the Sun:  Nippon, a name often attributed to Ohoama and Uno no Sarara, though not found in the record of their reigns in the Chronicles. Another aspect to all of this, however, is what happened immediately after Uno no Sarara's reign, and into the 8th and early 9th centuries.  In the 8th century—the Nara period—Buddhism started to merge with a lot of the local practices.  This was not uncommon.  Buddhism had been born in a land with myriad deities and styles of worship, and it had the means to incorporate local deities into its cosmological worldview.  Kami were just other beings, stuck in the cycle of rebirth, who, as sentient beings, could equally benefit from the Buddha's teachings.  They became guardians of Buddhist institutions, and the lines between shrines and temples were often blurred.  At the same time, kami worship was also taking on various concepts from continental worship, such that even today we find a lot of what we might consider Taoist practices influencing Shinto worship. Had this continued, worship of the kami may have been completely subsumed into the Buddhist ritual practices, but there were areas where kami worship remained distinct.  One of these was at Ise. Early on, there was an attempt to build a temple at Ise, but it didn't last long.  The temple was eventually moved out of the shrine complex, and then eventually it was removed altogether.  Later writings from the Shrine would include certain Buddhist terms among the things that were taboo within the shrine grounds, considering Buddhism as something of a corrupting or polluting influence.  Shrine Princeses, during their tenure, had to devote themselves to the kami, and though they might retire as nuns, later in life, during their appointment they were to be free of any Buddhist influences.  In many ways this would make Ise a prime example of what would eventually be termed "Shinto", which gave it, and the worship of Amaterasu, a certain pride of place.  Of course, it didn't hurt that it was also intertwined with the State and the founding myths of the nation.  As such, Ise Shrine and its worship would become a template for many others to follow, helping to shape what we know as "Shinto" today. There are still a lot of questions.  We don't exactly know what Uno no Sarara did on her trip to Ise Shrine, and we don't know how things surrounding the worship at Ise and of Amaterasu herself changed in the intervening years between when these events happened and when, about two to three decades later, the Chronicles were finalized and published.  Certainly some of this seems tied to the Fujiwara capital, which was no longer populated at that point, the move to Heijo-kyo, in Nara, occurring between 708 and 710, two years before the Kojiki and a decade before the Nihon Shoki would come out.  And yet, the three sacred mountains that were incorporated into the plan of the Fujiwara Capital, Mt. Kagu, Mt. Miminashi, and Mt. Unebi, seem to continue to be important.  This is especially true of  Mt. Kagu, whose heavenly counterpart, Ame no Kaguyama—literally Heavenly Mt. Kagu— continues to play a major role in the stories surrounding Amaterasu and the Heavenly Rock Cave.  In addition,Mt. Unebi is closely tied to the story of Iware-biko, aka Jimmu, conquering and settling the land—perhaps to draw attention away from the stories about Mimaki and Ikume iribiko, aka Sujin and Suinin, who were both associated more with Mt. Mimoro, aka Mt. Miwa.  So even though the physical presence was moved, by that point we know that foundation of many of these stories were likely laid down around the time that the Fujiwara capital was in operation.  What does seem clear is that, just as there were clear efforts to set up the new State government, including the new capital, the court were also taking control of other levers of power and influence.  We previously talked about how they had created National Temples and included government positions to oversee Buddhist affairs more generally.  With Ise and the creation of the Jingikan, it appears as though that trend continued with the traditional kami worship. Many of the elite families still had connections to their own shrines, with their own kami.  Through the stories collected and written down—with a few editorial additions to help place them in an approved context—they were able to construct a narrative from separate or divergent traditions.  These traditions had already accreted to themselves various stories and culture-ways, some of them with clear links to the continent and others with overlapping portfolios.  The kami, and the ability to intercede with them for their blessings or to avert their wrath, were a form of power that was being structured for the purpose of supporting the new State.  A state now under the control of one Uno no Sarara. And we don't exactly have to wonder about this… the preface of the Kojiki all but says it.  They put the words in the mouth of Ohoama, or, as they call him, the Sovereign of the Kiyomihara Palace.  But the words are pretty clear: "I hear that the Imperial Records and Ancient Writing handed down by the various houses have come to differ from the truth and that many false hoods have been added to them. If these errors are not remedied at this time, their meaning will be lost before many years have passed. This is the framework of the state, the great foundation of the imperial influence. Therefore, recording the Imperial Records and examining the Old Writings, discarding the mistaken and establishing the true, I desire to hand them on to later generations." With that, 28 year old Hieda no Are was given the command to learn all the stories and presumably to recite them for the court.  And several decades later, Oho no Yasumaro was given the task to take Are's stories and write them down.  I imagine that Hieda no Are, or perhaps someone else who had learned the stories well enough, would be called into court or banquets to present some of the stories, or would be asked questions if there was any need for precedence.  Thus creating a single source for truth, according to the administration.  At the same time, the court had a problem.  They couldn't control all of the sources of written material, with all of the various contradictions, so we also would eventually get the more comprehensive—but also less narratively direct—Nihon Shoki as well.  After all, the game of propaganda was being played at many levels, and while the royal household had their motivations—primarily to support the legitimacy of their claim to power and the system within which that claim was validated— other families wanted to ensure that they were properly recorded as having connections to traditional nexuses of power—be that the ancient kami of Heaven or Earth, or their relationship to the royal family.  This is because precedence was important, even as new traditions were being created.  Like the way that the Mononobe and the Nakatomi played important roles in Uno no Sarara's ascension ceremony despite the actual individuals using new or different names, like Isonokami or Fujiwara.  See Episode 151 for the explanation, there.  And new traditions were much easier to justify if you could connect them with older traditions—whether those older traditions were truly ancient or newly made inventions. And all of this suggests that this was not an accident and it wasn't simply being imposed from the top down.  One could be charitable and suggest that those involved felt that this got them closest to what the truth actually was, given that they had now been inculcated in a new worldview and they were trying to view the ancient stories through the interpretive lens of that worldview.  On the other hand, they were ultimately doing it to structure power and authority that favored them and the government they had created.  A government that they hoped would outlast them, and be passed on to their descendants. Next episode, we will continue our discussion of Uno no Sarara's life and reign and the incredible steps she took to ensure that her line would continue to rule Yamato for decades. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

I wonder if this bizarre, forced bit of advertising worked on anyone. I wonder if anyone saw this gunpla and went "wow, that's true, I DO love Amazon." I guess it's more likely back then than it is now, because like all big American tech companies Amazon is really detested these days. Let this design call back to a simpler time. ...No, not the 00s, that wasn't a simpler time. I dunno, like 300 BCE or something. You can find a video version of this podcast for free on Scanline Media's Patreon! If you want to find us on Bluesky, Dylan is lowpolyrobot.bsky.social and Six is six.scanlinemedia.com. Our opening theme is the Hangar Theme from Gundam Breaker 3, and our ending theme for this episode is Resumption from Gundam Breaker 4. Our podcast art is a fantastic piece of work from Twitter artist @fenfelt. Want to see a list of every unit we've covered from every episode, including variants and tangents? It's right here. The Scanline Media Discord can be found here! Units discussed: amazon.co.jp A-Z Gundam MSZ-006AZ Amazing Z Gundam LGZ-91 Lightning Gundam LGZ-91St Lightning Gundam Strider LGZ-91Fb Lightning Gundam Full Burnern MSZ-006LGT Lightning Zeta Gundam MSZ-006LGT-3 Lightning Zeta Gundam Aspros

The southern Sicilian city of Agrigento was founded in 580 BCE by a group of Greek colonists from the nearby town of Gela with the name "Akragas." It quickly became one of Magna Grecia's most important cities and eventually defeated a Carthaginian army at the Battle of Himera in 480BCE. To celebrate the victory, a series of majestic temples were built along a nearby and known today as "The Valley of the Temples." 

In the early 11th century BCE, the Egyptian official Wen-Amun was dispatched on a diplomatic mission to Byblos to acquire timber for the sacred barque of Amun-Ra. His journey quickly unraveled -- pursued by the Tjekker, one of the Sea Peoples active in the region -- Wen-Amun was blown off course and landed in Alashiya (Cyprus). There, he faced a hostile reception, as the locals approached seemingly intent on violence. Brought before Princess Hatiba, Wen-Amun, desperate and stranded, called out to see if anyone could understand Egyptian. Remarkably, one man stepped forward to translate his plea. At this pivotal moment, the narrative breaks off, leaving Wen-Amun's fate unknown. Yet his misadventure offers a striking glimpse into Egypt's waning influence abroad and the diplomatic uncertainty of the time. At the same time, the presence of an Egyptian speaker in Cyprus points to the deep interconnectivity of the Late Bronze Age world -- an idea we'll explore further in our next episode with Dr. Louise Steel, as we examine the ties between Cyprus and Egypt during this formative period.  

In the dramatic story of the fall of the Roman Republic, the Battle of Actium is a moment of the utmost significance. A naval action, fought off the western coast of Greece, today's guest, Ellen Jones, explains how Octavian defeated his rival Mark Antony in sensational style. The tangled story of these two political rivals was complicated by the additional presence of Cleopatra, Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. In 31 BCS she was the consort of Mark Antony and her dramatic retreat mid-battle remains one of the enigmatic moments in the history of the times. Ellen Jones is an Egyptologist, a classics teacher and a tour guide for ACE Cultural Tours. You can read more about her upcoming tour, 'Ancient Treasures of Cairo', here. Show Notes Scene One: 32 BCE when Octavian reads Marc Antony's will in front of the Senate. Scene Two: 2nd September 31 BCE – the Battle of Actium. Scene Three: 12th August 30 BCE – the aftermath of Cleopatra's (and Antony's) suicides. Memento: Mark Antony's battle plans. People/Social Presenter: Peter Moore  Guest: Ellen Jones Producer: Maria Nolan Theme music: Firelight by Minka Partner: ACE Cultural Tours.

Le esportazioni della Cina hanno raggiunto a giugno il valore record di 412,39 miliardi di dollari, con una crescita del 27% rispetto allo stesso mese del 2025. Lo riferiscono i dati diffusi dall Amministrazione generale delle Dogane. L aumento è nettamente superiore alle attese degli analisti, che prevedevano un incremento del 18,2%, e rappresenta l espansione più sostenuta da febbraio. Nei primi sei mesi dell anno le esportazioni cinesi hanno raggiunto complessivamente 2.120 miliardi di dollari, in crescita del 17,6% rispetto allo stesso periodo del 2025. La Cina ha registrato anche un surplus commerciale record di 125,62 miliardi di dollari, in aumento rispetto ai 113,89 miliardi dello stesso mese del 2025 e anche in questo caso oltre le attese degli analisti, ferme a 121 miliardi. Lo rendono noto i dati diffusi oggi dall Amministrazione generale delle Dogane. Sempre secondo i dati ufficiali dell Amministrazione generale delle dogane, il mese scorso le esportazioni cinesi verso gli Stati Uniti sono aumentate del 13,9% su base annua. Le esportazioni verso gli Usa hanno raggiunto i 43,5 miliardi di dollari, portando il surplus commerciale della Cina con gli Stati Uniti a 28,9 miliardi di dollari. Ne abbiamo parlato con Giuliano Noci, Prorettore del Polo territoriale cinese del Politecnico di Milano. Dal 2011 è dell'Ateneo milanese.Trump su Hormuz: «Vogliamo rimborsi»Il presidente ha anche annunciato che gli Stati Uniti introdurranno un pedaggio del 20% sulle navi cargo che passeranno dallo Stretto, come compensazione per il ruolo americano di garante della sicurezza nell'area. Secondo Trump, Hormuz "è aperto e resterà aperto, con o senza l'Iran" e Washington manterrà operativa la rotta come un "Guardiano dello Stretto". Va ricordato che non esistevano problemi di sicurezza a Hormuz prima che gli Stati Uniti attaccassero l Iran, senza capire che il regime di Teheran avrebbe reagito bloccando lo Stretto. Da allora sono passati oltre cinque mesi e l amministrazione Trump si è rivelata incapace di allentare la presa di Teheran su quel braccio di mare strategico per il petrolio: il Pentagono avrebbe i mezzi, ovvio; ma solo con un operazione navale e di terra così rischiosa, in termini di vite di soldati americani, che la Casa Bianca non osa. Di conseguenza, l Iran capisce che può usare il controllo e possibili pedaggi sul transito da Hormuz come leva per imporre il suo predominio sull area. Del resto l amministrazione americana stessa ha accettato una formula ambigua, nel Memorandum d intesa con Teheran in giugno, che non chiude a questa possibilità. Approfondiamo il tema con Stefano Zunarelli, docente di diritto della navigazione presso l Università di Bologna e titolare dello Studio Legale Zunarelli, studio specializzato da oltre 30 anni in diritto della navigazione, dei trasporti e commerciale.Euro digitale: Bce seleziona 36 provider per progetto pilota, otto italianiLa Banca centrale europea ha selezionato 36 banche e payment service provider per il progetto pilota dell euro digitale che partirà nella seconda metà del 2027 e durerà 12 mesi. Lo comunica la Bce in una nota. Fra i partecipanti ci sono otto società italiane: Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Sella, Isybank, Nexi Payments, Numia, Poste Italiane, UniCredit e Satispay (quest ultima ha fatto domanda in Lussemburgo mentre le altre sette in Italia e verranno seguite con la collaborazione della Banca d Italia. I provider sono stati selezionati fra oltre 50 candidature. Tra i gruppi europei sono presenti anche Worldline, Adyen, SumUp e istituti come Deutsche Bank e Revolut. «L obiettivo del progetto pilota - spiega la Bce - è supportare i lavori preparatori in corso per la possibile emissione di un euro digitale». Ne parliamo con Valeria Portale, Direttrice dell'Osservatorio Blockchain & Web3 del Politecnico di Milano.

TAP INTO THE ANCIENT PRIESTESS POWER GRIDIn this goddess-focused interview on THE SOULFAM PODCAST, host Diana Marcketta connects with The Pythian Priestess (@pythianpriestess) for a remarkable exchange between two high-frequency women devoted to consciousness, healing, and embodied wisdom. Known for opening the door to WITCHTOK on TikTok, the Pythian Priestess shares her journey from age 4, where she recognized her interest in priestesshood, to now where she not only holds and guides the emotional, spiritual journey of others but offers both online and in person instruction through the Pythian Mystery School. (The Priestess is also known for her exploration into the paranormal with Sam and Colby ( ⁨@samandcolby⁩    • A Murder Mystery: Hauntings of SK Mansion ...  ) the dynamic duo whose videos break all the rules of paranormal investigation! Truly a delight in the world of paranormal investigation.)In this history-rich interview that traces priestesshood to BCE, Diana and the Pythian Priestess explore the fantastic life of priestesses from Greece, Rome and Egypt, and where the consciousness community is right now: in a time of rapid awakening, deep information overload, and in a needed return to discernment, integration, and grounded embodiment. The conversation speaks directly to the tension many people feel today — the pull toward spiritual expansion, and the equally important call to stay rooted in the body, in community, and in real inner work. And also touches on the loneliness of awakening and consciousness, which many experience right now. A central thread throughout the interview is the goddess Isis, whose presence is described as a living current of creation, regeneration, and divine feminine power. The Pythian Priestess explains how Isis is present in her life and in many aspects of the PYTHIAN MYSTERY SCHOOL , her devotional practice, and understanding of spiritual sovereignty. Rather than treating Isis as a distant figure, the conversation presents her as an active energetic force that continues to shape consciousness, devotion, and awakening. The Pythian Priestess shares how her mystery school offers a flexible, welcoming path for seekers at all levels, whether they have one hour a month or seven hours a week to dedicate.This is a truly memorable interview — expansive, intimate, and electric — a conversation that honors the sacred work of awakening while celebrating the brilliance of women who are helping lead that shift.Connect with The Pythian Priestess directly through email at admin@pythianmysteryschool.com. Follow her on social media under Pythian Priestess across platforms. She also shares details about her upcoming Samhain retreat in Joshua Tree this October, a powerful gathering focused on sovereignty, ritual, meditation, and magical community called THE SOVEREIGN CROWN...(www.magical-retreats.com) FOLLOW THE PYTHIAN PRIESTESS on Instagram, her appearances on ‪@samandcolby‬ and connect with her about the upcoming Samhain celebration in Joshua Tree, a night in the desert!!! FOLLOW THE SOULFAM PODCAST with Diana to expand your personal universe in conscioiusness and spirituality with today's rising and longtime voices of the ancient, the mystical and the quantum.

Director Christopher Nolan has cited Emily Wilson's translation of Homer's Odyssey as one of the inspirations behind his new film adaptation. Ahead of the movie, Wilson discusses the history of the ancient text, the process of translating it to English, and the potential challenges of adapting the epic tale for the big screen. Wilson will be speaking about her work on the evening of July 16 at 92NY with livestream tickets available. Image: Homer, The Odyssey. Ulysses (Odysseus) giving wine to Polyphemus, a cyclopes, son of Neptune (Poseidon) - God of the sea. Homer, blind Greek poet, c. 800 - 600 BCE, Trojan War, epic; illustration after Flaxman (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of The Canadian Investor Podcast, we break down Rogers’ move to take full control of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and what it says about the rising value of professional sports franchises. We look at how Rogers’ sports assets compare to the company’s overall market value, why scarce live-sports assets continue to attract premium valuations, and how NHL, NBA, MLB and NFL franchise values have grown over the last decade. We then shift to the S&P 500 and the growing debate around equal-weight versus market-cap-weighted ETFs. With the top holdings now making up a large share of the index, we discuss whether investors are still getting the diversification they expect, why AI-related concentration has become such a major factor, and how equal-weight ETFs can act as a defensive hedge while still keeping broad U.S. market exposure. Tickers discussed: RCI.B.TO, BCE.TO, RSP, EQL.TO, EQL.F.TO, VOO, ZSP.TO, MSFT, MU, TSLA, WMT, BRK.B, LLY, JPM Subscribe to our Our New Youtube Channel! Check out our portfolio by going to Jointci.com Our Website Our New Youtube Channel! Canadian Investor Podcast Network Twitter: @cdn_investing Simon’s twitter: @Fiat_Iceberg Braden’s twitter: @BradoCapital Dan’s Twitter: @stocktrades_ca Want to learn more about Real Estate Investing? Check out the Canadian Real Estate Investor Podcast! Apple Podcast - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Spotify - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Web player - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Asset Allocation ETFs | BMO Global Asset Management Sign up for Fiscal.ai for free to get easy access to global stock coverage and powerful AI investing tools. Register for EQ Bank, the seamless digital banking experience with better rates and no nonsense. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For our 50th episode, we return to Ancient Greece and to philosophy with The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle (384-322 BCE). Intended as a guide to the good life for ancient Athenian elites, the Ethics has some advice to offer us today about how to pursue a worthwhile existence. This episode also goes into Aristotle's background and the shocking fact that most of the works we still have of his are lecture notes. That's right: for 2,500 years, people have pondered what are essentially Aristotle's PowerPoint slide decks.Want to read the transcript? Click here. Thanks for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, review and share us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe talks about the 2 year anniversary of Butler, PA, the silliness of "BCE and CE," the hand of God, and what CNN is finally admittingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lately I've been seeing a growing number of memes pointing out the "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" references to the Sea Peoples in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. It's encouraging to see one of the ancient Mediterranean's most enduring mysteries finding its way into popular culture. In light of that renewed interest, I thought this would be a good opportunity to publish a dramatized reading of one of the most remarkable collections of texts from the end of the Bronze Age: the correspondence between the kings of Ugarit and Alashiya (ancient Cyprus). These exchanges are preserved in the Ugaritica, the published corpus of cuneiform tablets excavated at the ancient city of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra, Syria). Discovered beginning in 1928, these archives comprise thousands of administrative, literary, diplomatic, and economic texts dating primarily to the 14th and 13th centuries BCE. Among them are letters exchanged between rulers across the eastern Mediterranean, offering an extraordinarily intimate glimpse into the political world immediately preceding the Bronze Age Collapse. The particular correspondence dramatized here* belongs to the final decades of the 13th century BCE, when the great palace kingdoms of the eastern Mediterranean were under increasing pressure. Trade networks were breaking down, kingdoms were falling, and the groups later known collectively as the "Sea Peoples" were beginning to appear in the historical record. These letters capture that world at the very moment it was beginning to unravel. I chose these exchanges because they reveal something important about the international standing of Alashiya. One of the most striking features is the diplomatic language employed by the king of Ugarit. He repeatedly addresses the king of Alashiya as "my father." This is not merely a polite turn of phrase. In the carefully calibrated language of Late Bronze Age diplomacy, such terms reflected perceived status and hierarchy. Contrast this with the famous correspondence between the kings of Alashiya and the Egyptian pharaohs, in which both rulers consistently address one another as "my brother." That title denoted equality among the so-called "Great Kings" of the Late Bronze Age. The differing forms of address suggest that, at least from Ugarit's perspective, the king of Alashiya occupied a position of exceptional prestige. That prestige was no accident. Cyprus possessed the eastern Mediterranean's richest copper resources, and copper was one of the indispensable commodities of the Bronze Age. Combined with tin, it produced bronze--the metal upon which armies, agriculture, tools, trade, and prestige depended. To command Cyprus was to command one of the ancient world's most strategically important resources, making Alashiya a kingdom whose influence extended far beyond the island itself. If these dramatizations spark your curiosity about Cyprus' central role in the Bronze Age, you may also enjoy these episodes of the History of Cyprus Podcast: Episode 7: Gripped by the Hand of Nergal: Cyprus in the Bronze Age — with Louise Hitchcock (2 October 2022) Episode 8: A Cyprocentric Perspective: Cyprus' History of Research — with Maria Iacovou (2 November 2022) Episode 14: The Copper Island: Copper Production in Ancient Cyprus — with Lina Kassianidou (2 May 2023) Episode 24: King Kinyras and the Cypria: Cyprus in the Homeric World — with John Franklin (2 March 2024) Episode 25: 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed — with Eric Cline Bonus Episode: Surfaces, Surveys and Spatiotemporal Dynamics: The Hala Sultan Tekke Hinterland Project — with Jan Coenaerts and Polte De Weirdt (10 May 2025) Episode 47: Signs, Scripts & Silence: Cypro-Minoan — with Cassandra Donnelly (2 February 2026) And, coming next month (2 August): Episode 53: Fragments of Faience, Glints of Gold: Cyprus and Egypt in Contact — with Louise Steel Taken together, these conversations paint a picture of Cyprus not as a peripheral island, but as one of the principal actors in the political, economic, and cultural networks of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. The correspondence you'll hear in this dramatization offers a rare opportunity to listen to that world in its own words--voices exchanged across the sea just before one of history's greatest civilizational upheavals. *A brief note on the production: I've taken a few creative liberties to help bring these ancient letters to life. For example, the scratching sound you'll hear isn't entirely authentic. A more accurate soundscape would have been the impression of a stylus pressed into wet clay rather than the scratching of pen on paper. Unfortunately, convincingly recreating the sound of cuneiform being inscribed proved rather difficult, so I've opted for an approximation that hopefully conveys the spirit of the act, even if not its precise reality.

"BCE"—before cellphones existed. Nice people make Turi look bad. When your spouse manipulates to make you manipulative. The non-shocking shock collar. The eternal conversation between mothers of kids behaving badly. When you are still punk. The unexpected sea chanty.

In this episode of The Canadian Investor Podcast, we break down Rogers’ move to take full control of MLSE and what the rising valuation of professional sports franchises says about scarcity, live sports, and media rights. We also look at the federal government’s investment agreement with Teck Resources and why critical minerals are becoming a national security priority. We then discuss Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs, the paradox of AI-driven growth alongside continued job cuts, and whether big tech is reallocating too aggressively toward AI infrastructure. We also explain the mini-tender offer involving Sun Life, why these offers can be problematic for retail investors, and what shareholders should watch for. Finally, we cover Strategy’s decision to sell Bitcoin despite Michael Saylor’s long-standing stance, and Nike’s latest earnings, where the headline numbers looked better than the underlying turnaround story. Tickers discussed: RCI.B.TO, BCE.TO, TECK-B.TO, MSFT, SLF.TO, MSTR, NKE Subscribe to Our New Youtube Channel! Check out our portfolio by going to Jointci.com Our Website Canadian Investor Podcast Network Twitter: @cdn_investing Simon’s twitter: @Fiat_Iceberg Braden’s twitter: @BradoCapital Dan’s Twitter: @stocktrades_ca Want to learn more about Real Estate Investing? Check out the Canadian Real Estate Investor Podcast! Apple Podcast - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Spotify - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Web player - The Canadian Real Estate Investor Asset Allocation ETFs | BMO Global Asset Management Sign up for Fiscal.ai for free to get easy access to global stock coverage and powerful AI investing tools. Register for EQ Bank, the seamless digital banking experience with better rates and no nonsense.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's 387 BCE and Rome is working on getting back of her feet. What's even happening in Rome? It can be hard to tell because of the nature of the extant sources and just how much seems to be missing. The Gallic Sack casts a long shadow over Rome, it was just a couple of years ago but the consequences of the situation linger. Livy notes that Rome is continuing its rebuilding program.Land Allotment Anyone?If there's one thing you can count on in this era, it's the cyclical focus on war and land allotment. And we have a tribune of the plebs on the record, which is a hint that there'll be agitation for agrarian reform. We know this has a literary legacy for our late Republican writers like Livy, but that's not to say that there wasn't a need to reform in the middle republic. Enter stage right: the Pomptine Marshes!A Temple to MarsBack during the conflict with Gauls, the Romans had vowed to establish a temple to Mars. And we're finally up to the dedication of the temple in 387 BCE. This is an exceptionally important event for the Romans as it is way of cementing their relationship with Mars. A temple requires some specific activities to establish and seems to have involved the duumvirs for the sacred things.Side Quest: CarthageDid you know that Carthage invaded Italy in 387 BCE? Neither did we, but here we are. The rivalry between the Carthaginians and the Sicilians is starting to hot up but unfortunately a quick plague makes everything very unpleasant.Things to listen out for:Volscians and Aequians just over the horizonWho can fix it? Bob the BuilderLivy and the post-Gracchan worldAn increased interest in ensuring divine favourIt's time for an interregnum!The Sibylline Books and their contentsNew tribes for the Romans?A Sardinian and Libyan revolt?Four new voting tribes: Stellatina, Tormentina, Sabatina, and ArniensisFor our full show notes and edited transcripts, head on over to https://partialhistorians.com/Support the showPatreonKo-FiRead our booksRex: The Seven Kings of RomeYour Cheeky Guide to the Roman Empire Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're going back to 2004 (or 750 BCE depending how you look at it) to discuss Troy. We talk about Homer's IMDB credits, the fight style of Achilles and Hector, generation based acting ability, and of course, the horse.

In 140 BCE, the Maccabees and Levites broke apart the priestly narrative and drowned it out in their own to create the Torah we have today Join our tribe on Patreon!To give Gil a one-time donationThe podcast is written, edited and produced by Gil Kidron

The Rise of a New Man and the Trial of Roscius. Guest Author: Josiah Osgood. Marcus Tullius Cicero was born into a non-elite family in 106 BCE, making him a "new man" in the Roman Republic. Rising through the political ranks required winning elections that were typically controlled by a small group of powerful families. Cicero gained fame as a masterful orator and defense attorney by navigating the Roman criminal courts, which were often used to target corrupt politicians. These trials were held in the public forum to allow citizens to see justice being served. In his debut criminal case, a thirty-year-old Cicero defended a man named Roscius against a charge of parricide. Parricide was considered a uniquely dreadful crime by the Romans, punishable by being sewn into a sack with animals and cast into the sea. Cicero functioned as his own private detective, investigating the facts behind the prosecution's claims. He discovered that a group had taken advantage of the elder Roscius's death to seize his property for a low sum. By telling a compelling story and asking "cui bono"—who stands to gain—Cicero successfully argued that his client had been framed. This high-stakes victory established his reputation and demonstrated his ability to use the courtroom as a stage for political advancement. 1CARTHAGE

The Bona Dea Scandal and the Creation of a Lifelong Foe. Guest Author: Josiah Osgood. Despite his careful rise to power, Cicero made a significant error during the aftermath of the Catiline conspiracy. He arrested five high-ranking collaborators who had remained in Rome to facilitate a coup. Cicero, feeling invincible after his recent successes, pushed for these men to be executed as traitors to the republic. He argued that by conspiring against Rome, they had forfeited their rights as citizens and should be treated as public enemies. However, executing Roman citizens without a trial was a major legal taboo. Julius Caesar, then a rising politician, offered a more prudent alternative: life imprisonment. Cicero ignored this advice and moved forward with the executions, a decision that the Senate endorsed but for which Cicero bore ultimate responsibility. While he initially gloated about his actions, the move eventually aroused populist opposition and made him a political target. This mistake was followed by the Bona Dea scandal of 62 BCE, where Cicero testified against Publius Clodius Pulcher, breaking his alibi and turning the young aristocrat into a dangerous, lifelong enemy. 51910 CARTHAGE

The Homeric Question and Epic Tradition. Guest: Professor Emily Wilson. The identity of Homer remains a subject of intense scholarly debate, as the Iliad emerged from a long oral tradition that existed before the return of literacy to Greece in the 8th century BCE. For centuries, performing poets developed stories of heroes like Achilles and Agamemnon, using dactylic hexameter to aid memory and performance. The Iliad is a monumental written poem that takes a sophisticated approach to these familiar tales, often subverting expectations. Interestingly, it omits many "famous hits" like the Trojan Horse, the judgment of Paris, and the actual fall of Troy. Instead, it focuses on a mere month and a half of the ten-year war, centering on internal Greek conflict rather than just a battle against Trojans. Wilson notes that while she translates the work into iambic pentameter to capture its drive, the poem itself possesses the narrative complexity of a modern novel, utilizing techniques like shifting perspectives and narrator omniscience. She also mentions lost epic poems like the Cypria, which provided more backstory on Zeus's plan to reduce the human population through war. 2

The Defeat of Verres Through Storytelling. Guest Author: Josiah Osgood. In 70 BCE, Cicero prosecuted Verres in a trial that showcased his masterful use of storytelling and emotional appeal. Rather than overwhelming the jury with complex financial data about embezzlement, Cicero created a vivid image of Verres as a negligent leader. He recounted how Verres ignored his duties during a pirate raid on Syracuse, choosing instead to party with local women in seaside tents. This narrative portrayed Verres as living large at the expense of the Roman citizens he was meant to defend. Overwhelmed by the evidence and the public outcry, Verres defaulted mid-trial and fled Rome. Although he was found guilty, his punishment was merely exile to Marseilles, where he was allowed to keep much of his stolen art. For the Romans, losing citizenship and political rights was considered a severe fate, though it seems mild by modern standards. This victory propelled Cicero's political career as he sought the office of consul. The election process of the time mirrors modern participation, with citizens urged to vote on the Field of Mars. 3CARTHAGE

The Rise of the Dionysian Dynasty in Syracuse. Guest Author: Professor James Romm. Syracuse, a Corinthian colony, rose to power under Dionysius the Elder during the 4th century BCE. Starting as a clerk, he became a demagogue by attacking elite leaders accused of collaborating with Carthage. He fortified "the island," a strategic peninsula with a natural spring, to secure his power. Dionysius broke Greek custom by adopting Persian-style polygamy, marrying Doris and Aristomache on one day to appear superhuman. This created rival lineages that sparked future civil conflict. The court was famous for "Syracuse tables," characterized by excessive luxury and wine. Dionysius died in 367 BCE, with rumors suggesting he was poisoned. 1

Plato's Intellectual Roots and First Visit. Guest Author: Professor James Romm. Plato's early life was shaped by the reign of the 30 Tyrants in Athens, including his relative Critias. The execution of his teacher, Socrates, further disillusioned him with traditional democracy. He developed a philosophy centered on an unseen world of perfect "forms." Influenced by Pythagorean mathematics, he viewed numbers as a way to understand the universe's abstract essences. Invited by Dion, Plato visited Syracuse in 385 BCE to explore potential autocratic reforms. This visit failed when Dionysius the Elder dismissed his ethical teachings. Plato then returned to Athens to found the Academy. 2