American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, your host Prof. Matthew Gabriele is joined by expert guests to explore not just the Middle Ages themselves, but how and why they have such a hold on our collective imagination. After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.
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Summary
In this episode, we spend our time thinking about the Roman Empire. Cliche, but fun. Anyway, Sarah and Prof. Gabriele discuss how we can hear from the 98.5% of Rome that wasn’t an emperor (or a dude), and then try to unpack why Americans are so freaking obsessed with comparing themselves to Romans and why it always seems like the “Fall of Rome” (which isn’t really a thing) is just around the corner.
Guest
Sarah E. Bond is an associate professor in the Department of HIstory at the University of Iowa, and her interests extend beyond late Roman history, epigraphy, late antique law, Roman topography, Digital Humanities, and the socio-legal experience of ancient marginal peoples. She’s the author of Trade and Taboo: Disreputable Professionals in the Roman Mediterranean (Univ Michigan Press, 2016), and Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire (Yale UP, 2025). Additionally, Bond is a regular contributor at Hyperallergic, a former columnist at the Los Angeles Review of Books, and a section editor at Public Books. She has written for The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Washington Post. Learn more at sarahemilybond.com.
Credits
Find American Medieval Online
About Us
American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.
After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.
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