Those of us who followed Mike Duncan’s excellent The History of Rome podcast were pretty distraught when he ended the podcast just a few weeks ago after four years and nearly 200 episodes during which Mike set a new standard for informative, entertaining, and accessible historical podcasting. It was an appropriate time to end as Mike and ‘Mrs History of Rome’ just had their first baby. He left us with a promise, that he would return with a new podcast; not one about ancient or American history.
If you have not listened to THOR you should. It is utterly absorbing. Mike developed a wonderful style, encouraging us all to come back week after week (with some gaps) to listen to this great story. I encourage you to visit http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com or iTunes, start at the beginning and listen to it all. You will not regret it.
The big question was always whether or not Mike would go on past 476 AD. He often stated he would not, but in our world where we hear denials every day only to have them overturned 24 hours later, we could not be really sure. In the end Mike was true to his word and ended with Odoacer sending the imperial diadem and purple robe of the West to the emperor Zeno saying that it was no longer required.
Many may have been tempted to pick up from where Mike left off. One has been brave enough to do so. Robin Pierson has set up shop beside the Golden Horn and so far has published two episodes covering the events in Constantinople from the 450’s to near the end of Zeno’s reign.
Producing an historically accurate and entertaining weekly podcast is extremely time-consuming and puts one in the critical spotlight. It is a brave step and I hope that you will support Robin’s efforts as he tackles at least the next 100 years; he has only committed to this so far.
Visit The History of Byzantium on WordPress or his iTunes feed.
Good luck Robin!
Byzantine Blog 
Maybe you should do a presentation of Lars Brownworth’s podcasts, http://12byzantinerulers.com/. They are supposed to be informative and entertaining. I haven’t had the time to listen to them all (not much in there that I didn’t know about already), but I read through his blog, http://larsbrownworth.com/blog/, which is great, written in a clear and concise manner, while getting most of the facts and interpretations of history right.
At any rate, it’s nice to see that the Internet has helped create a new generation of byzantine enthusiasts.
I have a link to his podcasts on the blog and enjoyed them myself. However, I do not promote his work – certainly the Byz podcasts. In my view John Julius Norwich presented this better.
Robin: Just started listening to your p-casts late last week and find them very engrossing. Keep up the great work.
Downloading the first nine episodes. I love THoR and am anxious to listen to THoB, especially since I am Greek Orthodox.
just started listening to your podcasts. planning on getting through them all.