Marquis de Sade

How long is the Great Wall of China? When was it built? Are there really skeletons buried inside it?Matt Lewis poses these questions and many more to Dr Jeremiah Jenne, co-host of the Chinese history podcast, Barbarians at the Gate. Together they recount the storied development o ...  Show more

What really happened to the French crown jewels? On the 19th October, 2025, a gang of thieves disguised as construction workers broke into the Louvre. Their target: the Gallery of Apollo, where the French Crown Jewels were on display. They made off with eight pieces of the crown ...  Show more

The father of sadism and a prophet of totalitarianism, the Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat and writer, an uncompromising and unashamed libertine with the eerie ability to corrupt those around him. Arrested first by the French monarchy and then by the revolutionaries, he s ...  Show more

The Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) was more than just a rake or a cad - based on his egregious conduct, he clearly belonged in prison, and one sympathizes with the father who aimed a pistol at Sade's chest and pulled the trigger, hoping to end the demon's life. (The gun misfired.) B ...  Show more

TRIGGER WARNING: this episode contains references to sexual content.

The Marquis de Sade, the namesake of "sadism," is famous for his writings cataloguing the full extent of brutal and abusive sexual acts. Today, he's perhaps more famous as a concept t ...