Episode #13 - Who Was The Real Braveheart? (P...

In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent series on the Viking voyages to North America. In it he reckons with the history of slavery in the Norse world, guesses at why the southern Vinland of settlement of Hóp remains undiscovered, and muses about doppelgä ...  Show more

For centuries the western Norse colony of Vinland was known only to scholars of the Icelandic Sagas. But in the 19th century the work of a few Scandinavian historians helped revive interest in these previously obscure tales. When the Danish historian Carl Christian Rafn published ...  Show more

If you've seen the film Braveheart, you might have certain expectations about the real history of William Wallace.

Separating fact from fiction can be tricky, but what do we really know about this iconic Scot, and the supposed relationships that sparked his rebellion ...

Despised by the English, mistrusted by the Scottish nobles, and revered by his countrymen: William Wallace is synonymous with the battle for Scottish freedom. But scratch away at the legend, and even the most basic details are disputed. Where he was born, who he married, and what ...  Show more

This episode contains strong language, graphic scenes of torture and sexual content

The chances are, when we think of William Wallace, we think of Mel Gibson in Braveheart, charging down a hill in a kilt with his face painted bl ...

This week’s episode in our series on the great political essays is about David Foster Wallace’s ‘Up, Simba!’, which describes his experiences following the doomed campaign of John McCain for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. Wallace believed that McCain’s distinctiv ...  Show more