#clockworktardis

How would you rate this podcast, as something to listen to for education or entertainment?

Personally, I really quite like it! It’s very much of the genre of ‘30/40-something white guy provides informative lecture’ for the vast majority of episodes, but Wyman is an actual trained historian, and he’s usually fairly good about laying out different major theories when he’s discussing something contentious (there’s also occasional interview episodes with specialists. The recent one about early agriculture and settlement in China was really very good). He also actually goes into quite a bit of detail on social history, which I’ve always really appreciated, going into detail about like how trade and finance and recruitment of armies in a given context actually worked. (He also, like, specifically uses composite/hypothetical examples to explore how the Black Death would be experienced by a mildly prosperous family of English peasants, or the final collapse of Roman authority by a manor house in southern France, or using the perspectives of a Barbary pirate and a Knight of St. John to explore what a life spent raiding in the leadup to Lepento would look like, or similar)

There’s three major, call them periods of the show. Originally he focused on the collapse of the western Roman empire/late antiquity (you may be unsurprised to learn it was originally the ‘Fall of Rome’ podcast), then the transition between medieval and early modern period and rise of the financial-military state and modern world (roughly 1250-1550, or so?), and now he’s doing prehistory/early humanity.

😈 tiefling: What is the best or worst first impression you’ve ever made?

I’ve probably made some really terrible first impressions with people, but one I was really aware of was at work, I was talking with my boss about a new manager from another area and she’d really pissed me off with work things. I’d never met or seen her, and while I’m in the middle of complaining she walked up. It was just a speak of the devil here she is moment. Pretty sure she heard most of what I said.

🐍 yuan-ti: Would you say you’re cold or warm-blooded?

I’ve been told I’m cold-blooded, but really I’m becoming more warm-blooded in my old age!

🔥  genasi: Share a memory in which you felt truly empowered.

I’m on a rewatch run of TNG and DS9, and the older these shows get the more grateful I am for my experiences with B5 back then. I’m looking forward to seeing if it holds up as well as I remember in terms of religious representation and tolerance, but I already know the answer is yes if only because of the religious representations in season one alone.

I’m p sure that jms’ view on religion is “it’s important to people and should be respected bc of that as long as it’s not being used to deny science or oppress people” and iirc one of G’Kar’s speeches in s5 says exactly that (in fancier words)

Where can I find this book, I need it

You and your mum are Nancy Drew and a Hardy Boy. Whoever in town is rudest to you is the villain.

That would probably be the waitress at the Huddle House where we had lunch. WHAT DOES SHE KNOW??

clockworktardis replied to your post  “Also today,...”

And suddenly Sam has a new book plot

I have always wanted to write a modern Southern Gothic.

akatonbo replied to your post “Also today...”

Usually unexplained explosion means meth lab but if it was due to go up for auction that's another thing entirely.

Yeah, meth lab was my first but unspoken thought -- I wanted to find a news story about it so that I could follow the story and find out, but I guess there were more important things happening in the news yesterday. 

ravenreyamidala replied to your photo “Memphis…what is in your water?”

that is definitely not the only water fountain in the airport

It might not be, but it was for sure the only one I could find in Terminal A, and it was all the way at the end of the terminal. I assumed it was because they really wanted you to pay for bottled water...

spaci1701 replied to your photo “Memphis…what is in your water?”

Is actually there because it's right next to the doorway to the washroom. For some reason the regs require those warnings to be posted in women's washrooms, which... Well, even if that's something you didn't know, wouldn't it be a bit late to warn you once you're already recycling your beer?

That is...bewildering to me. All I can think is like “Hey don’t have sex in this bathroom or you might get pregnant and then can’t drink.“ I’m sure that’s not right, but it’s the only thing I could think of.