Thomas Cahill

The New York Times bestselling author of How the Irish Saved Civilization reveals how the innovations of the Renaissance and the Reformation changed the Western world. • “Cahill is our king of popular historians.” —The Dallas Morning News

This was an age in which whole continents and peoples were discovered. It was an era of sublime artistic and scientific adventure, but also...

"After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today. On visits to the great cities of Europe--monumental Rome; the intellectually explosive Paris of Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas; the hotbed of scientific study that was Oxford; and the incomparable...

In this episode, we explore the ways ancient people attempted to control the dark forces in their lives. The Bible rules warn people about cursing their parents, consulting wizards, breaking their promises or even wearing blended fabrics. In this episode, we explore the ways ancient people attempted to control the dark forces in their lives. The Bible rules warn people about cursing their parents, consulting wizards, breaking their promises or even...

The Bible rules forbid Israelite armies from cutting down the trees of enemy cities. Is this a clue to a 3000-year-old green movement or is something else going on here? Hint: It's all about the olives. By deconstructing the rules about war.

These days, most people don't worship golden idols, but it's amazing how many of the Bible rules about graven images still sound relevant. In this episode, we plunge back into a world of otherworldly gods, who had to be fed, clothed and coddled.