Sarah is joined by returning guest Ally Pitts of Russophiles Unite! Movie Podcast to discuss the 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc. We talk Joan’s trial and posthumous retrial, Eucharistic devotion, and late medieval women’s mysticism in this intriguing representation of Joan of Arc—as well as why this film was banned in England, censored by French Catholics, and criticized by the French right wing. Book Recommendation: Caroline Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Sig...
Jun 26, 2021•1 hr 51 min
Mireille once again joins Sarah for a short bonus episode! We found out why Jonathan Banks agreed to do this movie in an ... interesting ... interview. We break down his discussion of the "Dark Ages" here. You can read the full interview here: http://frontrowfeatures.com/features/film-features/jonathan-banks-gets-medieval-redbad-24289.html Social Media: Twitter @mediaevalpod E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com Please rate, review, and subscribe! Find Mireille on Twitter and TikTok @pardon_mi
Jun 19, 2021•12 min
Sarah and fellow medieval historian Mireille Pardon tackle Redbad, the 2018 Dutch film that may or may not be Dutch right-wing propaganda. Join us as we get into the conversion of the Frisians, the real histories of Charles Martel and Redbad, and why in this film it looks like the Franks traveled back in time from the 14th century and the Frisians traveled forward in time from the 5th century. CW: The film has one rape scene, which is described and analyzed during the podcast. Social Media: Twit...
Jun 12, 2021•2 hr 18 min
Media-eval's resident Doctor Who expert Elizabeth Bonnemann returns to talk about 1982 serial The Visitation. You know, the one where the Doctor et. al. starts a pretty big fire. Join Elizabeth and Sarah as we get into theater, plague, and the Great Fire of London. This is a bit outside Sarah's usual period - so if you know something we don't, let us know! Social Media: Twitter @mediaevalpod E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com Please rate, review, and subscribe! Find Elizabeth on Twitter @LizzieStri...
May 29, 2021•1 hr 19 min
That’s right - more Robin Hood! Sarah and returning guest Morgan Morales talk about the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood. Join us as we talk Saxons and Normans, sex-positive ladies in waiting (#teambess), and the origins of the Robin Hood legend and our current Robin Hood tropes. Sarah would also like to acknowledge that she’s pretty sure she stole the “bad Guy” joke from former co-host Ollie. Social Media: Twitter @mediaevalpod E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com Please rate, review, and subs...
May 16, 2021•2 hr 2 min
Sarah and guest Marisa Macias get into medievalism and archaeology in their discussion of 2021 Netflix release The Dig. Join us as we talk about Sutton Hoo, the practice of archaeology, and why you should think twice before using the terms "the Dark Ages" and "Anglo-Saxon." Social Media: Twitter @mediaevalpod E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com Please rate, review, and subscribe! Find Marisa on Twitter @MarisaEMacias
May 01, 2021•2 hr 22 min
Sarah and guest Megan Sunday of Let's Get Weirding Podcast and The Spool talk about beloved teen slumber party favorite Ever After. Join us as we talk material culture, arranged marriages, the concept of the premodern fairy tale romcom, and the fact that unfortunately, King Henri II of France did not marry Cinderella. Is this episode noticeably longer than the movie? Yes. Does this movie deserve it? Absolutely. Social Media: Twitter @mediaevalpod E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com Please rate, revi...
Apr 17, 2021•2 hr 30 min
Sarah talks with Meaghan and Elo of the podcast Modern Medieval about medievalism, fantasy, and comedy in Season 1 of Netflix series Disenchantment. Join us as we get into arranged marriages, lampreys, and the history of women and brewing! Book Recommendation: Judith M. Bennett, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World Social Media: Twitter @mediaevalpod E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com Please rate, review, and subscribe! Find Modern Medieval on Twitter @medieval_mode...
Apr 03, 2021•1 hr 58 min
Guests Matt Welsh and David Baxter of Thank You Five join Sarah to talk about Arthuriana and courtly love in the Middle Ages, the 1960s, and today as we delve into the movie musical Camelot. Social Media: Twitter @mediaevalpod E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com Please rate, review, and subscribe! Find David and Matt's podcast Thank You Five on Twitter @thankyoufivepod and on Facebook @TY5Podcast
Mar 20, 2021•2 hr 27 min
Guest Elizabeth Bonnemann is back to talk with Sarah about 1976 Doctor Who serial The Masque of Mandragora, where we confront popular stereotypes about the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and scientific exploration. Also, some classic Media-eval rug history. Social Media: Twitter @mediaevalpod E-mail: media.evalpod@gmail.com Please rate, review, and subscribe! Find Elizabeth @LizzieStrider Book Recommendation: The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science, by Seb Falk
Mar 06, 2021•1 hr 32 min
Sarah is once again joined by her mom, Dr. Beth Greenfeld, to talk about medievalism, modernized adaptations, and translations in Maria Dahvana Headley's 2018 novel The Mere Wife - a modern adaptation of Beowulf centering Grendel's mother - and her 2020 translation of Beowulf. Join us as we delve into these texts and to the question of monsters and why they matter. CW for discussions of PTSD, disordered eating, suicide, and toxic masculinity
Feb 20, 2021•2 hr 10 min
Sarah, guest Jessica Bluemke Greiff, and of course Producer Carmen spent FOUR HOURS talking about Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Don't worry; the finished episode is NOT four hours (but it is long). Join us as we get into the myth of medieval chastity belts (that's right - not a real thing!), exotic fruits, and why Rabbi Tuckman is arguably less anachronistic than Friar Tuck. CW: The film includes gay panic jokes, fatphobic jokes, and ableist jokes, as well as one rape joke, which we discuss in the ...
Feb 06, 2021•2 hr 30 min
Ollie comes back to the podcast to talk with Sarah about one of his favourite movies, the 1990's classic Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Does Kevin Costner even try to sound English? Is Alan Rickman in a different movie to everyone else? Is it too long(yes)? We will address all of these topics and more including Sarah's shocking dislike of Christian Slater.
Jan 23, 2021•2 hr 13 min
Guest MJ is back to talk with Sarah about another of Tamora Pierce's quartets: Protector of the Small. Join us as we continue to talk lady knights - as well as the real history of women's work in the textile industry and whether King Jonathan is actually just Joe Biden. As a note, this was recorded as usual well in advance - before the attempted terrorist coup on Wednesday Jan. 6 (and, in fact, before the November 2020 election), which is why it is not mentioned. Media-eval unequivocally condemn...
Jan 09, 2021•1 hr 45 min
With the holiday season comes nostalgia - so today's episode takes a deep dive into Sarah's childhood favorite book series, The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce (1983-1988). Join Sarah and guest MJ as we get into gender roles, representations of nonwestern cultures in fantasy, menstruation and birth control, and the real history of gender fluidity and women dressing as men in the Middle Ages. Content Warning: episode includes discussion of age/power imbalanced relationships and suici...
Dec 26, 2020•1 hr 41 min
Guest Ben Paul returns to talk Blackadder Series 1! Join Sarah and Ben as they get into alternative histories, the cult of relics (yes, including the foreskin of Christ), and what happened to the real Richard, Duke of York. CW: The series includes homophobic, fatphobic, misogynistic, and rape jokes; the problematic and at times disturbing nature of this material is addressed in the episode.
Dec 12, 2020•1 hr 57 min
Guest Elizabeth Bonnemann is back to talk with Sarah about another Doctor Who serial, The Time Warrior, set in ... the Middle Ages, I guess. Join us as we talk castellans, rotten meat, and unsuccessfully attempt to identify what year it is.
Nov 28, 2020•1 hr 37 min
What's the story, Wishbone? It's Joan of Arc! Sarah and guest Rachel Rosing tackle a childhood favorite: an episode of Wishbone in which we. learn that a girl joining a boys soccer team in the 1990s is EXACTLY THE SAME as Joan of Arc leading an army during the Hundred Years' War. Come for the adorable dog in armor, stay for a deep dive into Joan of Arc's trial. This episode was recorded pre-election, so our political digression is an ... interesting time capsule.
Nov 14, 2020•1 hr 55 min
It's Halloween and Sarah manages to convince Ollie to talk about a "Horror" movie but they spend more time talking about JK Rowling and The Crimes of Grindlewald. Listen to the podcast- we watched this movie so you don't have to. :)
Oct 31, 2020•1 hr 35 min
Join two thoroughly broken and downtrodden medievalists as Sarah and guest Katherine Hindley struggle through this adaptation of Beowulf - and talk about what makes the original poem worth reading. Recommendations: We talk about Seamus Heaney's Beowulf as a great translation - and it is! I also recommend the new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley, which I had not yet read back when this episode was recorded. It's much more modernized and takes a few more liberties, but it's a really great read...
Oct 17, 2020•2 hr 14 min
Netflix release a show thats set in King Arthur continuity and cast lots of women and POC? Of course Sarah is going to talk about it! This week she is joined by Jillian Sterling Ness all the way from Canada and that Irish lad who talks too much. Let's see if Cursed lives up to the promise its casting suggests.
Oct 03, 2020•2 hr 27 min
Media-eval makes its first foray into Doctor Who! Sarah and guest Elizabeth Bonnemann talk 1066 and how yes, real medieval people would find it strange that they've only met one grumpy monk from the local monastery.
Sep 19, 2020•1 hr 56 min
We're back with another look at Wheel of Time, the greatest fantasy epic of them all. Sarah gets technical and Ollie once again has to cut an hour of his fanboy gushing out. Enjoy!
Sep 12, 2020•1 hr 16 min
Join Sarah and guest Ollie as they take a look at the greatest fantasy series ever written. They recorded for 5 hours on this and Ollie had to cut out about 2 hours of him gushing. Hopefully you like it! part 2 will come next week!
Sep 05, 2020•1 hr 36 min
Sarah and guest Jessica Bluemke Greiff (Friendly Atheist Podcast; Cooper Dooper) get into Army of Darkness ... despite having never seen the non-medieval parts of the trilogy. Come for the campy supernatural; stay for the demon sex - if you wanted to know about the premodern antecedents to Dr. Stella Immanuel's demon sex theories, this is the place to go. CW: the film depicts kissing without consent and implied sexual assault; both are discussed on the podcast.
Aug 22, 2020•2 hr 4 min
Sarah and her mom Beth Greenfeld continue with their Game of Thrones discussion on gender, race, and religion. CW: this episode includes a discussion of sexual assault in the series.
Aug 15, 2020•1 hr 29 min
Media-eval finally tackles HBO series Game of Thrones and George R.R. Martin's book series A Song of Ice and Fire - but Sarah and her mom, Beth Greenfeld, have been reading, watching, and discussing for a long time, and had a lot to say! So the episode is divided into two parts. Stay tuned next week for Part 2! The format is a bit more of a general thematic conversation on this one since, well, who's going to sit down and do a plot summary of all 8 seasons of Game of Thrones? But spoilers abound...
Aug 08, 2020•1 hr 27 min
Enjoy this blast from the past: Sarah and Ollie's Media-eval practice episode on the Sean Bean/Eddie Redmayne film Black Death, recorded all the way back in 2018 and now coming out of the vault and into your ears. This episode also includes a few updated reflections on how the medieval pandemic response compares to the modern one. If you're interested in learning more about why we shouldn't call the current pandemic response "medieval," check out medievalist Guy Geltner's fantastic article: http...
Jul 25, 2020•1 hr 30 min
It had to be done ... Sarah and guest Mabel Slattery wince our way through The Ribald Tales of Canterbury, a porn adaptation of The Canterbury Tales, and find that ... it's not actually the worst adaptation of a medieval text? Listen in to find out how two medievalists can watch an erotic film and then end up talking about the value of currency, sumptuary laws, the best way to prepare boar's head, and medieval anti-Judaism. Warning: This film obviously includes more graphic sex scenes than most ...
Jul 12, 2020•1 hr 41 min
Sarah and guest Sarah Baggs tackle Disney's take on Victor Hugo's medieval historical fiction: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Join us as we talk about the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and its restorations, the Feast of Fools, and the foreskin of Christ (because Sarah will ALWAYS bring up the foreskin of Christ if she gets an opportunity). CW - yes, this CHILDREN'S MOVIE includes sexual harassment and implicit threats of sexual assault.
Jun 27, 2020•2 hr 14 min
