Month: August 2024

Interview – Season Prediction with Lee Rodio

Duke legend Lee Rodio returns to the podcast and provides us with his win-loss prediction for the Blue Devils this season. We go through each game and tell you who we think will win and why. We also check in with Richlandia to get an update on the status of the OG Optimistic Duke Football fan. You’ll like all our predictions as we’re very optimistic about what the Blue Devils can do this season.

One thing you’ll notice as we go through Duke’s schedule is how much time we spend discussing the differing degree of schedule difficulty the Blue Devils’ opponents have. This is one of the unfortunate side effects of conference restructuring – unbalanced schedules providing easier paths to a conference championship game. Sorry for an old man rant here, but there really is an upside to small conferences.

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Classical Antiquity Sidequest 7 – Dr. David Walsh on the Cult of Mithras

In this Sidequest, we cover the ancient Cult of Mithras with the expert on the subject matter, Dr. David Walsh. This cult spread pretty widely throughout the Roman Empire and has remained a topic of interest for historians, archaeologists and people with passing interest in Roman history (like me!). During our talk, we cover many topics including the pronunciation of Mithras (no agreed way!), how the cult spread throughout the Empire, how widespread it became, the causes of its decline, what our sources of the cult’s information are and we dispel some myths about the cult including whether we should call it “Mithraism”. We also cover the locations where you can see the remains of Mithraic Temples. Turns out that Dr. Walsh is an expert not just on the Cult of Mithras, but the London Mithraeum itself! If you are ever in London, you have to stop by if it’s open. It’s such a cool place.

While I enjoyed the entire interview, I found the reasons for the Cult’s decline to be of particular interest. I think you will, too. And Rudyard Kipling wrote about Mithras. What else can you ask for? I mean, aside from me forgetting to mention the great John Huston movie, “The Man Who Would Be King“. That film has a John Huston ending (an ending in which all the characters get exactly what they deserve) that is arguably one of his best. And that’s saying something.

As for this episode’s reading assignment, check out “Pantheon” which covers ancient Roman religious practices.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments or on Twitter.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Interview – Steve Wiseman Previews Duke’s 2024 Season

Our old friend Steve Wiseman stopped by the podcast to cover a few different topics. We start off by dissecting what all happened to Flip’s draft stock and discuss the strange family dynamic that may have played a role in him falling as far as he did. After a brief detour from there to The ACC’s fight for survival, we do a deep dive on what to expect from Duke this season. While the Blue Devils have some unknowns, there is a lot to be excited about. Steve brings us up to speed on the QB situation, talks about our four-game murder’s row stretch and tells us why we should be cautiously optimistic about this season. The offense is going to be a Power Spread and will apparently involve the TEs. How can you not be excited about that?!?!

Trigger warning – we discuss Duke’s recent history of underutilizing its TEs. Noah Gray is mentioned. Consider yourself forewarned. And it turns out that David Feeley is pretty darned important. Who knew? (That’s sarcasm, we all know it.)

We also take a few minutes to cover the upgrades at Wallace Wade and ask I why the official Blue Devils’ Twitter account isn’t following me on Twitter. Come on, folks, make it happen.

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, on Instagram, Spoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!