BullCityCoordinators

Sidequest 29 – The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use the Classics

I’ve been a fan of Dr. Curtis Dozier for a while. I stumbled on his podcast, The Mirror of Antiquity, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I then came across his website, Pharos, where he chronicles (mostly horrible and some who are only somewhat horrible but still horrible) people invoking the Classics to justify their horrible beliefs. When I reached out to Dr. Dozier to see if he would come on the podcast, not only did he say yes, but he told me about his current book which is now available for purchase – The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate. Naturally, this book which is now available for purchase, is the topic of the episode.

In Dr. Dozier’s book, which I read and highly recommend, he outlines the goals of white nationalists and where in the Classics white nationalists look to find support for their horrible beliefs. It turns out that they aren’t necessarily misrepresenting history to support their hate-filled, racist and reprehensible beliefs. Rather, such hatred, bigotry and racist beliefs are common and permeate our entire historical and philosophical narrative. And that is the key part of Dr. Dozier’s book – he isn’t just exposing the logical fallacies of white nationalists, he’s exposing the problems inherent with our historical narratives upon which white nationalists rely.

And it’s understanding that issue which makes the discussion we need to have about history so important. Put simply, if we’re going to have a discussion about white nationalists co-opting the Classics, we need to have a discussion about what the Classics are, what they aren’t and our obligations as students and teachers to telling an accurate and complete narrative about the past and how that reflects on the present. We have to stop idolizing the subject matter and be honest about it. Look, folks, if there’s one theme of this podcast, it’s that history is messy. And this episode returns to that theme again and again and again. There’s nothing perfect about the past. The folks who preceded us weren’t saints. They were people, and people are imperfect. So, let’s stop putting the past on a pedestal and get to work making our present and our future a better place.

While I often kick around politics and current events, this is one of the few episodes that covers both in detail. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed participating in the discussion.

Your reading assignment is Empire of Ruin.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. 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 Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

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

Sidequest 28 – Labor Movements in Ancient Rome with Dr. Sarah Bond

Dr. Sarah Bond, Roanoke, Virginia native and author of the hit book Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire, stopped by the podcast to talk about how people engaged in collective action in Antiquity. In addition to discussing how Roman workers engaged in actions that are similar to the modern labor movement, such as by forming collegia of various types, we cover a lot of topics including why Roanoke is so great, how we should approach the study of history and the power that laborers have. Another topic we get into is how the Roman state restricted collegia and why Christians were persecuted. And if that weren’t enough, we also discuss the Mint Strike during Aurelian’s reign. Not to give away the ending, but as Omar warned us, “You come at the king, you best not miss.”

Your reading assignments include The Great Leveler and Surviving Rome.

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

Sidequest 27 – Magic and Early Christianity with Dr. Shaily Patel

In response to a suggestion from Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones, I reached out to Dr. Shaily Patel at Virginia Tech (GO HOKIES!) to see if she would come on the podcast. Turns out she was willing to do so and this led to a discussion about the complex relationship between early Christianity and magic. This includes how early Christians employed heresy to attack and marginalize non-Christian practitioners of magic (looking at you, Augustine). Dr. Patel has covered this topic thoroughly and written a book about it that is very, very good. Please check out the book. You will enjoy it.

In addition to covering the complex role that early Christianity and Christians had with magic, we discuss the state of higher education, how we should discuss history and the complexities involved in putting together historical narratives, the D.C. Comics character John Constantine, the brilliant TV show Grimm and The Dresden Files. Don’t judge us.

Your reading assignments include the Scholomance series and Things Unseen.

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

Surprise Voicemail – Ms. Bull City Coordinators

After our last episode, Ms. Bull City Coordinators called in with her thoughts on some things including me as a fan. I’m a little concerned that she’s got some sort of fever that caused some serious delirium. Also, when it comes to my Premier League team Everton, let me just say, “Nil satis nisi optimum”. Let’s hope Duke football will adopt the saying because nothing but the best is good enough.

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, or on Bluesky.

As always, Go Duke!

Voicemail Episode!

To try and make sense of a disappointing Duke football season and a disappointing, but not totally surprising, loss to UCONN, Bull City Coordinators is back with a voicemail episode. We have calls from Jason, Freddie, Eli and yours truly which all try to process what in the world is going on with our Blue Devils. Thanks for calling in guys, and see you all at Wallace Wade on Saturday.

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, or on Bluesky.

As always, Go Duke!

Sidequest 26 – Drinking in Ancient Greece with Dr. Amy Pistone

Our friend Amy Pistone returns to the podcast to educate us on drinking habits in Ancient Greece. During this episode, we’ll hear about the current climate in higher education and discuss the uncertainty professors have. We will also cover what would go down at a symposium and how people in Antiquity knew how to play drinking games. And, if that weren’t enough, we answer a question that has stumped scholars for centuries – was Odysseus a woo girl, or did he just keep it real? Listen and find out.

Your reading assignments include Glorious Exploits and Sarah Bond’s Strike. Given the number of times that Strike has been suggested as a book to read, isn’t it time for Dr. Bond to come on the podcast? I think so.

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

Sidequest 25 – Ben and Victor Review Troy: The Director’s Cut

Victor returns to the podcast to discuss 2004’s Troy. But not just Troy. No, we skip the theatrical release version and go straight into the 196 minute (not a typo) director’s cut. Why did we do this? Good question.

Anyway, we take some time to figure out what went wrong with this movie, what good parts it had and, of course, we talk about Deep Blue Sea (there’s a connection here, trust me). We also point out that the ending sequence for the Trojans in this movie was really, really idiotic. Most important, we raise a significant issue that should be studied by film historians – does throwing in an exploding volcano make a movie better? Listen and find out.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. 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.

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

Sidequest 24 – Antiquity on Screen Part II: Those About to Die and The Odyssey with Monica Cyrino

Our friend Monica Cyrino returned to the podcast to discuss Those About to Die and the upcoming Christopher Nolan film, The Odyssey. Those About to Die is a Peacock series which is set in the Flavian dynasty. It’s an ambitious project that has some good parts and some not so good parts. If we were to give it one of our movie review ratings, I’d give it a Probus. It is worth watching as there are some good moments that are historically accurate. There are some other moments that are … not.

We also get into the futures game and play a version of conference realignment talk by discussing what shape The Odyssey may take. It’s an ambitious project and, to be honest, I’m not sure I see a movie in the source material absent extensive editing and rewrites. And, if that happens, I’m certain the notoriously happy OnlineClassics folks will react with calm, quiet reflection. Narrator: They won’t.

We conclude the podcast by talking about a few projects that Dr. Cyrino is working on which I highly recommend.

Your reading assignment is Judy Dench’s Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. 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.

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

Interview – 2025 Season Prediction Episode with Lee Rodio

Our old friend Lee Rodio returns to the podcast for another schedule breakdown. As we go through each game, you’ll see that both me and Lee are pretty high on Duke this year, although Lee is a little higher on the Blue Devils than I am. If either of our predictions are close to right, it’ll be a fun year in Durham.

Also, I got one voicemail that I play at the end of the episode. Who left the message? Why did that person call? What is the mysterious message contained in the voicemail? Listen to the entire episode and you’ll find out.

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, or on Bluesky.

As always, Go Duke!

Sidequest 23 – All Roads Lead to Rome with Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones

As we all know, people spend a lot of time thinking about Rome. If you’ve ever wondered why that is, Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones just published All Roads Lead to Rome, a book that attempts to answer and explain just why it is that so many of us think about Rome and why we’ve done it for so long. In addition to that, we cover a lot of topics including writing styles, an ongoing issue with historical cognitive dissonance when it comes to our understanding of Rome and some troubling and problematic invocations of Rome. We also cover a very interesting want to know more section of her book and how it incorporates new and emerging forms of scholarship.

Your reading assignments include Strike by Dr. Sarah E. Bond (who I would love to have on the pod one day) and Dr. Kaldellis’ The New Roman Empire.

And while you’re reading stuff, why don’t you pick up a copy of Dr. Garth Jones’ book? It’s pretty darned good.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. 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.

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