Interview – Christina Salowey, Ph. D., talks Ancient Greece

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We hope you’re ready for another installment of The Classical Antiquity Podcast! This time we’re hoping in The Wayback Machine to visit Ancient Greece. Our guest is Christina Salowey, Ph. D., who teaches at Hollins University here in the Roanoke area. We discuss Dr. Salowey’s area of research which includes, primarily, the intersection of environmental history and mythology. Folks, this is fascinating stuff.

Also, in order to avoid my daughter getting angry at me, we have a long discussion on Athena and her role in Greek mythology and culture as well as her influence on Star Wars. We also relive the wonderful memories that the sinkhole in our old neighbor’s yard created for us. Good times!

If you’re interested in Greek Antiquity, here is a good place to start – https://www.theoi.com/. If you’d like some books on the topic, Dr. Salowey suggested reading Stephen Frey’s books.

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As always, Go Duke!

Basketball Rivalry Week Podcast Crossover – GTHC

With Duke-UNC coming up this Saturday, my friends over at 5 Point Play had me back on to talk the upcoming game and what to expect from the Blue Devils as they take on the Heels. Let’s Go Duke!!!

This was a fun about the Blue Devils, the team with the best shade of blue!

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 InstagramSpoutibleBluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Fred Goldsmith

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First and foremost, big thanks to Troy Taylor from Totem Pole Nation for getting this set up. I can’t thank him enough for making this happen.

Former Duke football head coach Fred Goldsmith stopped by the podcast to talk about his early career in football, a stop at Rice and his time coaching the Blue Devils. We learned about a lot of great coaches that Coach Goldsmith worked with including Ken Hatfield, Chan Gailey, Mike Heimerdinger and Craig Bohl among others. During this long and informative discussion, we learn a lot about the challenges Coach Goldsmith faced after an amazing 1994 season, the number of players he got in the NFL and how he was close to getting Duke over the hump before he was let go after the 1998 season. I know you will enjoy listening to Coach Goldsmith tell some great stories about his time leading the Blue Devils.

We also talk about how, after the 1994 season, Coach Goldsmith was close to getting a lot of high-profile coaching jobs. You won’t believe where he almost ended up.

If you get a chance, you should check out his book, Comeback Coach. I bought it a few years back. It’s a quick and entertaining read.

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 InstagramSpoutibleBluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Jennifer Gerrish, Ph. D. talks Roman History

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Dr. Jennifer Gerrish, Classics professor at the College of Charleston (Go Cougs!), stopped by to talk about one of my favorite topics, Ancient Rome. During our almost hour long conversation, we learn about Dr. Gerrish’s Ancient Rome origin story, cover the problems inherent in studying Antiquity and spend a lot of time going over the political genius, yet completely destructive force, that was Julius Caesar. SPOILER ALERT – he gets assassinated. Dr. Gerrish provides the greatest characterization of Caesar I’ve ever come across. You’ll love it. We also spend a fair amount of time talking about why governments fall and what appears to be the unchanging pattern of human nature.

If you want to learn more about Roman history and read some of Dr. Gerrish’s writings, check out the below –

Dr. Gerrish’s books:

Recommended reading list:

I’d also check out Emma Southon‘s book on Aggripina because she is a fascinating character and that era of the Empire is always worth your time.

I know this isn’t the typical stuff we cover at Bull City Coordinators, but this was an informative discussion with an intelligent guest. Dr. Gerrish and I are hoping to do another interview after this coming school semester ends. And, hey, why not do more after that? Rome is always a great topic.

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 InstagramSpoutibleBluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Get to Know the Troy Trojans with Josh Boutwell

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Josh Boutwell of the Troy Messenger stopped by to talk about Duke’s next opponent, the Troy Trojans, and what to expect from Troy in the Birmingham Bowl. During our interview, we talked the coaching change for both teams, my time working for a sign company and the advantage it gave me in recognizing random cities and towns across the United States, the Trojans’ football culture, what a great stadium we’ll get to watch the game in and the terrible parking situation in Birmingham. Not to give away the ending, but the Blue Devils are going to have their hands full come December 23.

In addition, Josh discusses his cancer treatment during the interview. Please stop by this site to help out with his medical costs if you are so inclined.

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 InstagramSpoutibleBluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Marilyn Payne

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ESPN and ACC Network reporter and noted Tar Heel Marilyn Payne stopped by the pod to talk about her history covering Duke football, my conspiracy theory that she singlehandedly brought about the end of the Elko Era in Durham, FSU getting snubbed and how The ACC can improve its overall brand. We also talked about Manny Mania coming to Blue Devil Nation. Funny thing happened after that as we spent about 20 minutes disputing two points that, once we defined our terms, we agreed on. I edited that out for time. That edit notwithstanding, you will get an update about Marilyn’s upcoming plans for bowl seasons and which future ACC team she will be covering. And, if that weren’t enough, you’ll learn about Marilyn’s favorite movie and get a some real deep nerd references from me.

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 InstagramSpoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Duke Hires Manny Diaz

It became official late last night – Duke hired Penn State DC Manny Diaz to be the program’s next head coach. We’ll do more in the next couple of weeks about this hire. But with bowl season, I’m a little backed up.

So, instead of doing a full post about why I like this hire and how I think it is a good one, I’ll just drop a link to a call I had with Adam Gold yesterday in which we discuss the Diaz hire before it became official. We cover what to expect from Diaz, the transfer portal and what this hire means for the Blue Devils. Hey, we just might be a football school after all!

Check it out on YouTube, too:

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 InstagramSpoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Steve Wiseman Talks Coaching Search and Birmingham Bowl

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Steve Wiseman stopped by to talk about a crazy, crazy week of Duke and ACC football. We begin by talking about how FSU got the shaft courtesy of Boo Corrigan, et al., as did SMU. And, most important, I got to use one of my favorite historical quotes. It’s Truman on Nixon. I mean, what else do you need?

After that, Steve and I talk about his hectic schedule trying to cover Elko’s departure from Durham and the Blue Devils’ coaching search. There’s a lot of ground to cover and Steve will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about what happened with Elko and how Nina King is leading Duke through this transitional period. If that weren’t enough, we also go over how the Blue Devils landed in the Birmingham Bowl and not the Gasparilla Bowl. Thanks, CFP Selection Committee. And Notre Dame.

Oh, and it turns out Duke has a basketball team. Who knew? In all seriousness, we spend some time trying to diagnose why the Blue Devils have been struggling out of the gate. As always, Steve was a great and informative guest. You’ll love this episode.

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 InstagramSpoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Mike Elko Reaction Episode

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After a few voicemails and a message from former site contributor Mike Kline, Dad took a break from Richlandia to stop by and check in after Mike Elko left Duke for A&M. We talk about the current state of the program, possible head coach candidates and the program’s foundation. We all trust Nina King to bring a quality head coach to Durham. It may take a few years, but Dad feels confident that the Blue Devils will be 10-2 soon. Nothing can shake this man’s optimism for Duke football.

Programming note – stay tuned as we will have an interview with Steve Wiseman in the coming days. That will be a fun one. Steve is a great guest and always has something interesting to tell us. I can’t wait!

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 InstagramSpoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!

Interview – Get to Know the Pitt Panthers with Noah Hiles

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First, let me apologize for some inconsistent audio quality. My Bluetooth headset kept cutting in and out on volume and I had to amplify the audio. Not sure why it happened. That can only mean I need a new headset. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Pitt beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Noah Hiles stopped by to get us ready for a noon matchup with the Panthers at Wallace Wade. During this 5o+ minute interview, we talk about the struggles that Duke has had in beating Pitt, the disaster of a year the Panthers are going through and the fact that the Blue Devils have sort of kind of maybe fallen off after a good start.

In addition, we discuss the scheduling issues that ACC teams will continue face as a result of an unbalanced and ridiculously unfair schedule. To elaborate on that, there’s a reason that Duke is behind GA Tech, UNC and VA Tech this year. The Blue Devils have had, by far, the toughest schedule in The ACC. When you throw the injuries on top of that, this record shouldn’t be a surprise. Listen, guys, we’re just going to have to deal with getting a raw deal when it comes to the schedule. It’s not fair, but it is what it is.

Also, we get a guest pick from former Duke WR Ben Erdeljac! He’s taking the Blue Devils to close the season on a win. Let’s Go!!!

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 InstagramSpoutible, Bluesky or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!