Premodernist

What should I podcast about?

Added 2025-03-24 00:46:42 +0000 UTC

I've been wanting to do a lecture course in podcast form. It'll be a limited run podcast, a few dozen episodes long, and will be more or less equivalent to the lectures one would get in a university course. It will be freely available on all the typical podcast apps.

In the past I was hesitant to start this because I had heard that you have to release podcast episodes on a regular and frequent schedule or else no one will want to listen to them. But I've decided I can't wait for my life to settle down to allow me to do that. So I will release episodes on an irregular and infrequent basis, whenever I'm able to upload them. Better to start now and build them up slowly than to wait until I can release them quickly.

I will continue to make YouTube videos. But I think also having an audio-only format will make it easier to get content out in a more timely way. The big advantage of audio is that I don't have to invest time in video editing or hunting for B-roll.

The plan is that this will be a stand-alone podcast with a finite number of episodes with its own branding. Eventually, if it goes well, I might do more such sets of lectures on different topics, each a stand-alone podcast. But for now I'll start with one and see how it goes.

Which topic would you prefer the first podcast to be on?

History of Iran — An overview of Persian/Iranian history from ancient to modern times. Sort of an expanded version of my old video "The History of Iran: A Primer."

The Crusades — An overview of the crusades, with emphasis on the campaigns to the Near East in the period 1096–1291 but with some discussion of crusading at other times and places.