Pop Medieval Ep 9: Hail to The King, Baby Pop Medieval
00:00 / 43:05
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Mov-ember (finally!) concludes on a high note! Doc and Nina discuss the 2019 Netflix original, The King, starring Timothee Chalamet. This is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” so brush up on your Henriad before listening!
Doc and Nina will discuss the historical context of Henry V (or Hal, as he’s called in the film), his shaky Salic claim to both the English and French thrones, war (what IS it good for anyway?), and the movie’s decision to leave out the St. Crispian’s Day speech. Doc will also talk about the gross reason why Henry V is always painted in profile and Nina admires Fallstaff’s dancing dad bod.
Pop Medieval Ep 8: The St Nick Sucker Punch Pop Medieval
00:00 / 21:47
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Blīþe Gēol! In this very special episode of Pop Medieval, Doc tells Nina about two legends of Saint Nicholas. The first is the legend of St. Nicholas of Myra, who allegedly attended the Council of Nicaea and punched a heretic in the face. The second is the story of St. Nicholas resurrecting two butchered and pickled children from a vat. Finally, we hear Doc do a dramatic reading of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer translated from modern English into Old English and back into modern English.
Also, Nina reveals her plans to return to a “traditional” Christmas.
Show Notes
Did St Nicholas of Myra / Santa Claus punch Arius at the Council of Nicaea? (Roger Pearce)
St Nicholas and the story of the three schoolboys murdered by an inn-keeper and stashed in a pickling cask (Roger Pearce)
Hrodulf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Old English to Modern English, by Philip Craig Chapman-Bell (Bakersfield College)
Nina’s Recommendations
Chaucer’s Mead for All Seasons (chaucerswine.com) [h/t – Eric from the Wine Dads podcast]
Doc’s Recommendations
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, or Sword of the Valiant (IMDB)
Pop Medieval Ep 7: Robin, Robin, Robin Buckets o’ Gold Pop Medieval
00:00 / 1:04:37
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Mov-ember continues! This time, Doc and Nina look at the Robin Hood 2018 adaptation, starring Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx and feature a butt-load of strange arrow physics and a cart-chase scene. We have to specify this since, apparently, there were two Robin Hood movies released in 2018. Who knew?
Doc and Nina discuss why this mess of a film is actually a modern adaptation of ye olde Robin Hood myth despite the medieval trappings. Nina reveals her lifelong crush on Paul Rudd while running through a list of modern medieval adaptation examples and Doc surprises Nina with an unlikely Robin Hood adaptation. They then settle on what makes an adaptation good and why this one just didn’t work.
Pop Medieval Ep 6: We’re About to Go Feast Mode Pop Medieval
00:00 / 50:04
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Mov-ember has been temporarily pre-empted due to the Thanksgiving holiday so Doc and Nina can bring you this very special food-themed episode of Pop Medieval. This one’s all about a certain fast-food restaurant and their foray into a table-top role-playing game called Feast of Legends. Doc tells Nina all about his experiencing playing the game that, yes, incorporates food off the menu. They also talk about medieval eating practices, the origin of the word “morsel,” and settle the debate once and for all: is a hot dog a sandwich?
Pop Medieval Ep 5: To Hell with Hellboy Pop Medieval
00:00 / 39:35
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Welcome to Mov-ember! The next three episodes will be dedicated to Medieval-themed movies, so get ready to have some fun watching a movie then listening to two dorks talk about it afterward (because THAT’S never been done before, right?)
In this episode, Doc and Nina look at Hellboy 2019 (the one NOT directed by Guillermo del Toro) because – surprise! – it’s a King Arthur story. They talk about why Arthur is a boring subject to make into a film, discuss the choice to replace Morgan Le Fay with Nimue, and finally settle the argument of who makes the best Hellboy.
Pop Medieval Ep 4: The Kingdom is Full of Zombies BONUS Pop Medieval
00:00 / 35:18
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Doc and Nina continue their discussion about Kingdom. Spoiler warning – this episode discusses the ending of the series, so if you haven’t seen the show, you may want to skip this episode!
Pop Medieval Ep 4: The Kingdom is Full of Zombies Pop Medieval
00:00 / 1:07:20
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For our super-sized Halloween episode, Doc and Nina leave medieval Europe and head to Joseon-era Korea to discuss the 2019 Netflix show, Kingdom. It is part medieval history, part conspiracy thriller, and a whole lot of tense undead action! They discuss the first episode in depth along the geography of Korea, Confucianism, cannibalism, and more.
There was so much to talk about, we had to divide this into two episodes: one with no spoilers (this one) and one bonus episode that talks about the BONKERS series cliff hanger (that’s the next one). Thanks to Engineer Mike for putting up with our rambling for two hours!
Show Notes
We stammered for it, but our email is podcast [at] profawesome [dot] com.
Pop Medieval Ep 3: A Thing about Kennings Pop Medieval
00:00 / 42:30
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You “podcast-listeners” don’t know a “thing” about our next episode! First, Doc explains to Nina the origin of the word thing. Then, listeners get a crash course in kennings and their use in Old English poetry. Finally, Nina tests Doc’s knowledge of “Beowulf’s” kennings with a challenging game of “Kenning You Dig It?”
(Also, forgive Nina’s mic issues for this episode. She got excited during the kennings episode and started moving around too much.)
Show Notes:
Be sure to check out the following books from Witan Publishing:
Pop Medieval Ep 2: The Staffordshire Hoard Pop Medieval
00:00 / 32:07
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Imagine this: you’re metal detecting in a field in the English countryside and suddenly, your sensors go off. You’ve just stumbled upon the largest medieval treasure in Europe! This is the Staffordshire Hoard and 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of its discovery!
You have to see the Staffordshire Hoard to get the full picture, so we’ve included some video links in our show notes below.
Show notes:
The Staffordshire Hoard Website (http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/) has a literal trove of articles and videos to check out, but we’ve pulled a few of our favorites:
Hwæt! Thanks for listening to our inaugural episode of Pop Medieval! We’re proud of our efforts with this project as this has been a while in the making. We’ve got some fun episodes planned, so we hope you subscribe on at least one of the podcast platforms out there.
