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Tim Whitmarsh – Rome’s Age of Revolution

    Augustus, Empire, and the Making of Christianity

    The Book Club | 14 July 2026 | 0h 42m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify

    Interview with Tim Whitmarsh about his book Rome’s Age of Revolution: Augustus, Empire, and the Making of Christianity. Argues that early Christianity was fundamentally shaped by the Roman Empire, which created the necessary framework for its flourishing. Describes the pivotal role of Roman roads – not just for infrastructure but for ideologically connecting the empire – and the term ‘the Way’ (hodos) used by early Christians. Explores paradoxes such as Augustus’s dual role as traditionalist and innovator, which found echoes in Christian narratives. Touches on the re-telling of saviour-child birth myths, the move away from Jewish roots, and the successful entrepreneurial institutionalisation of Christianity in the Greek-speaking East.

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    Diarmaid MacCulloch on Christianity, Sex, and Unsettling Settled Facts

      Conversations with Tyler | 21 January 2026 | 0h 59m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
      Interview with Diarmaid MacCulloch about his book Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity. Discusses whether monotheism correlates with monogamy, Christianity’s early instinct towards egalitarianism, what the Eucharistic revolution reveals about the cathedral building boom, the role of Mary in Christianity and Islam, where Michel Foucault went wrong on sexuality, the significance of the clerical family replacing the celibate monk, why Elizabeth I – not Henry VIII – mattered most for the English Reformation, why English Renaissance music began so brilliantly but then needed to start importing Germans, whether Christianity needs hell to survive, and more.

      How Christianity Came to Dominate the Roman World

        History Extra | 28 August 2025 | 0h 40m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
        Interview with Alice Roberts about her book Domination: The Fall of the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity. Argues that the ‘fall’ of Rome was more rebrand than collapse. Delves into the dramatic transformation of the Roman world and the rise of Christianity, from cliffside burials in Wales to imperial politics in Constantinople, revealing how early Christianity wasn’t a grassroots movement of the poor, but a strategic shift embraced by elites, bishops and emperors.

        Saint Nicholas

          Dan Snow’s History Hit | 19 December 2023 | 0h 24m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
          Interview with Eleanor Janega about the life and mythology of Saint Nicholas, the 3C Christian bishop famed for his generosity and compassion, who formed the basis for the Santa Claus legend.

          Tom Holland on History and Christianity

            Conversations with Tyler | 22 March 2023 | 0h 53m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
            Interview with Tom Holland discussing Christianity, its influence on Western liberalism, the political differences between Paul and Jesus, why America is more pro-technology than Europe, Herodotus, why the Greeks and Persians didn’t industrialize despite having advanced technology, UK devolution, the existential problem the Church of England faces, and more. Draws from his book Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind.

            Tom Holland on Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind

              The Book Club | 4 December 2019 | 0h 45m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
              Interview with Tom Holland about his book Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind. Explains the myriad ways, many of them invisible to us, that Christianity has shaped and continues to shape Western culture. Argues that there is a single distinctive Christian way of thinking.

              I mistakenly triaged this out in 2019 but returned to the episode after reading Misha Saul’s excellent review.