What I am listening to: Fall of Civilizations Podcast

First in a series of what I enjoy listening to. Paul Cooper brings polish and artistic flourishes to make the history of the great empires of history come to life. You feel like you are in it.

My father spent about a decade in decline as he struggled with Alzheimers before he passed away.

That meant that during this time I would make the trek from San Jose to San Diego multiple times a year.

In this period, I picked up a habit of listening to podcasts while I was on the road. This post is the first in a series I plan to do of my favorite podcasts.

I am not sure how I stumbled upon Paul Cooper’s outstanding “Fall of Civilizations” podcast, but am I glad that I did.

Now up to 19 episodes, they started in 2019, with the first episode being on Roman Britain. I was entranced almost immediately.

Paul brings a well researched historical background and weaves a tale that often starts at the height of the civilization he’s focused on, adding details that would be discarded by many authors, and really brings a sense of familiarity to it.

The episodes started short, the first one was barely over an hour, but as time went on, he expanded and stretched the stories, adding over the time ambient sound effects, music played by people who study the music of the times, and often with clips of readings in the original language (with an English overlay). The latest episode on The Mongols - Terror of the Steppe is a two parter totaling nearly 7 full hours, and it is a masterpiece of work.

The best part is that because of people who help fund this effort via Patreon (I do support him there) these podcasts are without the ads that are distracting.

Alas, as the episodes have become more complex and polished in production, the volume of new releases has dropped off. Still, I get a little flutter in my heart when I see a new one pop up in my feed, as I know that I am going to be both educated and entertained for multiple hours.

The episodes are in order:

1. Roman Britain - The Work of Giants Crumbled

2. The Bronze Age Collapse - Mediterranean Apocalypse

3. The Mayan Collapse - Ruin Among the Trees

4. The Greenland Vikings - Land of the Midnight Sun (with Trump’s fascination with buying Greenland, this is a really good episode to listen to)

5. The Khmer Empire - Fall of the God Kings

6. Easter Island - Where Giants Walked

7. The Songhai Empire - Africa’s Age of Gold

8. The Sumerians - Fall of the First Cities

9. The Aztecs - A Clash of Worlds

10. China’s Han Dynasty - The First Empire in Flames

11. Byzantium - Last of the Romans

12. The Inca - Cities in the Cloud

13. The Assyrians - Empire of Iron

14. Vijayanagara - The Last Emperors of South India

15. The Nabataeans - The Final Days of Petra

16. Bagan - City of Temples

17. Carthage - Empire of the Phoenicians

18. Egypt - Fall of the Pharaohs

19. The Mongols - Terror of the Steppe

Some notes: They aren’t in chronological order. I am not sure why they aren’t, but I am sure it was with how to research and personal interest

At times, they will refer to other episodes, but it is not essential to listen in order. You can drop in anywhere and learn something, and get enjoyment.

If you do join and support on Patreon, you get access to maps, and visual aids, as well as videos that support the material. A cool benefit.

Paul is fanatical in acknowledging the actors and musicians he works with.

The production values have gotten much better, not that the early one were sloppy, it is just clearly that this is a labor of love for Mr. Cooper, and he really wants everyone to enjoy the episodes. Plus no ads!

Highly recommended!

Bonus: Paul’s output has been a bit slow as he was working on a book (dead tree and eBook) bringing all the work into a thread. I got a copy for Christmas, and I am greatly enjoying it!

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