Anastasius the Librarian, the greatest enemy of Byzantium you probably haven’t heard of, with Réka Forrai
Meet Anastasius the Librarian, one of the most fascinating controversialists of the ninth century. A native of Rome, scholar of Greek, and (probably) anti-pope for all of three days, he was no friend of Byzantium. He disliked and mistrusted “the Greeks” and argued that they were not Romans as they thought. His arguments have held sway in the west ever since.
The Colonial Fourth Crusade, with George Demacopoulos
Was the Fourth Crusade an act of colonialism? This episode of Byzantium & Friends features an interview with George Demacopoulos, author of Colonizing Christianity: Greek and Latin Religious Identity in the Era of the Fourth Crusade.
Ethnicity and empire in China and Byzantium, with Shao-yun Yang and Ying Zhang
How do imperial societies talk about barbarian or ethnic groups?
Imagining the Moment of Death, with Ellen Muehlberger
A conversation about death and the imagination with Ellen Muehlberger, based on her book Moment of Reckoning: Imagined Death and its Consequences in Late Antique Christianity.
Byzantium in Modern Greek Life, with Dimitris Krallis
Where and how does one experience Byzantium in modern Greece today?
Byzantine Gender, with Leonora Neville
In the first episode of Byzantium & Friends, Leonora Neville talks about her new book Byzantine Gender – how people in the Byzantine Empire conceived of men and women, masculinity and femininity, and the proper behaviour for men and women.