American Medieval

Hey! It’s a great episode, perhaps the best episode because our guest this week [Borat voice] MY WIFE! Rachel Gabriele talks with us about Detroit and how the city tells stories about itself – but also how the overlapping policy, politics, and economics of the city (and its universities) are similar to the Middle Ages.

Guest
Rachel currently serves in the Provost's Office at Virginia Tech leading policy and administration initiatives related to faculty affairs. Disciplinary, Rachel is interested in how the built environment influences culture, particularly in urban and campus settings. Her PhD focused on the built environment in Detroit after recent redevelopment efforts.

Credits
Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
Editor: Julia Schifini
Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
Art: Ulysses Gabriele
Multitude: https://multitudeshows.com/

Find American Medieval Online
Website: AmericanMedieval.com
Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social

About Us
American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

Sponsors
Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There was no word for tattoo (in Europe) before the 18th century or so, but people had tattoos. Esther Cuenca talks about how to get at the lives of the 90% of the population who often don’t have sources written for them. Plus Prof. Gabriele tells you about his own tattoo.

Guest
Esther Liberman Cuenca is Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University–Victoria and the author of The Making of Urban Customary Law in Medieval and Reformation England, which was published last year by Oxford University Press. She has also co-edited the book Law, Justice, and Society in the Medieval World: An Introduction through Film, and has just recently completed a short book called Body Art and Tattooing in the Global Middle Ages. Find her on BlueSky at @EstherLCuenca

Credits
Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
Editor: Julia Schifini
Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
Art: Ulysses Gabriele
Multitude: https://multitudeshows.com/

Find American Medieval Online
Website: AmericanMedieval.com
Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social

About Us
American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

Sponsors
Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is about stories and what they do. Medievals told them (as we do today, often without knowing it!) that conveyed truth, but not necessarily fact. This is where conspiracy theories come from. Is there hope to defeat them? Yup.

Guest
Elise Wang works on the medieval history of modern ideas, like felony (her first book) and conspiracy theories (her second). She is an assistant professor at Cal State Fullerton, as well as a current Carnegie Fellow. See more at her website, or find her on Bluesky: @elisewang.bsky.social.

Credits
Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
Editor: Julia Schifini
Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
Art: Ulysses Gabriele
Multitude: https://multitudeshows.com/

Find American Medieval Online
Website: AmericanMedieval.com
Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social

About Us
American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

Sponsors
Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stephen Hopkins has been thinking about Hell for a long time, and so have medieval Christians. But only one of them grew up in Ohio. Plus there are 2 killer puns towards the end that I’m very proud of.

Guest
Stephen Hopkins is an Assistant Professor in the English Department at the University of Virginia. He teaches Old English and Old Norse languages and literatures, as well as courses on the history of the English language and medieval literature generally. His recent book is entitled Translating hell: Vernacular theology and apocrypha in the medieval North Sea. Follow on Bluesky: phil-lol-ogist@bsky.social or Instagram @phil_lol_ogist. His website is https://stephencehopkins.wordpress.com/

Credits
Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
Editor: Julia Schifini
Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
Art: Ulysses Gabriele
Multitude: https://multitudeshows.com/

Find American Medieval Online
Website: AmericanMedieval.com
Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social

About Us
American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

Sponsors
Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sicily isn’t just cannoli (but it is, and they’re great). In the Middle Ages, this was an island filled with Latin Christians, Greek Christians, Muslims, and Jews — and one that kept right on chugging as the centerpoint (almost literally) of the Mediterranean. We talk about how people moved, didn’t, got along, and didn’t.

Guest
Sarah Davis-Secord is Professor of History and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at the University of New Mexico. She is interested in medieval interreligious interactions and long-distance trade, and has written books about early medieval Sicily, human migration across the Mediterranean, and a co-authored textbook on the global Middle Ages. See more at her website.

Credits
Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
Editor: Julia Schifini
Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
Art: Ulysses Gabriele
Multitude: https://multitudeshows.com/

Find American Medieval Online
Website: AmericanMedieval.com
Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social

About Us
American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

Sponsors
Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://www.multitudeshows.com/ads
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.