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Lost Worlds with Patrick Wyman

May 13, 2026 · 59 min

Show notes

There’s something just amazing about being able to reconstruct a person’s life in the deep past, from say 5,000 years ago. Matt and Patrick talk in this episode about how being a medievalist helps think about our shared humanity and why history is so freakin’ exciting. 



Guest

Patrick Wyman is a historian and the host of the history podcast “Tides of History” and now the new show “Past Lives.” He's also the author of The Verge: Renaissance, Reformation, and Thirty Years that Shook the World and has a new book out now - Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World. See more at: https://www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia  



Credits



Find American Medieval Online



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 

  • As supporters of my Patreon know, I’m a big fan of cocktails. That’s why I’m happy to tell you about Shaker and Spoon. Shaker and Spoon is a subscription cocktail experience kit, each box including 3 original recipes from award-winning bartenders, with enough ingredients for 12 (or more) drinks. Well, except the alcohol – or non-alcohol, because everything is adaptable to zero-proof. If you’ve ever been interested in trying cocktails but didn’ t know how to start, Shaker and Spoon is great because it teaches you how to shake, stir, build flavors, and garnish. You’ll learn about bitters, syrups, and aromatics with handy recipe cards and notes on how to start thinking like a mixologist. Start now and get 10%. Just head over to shakerandspoon.com and use the code “AMM” at checkout to get 10% off. You’ll be “drinking with historians” in no time.
  • American Medieval is delighted to be partnering with Roundtable, at the 92nd street Y, in New York City, to offer a brand new online course – “The Medieval European Mind, in History and Literature.” The course will be entirely online and run for 4 sessions over 4 weeks, beginning on Thursday July 9. Live class sessions on Zoom will be from 2-3pm, but all sessions will be recorded. Each week, we’ll together think with an iconic medieval text, to talk about some aspect of the medieval - from the monsters of BEOWULF, to the monsters of the crusaders in Usama ibn Munqidh, to courtly love and King Arthur in Marie de France and SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT.  And if that isn’t exciting enough, if you sign up now, you can get 30% off the registration price. Just head to roundtable.org and enter the code “MEDIEVAL30” at checkout. Do it quick as space is limited. 


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