Unquiet History 5
From Matthew Battles | Part of the Unquiet History series | 02:51
A new view of medieval garbage
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- Unquiet History 5
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- Matthew Battles
Medieval city dwellers threw their trash out the windows onto unsuspecting pedestrians below--right? Not according to historian Dolly Jorgenson. Writing in the current issue of "Technology & Society," Jorgenson describes how medieval urbanites paved the way for modernity by working together to dispose of their waste and keep their cities clean.
Unquiet History 6
From Matthew Battles | Part of the Unquiet History series | 02:48
Reasons for the Viking Age.
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- Unquiet History 6
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What compelled the Norse to plunder the monasteries, towns, and settlements of Europe? According to Cambridge University archaeologist James Barrett, the cause might have been female infanticide.
Unquiet History 8
From Matthew Battles | Part of the Unquiet History series | 03:04
African spirits in 18th century America
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- Unquiet History 8
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- Matthew Battles
Along a bustling harbor street in Maryland in the early 1700s, someone hung a West African spirit bundle, perhaps invoking Elegu Eshba, Yoruba trickster and god of crossroads. Like the spirit bundle itself, its maker stood at a crossroads between the straits of the middle passage and the scourge of the slave years to come.
Unquiet History 9
From Matthew Battles | Part of the Unquiet History series | 03:27
The enigma of the death of Socrates
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- Unquiet History 9
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- Matthew Battles
Socrates's last words, recorded by Plato in the Apology, have long posed a puzzle for young students and great philosophers alike. Writer Colin Wells thinks he can explain the enigma--and the answer's not found in abstruse philosophy, but in the simple rituals of ancient Greek religion.