Everywhere around us are echoes of the past. Those echoes define the boundaries of states and countries, how we pray and how we fight. They determine what money we spend and how we earn it at work, what language we speak and how we raise our children. From Wondery, host Patrick Wyman, PhD (“Fall Of Rome”) helps us understand our world and how it got to be the way it is.
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Chart trend
Position in the History chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#71#141JunJulAugSep
#34
all-time peak
13
days in the top 50 since Nov 2024
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
Listen Now: Audible True Crime
Introducing Audible True Crime, a dedicated podcast feed where we bring you the best podcasts in true crime, with episodes dropping every single week. Find your next bing
Aug 24 6 min
The End
At long last, we've reached the end of Tides of History, and I can't thank you all enough for coming along on this long journey. We end with a series of vignettes set thr
Apr 30 36 min
Lewis and Clark, the Corps of Discovery, and Writing Collective History: Interview with Author Craig Fehrman
Author Craig Fehrman's new book on Lewis and Clark, This Vast Enterprise, is one of the best things I've read in years. We discuss the richness of our understanding of th
Apr 23 44 min
Lost Worlds Audiobook Chapter: "The World As It Was"
Patrick's new book Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World comes out May 5th! Check out a free preview of the first chapter of the audiobook
Apr 16 50 min
What I've Learned From Tides of History
Does history repeat itself? Not really, but that's not the reason it's worth studying: Our past is nothing more or less than the collective record of our species' achieve
Apr 9 33 min
Gladiators and the Roman Psyche: Interview with Dr. Harry Sidebottom
Gladiators are one of the most instantly recognizable yet alien aspects of Roman society, and Dr. Harry Sidebottom's new book - Those Who Are About to Die - offers a cutt
Apr 2 44 min
Babylon, a City for the Ages: Interview with Professor Lloyd Llewelyn-Jones
The city of Babylon has appeared in our episodes time and again over the past several years: as the center of empires, a victim of vicious conquest, a wealthy center of e
Mar 26 38 min
Popular History and Academic History
Academic history and popular history are very different things, but what is their purpose? And how should we, as people who like and consume history, understand and use t
Mar 19 33 min
Migration in Human History
If we want to understand how and why the human story has unfolded in the way it has, then we have to understand migration: large numbers of people moving long distances.
Mar 12 35 min
The Last Mailbag!
It's time for one last mailbag! I cover everything from which historical figure would be the best Poster on social media to how ancient authors collected their letters fo
Mar 5 50 min
Ancient DNA and the Future of the Past
The ability to recover ancient DNA from archaeological remains is one of the greatest scientific innovations of our time, but how has it impacted archaeology and ancient
Feb 26 35 min
A Voyage Through the Mediterranean at the Fall of Carthage
What did the Mediterranean look like at the moment of Rome's triumph in 146 BC? Join me as we go on one final trip around the wine-dark sea, checking in with each major r
Feb 19 33 min
What is the Atlantic World? Interview with Professor Keith Pluymers
he Atlantic World is one of the major concepts in academic history, a way of linking together all the various places around the fringes of the great ocean during a time o
Feb 12 51 min
The Life of Publius Afer (Rome, 200 BC)
The best way to understand the impact slavery had on a person's life is to follow their journey through the institution, but the ancient world provides few examples that
Feb 5 30 min
Ancient Slaveries
Slavery was foundational to ancient societies, but it was never a single thing: The experiences of the enslaved varied dramatically depending on when and where they lived
Jan 29 35 min
Past Lives: Saint Patrick, Slavery, and the Fall of the Roman Empire
Check out Patrick's new show, Past Lives! You can listen on your platform of choice through the links here, and be sure to subscribe to the Patreon for tons of bonus cont
Jan 26 26 min
Mailbag!
It's been quite a while since I've answered listener questions, so here are a bunch on everything from the best depictions of siege warfare in movies to the pre-Indo-Euro
Jan 22 47 min
Recent Discoveries in the Ancient Americas: Professor Shane Miller Returns
Every year, new archaeological discoveries claim to rewrite what we think we knew about the ancient Americas, but how much can we trust the initial reports we see? Profes
Jan 15 52 min
Doing Business in Mid-Republican Rome
The rise of the Roman Republic was built on conquest and war, but also on the massively expanding economy of Italy as a whole and Rome in particular. What was it like to
Jan 8 33 min
Interview with Professor Tom Birkett on "Runes: A Concise History"
Runic writing carries connotations of magic and fantasy, but it was a widespread, useful, and long-lasting system of writing. Professor Tom Birkett has written a fantasti
Jan 1 42 min
Chart positions
Where Tides of History ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 13, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
Been looking for a prehistory podcast that gives review of existing science but also uses narrative and I couldn’t be happier that I finally found it. Series from 2020 is rocking my whole world. I suddenly feel like I did when I was a kid discovering all these things about science on my own and in school. Life is exciting again! So good.
coleygonzo · Dec 2024
Love the show, just one request. Please stop the drinking and gulping at the beginning when characters are drinking, it’s like nails on a chalkboard. I have to skip ahead. It’s right in my ears with my earbuds. Again love the podcast 😊
Fivebifive79 · Dec 2024
Accessible history - presented in understandable narrative form that tells the story, or several versions of the event with color commentary on the odds of the several versions.
The stories are woven together so that connections become evident. Amazing use of visuals. And tells the stories using characters to illustrate the story. And brings in recent fact sets such as climate change with associated pandemics, famines, population declines, and deterioration of economic, civic, religious, educational, and cultural roles of the cities, without which the cities of the west sputtered and returned to its unconnected state.
joeinjacksonville · Nov 2024
I’ve been listening to Tides for a couple years, and listened to Patrick’s Rome pod before. I don’t know how I’ve never left a review before!
I love his presentation and casual manner, and the depth of research done into the periods and topics.
The Nameless Twin · Oct 2024
We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.
Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Tides of History, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.
