Was 1776 the most important year in modern history? And how much of today's supposedly secular Western world still owes its values to Christianity?In this episode of History’s Last Stand, Dr Michael F. Bird welcomes Andrew Wilson, author of Remaking...
Was Queen Zenobia of Palmyra greater than Cleopatra? She built an empire stretching across the Roman East, but her extraordinary reign came to a dramatic end when Emperor Aurelian marched against her.In Part 2, Dr Michael F. Bird and historian Dr Nat...
Was Queen Zenobia more successful than Cleopatra?In the third century AD, as Rome struggled against invasion, political chaos and a devastating military defeat, an extraordinary woman emerged from the Syrian desert to build an empire.Mike Bird is joi...
Was a sensational discovery of the earliest Gospel of Mark too good to be true?When rumours emerged of a first-century fragment of Mark's Gospel, biblical scholars and Christian apologists were electrified. Such a discovery could bring us astonishing...
Did Jesus have a wife? For a brief moment, a tiny piece of ancient-looking papyrus appeared to offer extraordinary new evidence. The so-called Gospel of Jesus’ Wife was unveiled by a Harvard scholar and made headlines around the world. But there was...
A lost gospel. A missing manuscript. And an extraordinary accusation of forgery.Mike Bird talks to New Testament scholar Stephen Carlson about the Secret Gospel of Mark, the sensational text discovered by Morton Smith in 1958.Was it an authentic wind...
Why does Paul say women will be “saved through childbearing”? Mike Bird is joined by Dr Sandra Glahn, author of Nobody’s Mother, to explore Artemis of Ephesus, one of the ancient world’s most powerful goddesses. They uncover a cult intertwined with...
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazi regime in April 1945. But his death was only the beginning of his extraordinary influence.In the final episode of this three-part series, Mike Bird talks to Bonhoeffer expert John McCabe about what happene...
Mike Bird continues his conversation with historian John McCabe, tracing Bonhoeffer’s involvement in the German resistance and reconstructing the extraordinary final days before his execution.Bonhoeffer had once seriously considered studying nonviole...
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor, theologian and opponent of Hitler who was executed by the Nazis aged just 39. But has the Bonhoeffer of history become obscured by the Bonhoeffer of legend?Mike Bird is joined by historian John McCabe for the first o...
What happens to Christianity when Christians forget their own past?Historian Sarah Irving-Stonebraker joins Mike Bird to argue that losing touch with 2,000 years of Christian history can leave faith vulnerable to consumerism, celebrity culture and ev...
What happens to a society when it forgets its history, or rewrites the past to serve the politics of the present?Historian and Priests of History author Sarah Irving-Stonebraker joins Mike Bird to explore why history departments are disappearing, why...
Alexander the Great is dead, but the struggle for his empire is only getting bloodier. Mike Bird and Tristan Hughes trace the rise of Antigonus, Seleucus, Ptolemy and Cassander as alliances collapse, royal heirs are murdered and rival generals declar...
Alexander the Great is dead, and his generals are tearing his empire apart. In episode two of History’s Last Stand, Mike Bird and historian and The Ancients podcaster Tristan Hughes explore the brutal struggle for power that followed Alexander’s deat...
History is under siege, and Mike Bird is taking a stand. In the launch episode of Premier Unbelievable’s podcast, the host of Ask NT Wright Anything joins Tristan Hughes, presenter of The Ancients, to explore the violent aftermath of Alexander the Gr...
