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Nomads, Past and Present

Nomads, Past and Present

By: Maggie Freeman
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About this listen

 A podcast about nomadism and nomadic peoples, around the world and throughout history.© 2022 Digital Nomads World
Episodes
  • Eric Halsey, "State Builders from the Steppe: A History of The First Bulgarian Empire" (This is RETHINK, 2025)

    Eric Halsey, "State Builders from the Steppe: A History of The First Bulgarian Empire" (This is RETHINK, 2025)
    Nov 13 2025
    State Builders from the Steppe: A History of the First Bulgarian Empire (This is RETHINK, 2025) explores how the Proto-Bulgarians were able to build both an empire and an identity amidst the turmoil of the Balkans in the Early Middle Ages. From creating the Cyrillic Alphabet and crowning the first ever Tsar to defeating the first Arab invasion of Europe and nearly conquering the last vestiges of the Roman Empire, the history of the First Bulgarian Empire is equal parts fascinating and dramatic. In this episode, Eric Halsey joins me to discuss the little-known history of the First Bulgarian Empire, its nomadic pastoralist origins, why the empire collapsed, and its legacies in Bulgaria today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    46 mins
  • A Song for the Horses: Musical Heritage for More-than-Human Futures in Mongolia

    A Song for the Horses: Musical Heritage for More-than-Human Futures in Mongolia
    Oct 27 2025
    As permafrost in Siberia continues to melt and the steppe in the Gobi turns to desert, people in Mongolia are faced with overlapping climate crises. Some nomadic herders describe climate change as the end of a world. They are quick to add that the world has ended before for Indigenous people in North Asia, as waves of colonialism have left the steppe with a complicated web of apocalypses. A Song for the Horses by K. G. Hutchins examines cases in which people respond to the pressures of climate change by drawing on cultural heritage to foster social resiliency. In this episode, K. G. joins me to discuss his research on the morin khuur, or “horse fiddle,” in Mongolia, and how Mongolians use the traditional instrument to express and envision human and more-than-human futures against the backdrop of anthropogenic climate change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, "Landscapes of Warfare: Urartu and Assyria in the Ancient Middle East" (UP Colorado, 2025)

    Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, "Landscapes of Warfare: Urartu and Assyria in the Ancient Middle East" (UP Colorado, 2025)
    Sep 28 2025
    Landscapes of Warfare: Urartu and Assyria in the Ancient Middle East (University Press of Colorado, 2025) offers an in-depth exploration of the Urartian empire, which occupied the highlands of present-day Turkey, Armenia, and Iran in the early first millennium BCE. Lesser known than its rival, the Neo-Assyrian empire, Urartu presents a unique case of imperial power distributed among mountain fortresses rather than centralized in cities. Through spatial analysis, the book demonstrates how systematic warfare, driven by imperial ambitions, shaped Urartian and Assyrian territories, creating symbolically and materially powerful landscapes. Tiffany Earley-Spadoni challenges traditional views by emphasizing warfare’s role in organizing ancient landscapes, suggesting that Urartu’s strength lay in its strategic optimization of terrain through fortified regional networks. Using an interdisciplinary approach that includes GIS-enabled studies and integrates archaeological, historical, and art-historical evidence, she illustrates how warfare was a generative force in structuring space and society in the ancient Middle East. Landscapes of Warfare situates Urartu’s developments within the broader context of regional empires, providing insights into the mechanisms of warfare, governance, and cultural identity formation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    39 mins
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