Movies We Dig: The Ancient World on Film

What happens when a bunch of gladiators break out of a ludus? They loot villas, burn down an arena, and party with some Germans, that's what! And all in the name of lov... I mean "VENGEANCE!" The ladies of MWD are joined by special return guest, Christina Hotalen, to discuss the second season of Starz's Spartacus. This season might be the most fun of them all! Now if certain characters would just stay dead... If you want to check out Christina's work, both academic and otherwise, use this link: https://linktr.ee/infestissima

Present ears for listening and broach subject! Joined by our special guest doctore, author and host of Let's Talk About Myths, Baby!, Liv Albert, we strip down to our subligacula to break down the prequel series of the Spartacus franchise: Gods of the Arena. Hear us discuss this show's hyper-stylized cocktail of blood, sweat and sex. Opinions vary but we're all in agreement that this show does not do anything half-measure.

The ladies decided to have a good ol' Girls' Night! And what better series to discuss than the first season of Starz's Spartacus? With its Zack Snyder aesthetic, impressive gladiatorial fights, and sad attempt to include romance, where could we go wrong? Joining in is our resident Roman spectacle specialist, Alexandra Sills, to help us distill the true essence of Blood and Sand...which is apparently "Tits and swords!" Joking aside, there is much to admire about this show. And no, we don't mean all the gladiators' abs. Well, not just their abs. You can find Alexandra’s webpage, writing, social media and much much more at https://linktr.ee/alexandrasills

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Girls can be warlords too! To celebrate Women's History Month we're looking back at the 90's cult classic series Xena: Warrior Princess. Joined by super special warrior-guest Amy Pistone, we carve up this show's sparagmatic approach to antiquity, storytelling, fan-fiction, feminism, queer representation and all things 90's. ***INSERT XENA WAR CRY***

After completion of the Disney+ Percy Jackson series, the MWD crew thought it would be a good(?) idea to revisit the original film with new perspectives and participants. Has time improved our overall view of the film? Maybe the better question to ask is which of the hosts end up hating this film the most. Grab your magical pens with the same level of skepticism as Lerman's aged-up Percy as we delve into this quintessentially 2010s young adult film. And be sure to avert your eyes when Medusa shows up! Or when Grover decides to go pantsless. And a special thanks to Hannah Bazinaw for her participation and assistance in covering the Percy Jackson series! You made for an excellent psychopomp:)

We wrap up our in-depth analysis on Disney+'s newest adaptation of Rick Riordan's series, Percy Jackson and The Olympians! Joined by special guest and PJ-expert, Hannah Bazinaw, we review our final thoughts on this series now that it's wrapped. What about this show did we love? What did we hate? what did we love to hate? Get it here, as we talk family trauma, hero's journeys and when actually was the golden age of television (hint: it's True Blood).

Season 1 of Percy Jackson and The Olympians comes to an end. All deals are completed; the traitor is revealed; and our trio is headed off on their next ventures (while giving Disney a shameless plug). Special guest Laura Porto joins Christie to discuss the good and bad of the season finale. While the episode mostly ends on a high note of Percy reuniting with his mom, we still can't quite shake the "ick" feeling the final scene gave us. Here's hoping season 2 leads to some monster slaying we'll be happy to see!

What is a hero without a good katabasis to their name? Special guest Emma Coffey joins us the discuss the trio's descent to the Underworld, arguably one of the best arcs in the series thus far. Percy and the gang must contend with Charon, Cerberus, the Asphodel Fields, and a (dare I say) reasonable Hades. No complaints on that front, but what happened to the Medusa subplot? Why does Poseidon have a sexy Aussie accent? Why in the Underworld did Sally put a match in an ice cream sundae? We attempt to address all these questions and more in the our latest minidsode.

We're back with another of our special installment series: Extremely Strained and Incredibly Forced. this Week, Alexandra Sills returns to talk about the connection between civic trauma and gladiators as we get into classical allusions and parallels in the new film, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. We talk Rome, Carthage, Troy, the Underworld, snakes and much more. Volunteer as tribute now! You can find Alexandra's webpage, writing, social media and much much more at https://linktr.ee/alexandrasills

As the master of all time and space, host Colin joins us to analyze the sixth episode of Disney's Percy Jackson! While there is not much to say about the Lotus Eaters themselves, we do discuss the unnaturalness of casinos and the meta-ness of the entire Riordanverse. Then there are questions regarding Lin-Manuel Miranda's fashion choices as Hermes. But hey, Grover finally saved some animals!

It's time to get wet! Joined by special return guest, Chiara Sulprizio, professor at Vanderbilt University and creator of Animated Antiquity, we dive into Netflix's anime adaptation of Mari Yamazaki's time-traveling bath manga. We talk history, baths and the absolute unmitigated charm of this show. Grab your towel and your sponge stick because it's bath time!

We are over half-way through the first season of Percy Jackson and we get to meet two godly brothers that have a lot more in common than you might initially realize. Our demi-gods and their "Big Cousins" Ares and Hephaestus are all just looking for some love from their parents, but at what cost? Hannah officially takes on the role of co-host for the minisodes and we are joined with a new special guest, Merri Willis! We discuss just how dysfunctional the Olympians are and whether or not we like Grover's first real step into the spotlight (though we're still waiting for the arrival of Gladiola).

After the previous week's tough take on Medusa, we are excited to meet Echidna: Mother of Monsters in this episode. And apparently nothing strikes more fear into the hearts of young demi-gods (and us mere mortals) than a suburban mom with a chihuahua...er...I mean, Chimera. Christie and Hannah break down the episode and provide some new questions for us all to ponder: Does Annabeth have a belly button (that being said, does Athena)? Why do all the bad people and monsters have to be female? What happened to Riordan to make the poor man so jaded?

We brush up on the latest season of the historical TV drama, Domina. Join us as our conversation wanders all over the politics and intrigue surrounding Rome's most (in)famous first lady. We talk about the push-and-pull of navigating history in story-telling, baboon attacks, ghosts (literal and figurative), and how everything in Roman history can be traced back to daddy issues. Plus, Christie plays with a new sound board!

It's the episode we've all been anticipating...and dreading. Can a third attempt at Medusa's story in the Percy Jackson world prove successful in a post- #MeToo world? Christie and special guest/host, Hannah Bazinaw, breakdown episode 3 of the new Disney+ series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. *Update: Reposted with improved volume levels. We have a new crew working on editing. We are quickly learning so that we can provide you with the quality of editing that you are used to. Thank you for your patience.

We continue our survey of ancient Rome on the small screen with our review of the first season of the British-Italian historical drama television series, Domina. Joined by special guest, Christina Hotalen, we dig into this re-re-envisioning of Rome's most infamous first lady, Livia Drusilla. We talk feminist retellings, history vs. narrative and the best ways to dispose of a body ca. 23 BCE. You can find images from Christina's dissertation project, "Embodying the Empire: Imperial Women and the Evolution of Succession Ideologies in the Third Century," here.

To keep up with increasing demand and this timely release, we're trying a new format: minisodes! This week, Christie and new special guest/host, Hannah Bazinaw, breakdown the first two episodes of the new Disney+ series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

We finish out our discussion of this classic BBC adaptation of Robert Graves' novel. This half, we dig into the reigns of Caligula, Claudius and Nero, their adaptation on the series and our understandings of their reigns. Can you be a good emperor in a corrupt system? Are Roman woman in film caught in an inescapable Catch-22? What's the historical truth behind 'Herman the German'? Listen to find out the answers to these questions and more!

We finally take on the elephant-in-the-room of Rome on television: I, Claudius (1976). Joined by super-special guest Liz Gloyn, we dig into the first half of the BBC adaptation of Robert Graves' novels in all its glory. With a winning combination of history, humor, intrigue, top-tier actors and bargain-bin old-age make-up, there's no shortage of material to dig through. But don't touch the figs! You can follow more from Liz in her new book Tracking Classical Monsters, on her blog Classically Inclined, as well as on bluesky and Twitter @lizgloyn.