Paris is hosting the Summer Olympics and, aside from the athletic competitions, it allows the world to focus attention on the people and culture of Paris. There’s a history to this: The ancient Olympics featured artistic competitions, and the modern Olympics handed out medals to artists in multiple events: music, painting, sculpture, literature, and architecture. What draws us to the great international city of Paris, where athletes compete in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, and Versailles? We’ll put a spotlight on the City of Light to find out what makes Paris so special.

Host: Andrew J. Falk

Guests: Michelle Erhardt and Michael Mulryan

Past is Prologue is a humanities podcast that provides the public with the background behind the day's headlines, and offers much-needed context to understand the significance of current events that people observe around them. It seeks to contribute to the public conversation in an engaging, informative, accessible, and constructive way. It's produced by the Department of History in the College of Arts & Humanities at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. We welcome your inquiries and feedback at pastpodcast@cnu.edu.

The Summer Olympics are here once again – a spectacular two weeks of athletic competition filled with tradition, including the passing of the torch, the parade of nations, medal ceremonies, and national anthems. But how traditional is it? Athletes in ancient Greece didn’t compete in togas and tunics; in fact, they didn’t compete in clothing at all! They raced chariots, avoided getting beaten by sticks, accepted awards of olive oil, and erected statues to their glory as well as their shame. Clearly, there’s a lot to learn and this episode strives to set the Olympic record straight.

Host: Andrew J. Falk

Guest: David Pollio

Past is Prologue is a humanities podcast that provides the public with the background behind the day's headlines, and offers much-needed context to understand the significance of current events that people observe around them. It seeks to contribute to the public conversation in an engaging, informative, accessible, and constructive way. It's produced by the Department of History in the College of Arts & Humanities at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. We welcome your inquiries and feedback at pastpodcast@cnu.edu.

You can listen here for a glimpse into the future of the past: the topics of our brand new summer episodes. Thanks for listening, subscribing, rating, and recommending to others!

Past is Prologue is a history podcast that provides the public with the background behind the day's headlines, and offers much-needed context to understand the significance of current events that people observe around them. It seeks to contribute to the public conversation in an engaging, informative, accessible, and constructive way. It's produced by the Department of History in the College of Arts & Humanities at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. We welcome your inquiries and feedback at pastpodcast@cnu.edu.