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The Smart Cookies podcast

The Smart Cookies podcast

by Zaza

History Philosophy

Season 1

Why AI Won't Replace Workers, But Will Crash The Economy. With Cory Doctorow

I'm super stoked to welcome back the legendary blogger, journalist and author of Enshittification, Cory Doctorow. This time around we tackle his latest book, The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence — Before It's Too Late. I ask Cory about the ideology behind the shameless AI push, the state of this technology in 2026, the billionaires lapping it up, as well as the feared AI bubble that Corey believes will tank the entire system.

What The Japanese Thought Of The First Westerners... And Vice Versa. With dr. Christopher Harding

I'm super happy to welcome dr. Christopher Harding, lecturer in Asian history at the University of Edinburgh, back to the show, to have a chat about his amazing upcoming book, "Barbarians: The First Century of European Encounter with Japan." This time around we talk about a myriad of fascinating episodes that arose from this dramatic exchange - the first Portuguese landing on Tanegashima, the curiosity their appearances caused, the introduction of Christianity in Japan, the growing power of the Jesuits and finally, the expulsion of all foreigners in 1641. Obviously we can't get past the infamous bromance between William Adams and Tokugawa Ieyasu that inspired the popular TV show Shogun. As a foreigner in Japan myself, I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of my favourite conversations this year.

What Were The Crusades Like From The Muslim Side? With Prof. Nicholas Morton

Medieval historian and champion of the podcast, Prof. Nicholas Morton (from Nottingham Trent University) is back on the pod to talk about the feverish history of the Crusades - only this time, we explore the subject from the perspective of the Muslim nations who were fighting for supremacy in the tricky landscape of the medieval Middle East... What did they think when they first saw these unexpected strangers in their lands? Did jihad become a thing just like a holy war in Christendom? And why was it so important for Saladin to tear Jerusalem from Crusader's hands? We chat about all this and more in this action packed episode!

The Wild Lives of Nigerian Romance Scammers | Carlos Barragan

In 2015, Carlos Barragan, a young Spanish journalist working for The New York Times, received a surprise - his mother, having long being single, told him she finally met somebody on Tinder. The man's name was Brian and he was an American soldier stationed in Syria. Carlos' alarm bells however, started going off immediately - and sure enough, he quickly tracked "Brian's" IP address not to the US, but to Lagos, the capital of Nigeria. Being intent on finding the scammer himself, he travelled to the country only to find himself embedded into the culture of the so-called Yahoo Boys - poor young men, who saw scamming Westerners as their only ticket out of the slums. Carlos' extensive experiences in Nigeria gave birth to his reportage book, The Yahoo Boys: Love, Deception, and the Real Lives of Nigeria's Romance Scammers, which has been touted as the most anticipated non-fiction book of 2026 by most major publications. In this conversation we talk about his first journey to Nigeria, his life in the infamous Ikotun slum, the fates of his 4 main characters, but also about the loneliness epidemic in the West that's making this all possible.

Why The Odyssey Is Actually About A Broken War Veteran | Prof. Peter Meineck

Christopher Nolan's retelling of Homer's famous epic is causing a lot of sassy drama these days, so I thought it'd be appropriate to have a chat with a Greek Mythology expert, and pick his brain on what this foundational poem of Western literature is really about - because cause truth be told, I don't think I really know. Is The Odyssey about heroism? Homecoming? Fate? To find out, I talk to Prof. Peter Meineck, the renowned professor of Classics in the Modern World at NYU. And since the internet seems ablaze with controversy regarding Christopher Nolan's upcoming adaptation, we have a chat about that as well...

Ancient Roman Slavery: The Cruel Reality Behind The Empire | Dr. Emma Southon

When we discuss Rome, we usually talk about the Emperors, the Warlords and the Conquerors, rarely about ordinary Romans... and almost never about the people who actually built it - the slaves. With her recently released book SERVUS: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire, historian Emma Southon attempts to shift that narrative. In this convo we talk about how one could became enslaved, what it was like to visit a Roman slave market, how slaves coped with the brutality of their everyday life, but also, why the Romans are so easy to roast.

The German Peasants' War: The Bloody History Of Medieval Rebellion | Prof. Lyndal Roper

In 16th century Europe, few events were as momentous as the German Peasants’ War - an explosive rebellion that shocked the ruling houses of the Holy Roman Empire. Driven by the ideas of Reformation, apocalyptic preaching and an all-out anger about the increasingly cruel conditions of serfdom, bands of peasants marched to war, during which they came close to overturning the entire feudal order… T o find out why the revolt started, how it engulfed an entire nation and why it ultimately failed, I talk to Lyndal Roper, a celebrated historian who's the 2026 recipient of the Holberg prize, and the author of the award winning book, Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants’ War.

Weimar And The Terrifying Speed Of The Nazi Takeover Of Germany | Katja Hoyer

You're an ordinary German, living in 1920's Weimar when the Nazi party takes over - WHAT do you do? That's exactly the question that Katya Hoyer, "Britain's favourite German historian," wanted an answer to. For her latest book, Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe, she spent years combing the Weimar archives, inspecting the fates of its citizens who were living through some of the most turbulent times in world history - what choices did they end up making? Did they resist, look away or even support Hitler's murderous regime? In this gripping conversation, Katja and I talk about Weimar's contrast to Berlin, Hitler's infatuation with the city... But also how it went from being the birthplace of Bauhaus to hosting the biggest concentration camp on German soil...

Why Did The Habsburg Empire Suddenly Collapse? | Pieter Judson

For at least 600 years, the lands of modern day Slovenia (where I'm from), belonged to the famous Habsburg dynasty. But how did this small aristocratic family from Switzerland come to form the first global empire in the world? Was the multi-ethnic monarchy really a "prison of the peoples" or was it in fact a modernising state?And most importantly - how come it all fell apart so quickly in 1918? In this lovely (and friendly) sparring session, prof. Pieter Judson, author of the seminal book The Habsburg Empire: A New History explains why the Habsburg Empire often gets a bad rep in history books, and why its high time we should change that.

Ancient Greece History: Debunking Myths On Race and Culture | Prof. Tony Spawforth

Ever since their civilisation ceased to exist, the Ancient Greeks have been appropriated to suit various agendas. But what did they actually think and believe? For example - how did they see other, non-Greek people? Was sexual orientation even a thing in Ancient Greece? Did they ever wrestle with the institution of slavery? To help me find answers to my burning questions, I talked to Tony Spawforth, professor emeritus of ancient history at Newcastle University, and the author of the fantastic book, What the Greeks Did for Us.

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