# Bret Devereaux

Top podcast episoder
Opdateret:

411 – Saruman Won’t Back Down

Gollum was peculiarly fitted to survive in Moria, though at cost of great misery; Matt is also able to survive his time on the PPP with the same cost. Join The Man of the West and The Nerd of the Rings as we get a closer look at Saruman’s unenviable position in our third episode of four on The Hunt…

The Roman Republic with Bret Devereaux

The strange historical reality behind the inspiration for so many political systems, & what we can learn from it.

Bret Devereaux on How to Restrain Government Power

Bret Devereaux is a military historian and a Teaching Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. He writes the blog "A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry," which covers US foreign policy, the nature of military tactics in war, and the best sci-fi/fantasy stories. In this episode, I go…

415 – Saruman’s OPSEC Problem: Unfinished Tales with Dr. Bret Devereaux

Short cuts lead to long delays… or perhaps just slaughter and death. Join The Man of the West and The Obscure Lord of the Rings Facts Guy as we welcome back the always-insightful, often-hilarious Dr. Bret Devereaux to the Common Room! Our favorite ancient and military historian (the conjunction is …

Episode 184: Building Better Cities

So, you're building a fantasy city: Plunk a castle in the middle, put some houses around it, make sure there are some inns and taverns, maybe a church or temple, slap it on a nice body of water, and call it a day, right? NAH. We can do better than that. In this episode, we explore ways that you can…

Chud of the Rings (w/ Bret Devereaux)

We all love making fun of fascists. But Dr. Bret Devereaux makes an art of it. Bret is a historian of antiquity and a Tolkien scholar, and he doesn’t suffer fools. He’s been going at it with the world of online chud “historians” — the fascists who say they’re fighting to defend “Western Civilizatio…

Chud of the Rings w/ Bret Devereaux / Fighting Fascism

We all love making fun of fascists. But Dr. Bret Devereaux makes an art of it. Bret is a historian of antiquity and a Tolkien scholar, and he doesn’t suffer fools. He’s been going at it with the world of online chud “historians” — the fascists who say they’re fighting to defend “Western Civilizatio…

Episode 68 - I See Sea People

Down one normal man and up one provisionally normal historian: Bret Devereaux joins to discuss Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, and we make it about twenty minutes before the Late Bronze Age collapses. Chapter markers say which segments contain spoilers for the film. Bret Devereaux blogs at acoup.blo…

Episode 188: Building Better Infrastructure

That's right! It's infrastructure week at Worldbuilding for Masochists! So we're talking about the systemic underpinnings of a nation and its economy, the fixed installations that it needs in order to function -- which, admittedly, might sound like the exact sort of overly-detailed, tedious, weight…

The Lies of Hearts of Iron (with Bret Devereaux)

Bret Devereaux, historian and author of the blog A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, explains why we're all still obsessed with World War 2, why Hearts of Iron IV is a gateway to (mis)understanding the war, and most importantly: what fascism was and why it failed.