Dawn "Sam" Alden interviews Melissa Funke and Chelsea Gardner of the Peopling the Past project - a website, a podcast, and so much more. In this meta episode, they talk about talking about the ancient world, how archeology actually works, and why focusing on the everyday in antiquity is so important to getting the complete picture.

In this episode we sit down with Walter Penrose, PhD, associate professor of history at San Diego State University. Dr. Penrose specializes in the History of Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Greek, Hellenistic, and South Asian contexts. We talk with him about the historical views of the Amazons, particularly in the non-Western world.

Female bodyguards were employed by the Ancient Indians and Persians and many of these women came from the Black Sea region-- the same region where the Greeks identified the presence of Amazons. We discuss the Indian concept of "Stri Rajya" or "The Kingdom of Women" which the Ancient Indians located to the west of them, towards the Eurasian Steppe and Caspian Sea-- in the same neighborhood as the Black Sea.

Lastly, we also explore the stories of Hellenistic warrior queens and their connection to the warlike tribes from the same region as the female bodyguards and The Kingdom of Women: the Thracians, Scythians and Sauromatians.

Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden co-host.

Kimberly Rockwell, Dawn "Sam" Alden and Lauren Torres talk about the music that shaped their youth. The songs we scream-sang, and those that comforted us when we were heartbroken - did we ever really listen to the lyrics? Music has power to teach, and words set to music stick in our heads. What were we absorbing when we were young, what were we being taught by the music on the radio?