HeyJaredHave To Know History
Have To Know History – it’s history you just have to know.Hosted by teacher and storyteller Jason Freewalt, this podcast explores strange tales, wild myths, and unbelievable moments from the ancient world.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 5
- Latest publication
- Sep 11, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 5, 2026
Latest episodes
The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome: Did Someone Pay Attention in History Class? (opens the original)
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What does The Hunger Games have to do with ancient Rome? Quite a bit, actually. In this episode of Have To Know History , we look at the Roman ideas hiding all through Suzanne Collins’s world, from Panem and “bread and circuses” to gladiators, political spectacle, the Capitol, and all those very Roman names like Coriolanus, Caesar, Seneca, Plutarch, Cinna, Cato, Octavia, Portia, and Flavius . We’ll also talk about how Roman leaders used public entertainment, why the arena was about more than fig
Roman Gladiators: What Life in the Arena Was Really Like | Ancient Rome (opens the original)
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What was it really like to be a Roman gladiator? Movies like Gladiator and Spartacus have given us an unforgettable picture of ancient Rome, but the real history is a lot more complicated—and maybe even more interesting. In this episode of Have To Know History , we look at who Roman gladiators actually were, where they came from, how they trained, and what happened when they finally stepped into the arena. Were they all enslaved? Did every fight end in death? Why would anyone actually volunteer
The Odyssey Explained: The Real History Behind Homer’s Greatest Story (opens the original)
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Did the adventures of Odysseus really happen? In this episode of Have To Know History , we journey back more than 3,000 years to explore the fascinating historical world behind Homer's Odyssey . Along the way, we'll meet the Cyclops, the Sirens, Circe, Calypso, Scylla and Charybdis, and discover how real geography, Bronze Age history, archaeology, and centuries of storytelling may have transformed historical events into one of the greatest epics ever written. Were these monsters ever real? Could
The Medici: How Bankers Built the Renaissance | Renaissance Mini-Series Part 3 of 3 (opens the original)
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How did one family of bankers help shape one of the greatest cultural movements in history? In this episode of Have To Know History , we conclude our three-part series, From the Silk Road to the Renaissance , by exploring the incredible story of the Medici family of Florence. The Medici weren't kings, but their wealth, political influence, and patronage helped transform Florence into the heart of the Renaissance. We'll look at how banking, trade, and ambition fueled an explosion of art, architec
Italian City-States and the Rise of the Renaissance | Renaissance Mini-Series Part 2 of 3 (opens the original)
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What if the Renaissance wasn’t just about great artists, beautiful paintings, and famous sculptures? What if it was also about cities? In this episode of Have To Know History, we continue our three-part series, From the Silk Road to the Renaissance . Part 2 focuses on the Italian city-states: places like Venice, Genoa, Milan, and Florence. During the Renaissance, Italy was not one united country yet. Instead, it was a collection of powerful city-states that made their own deals, fought their own
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