The “Dark Ages” with David M. Perry and Eleanor Janega

Ok, we get yell-y about the “Dark Ages” in this episode. But first David and Matt make a shocking admission on this April 1, 2026 episode. Then we talk about other things.

Guests

Dr Eleanor Janega is a medieval historian, whose work aims to highlight the ways that our society has been influenced by the past, and more particularly, how it tells stories about history that aren’t actually true to justify our own desires. She’s the author of the book The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society and The Middle Ages: A Graphic History. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Time, History Today, BBC History, Slate, and the Times Literary Supplement, among others. In addition, she’s co-hosts the hit podcasts “Gone Medieval” and “We’re Not So Different,” and is the host and co-creator of several history series on HistoryHit TV. Learn more at eleanorjanega.com.

David M. Perry is a journalist and historian, who currently works as the associate director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Minnesota. He’s the co-author (with Matthew Gabriele) of the books Oathbreakers and The Bright Ages, both from HarperCollins. Publishers Weekly called Oathbreakers “An enlightening portrait of the medieval mindset” while The Boston Globe said The Bright Ages was “incandescent and ultimately intoxicating.” Over the last few years, Perry’s work on history, parenting, disability, and politics has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Daily Beast, Smithsonian Magazine, Slate, CNN, and many others. His website is davidmperry.com, and he can be found on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/lollardfish.bsky.social.

Credits

• Host & Executive Producer: Matthew Gabriele. Find him on Bluesky @profgabriele.com or his homepage profgabriele.com
• Editor: Julia Schifini
• Music: “Sleeping Bags” by OTE
• Art: Ulysses Gabriele
• Multitude: https://multitude.productions

Find American Medieval Online

• Website: AmericanMedieval.com
• Patreon: patreon.com/AmericanMedieval
• Insta: instagram.com/americanmedieval
• TikTok: tiktok.com/@americanmedieval
• YouTube: youtube.com/@AmericanMedieval
• Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/americanmedieval.bsky.social

About Us

American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, joined by expert guests, we’ll explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

After all, if America has never been modern, it’s because we’ve always been slightly medieval.

Want to become a sponsor of American Medieval? Head over to https://multitude.productions/ads

Sponsors

• If you like American Medieval, you already know that we love our sibling Multitude podcast “Wow if True.” Amanda and Isabel are internet experts and they’re locked and loaded to answer all your burning questions about the internet. Recently, we did a crossover episode to talk about crusadercore and castlecore and how the internet loves medieval stuff. But there are other episodes too, of course. Check it out. New episodes every Wednesday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.