332. Bronze Age Apocalypse: Before The Collapse (Ep 1)

Empire: World History

Goalhanger

History

4.5 • 5.4K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is the beginning of the most dramatic imperial collapses in history. Why were Ancient civilisations so interconnected 3000 years ago? How did this interconnectedness lead to their downfall? Did people at the time know that disaster was on the horizon? In Episode 1 of a brand new series, Anita and William are joined by Josephine Quinn, author of How The World Made The West, and Professor of Ancient History at Cambridge University, to discuss the interconnected Ancient Mediterranean city states on the brink of the Bronze Age Collapse of 1147 BCE. Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com. Email: empire@goalhanger.com Instagram: @empirepoduk Blue Sky: @empirepoduk X: @empirepoduk Editor: James Clayden Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:47.3	We've seen many empires rise and fall, but in the next six episodes,
0:58.0	we're going to look at the most dramatic imperial collapse in history.
1:05.2	Empire after empire, disappearing in a wave of violence, droughts and catastrophes.
1:08.8	This is the Bronze Age collapse 2000 BC.
1:19.9	Music Clapse 2000 BC. Hello and welcome to Empire.
1:22.3	I'm William Durhampool.
1:23.5	And I'm Anita Arnan.
1:25.1	Now, William and I, since we began this podcast, we've been looking at the rise and fall of empires, why it happens, when it happens, who was involved? But over the next series, what we're going to be doing is we're going to be exploring, which something that really has to be one of the most dramatic imperial collapses of all time in human history.
1:45.8	And it's a period that is much earlier than, you know, the things that we normally look at here.
1:51.2	We are leaving the world of the East India Company.
1:53.8	We are leaving the Mughals.
	...

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