Who Do We Think Gets To Think About The Roman Empire?
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 25 September 2023
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's a question that men the world over were asked by friends and loved ones who use the video-sharing app TikTok in recent days.
A recent viral trend asserts that dudes spend a surprising amount of time ruminating on barbarian invasions, Hadrian's Wall, fights in the Coliseum, and much more.
It's a fun silly trend. But it illustrates a broader point about how we think about who thinks about history. (We think about this a lot.)
We discuss what how we think about the Roman Empire says about us.
Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is my voice. It can tell you a lot about me and I'm not changing it for |
| 0:07.0 | anyone. In NPR's black stories, black truths, you'll find a collection of NPR |
| 0:13.2 | episodes centered on the black experience. Search NPR black stories, black |
| 0:18.9 | truths, wherever you get podcasts. |
| 0:30.2 | Today we're focusing on a newly popular question. How much do you think about the |
| 0:35.1 | Roman Empire? Do you ever think about the Roman Empire? Do you ever think about |
| 0:39.6 | the what? The Roman Empire. How many times like a week or just how many times in |
| 0:46.4 | general? Do you think about the Roman Empire? What about the Roman Empire? Just |
| 0:50.6 | anything about it. How often do you think about the Roman Empire? I'd say like |
| 0:57.4 | maybe once a month, maybe once a week, something like that. The Roman Empire |
| 1:02.2 | started 2,000 years ago, famously declined and fell 1,500 years ago and |
| 1:07.6 | finally hit peak social media fame about 10 days ago. Julius Caesar, Emperor |
| 1:14.0 | Augustus, the Great Order, Seneca, these men were powerful influencers in |
| 1:18.0 | their day. Now, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit and others are overflowing with |
| 1:22.4 | commentary about the lasting influence of ancient Rome on our own culture. |
| 1:27.2 | Social media users, especially women, have been texting, calling and DMing their |
| 1:32.2 | husbands, their dads, co-workers, roommates, asking them how much time the men in |
| 1:37.2 | their lives spend, thinking about the Punic Wars, Hadrian's Wall, and the |
| 1:41.7 | Colosseum. And the answer seems to be quite a lot. It's a fun, silly trend, but it |
| 1:47.3 | illustrates a broader point about what people today think about who thinks about |
| 1:52.0 | history, what parts of history, and why. I'm Endira Lakshman on of the Associated |
| 1:57.0 | Press, In For Gen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast where we get to the |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

