Professor Olivier Hekster thinks about the Romans every day for his work (except weekends) and can therefore draw on a barrel of infinite knowledge for the podcast. In conversation with Merijn Doggen (editor-in-chief at the University of the Netherlands), they look at modern problems through Roman glasses. Because what turns out? Our typical contemporary issues also occurred 2,000 years ago. Romans also had to deal with issues like climate change, hooliganism and lgbtqi+ and dealt with them in their own entirely unique (ruthless) way. Cozy it wasn't, Hekster confirms time and again in the podcast.
Listening audience
Then again, the podcast itself is quite entertaining, and listeners think so too. The first episode has been listened to (all told) almost 30,000 times - which is quite a lot for a podcast. Listening time is also relatively high: on average, people listen to the episodes 70% of the time (which is really good).
What is true in the US is also true here, as the podcast is mostly listened to by men. Even so, women make up 30% of the listening audience, so even they now think about the Roman Empire at least weekly. Especially people between the ages of 28-34 like to listen, with people between 45-59 in second place.
Recordings
In total there will be 15 episodes, of which 10 have now been recorded. Once a month Olivier, Merijn and Lieneke (science communication at DMC) record 3 episodes on campus, with the help of Radboud Educational Clips. The episodes are edited by the University of the Netherlands and distributed through their channels. Season 1 is a success, who knows a season 2 someday?
The podcast Rare Jongens can be listened to weekly via Spotify or your favorite podcast app.