Tales from the End of Times is a podcast series that discusses our fears about the end of the world. It is an initiative of Associate Professor Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides (Macquarie University) who leads an Australian Research Council Discovery Project on Crises of Leadership in the Eastern Roman Empire from the 3rd to the 10th century.
Prompted by recurrent wars and socio-political upheaval, natural disasters, and/or environmental catastrophes people in those times feared the end of the world was imminent. Apocalyptic traditions have a special place in monotheistic religions, but they emerged from the rich fabric of pagan prophetic lore.
In each episode, members of our team interview international experts about critical moments in history when people looked up to their political and spiritual leaders for guidance through revelation.