Season 5 Wrapup

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, Elliot here. This is just a quick update to let you guys know what's happening with the show in season 6 and what you can expect. Firstly there will be a little gap between now and when I begin the next season. It usually takes me about a month and a half or so to kickstart research on the next season so I'm not up against the clock to turn episodes out. So I would expect new episodes to start coming out around about mid-November. But season 6 is going to be a little weird as I'm taking a long break in the middle, about three months. I know it's a while.

[00:00:30] I haven't got bored of the show or anything like that. I'm still just as passionate about sharing these stories with you guys as I have been for the last few years, but I'm moving to another country. My girlfriend and I are moving back to my country of birth, Australia.

[00:00:42] I lived in London now for about four years and while I'll never be able to replicate the feeling of riding my bike for 15 minutes and being outside Westminster, the beating heart of the old British Empire, I do miss the oldie lifestyle, particularly the weather.

[00:00:55] Why does that need a three month break? Well, because I'm not heading back directly. Our plan is to kind of meander back over the course of a few months back packing.

[00:01:04] We're probably going to hit up a bit of North Africa, a bit of East Africa, road trips, South West USA before heading down into Central and Southern America.

[00:01:12] While I contemplated recording on the fly, I just don't think the episodes would be up to the quality I want to bring you guys.

[00:01:18] So instead I'll be ramping up once again once we're settled in good old down under.

[00:01:22] The good news is I plan to be reading and writing while I'm on the go. So with any luck, I'll have a few episodes banked up and ready to record once my gear was shipped over through freight.

[00:01:31] Every bit of advice on podcasting is to keep your release schedule consistent and frequent.

[00:01:35] So I know this could really throw things off for audience retention, but I really can't think of any other options.

[00:01:41] For my generous patrons, I'll be pausing the billing cycle for the months. I'm away so you won't be charged anyway without out of the way.

[00:01:47] I got a few questions about the show which I'll just smash through now.

[00:01:51] Firstly, a few people asked if I produce this as a full time job. I don't.

[00:01:55] I have a normal nine to five job. I actually work in IT.

[00:01:58] So researching, recording and producing this podcast is something I do on the side.

[00:02:03] There's a fair bit of work, but honestly, I get a real buzz after I finish an episode I'm proud of.

[00:02:08] Secondly, a couple of people asked me about covering specific people.

[00:02:11] There were a few Indian princes and princesses as well as some interesting Chinese figures who I hadn't actually heard of that were suggested by you guys.

[00:02:19] In regards to the Indian stories, I'm planning on doing a big multi-parter on the downfall of the mucle dynasty.

[00:02:25] The story of this fabulously ostentatious families decline is a perfect fit for this show.

[00:02:30] So I am to get onto that hopefully next season in regards to the Chinese heroes looking into Chinese history for me as like China eating and

[00:02:39] Thai pizza in one go.

[00:02:40] There is so much there without knowing much about the timeline of China in general.

[00:02:45] It becomes really hard to pick a specific start and stop point with Europe.

[00:02:50] You can kind of pick an event that happened and maybe centered around the time when the Roman Empire was in decline or in the

[00:02:55] Ottomans won the rise, and it kind of gives you some grounding, but jumping into Chinese history.

[00:03:00] I have none of those markers.

[00:03:02] So long story short, yes, I definitely want to do some Chinese history.

[00:03:06] I just don't don't really know where to start.

[00:03:08] If anyone can recommend me a kind of a bridged a brief history of the universe style book about Chinese history,

[00:03:14] then shoot that over to me at a love table.

[00:03:17] I also thought it might be interesting to let you guys know which hero I get requested the most to cover.

[00:03:23] The answer might surprise you.

[00:03:24] It surprised me.

[00:03:25] Out of all the suggestions I've received,

[00:03:27] the name that comes up the most is John Zizka or Zanzika.

[00:03:33] John Zizka was a brilliant Czech general who lived during a time when Central Europe was just coming apart

[00:03:39] from religious instability.

[00:03:41] That really doesn't narrow it down, does it?

[00:03:44] So the 14th century.

[00:03:46] We've covered Zizka's famous war wagon tactics in our recent episode of Matai's Corvina,

[00:03:51] who actually was influenced by Zizka,

[00:03:53] but without a doubt Zizka was impressive in his own right.

[00:03:56] The man led three crusades and never lost a battle despite being,

[00:04:00] get this completely blind.

[00:04:03] Needless to say, he's a great fit for the episode and probably a good introduction

[00:04:07] into the Protestant revolution that followed after him.

[00:04:09] So hopefully I'll get onto him in next season or the one after.

[00:04:13] Anyway, with all that said and done, I'm very excited for season six.

[00:04:16] Our episode on the Sobibor concentration camp has been our most successful to date.

[00:04:22] And I think that was because there was so much information and sources

[00:04:24] to really recreate the setting in a way that helped it feel more real, I guess.

[00:04:30] So in season six, I'll be trying to strike a balance

[00:04:33] to find more episodes that are engaging in the same way the Sobibor story was.

[00:04:38] Our first episode, which I midway through writing,

[00:04:41] is remembered as the deadliest battle in world history.

[00:04:44] I won't say anymore that you can probably figure it out just from that one line.

[00:04:48] I'm also hoping to have a few more guest episodes showcased on the off weeks.

[00:04:52] I've had a really good time collaborating with other creators

[00:04:54] and hopefully through my joint episode with Mark over at Wallars of History

[00:04:58] or my feature of Colons Show,

[00:05:00] Culture and Military History, you might have discovered a new show to listen to.

[00:05:04] So if there are any other shows that you think are similar to anthology of heroes, let me know.

[00:05:08] If you're listening on Spotify, you can actually put your answer right now

[00:05:12] with the prompts in the episode description.

[00:05:14] I'm also keeping a close eye on AI for season six.

[00:05:17] In case you haven't followed me on Instagram at anthologyofheroes, check us out.

[00:05:21] I've started to use image generation software

[00:05:24] to create little upcoming shorts for future episodes.

[00:05:26] I'm really excited to see where this technology goes

[00:05:29] because it would be great to recreate some of our back catalog episodes

[00:05:32] into full YouTube videos with accompanying pictures and videos.

[00:05:37] Well, that's about it for me.

[00:05:38] As usual, a big thank you to anyone who listens either long term on you.

[00:05:42] You guys will keep me writing these so thanks again.

[00:05:45] See you on the other side.

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