The BBC Radio play “Medici” is a good listen. A concise history of the banking Dynasty from Cosimo and his father down through Allesandro the black (Moor) Duke of Florence, and Catherine the “Serpent Queen” of France.
The music is great with small bits of historical references woven into the script for you to catch. the show has lots of great one liners like:
- “you have ancient blood and modern hopes”
- “you carry your own end within you”
- “take time for your revenge”
The show also gives the timeline in a clever way by reading off P&L statements so you get an idea of the size of the Medici wealth relative to other European powers, families, and rulers.
In short it is a great break from cortisol-spiking World news, current events, and those insulting commercials injected into your favorite podcasts. You learn a bit of history (even tho it’s partly historical fiction), unlike the totally made-up slop served to us by gluttinous streaming services.
The show is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001gz6b and was here for free on IA for a few years: https://archive.org/details/the-medici-bbcr4
