Podcast Summary: "A Show We Love: Past Lives"
Podcast: This Guy Sucked
Host: Dr. Claire Aubin (with feature from Dr. Patrick Wyman)
Date: December 3, 2025
Focus: Introduction to Dr. Patrick Wyman’s new podcast "Past Lives" – spotlighting the lived experiences of ordinary people throughout history, with a preview of the show’s first season focus on stories of enslaved people.
Episode Overview
This episode features a special crossover: Claire Aubin introduces historian Dr. Patrick Wyman and his new podcast "Past Lives." While "This Guy Sucked" critically examines notorious historical figures, "Past Lives" intentionally pivots to tell the histories of ordinary, often forgotten people—laborers, peasants, artisans, and particularly, those who were enslaved. The episode serves as both an endorsement and an introduction, with Dr. Wyman narrating his rich and nuanced manifesto for the series.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
The Problem with "Great Man" History
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Dominant Historical Narratives [01:17–04:45]
- Most people would not find their ancestors among the kings, generals, and “towering figures” history usually remembers.
- The stories passed down are overwhelmingly those of outliers—rarely representative of the masses.
- Quote:
“You…wouldn’t have been someone you’ve ever heard of before. The stories we tell about the past tend to revolve around towering figures like Alexander the Great and Napoleon and Cleopatra…But they’re not you.”
—Patrick Wyman [01:31]
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Reductive Nature of Focusing on Outliers [04:45–07:13]
- Elevating great individuals to “main characters” is misleading: “The vast majority of people who have ever stepped foot on the surface of this planet left no trace of their existence.”
- Shared human experiences—joy, pain, survival—bind us to those forgotten in the historical record.
Embracing Broader Historical Perspectives
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Value of Ordinary Lives [07:13–09:42]
- History is made by the billions, not just the famous few.
- Even small artifacts—a sale recorded on a clay tablet, an epitaph, the fragments of a knife—attest to real lives.
- Quote:
“Those forgotten people are, in my estimation, the true raw material of human history. Their lives, their experiences, their stories. That’s the iron we ought to be using to forge a better, more inclusive, more representative way of understanding our shared past.”
—Patrick Wyman [09:35]
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Perspective vs. Bias [09:42–13:35]
- "Bias" is often misunderstood as something to eliminate for pure truth. “Perspective” recognizes all history is filtered through human experience.
- Illustrates this with Polybius’ history—a product of his allegiances and choices, not just his “bias.”
- Quote:
“Perspective says that everybody is working from their own, usually implicit assumptions about how the world works and what matters most.”
—Patrick Wyman [11:08]
The Mosaic Approach to History
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Alternative Storytelling – Sociological vs. Biographical [13:35–17:38]
- Standard history assembles a “mosaic” of big names and events, but the real picture can shift radically depending on whose stories are featured.
- The Civil War, for example, can be understood through everyday people—immigrants, the enslaved, ordinary soldiers—rather than only generals and presidents.
- Personal Moment:
- Patrick mentions his great-great-great-grandfather Hans Jorte, an immigrant soldier at the Battle of Nashville. “If we build our mosaic of the Civil War from pieces like that, how might the broader picture of that age appear?” [15:44]
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Biography vs. Sociological History
- Biography dives into the inner world and psychology of its (often extraordinary) subject.
- Sociological storytelling draws on broader world context: “uses what we know about the world that existed around a given person to illuminate their subjective life and experiences.”
- Often, the evidence for full biographies is missing for most people; we have only flashes, artifacts, or momentary mentions.
The Value of Fragments
- Even Glimpses Matter [17:38–21:22]
- Fragments—a note in a ledger, a found object—remind us that anonymous people lived, that “they shaped the world around them.”
- Major events and innovations (like the Industrial Revolution) owe everything to the “millions upon millions of individual actions” by ordinary people.
- Quote:
“History is made of the millions upon millions of individual actions that ordinary people do every day. Not just what great men are up to.”
—Patrick Wyman [20:28]
Season 1 Theme: Slavery
- Rationale for Focusing on Slavery [21:22–24:30]
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Slavery runs as a persistent thread through thousands of years of human history.
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This season covers a global perspective: from ancient Assyria (Nanai Elai) to modern survivors like Matilda Macrear.
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Not all subjects remained enslaved for life, but for most, “the experience of being enslaved marked a fundamental break with their past selves—a kind of social death.”
-
Quote:
“My hope is that by understanding a spectrum of experiences of the enslaved, we’ll understand slavery itself better… and far more importantly, what slavery did to its victims.”
—Patrick Wyman [23:50]
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What’s Next / Where to Listen
- Additional episodes are already available, including the story of Nanai Elai in ancient Assyria.
- Listeners are encouraged to support the independent production via Patreon for bonus content and discussions.
Notable Quotes with Timestamps
-
On Ordinary Humans in History:
“Most of us do probably have a king or queen or two decorating our family trees as a matter of probability…but the vast majority of your ancestors and mine were the common clay of humanity.”
—Patrick Wyman [02:28] -
On Fragments Left Behind:
“A single clay tablet recording the sale of a pair of enslaved prisoners of war in ancient Assyria… The rusted fragments of an iron knife found among a few bones in a 2,000-year-old grave. And still, each and every one of those people was real. And they mattered.”
—Patrick Wyman [03:51] -
On Perspective (vs. Bias):
“That’s the whole problem with the idea of bias. Now perspective, on the other hand, is an empowering concept, especially for a historian.”
—Patrick Wyman [11:03] -
On the Fragmentary Nature of Most Histories:
“Most of the people we want to get to know better…appear in flashes, blinks of an eye, as if we’ve caught a glimpse of them running through a dense forest.”
—Patrick Wyman [18:00]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 00:00–01:17 – Claire Aubin introduces the show and Dr. Patrick Wyman; explains the difference between "This Guy Sucked" and "Past Lives."
- 01:17–04:45 – Wyman sets out the problems with “great man” history; most of us come from ordinary ancestors.
- 04:45–09:42 – Why focusing on outliers is misleading; arguing for the importance of ordinary lives.
- 09:42–13:35 – The difference between bias and perspective; how historians must navigate incomplete, subjective sources.
- 13:35–17:38 – Mosaic approach to history; using the example of the Civil War to demonstrate shifting perspectives.
- 17:38–21:22 – The importance and value of fragmentary evidence; the real work of anonymous people.
- 21:22–24:30 – Introduction of Season 1’s theme: slavery; preview of some individuals and their diverse experiences.
- 24:30–End – Call to action for listeners; information about Patreon, bonus content, and community features.
Memorable Moments
- Personal Connection – Wyman’s story of his ancestor in the Civil War personalizes the case for bottom-up history. [15:44]
- Vivid Example – Recounting what the Emancipation Proclamation meant for enslaved people not as an abstract event, but as lived jubilation in the South Carolina Lowcountry. [14:20]
- Grounding in Artifacts – Reminds listeners that every artifact is a testament to a real, breathing person whose story is worth telling, however piecemeal.
Tone and Style
Wyman’s delivery is passionate, clear, and expansive—inviting listeners into a wider, more inclusive vision of history. He blends personal anecdotes, accessible analogies (children recounting a classroom event), and precise historical references to make his case, while always returning to the human core of the narrative.
Conclusion
This episode offers a compelling argument for expanding the lens of historical storytelling to include the billions of “ordinary” people whose fragmented traces constitute the true foundation of our shared past. Season 1’s theme—slavery—signals a commitment both to rigor and empathy. Wyman promises a “mosaic” of perspectives, each a crucial piece in understanding humanity as a whole.
Listeners are left with a personal invitation: to discover not only what famous people did, but to consider the lived truth of everyone else, and in doing so, “better understand ourselves and our place in this great ongoing endeavor we call humanity.”