EPISODE · May 10, 2026 · 1H 2M
Lost Cities
from David's NotebookLM Audio Collection · host David Weissman
Lost Cities: Rise, Collapse, and Rediscovery explores the haunting question behind some of history’s greatest ruins: how does a city vanish?In this episode, David Weissman curates a sweeping archaeological journey through abandoned capitals, drowned harbors, desert trade hubs, jungle-covered temples, and earth-built urban centers that once pulsed with civic life. From Palmyra and Merv to Angkor, Pompeii, Teotihuacan, Tiwanaku, Cahokia, and Thonis-Heracleion, the discussion looks beyond the usual “mysterious disappearance” stories and follows the real evidence: shifting rivers, collapsing trade routes, drought, warfare, political breakdown, disease, sea-level rise, and the slow failure of infrastructure.The hosts also dig into how modern archaeologists bring these places back into view using LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar, sonar, aerial imaging, pollen, charcoal, pottery, coins, trash heaps, mud bricks, and timber postholes. The result is a story not just about ruins, but about ordinary people, fragile systems, and the hidden engineering of urban life. These cities were not lost to legend. They were buried, drowned, overgrown, forgotten, and then rediscovered, one artifact at a time.
What this episode covers
Lost Cities: Rise, Collapse, and Rediscovery explores the haunting question behind some of history’s greatest ruins: how does a city vanish?In this episode, David Weissman curates a sweeping archaeological journey through abandoned capitals, drowned harbors, desert trade hubs, jungle-covered temples, and earth-built urban centers that once pulsed with civic life. From Palmyra and Merv to Angkor, Pompeii, Teotihuacan, Tiwanaku, Cahokia, and Thonis-Heracleion, the discussion looks beyond the usual “mysterious disappearance” stories and follows the real evidence: shifting rivers, collapsing trade routes, drought, warfare, political breakdown, disease, sea-level rise, and the slow failure of infrastructure.The hosts also dig into how modern archaeologists bring these places back into view using LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar, sonar, aerial imaging, pollen, charcoal, pottery, coins, trash heaps, mud bricks, and timber postholes. The result is a story not just about ruins, but about ordinary people, fragile systems, and the hidden engineering of urban life. These cities were not lost to legend. They were buried, drowned, overgrown, forgotten, and then rediscovered, one artifact at a time.
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Lost Cities
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