The Khazar Pivot: The Wildest Geopolitical Move in History

Forget everything you think you know about the Dark Ages. It wasn't just a world divided between the Cross and the Crescent. In this episode, we dive into the wild, true story of the Khazars—a massive, heavily armed nomadic empire in the Russian steppes that converted to Judaism just to keep the world’s superpowers off their backs. We also explore the daily realities of medieval life: how Byzantine laws forced Jews into the stinky profession of leather tanning, and how Islamic taxes accidentally created an international class of urban merchants. Turn up the volume and join the deep dive!