The war in Ukraine & the history of the Early Church

In Part 1, historian Steve Usitalo and I discuss Russia and the war in Ukraine.  Why did Putin invade?  Why have the Russians, so powerful on paper, done so badly against the Ukrainian army?  What objectives must Ukraine achieve to survive as a nation?  Is any resolution of the conflict on the horizon?  In Part 2,  ancient historian Art Marmorstein and I discuss the history of the early church.  Why is the history of the Church important in a university history program?  How much do we know about the early church between Paul and the rise of the Roman church?  Was Paul's epistle to the Romans more than a solution to a marketing problem?  Why did Christianity spread so fast along Roman trade routes?  And finally, what was the status of Christmas in the early church?The creator of more recent Wolftrax episodes is Dr. Kristen Brown, assistant professor of English at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Older (and forthcoming) content consisting of faculty interviews comes from Professor Emeritus Ken Blanchard, the original creator of Wolftrax.