Legacy

Latest Episodes:

Ernest Hemingway | One True Sentence | 2 Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

Afua and Peter track Ernest Hemingway’s spiral from the peak of his Nobel success into a dark cycle of alcoholism and untreated head trauma. They explore how the 20th century’s "Alpha" icon eventually collapsed under the weight of his own performance, leading to a tragic end that mirrored his father’s suicide.

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Ernest Hemingway | The Lost Generation | 1 Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

Afua and Peter track Ernest Hemingway’s path from a suburban Chicago childhood spent hunting and boxing to the bloody front lines of Italy. They show how a brutal war injury and his newsroom grind birthed the "iceberg theory," revealing a man who hunted Nazis and survived plane crashes but often treated his own life like his best piece of fiction.

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas:

peterfrankopan.substack.com

afuahirsch.substack.com

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Gertrude Stein | Oozing Cubism | 2 Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

In this second installment, Peter and Afua examine Stein's boldest move: ghostwriting her partner’s "autobiography" to claim the global stardom she felt she deserved. They confront the darkest corners of her history, including her bitter public feuds and her controversial survival as a Jewish woman during the Nazi occupation of France.

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Gertrude Stein | It Takes A Lot Of Time To Be A Genius | 1 Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

Peter and Afua discuss the life of Gertrude Stein, an influential figure in the Parisian art and literature scene. They explore her relationships with artists like Picasso and her complex personality.

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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This is Samurai | The Samurai Take Control | 2 Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

How did a warrior class born to serve end up ruling Japan for seven centuries? When the Mongols twice tried to invade — and were twice destroyed by typhoons — what did that do to the samurai myth? And, when the Meiji government banned the wearing of swords in public in 1876, was that the end of the samurai — or just the beginning of something stranger?

Peter and Afua trace the samurai from their seizure of power under the first shogun, through the Zen culture, the arrival of European firearms, and the Warring States chaos, to their abolition, their afterlife in the Second World War, and why the world can't stop romanticising them.

0:00 Minamoto Yoritomo becomes the first shogun in 1192 — and strips all real power from the

imperial court

6:00 Zen Buddhism arrives and fits the samurai like a glove: discipline, impermanence, acceptance

of death

9:00 The Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281 — and the typhoons that became divine winds

14:00 The Ashikaga shogunate: weak political control, extraordinary cultural flourishing

18:00 The Warring States period — Japan descends into anarchy, and the samurai finally have their

moment

20:00 Europeans arrive with matchlock guns — and personal martial prowess stops being enough

23:00 Christianity enters Japan and starts pulling apart the existing order

28:00 Commodore Perry's steam warships in 1853 — and the crisis that ends the samurai age

31:00 The Meiji Restoration abolishes the samurai: stipends cut, swords banned, a class erased

35:00 Bushido, kamikaze, and Seven Samurai — how a real warrior class became a global myth

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas:

Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Stay connected with Legacy:

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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This Is Samurai | The Rise Of Medieval Warlords | 1 Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

Who were the samurai before the armour and the mythology? How did a class of provincial enforcers — hired muscle

for a crumbling imperial court — become the most powerful force in Japanese history? And, when the Taira and

Minamoto clans finally went to war in the 1180s, was this a clash of warrior honour — or just two gangs fighting for

control of the state?

Peter and Afua trace the samurai from their origins in Japan's fragmented early kingdoms, through the arrival of

Buddhism, the collapse of imperial authority, and the emergence of the warrior class that would define a civilisation.

0:00 Japan before the samurai: competing clans, Shinto ritual, and a court that ruled through

ceremony

8:00 Buddhism arrives as a diplomatic gift from Korea — and immediately splits the court

15:00 Prince Shotoku's vision: government as ethical practice, not coercion

18:30 The Taika reforms of 645 — Japan models itself on Tang China and builds its first

bureaucracy

25:00 Why elegance wasn't enough: how the imperial court's fragility created a vacuum

27:00 The word "samurai" — what it means, where it comes from, and how armed men became a class

31:00 The Taira and Minamoto: two great warrior clans and the rivalry that would define Japan

35:00 The Genpei War, 1180–1185 — when the samurai stopped serving power and started wielding it

37:00 The drowning of child emperor Antoku and the moment Japan's future moved from palace to

battlefield

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Stay connected with Legacy:

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas:

Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.

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Stay connected with Legacy:

Instagram: @originallegacypodcast

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Women and Healing | It's All On WitchTok | 3 Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

From shamans and oracles to modern psychics and wellness gurus, humanity has always searched for answers beyond medicine. This episode traces how spiritual healing, prophecy and belief survived — and why they’re booming again today.

Stay connected with Legacy

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Stay connected with Legacy:

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Women and Healing | The Original Witch Hunt | 2 Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

Women were humanity’s first doctors — midwives, herbalists and healers — until fear, religion and power turned care into a crime. This episode explores how women’s medical knowledge became witchcraft, and why healing women were systematically erased.

Stay connected with Legacy

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Stay connected with Legacy:

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Women and Healing | The Strange Story of the Penis Nest Trapped in a Tree | 1 Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

Women were the world’s first doctors — mastering plants, childbirth, and healing — until their knowledge became a threat to rising male-dominated medicine and the Church. From ancient shamans to Egyptian surgeons to medieval witch trials and the infamous “penis nest” myth, this is the hidden history of women, power, and healing.

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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Stay connected with Legacy:

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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The History of Wellness and Wellbeing | Shamans, Oracles and Gurus | 4 Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

Why did ancient people believe illness came from spirits — and who had the power to cure it? Peter and Afua explore shamans, oracles, and sacred healing rituals that once shaped health, fate, and meaning. From Mesopotamian demon-healers to modern ayahuasca retreats and Instagram gurus, they ask what happens when ancient spiritual medicine returns in the modern world.

Stay connected with Legacy

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.

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Stay connected with Legacy:

Instagram: @originallegacypodcast

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.