Patrick Wyman

Pods: Past Lives. Tides of History. Book: "The Verge," on the world around 1500. Coming soon: "Lost Worlds," on prehistory. (5/6/26). pwymanusc at gmail.

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

Today's the big day, friends - my new book, Lost Worlds: The Rise and Fall of Human Societies from the Ice Age to the Bronze Age, is available for preorder! Smash that link and purchase from your retailer of choice, if that's the kind of thing you're into. https://t.co/PvvzaDLw3M

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

I’m in a documentary on the History Channel tonight, “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire”! Check it out!

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

@touchypuss @Phantom_Blooper I'd say that both the content you're replying to and the way you phrased this post are exactly the reason I'm not here anymore

[Andrew Keen @ajkeen]

Why History Keeps Happening, by @ajkeen https://t.co/AagTiSEwbG @Patrick_Wyman

“Every single person that we meet was both the endpoint of thousands of years that brought them there, and the midpoint of some other process, and was the beginning of something else entirely. Think of yourselves as the middle and the beginning, not just the end.” — Patrick Wyman

History, we are often told, is a simple story of progress — from caves and villages to cities; from forests and farms to factories; from chieftains and kings to democracies. But, for Patrick Wyman, host of the enormously popular Tides of History and Fall of Rome podcasts, that’s far too linear a narrative. In his new book, Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World, Wyman argues that rather than a teleological inevitability, civilization is a chaotic ten thousand year story of improvisation, experiment, failure, and unintended consequence. It is never ending. We are always in the middle of it.

Dramatic advances in archaeological technology triggered Wyman’s argument in Lost Worlds. Ancient DNA, isotope analysis, LiDAR, cutting-edge excavation are all opening up what Wyman calls “a golden age for popular historians.” We can now trace the lives of individuals in ways that were inconceivable just a generation ago. Wyman’s star is Ötzi the Iceman — a man murdered 5,300 years ago in the Alps, whose gut contents, DNA, last meal, and likely killers we now know. Rather than a symbol of prehistoric life, Ötzi the Iceman reveals why history keeps happening.

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

My new book, Lost Worlds, is out today! It tells a new story about how humanity went from hunting and gathering to the cusp of "civilization" that incorporates all of the stunning new archaeological work of the past couple of decades. https://t.co/PvvzaDLw3M

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

I'm going to jump on Instagram Live at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT (50 minutes from now) to talk about Lost Worlds - ask me anything about prehistory, ancient DNA and archaeological science, climate change in the past, writing a book, whatever! Come hang! https://t.co/HEcbHMeXCN

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

@JedKMeshew Any way that suits you! If you like audiobooks I'd go that direction

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

My new book, Lost Worlds, is out today! It tells a new story about how humanity went from hunting and gathering to the cusp of "civilization" that incorporates all of the stunning new archaeological work of the past couple of decades. https://t.co/PvvzaDLw3M

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

@Econ_Marshall I'm very much hoping that my lack of longstanding beefs will give it a less contentious reception

[Marshall Steinbaum 🔥 @Econ_Marshall]

Can't wait to read this--out today. It seems like it will be a better version of Graeber & Wengrow "The Dawn of Everything": all the lucid & inventive archaeological interpretation, none of the layered-on theoretical baggage aimed at getting even with academic opponents.

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

Fantastic review of my new book Lost Worlds in the Wall Street Journal: "Throughout, Mr. Wyman evokes the sights, sounds and smells of entire lifeways that have disappeared." https://t.co/pZ8gQrDh6R

[Craig Fehrman @craigfehrman]

Anyone who loves Patrick’s podcasts has been waiting for this book. Looks like it’s going to live up to our unreasonable expectations!

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

@lizatliz Thank you so much for listening!

[Craig Fehrman @craigfehrman]

My book is debuting at #6 on the NYT nonfiction best seller list. I am stunned and so grateful that readers are embracing not just Lewis and Clark but York, Ordway, Sacajawea, Black Buffalo, Coboway . . .

[MicheleM @MicheleMcAloon1]

@Patrick_Wyman Patrick!! Awesome interview yesterday. Cross Word Books on https://t.co/3t1lj5QvID Love this book! https://t.co/nTdSjFRcsF… Great Father’s Day gift!!

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

Preorder the book here: https://t.co/PvvzaDLw3M

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

Fantastic review of my new book Lost Worlds in the Wall Street Journal: "Throughout, Mr. Wyman evokes the sights, sounds and smells of entire lifeways that have disappeared." https://t.co/pZ8gQrDh6R

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

@petersterne @OsseChi @voguemagazine I love strength sports so much

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

New Past Lives: Ötzi the Iceman. Of all the people who lived in the distant past, we might know Ötzi the best: his tattoos, his final meals, the aches and pains he experienced, and more. Considering he lived more than 5,000 years ago, that's incredible. https://t.co/qtrAjXojIX

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

You can preorder the book here - nothing helps authors more than preorders, and I would be absolutely honored if you did so! https://t.co/PvvzaDLw3M

[Patrick Wyman @Patrick_Wyman]

My new book, "Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World," comes out in 20 days! Check out this sample audiobook chapter on the closing days of the Ice Age: https://t.co/Z75FwSrosU