hello listeners! what you're about to hear is one of our patron-exclusive bonus episodes from March 2023, the first of our seven part book club series on Dante's Inferno. in it, we introduce Dante Alighieri's masterwork, The Inferno, by discussing the author's life, the background of Medieval Italian city-states, the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict, and more meta details about the book. we talk about The Inferno's importance, both as a work of fiction and as a surviving Medieval text, Dante's genius and hubris, and how this work still forms the basic conception of Hell that most people living today have in their minds. you'll love it! and if you do, then please subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/wnsdpod, it's just $5 a month.