Tiako

One of the criticisms of the media people on the left make is that the sorts of voices that are given a platform fall within a "DC bubble", so that, for example, even a liberal program might have on someone like David Frum, the writer of the Axis of Evil" speech and propagandist for the Iraq War, but never someone like Noam Chomsky. Have you taken any steps to to avoid simply reproducing the DC media bubble?

I did my damndest to frame my question in a non accusatory way. Oh well.

I mean, not really. For example, it doesn't really show the first longboat voyage to England because Scandinavia and England had been in contact for centuries before Lindisfarne. You are saying that it captures the essence of being a Viking, but how can you know what the essence of being a Viking is it you don't base it on historical research?

Hello, thanks for taking your time!

I am a graduate student in history, and I and several of my friends watch and love this show. However, being graduate students we also pick apart some of the historical inaccuracies, such as how the story features the sack on Lindisfarne, King Ecbert and Ragnar Lothbrok despite this covering about a century (such as how King Aelle probably wasn't alive when Lindisfarne was sacked). We also love a lot of the details that you get right, particularly in terms of set dressing and costuming. So my question is: how do you balance historical concerns with the need to tell a good story?

Also, when are Ragnar and Aethelstan going to kiss already?

Hello Mr. Cuno, I am a student of Roman archaeology and would like to ask you about the Getty Villa, which is one of the most interesting museums in the world because the museum itself is a fairly good reconstruction of a Roman villa and thus practically a museum piece itself. Do you ever feel any tension in the twin functions of the Villa--a reconstruction of a Roman structure and a very modern art museum (albeit one of classical and pre-classical art)--or do you think of the structure as just an enchanting background? To put it another way, what sorts of challenges and opportunities do you find in the form of the museum?