Where this was said
Uno Reverse
At 41:44 · chapter starts 37:16
In the year 50 AD, Claudius orders the expulsion of Jews from Rome, with the historical record offering no clear reason. Fin needs only two words: 'They're Jewish.' This sparks one of the episode's more pointed riffs — that Jewish expulsion is the single constant across every era the show covers, with the hosts framing Netanyahu's modern Israel as a 'Uno reverse' of 2,000 years of persecution. [1] — Fin Taylor "It is the one constant through every era that we talk about on this show, is that if there are Jews there, they'll be kicked out shortly...…" 38:34 The episode then shifts to Claudius's more admirable legacy: his slave protection edicts. If a master abandoned a sick slave, that slave went free. If a master killed a sick slave instead of treating them, the master faced murder charges. The hosts frame this as ancient Rome's version of woke policy — imagining Telegraph headlines about 'squeezing slave owners' who now have to actually care for their human property.
Claudius issued edicts that would have made the Telegraph apoplectic: if you abandoned a sick slave, that slave went free. If you killed a slave instead of treating their illness, you faced murder charges. The hosts note this is the Roman Empire's version of 'woke nonsense' — and that it worked.
Claudius was described as issuing approximately 20 edicts per day during his reign, compared by the hosts to Trump's prolific executive order output.
Claudius issued a decree allowing people to fart in public, motivated by concerns about the health risks of holding in flatulence.
Claudius issued a historic edict legalising public farting, driven by genuine medical concern about the dangers of holding in gas. The hosts note — with some scientific backing from their researcher Charlie — that suppressed farts can come out as burps that travel through the lungs.
