One, the history itself is fascinating, even for somebody like me that's generally not a big history buff. (Perhaps it helps that the episodes are short!)

Two, the central conceit -- snapshots of history as told via examinations of various historical artifacts -- actually changed the way I look at things around me. Every single object we hold, mundane or otherwise, holds so much information and is shaped by so many things.

Here's one example I remember well: the famous "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" print. We tend to think of it as the most quintessential Japanese print. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa

But it's more complex and interesting than that. It actually marks a big turning point in Japanese culture, as it actually incorporates major European influences: the rich blue inks and a European use of perspective to depict the mountain in the distance. So this unmistakably Japanese print represents a crossroads...