folks, we're back with part two of our miniseries on the life and travels of Ibn Battuta, the most well-traveled man of the Middle Ages, and Derek Davison is back to help us out. this time, we look at the final two big journeys of Ibn Battuta's life that take him from Turkey to India to China and back over a 15-year span and then a much shorter one from Tangiers up to Al-Andalus and then down through West Africa to Mali and back home again over 5 years. we also talk about the spread of Islam in the 14th century, how Ibn Battuta managed to avoid the Black Death, and why his arrival was always very bad news for the remaining fragmented parts of the Mongol Empire. it's a lot of fun and we want to thank Derek once again for taking the time to come on the show.