Podcast Episodes

The Victorians, Part 1 of 2

Season 6 Episode 202

Over the course of Queen Victoria’s reign, Britain transformed into the world's foremost industrial and imperial power. The Victorians built railways that spanned continents, invented life-changing t…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Bletchley Park

Season 6 Episode 201

During World War II, a country house in Buckinghamshire hosted some of the UK’s top minds as they worked to crack enemy communications, most famously the German Enigma cipher. It is estimated that br…

Published on 2 months ago

George Orwell

Season 6 Episode 200

Best known for his books Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell earned a reputation as chronicler and prophet of modern society. Plagued by illness, he exposed poverty and injustice, sat…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

The Domesday Book

Season 6 Episode 199

Following the Norman Conquest at the Battle of Hastings, Norman culture transformed the country, as William I governed through force and bureaucracy. One of his lasting legacies - the Domesday Book -…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

The Mitford Sisters

Season 6 Episode 198

Rarely out of the papers during their lifetimes, and still figures of fascination in modern media, the six Mitford sisters have become notorious. From a shared, if eccentric childhood, the sisters gr…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Florence Nightingale

Season 6 Episode 197

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Revered as a heroine, and mythologised as ‘the Lady with the Lamp’, Florence Nightingale has gone down in history as the founder of modern nursi…

Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago

The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings

Season 6 Episode 196

In May 1945, the Second World War ended in Europe, but Japan refused to surrender - despite seemingly facing inevitable defeat. So, confronted by the prospect of drawn-out and costly fighting, Washin…

Published on 3 months ago

Marie Antoinette

Season 6 Episode 195

The last Queen of France before the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette is best known today for her extravagant lifestyle and controversial legacy. Initially admired for her grace and charm, as revol…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

The Stone Age

Season 6 Episode 194

The Stone Age is the foundational period of human history, stretching from roughly 3 million to 5,000 years ago, and accounting for over 99% of humanity’s time on earth. It’s the era when modern huma…

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Captain Cook

Season 6 Episode 193

Through his voyages in the eighteenth century, Captain Cook’s work as an explorer contributed to startling advances in scientific knowledge, and mapped swathes of unplotted territory in both hemisphe…

Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago