Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
Episode #77- Was There a Real Pied Piper?
The fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm can often surprise modern readers with their violence and cruelty. There is something particularly ha…
7 years, 7 months ago
Episode #76- How Does Jon Waterlow Make Sense of Stalin Jokes?
When I spoke to Jon Waterlow he reminded me that George Orwell once said that every joke is a tiny revolution. Well, it turns out jokes can be even m…
7 years, 8 months ago
Episode #75- What Can We Believe About Stalin? (Part III)
There are few moments in Joseph Stalin's life that are not the subject of historical controversy. These controversies inevitably become more heated w…
7 years, 8 months ago
Episode #74- What Can We Believe About Stalin? (Part II)
Stalin's biography may be one of the most contested in modern times. As early as the 1930's his life story was being written by friends and foes alik…
7 years, 8 months ago
Episode #73- What Can We Believe About Stalin? (Part I)
The are few 20th century figures as perplexing as Josef Stalin. Historians widely agree that Stalin was responsible for the deaths of some 20 million…
7 years, 9 months ago
Episode #72- Did Emperor Hadrian Murder His Teenage Lover?
In the first episode of Season 4 Sebastian looks at the historical reputation of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian has been celebrated as one of Rom…
7 years, 9 months ago
Episode #71- Who Invented Your Favourite Sport?
In this final episode of Season Three Sebastian turns his attention to sports! The question of who invented a particular sport can sometimes be a mat…
7 years, 11 months ago
Episode #70 - What are the Secrets of the Diefenbunker?
In a small town outside of Canada's capital city of Ottawa there sits a remarkable relic of the atomic age. It is a massive bunker that would have be…
7 years, 11 months ago
Episode #69- What Does Gary Lachman Think About the Mother of the Occult?
When I was researching Helena Blavatsky I was often amazed at how someone so weird, with such an outrageous life story, could inspire so much dull wr…
8 years ago
Episode #68 - Who Was the Mother of the Occult? (Part III)
In the final chapter of our series on the occult guru Helena Petrovna Blavatsky we look at her surprising move to India and the scandal that ultimate…
8 years ago