Podcast Episodes

Episode 371: The French Revolution - Part 5: The Directory

Episode 10371

In this week's episode, get across the final chapter in the tale of the French Revolution: the broad political failure that was the French Directory, the collapse of which represented the end of the …

Published on 4 months, 3 weeks ago

Inventions Episode 31: The Sewing Machine

Episode 40031

The sewing machine is a piece of technology that has had an outsized historical influence - not just on the textile industry, but on society, culture, and history as well.

History's Strangest Deaths, …

Published on 4 months, 3 weeks ago

QAH Episode 121: A Brief History of the Guillotine

Episode 20121

Quarter-Arsed History presents: a brief history of the guillotine, a device popularised during the French Revolution, responsible for the deaths of countless thousands during the Reign of Terror. 

His…

Published on 4 months, 4 weeks ago

Episode 370: The French Revolution - Part 4: The Terror

Episode 10370

In this week's episode, get across the darkest and bloodiest chapter in French revolutionary history: the Reign of Terror, which saw tens of thousands of people killed by political violence.

History's…

Published on 5 months ago

Inventions Episode 30: The Friction Match

Episode 40030

The friction match and its subsequent developments helped to democratise fire - matches have made it possible for anyone, at any time, to make use of one of humanity's most important tools, fire. 

His…

Published on 5 months ago

Tickets for the 2025 Book Tour are now available!

Join me in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Maroochydore as I go through some of the stories from History's Strangest Deaths, and share juicy behind-the-scenes details about how the book was made. Do…

Published on 5 months ago

QAH Episode 120: The Man in the Iron Mask

Episode 20120

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the Man in the Iron Mask, a mysterious prisoner of the French king Louis XIV, who was imprisoned for 34 years without anyone ever learning his true identity. 

History's…

Published on 5 months ago

Episode 369: The French Revolution - Part 3: The Constitution

Episode 10369

In this week's episode, understand some of the most important legacies of the French Revolution as it worked to establish a constitutional monarchy, before the ultimate abolition of the monarchy and …

Published on 5 months, 1 week ago

Inventions Episode 29: The Camera

Episode 40029

The camera is everywhere, today - we carry them around with us in our pockets - but it has a two-hundred year history that has brought us to this point, filled with groundbreaking, revolutionary tech…

Published on 5 months, 1 week ago

QAH Episode 119: Charles Boycott and the Boycott Affair

Episode 20119

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the story of Charles Boycott, whose immense unpopularity as a landlord let to the term "boycott" being coined. 

History's Strangest Deaths, the first Half-Arsed History…

Published on 5 months, 1 week ago