Podcast Episodes

The Real Origins of Witches

Episode 18

Have you ever wondered what the ancient origins of witchcraft is? How did the black-hat-broomstick stereotype emerge? And what causes the waves of witch trials throughout history, right up to the pre…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

Victorian Death Photography: Postmortem Posers

Episode 17

The Victorians created the unsettling art of death photography - posing their deceased love ones in family portraits as if they were alive. How did they manage to make corpses strike poses? Why did t…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

Mother Shipton: Tudor Prophetess of England's Doom

Episode 16

Did a Tudor prophetess correctly predict the English Civil War, the Crimean War, the sinking of the Titanic, World War One and the end of days? And what does she have to do with turning teddy bears i…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

The Real Witch Hunts: Persecution & Panic

Episode 15

Witch hunts blazed across Europe from the 1400s right into the 1700s. Their terror has been burned into the collective memory. But how accurate are the pictures we have in our heads?

For this episode,…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

The Man Who Hanged Nazis: Albert Pierrepoint

Episode 14

For Albert Pierrepoint, execution was a family affair. His father and uncle were hangmen and from the 1940s until the late 1950s Albert was Britain's "Number One" executioner. Which meant he was the …

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

Ghost Fetishes: From Ancient World to Victorians

Episode 13

What is spectrophilia? Well, it's a fetish for ghosts (as well as mirrors), so being turned on by anything lurking in the non-physical realm. What are the historic origins of this fetish and phenomen…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

Origins of the Loch Ness Monster

Episode 12

What lurks beneath the dark waters of Loch Ness? The legendary monster? A piece of Celtic folklore? A warning of the Nazis' rise to power? A fraudster?

Today Anthony and Maddy are examining grainy pho…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

Guy Fawkes & the 1605 Gunpowder Plot

Episode 11

Other countries celebrate their victories and independence. But in Britain, we celebrate a bungling terrorist from the 17th century. Why? Who was Guy Fawkes? What was the Gunpowder Plot? And why must…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

Hammersmith Ghost: How to Murder a Poltergeist

Episode 10

Can it be murder if you think you're killing a ghost? In 1804 the London suburb of Hammersmith was being terrorised by a ghost. One man set out to hunt down whoever, or whatever, this was. He almost …

Published on 2 years, 2 months ago

Hauntings, Hangings & a Beast: Bodmin Jail

Episode 9

Bodmin Jail can claim to be one of the most haunted buildings in Britain. Perhaps that's because of all the hangings that took place here. Or the postmortem punishment the jail dolled out to prisoner…

Published on 2 years, 2 months ago