Podcast Episodes

Gay Sex Scandal that Outraged the Georgians

Episode 202

What price might a man pay for sex in the 18th century? Well, if it was with another man, he might pay with his life.

In this episode, Anthony introduces us to 43-year-old milkman Gabriel Lawrence. To…

Published on 2 months ago

Jack the Ripper: Invention of a Monster

Episode 201

Jack the Ripper as we think of him, is an invention of the Victorian media. They took the complete absence of hard facts about the killer, and populated it with the period's anxieties, fantasies and …

Published on 2 months ago

The Dark Side of Medieval England

Episode 200

This episode contains descriptions of execution and torture.

To be Hanged, Drawn & Quartered. Put on the Rack. Impaled on a spike. This list paints a very dark picture. What was the reality of executi…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

The Darkest Scandal in Victorian Britain

Episode 199

Today we step into the shadowy world of W.T. Stead—a Victorian journalist whose life was as controversial as it was groundbreaking. 

Hear how he uncovered a sex scandal which shocked the nation, dabbl…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

New York's Wildest Murder Case

Episode 198

This 1897 New York murder case that has it all - a villain, an incredibly useless police force, and a duck who saves the day. The incredible Dr Cat Byers (@heymorguegirl) joins Maddy and Anthony to t…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Victorian Love Triangle Murder

Episode 197

Through the industrial fog of Victorian London, in one of the city's most notorious slums, a murder took place that shocked a nation.

The Bermondsey Horror, as it was called at the time, centred aroun…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

The Body In The Trunk: France's Shocking 19th Century Murder Case

Episode 196

It was a murder mystery that gripped 19th century France and changed crime investigation forever.

Who was the body in the trunk? What were the groundbreaking techniques used in the forensics investiga…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Bloodiest Mutiny & Shipwreck in History: Batavia

Episode 195

What happens when you're left on a desert island with a psychopath? This is a story so horrendous it would be hard to believe were it not for the skeletons left behind. Maddy Pelling takes Anthony De…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Britain’s Most Prolific Executioner

Episode 194

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 months, 4 weeks ago

Could You Survive The Victorian Workhouse?

Episode 193

Today we’re going behind the foreboding doors of the Victorian workhouse to ask - ‘Could we survive it?’. From Oliver Twist's gruel to songs about flogging, from lice-ridden clothing to soul destroyi…

Published on 3 months ago