Podcast Episodes

The Marketing of Fear: Selling Guns to America (Ep 3)

Episode 25

How did the NRA manage to gain so much control over the American President and the Supreme Court? Who are the armed citizens masquerading as secret police in America today? Why is an understanding o…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Cowboys, Gangsters, and Assassins: How Gun Laws Died (Ep 2)

Episode 24

Was the Wild West really lawless? Why did the 1960s mark a turning point in the gun debate? How did a convicted killer become one of the most influential figures in modern gun politics? 

Join Sarah …

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

The Gun Myth That Shaped A Nation (Ep 1)

Episode 23

How does the history of the National Rifle Association explain how the pro-gun lobby got such a stranglehold on modern US politics? Was the United States always a firearm-loving nation? How did race …

Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago

The Great Fire: London Rises From The Ashes (Ep 2)

Episode 22

How did the flames engulf the stone building of St Paul’s Cathedral, jump over the River Fleet, and reach 1,700 degrees celsius? After four days, how was this monstrous fire finally put out? What sca…

Published on 3 months ago

The Great Fire: London’s Burning (Ep 1)

Episode 21

What caused London to go up in flames on 2nd September, 1666? How did a fire that started in a bakery grow to engulf so much of the city? Who was Samuel Pepys, the great diarist who documented the fi…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

How Sci-Fi Became Reality: The History of AI

Episode 20

What role did WWII enigma hero Alan Turing play in the early development of AI? Why are games so important to the history of AI? Did 2001: A Space Odyssey influence the design of the iPad?

Sarah Chu…

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

The Wrath of God: England’s Greatest Natural Disaster (Ep 2)

Episode 19

What death and destruction did the people of England wake up to after the 1703 storm? How did people make sense of this biblical devastation? Why do we remember The Great Fire of London and not The G…

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

England’s Hurricane: 10,000 Dead (Ep 1)

Episode 18

How did a storm in November 1703 turn into one of the deadliest natural disasters in England’s history? Why is Daniel Defoe, ‘father of the British novel’ and author of Robinson Crusoe, at the centre…

Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago

Britain vs America: The Deadly Culture War (Ep 2)

Episode 17

Why did the audience of Macbeth begin hurling theatre seats and food then cobble stones and bricks? What caused the militia, drafted in by New York’s mayor, to fire on the crowd? How did this riot ch…

Published on 4 months ago

Carnage in New York: Killing Over Shakespeare (Ep 1)

Episode 16

How did a fight about Shakespeare descend into America’s bloodiest riot during peace time? Why were tensions so high in New York City in May 1849? Who were Edwin Forrest and William McCready, the act…

Published on 4 months, 1 week ago