Podcast Episodes

Time is Chaos. The Calendar Tries (And Fails) to Fix That.

From moons to mind bending maths and revolutions, the story of how we got the modern calendar is messy. 

Matthew Champion, Associate Professor in History at the University of Melbourne, takes Marc Fen…

Published on 8 hours ago

The Nativity Scene You Know—And The One You Don’t

You see it on Christmas cards, in shop windows and at your local church. The nativity scene is everywhere at this time of year. 

But the scene you know of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus in the manger, with …

Published on 1 week ago

An 1843 Lifehack Became a Christmas Tradition

There’s one man you can thank - or curse - for your hand cramp after writing all your Christmas cards. Sir Henry Cole was a ‘dumpy’ Englishman who had too many jobs and not enough time to write back …

Published on 2 weeks ago

Poison to Beauty: The Story of Botox

It started as a deadly toxin and became a billion-dollar beauty secret. So how exactly did a poison become the world’s most popular cosmetic fix? 

It’s all to do with one man who took a plunge and use…

Published on 3 weeks ago

The First Computer Was Greek (And Shipwrecked)

Over a hundred years ago, some divers jumped into the Mediterranean to look for sponges. Instead, they found ancient treasures. Artefacts, statues, jewellery. And a corroded piece of bronze. Little d…

Published on 4 weeks ago

William Dalrymple: China’s Game of Thrones

She entered the royal palace as a concubine and became the first and only female emperor of China. She was power hungry, a total operator and if you asked her enemies, a blood thirsty murderer. And h…

Published on 1 month ago

Purple Reign: The Teen Who Bottled Royalty

It was a colour once reserved for emperors and the elite. But a lab mishap soon changed purple forever. 

Cultural historian and author of the book The Secret Lives of Colour, Kassia St Clair tells Mar…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

The Secret Photos That Shamed America

There’s that phrase a picture says a thousand words... but what does a picture of child labour say? 

Curator, educator, and photo-historian Beth Saunders (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) sit…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Hairspray, Cigarettes and the Wild History of the Asthma Puffer

It’s small enough to fit in your pocket and it’s saved countless lives.

The asthma puffer has had a long journey, stretching back thousands of years to various treatments including asthma cigarettes. …

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Beer vs Cholera: The Map That Changed Medicine

London, 1854. A mysterious and deadly illness is sweeping through Soho, and people are dropping like flies. The leading theory? “Bad air.” But one doctor isn’t convinced. John Snow begins to trace th…

Published on 2 months ago