Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchA short history of ghost hunting
Episode 2432
A spooky story during the Christmas season has become traditional – and the modern ghost story was invented by the Victorians, who embraced the supernatural and tried to understand it. Ben Machell ha…
Published on 2 weeks ago
Becoming Jane Austen
Episode 2431
What inspired the daughter of a rural reverend to write about eligible bachelors and drunken misadventure? In this first episode of our four-part series on Jane Austen's life and work, Dr Lizzie Roge…
Published on 2 weeks, 1 day ago
Ghosts, gods & sea monsters: a supernatural history of the Atlantic
Episode 2430
For centuries, sailors crossing the Atlantic believed they were not alone – haunted by ghost ships, watched by mermaids, and stalked by sea monsters. Historian Karl Bell talks to Jon Bauckham about t…
Published on 2 weeks, 3 days ago
The summer that changed everything for the Kennedys
Episode 2429
Historian Leigh Straw describes one pivotal summer in the life of the Kennedy family. With most of the family in their Cape Cod summer home, the summer of 1944 was marked by personal grief and politi…
Published on 2 weeks, 5 days ago
Margaret Beaufort: life of the week
Episode 2428
Born in the tumultuous 15th century, Margaret Beaufort – mother of Henry VII – endured personal tragedy, dynastic danger, and the ever-shifting fortunes of power. Yet she emerged as one of the most i…
Published on 2 weeks, 6 days ago
Idi Amin's willing helpers
Episode 2427
Idi Amin is 20th-century Africa’s most notorious ruler – a cartoonish tyrant who has been bracketed with the likes of Hitler and Stalin. And it’s true that, as Uganda’s dictator for most of the 1970s…
Published on 3 weeks ago
“You can’t kill and maim with impunity”: the powerful legacy of Nuremberg
Episode 2426
In the 80 years since Nazi leaders stood in the dock, how has the international community sought to deal with war criminals around the globe? For this concluding episode of our four-part series on th…
Published on 3 weeks, 1 day ago
Assassins vs Templars
Episode 2425
The Assassins and the Knights Templar are two of history’s most intriguing, enigmatic and legendary groups. While they may seem vastly different on the surface, their intertwined stories reveal a sur…
Published on 3 weeks, 3 days ago
WW2's Tunisian campaign: the Stalingrad of Africa
Episode 2424
For the Allies it was an enormous triumph and for Nazi Germany it was another Stalingrad. But 80 years on, the battle for Tunisia is barely mentioned in popular accounts of the Second World War, havi…
Published on 3 weeks, 5 days ago
Empress Matilda: life of the week
Episode 2423
In the tumultuous aftermath of Henry I’s death, England was thrown into one of the most chaotic civil wars in its history – the Anarchy. At the heart of the struggle stood Empress Matilda: daughter o…
Published on 3 weeks, 6 days ago