Podcast Episodes

Gladiator tales

Episode 2136

How did gladiators supercharge the rise of Julius Caesar? What can we learn about arena fighters from the petrified remains at Pompeii? And why did gladiatorial bouts get banned there for a whole dec…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

The Brontës: everything you wanted to know

Episode 2135

From their remote Yorkshire parsonage, sisters Emily, Charlotte and Anne Brontë penned stories that would capture the imaginations of generations of readers. But how popular were books such as Jane E…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

Lord Lucan: the vanishing earl

Episode 2134

On 7 November, 1974, nanny Sandra Rivett was found murdered in the affluent London neighbourhood of Belgravia. The prime suspect? The father of her young charges, Lord Lucan. But before the aristocra…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

The Tyrant, the usurper and the hero | Henry V: hero

Episode 2133

Henry V only had a short reign, but his legacy looms large over the medieval landscape. Remembered as a heroic warrior king, who bested the French at Harfleur then marched his forces to victory at Ag…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

How Stalin won WW2

Episode 2132

In June 1944 Allied armies landed in force in northern France, and the liberation of western Europe began. But, the battle that really sealed Hitler's fate was taking place in the east, as the Red Ar…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

The Venerable Bede: life of the week

Episode 2131

The Venerable Bede was a monk who lived in Northumbria 1300 years ago, but his influence reached far beyond the confines of his monastic home. In fact, he is remembered today as the 'Father of Englis…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

Decoding Mary, Queen of Scots

Episode 2130

How might cryptic messages written from within a political prison bring us closer to understanding a captive queen? Historian Jade Scott has studied the letters Mary, Queen of Scots wrote in captivit…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

The Blitz: everything you wanted to know

Episode 2129

How did British civilians respond when they found themselves under aerial bombardment during the Second World War? Was normal life put on hold during air raids? And was 'Blitz Spirit' a real thing? S…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

The gunpowder plot: everything you wanted to know

What drove a group of plotters to attempt to blow up the king on 5 November 1605? To what extent did the conspiracy sour relations between Protestants and Catholics? And why do we continue to be so f…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

Telling the story of modern Jerusalem

Episode 2128

First published in 2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore's book Jerusalem: The Biography charts life in the city across the course of centuries. Now he's returned with an updated version, which extends the st…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago