Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchHow to live like a Roman emperor
Episode 1775
What did Roman emperors actually do all day? Were they really as bloodthirsty as legend would suggest? And why was food so important? Speaking to Mat…
2 years, 9 months ago
How has fear shaped history?
Episode 1774
With the climate crisis, war in Ukraine, a recent pandemic and the rise of AI, it can feel like there is more to be fearful of today than ever before…
2 years, 10 months ago
The Battle of Britain: everything you wanted to know
Episode 1773
The Battle of Britain has gone down in history as an epic dogfight between the RAF and the Luftwaffe – one where Britain faced overwhelming odds and …
2 years, 10 months ago
Rocket women: America’s first female astronauts
Episode 1772
In the late 1970s, NASA admitted women onto their space programme for the first time. Six women were chosen as the first cohort, and would endure unp…
2 years, 10 months ago
Great Reputations: Napoleon
Episode 1771
In the latest in our series charting the contested reputations of key historical figures, Laura O’Brien and David Andress discuss the life and afterl…
2 years, 10 months ago
Chaos & violence in country houses
Episode 1770
We think of English houses as idyllic locations for an afternoon out, but as Stephanie Barczewski reveals, many have a more turbulent and violent his…
2 years, 10 months ago
The shoemaker who helped slaves escape the South
Episode 1769
Thomas Smallwood, a formerly enslaved shoemaker, helped hundreds of people to flee from slavery in the American South in the 1840s. Speaking to Elino…
2 years, 10 months ago
Scandals that shocked Georgian Britain
Episode 1768
From torrid affairs and messy duels to corrupt law-enforcers and vengeful ghosts, Georgian Britain loved a good scandal. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne,…
2 years, 10 months ago
British parliament: everything you wanted to know
Episode 1767
From the gunpowder plot and Oliver Cromwell’s clash with Charles I to Winston Churchill’s speeches during the Second World War, parliament has witnes…
2 years, 10 months ago
When poison pen letters caused chaos
Episode 1766
Long before the rise of the internet troll, malicious letters written by anonymous authors were causing untold grief to those who received them, and …
2 years, 10 months ago