Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchJane Austen’s passion for fashion
Episode 1763
From ribbons, bonnets and ballgowns to Mr Darcy’s see-through shirt, the works of Jane Austen have long sparked the imaginations of fashion-minded re…
2 years, 10 months ago
The brain behind the Dambusters raid
Episode 1762
The Dambusters raid of May 1943 is one of the most celebrated episodes of the Second World War. But in military terms, was it in fact a flop? And was…
2 years, 10 months ago
Spanish flu: everything you wanted to know
Episode 1761
Did the Spanish flu pandemic actually begin in Spain? What were the symptoms? Is it true it killed more people than the First World War, and how simi…
2 years, 10 months ago
Women who shaped the Roman empire
Episode 1760
How do you surface the stories of women in the Roman empire, when the majority of ancient texts were written by men, telling of military victories an…
2 years, 10 months ago
Great Reputations: Oliver Cromwell
Episode 1759
In the latest in our series charting the contested reputations of key historical figures, Ronald Hutton and Mark Stoyle debate the life and legacy of…
2 years, 10 months ago
The secret club for radical New York women
Episode 1758
In downtown New York, in the early 20th century, a secret club of women met regularly, to discuss ideas, politics, art and their own lives. They forg…
2 years, 10 months ago
Margaret Cavendish: scandalous 17th-century writer
Episode 1757
Margaret Cavendish has been largely forgotten and, when remembered, divides opinion. One of England’s first female philosophers, professional authors…
2 years, 10 months ago
The triumph of Joan of Arc
Episode 1756
In 1429 a young peasant woman burst onto the scene and transformed the fortunes of England and France in the Hundred Years’ War. In today’s episode, …
2 years, 10 months ago
Rome v Carthage: everything you wanted to know
Episode 1755
Of all the enemies the Roman empire faced in its centuries-long history, one name stood out: Hannibal. In the late third century BC, the Carthaginian…
2 years, 10 months ago
Tokyo’s devastating 1923 earthquake
Episode 1754
Exactly 100 years ago today, on 1 September 1923, the streets of Tokyo began to shudder. It was the first warning sign that something terrible was co…
2 years, 10 months ago