Podcast Episodes

Grisly killings & mysterious motives: murder in early modern Britain

Episode 1621

Today’s modern fascination with true crime is nothing new – our early modern ancestors also devoured sensational stories of brutal deaths and shocking, unexplained crimes. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

The man who almost discovered the double helix

Episode 1620

Seventy years since James Watson and Francis Crick first revealed DNA’s double-helix structure, Dr Kersten Hall shares the story of the scientist who almost beat them to their major discovery: molecu…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

Marriage, Middlemarch & male pseudonyms: George Eliot’s unconventional life

Episode 1619

George Eliot is hailed as one of the greatest novelists of the 19th century. And in many ways the writer’s life was just as fascinating as her work. She repeatedly challenged the restrictive norms of…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

George VI’s Nazi dilemma

Episode 1618

As the Second World War raged, King George VI faced not only a battle for the nation’s survival, but also for the royal family’s reputation. And that reputation came under threat from close quarters,…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

The Seven Years’ War: everything you wanted to know

Episode 1617

The Indian subcontinent, North America, south-east Asia and continental Europe all saw vicious fighting in the 1750 and 1760s as part of a major conflict now known as the Seven Years’ War. But did it…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

Six Wives Trailer

The story of Henry VIII’s six wives is a tale of political crisis and personal tragedy, sacrifice and survival, sex and death, scandal, love and betrayal. But, after centuries of myth have built up a…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

Patriarchy’s long roots

Episode 1616

Throughout history, have societies always been dominated by men? And how have patriarchal values shaped lives across centuries and continents? Historian June Purvis and writer and broadcaster Angela …

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

Grisly killings & mysterious motives: murder in early modern Britain

Episode 1615

Today’s modern fascination with true crime is nothing new – our early modern ancestors also devoured sensational stories of brutal deaths and shocking, unexplained crimes. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

Women & the crusades: patronage, propaganda & prayer

Episode 1614

You might think that the crusades were a largely male enterprise. But while that may have been the case on the battlefield, it certainly wasn’t elsewhere. Speaking with Emily Briffett, medieval histo…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

Science & religion: a story of war or harmony?

Episode 1613

Although 19th-century thinkers promoted the narrative that Christianity and science have always been at each other’s throats, in reality, argues Nicholas Spencer, the two have existed for centuries i…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago