Podcasts

How Guns Changed the World

How did the gun become a fashion item in Renaissance Italy? Why do debates over firearms, self-defence and public safety sound so familiar...

Boudica and the Iceni

In 60 AD Roman Britain was very nearly brought to the brink. Cities burned, authority crumbled, and for a brief moment one woman challenged the...

Most Famous Murder In Ancient Egypt

Millenia ago, a plot was hatched within the highest echelons of Egyptian society which ended with royal blood being spilt. This assassination,...

Rise of The Plantagenets

What happened when Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II joined forces, and why did it set medieval Europe on fire?

Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt...

A Teasing History Of Burlesque

Has Burlesque always meant the same thing? Where did it come from? And how has it changed?

Kate is joined by Dr Marissa Vigneault, Associate...

What Made America? The Professional Military

Today's United States of America boasts one of the largest and most expensive militaries in the world. But this wasn't always a...

The Origins of the Tank

How did century-old 'landships' developed from agricultural tractors evolve into the armoured giants of the modern battlefield? Today, we trace...

The Dark History of the Quakers

17th century England was a world turned upside down.

A civil war resulted in King Charles I being executed, and from this moment a religious...

Elizabethans in America

How did two Indigenous men help shape Elizabethan England's dreams of empire? What do these early encounters tell us about the contested...

The Cambrian Explosion: When Life Began?

538 million years ago, life on Earth changed forever. In an evolutionary burst known as the Cambrian Explosion, complex animals rapidly appeared...

Supersluts of History: Royal Mistress Madam du Barry

Madam du Barry's life was remarkable: from rags, to riches, to... revolution. And she pi**ed off Marie Antoinette along the way, too.

How...

The Queer Court of William Rufus

What really went on at the court of King William Rufus?

William the Conqueror's son and successor was fierce and ruthless. He taxed heavily,...