James Gillray: life of the week

History is often told through the epic struggles of famous personalities or grand movements. Yet sometimes the voices of ordinary people break through. In this episode, Maurice J Casey speaks to Danny...

8 Jan 202534min

Poisoned sweets. Criminal misdeeds. And a sex scandal involving… the prime-minister. Listen to HistoryExtra's new podcast History’s Greatest Scandals, delving into the murky underworld of The Victori...

7 Jan 20252min

The name Susan B Anthony is inextricable from any history of the American movement for women's suffrage. Yet the life of the woman herself can be obscured by her status as a campaigner and figurehead....

7 Jan 202549min

Why did early Islamic cartographers place south at the top of their maps? Who invented the magnetic compass? And why has 'the west' become an intensely political term, as well as a geographical one? H...

6 Jan 202535min

What was it like to live in a British town or city in the Middle Ages? Were they filthy hotbeds of crime and violence? How often did fires break out? And where could you get a good slap-up meal if you...

5 Jan 202545min

Harold Wilson is as central to the story of sixties Britain as the Beatles, Profumo and miniskirts. Admirers applauded the social reforms he introduced while in office; his critics accused the prime m...

3 Jan 202529min

The Sutton Hoo ship burial is one of the most famous discoveries in British archaeological history. But who is actually buried there? Or perhaps a better question is: why was the man buried with such ...

2 Jan 202540min

What were Jesus's views on sex? Why did so many Christians choose a life of celibacy? Has the church ever been tolerant of homosexuality? These are some of the questions explored by Professor Diarmaid...

1 Jan 202536min