James Gillray: life of the week

What was it like to sail the high seas in the Victorian age? In the second episode in our new series on Bob Carlisle, a widely forgotten but larger-than-life character of the 19th century, David Musgr...

29 Feb 202431min

From Maastricht to Brexit, the European Union's first three decades have entailed plenty of political and economic drama. Danny Bird speaks to Dermot Hodson about his new book, Circle of Stars, which ...

28 Feb 202436min

Rudyard Kipling is beloved by many for his children's books and inspirational poems. But he was also called the "Bard of Empire", known for writing The White Man's Burden. For today's Life of the Week...

27 Feb 202435min

In his public life, Dr Winthrop Bell was a Harvard professor and wealthy businessman. But as a secret agent, reporting from Germany in the aftermath of the First World War, he was one of the first to ...

26 Feb 202440min

What was the Arts and Crafts movement? How far was it associated with radical politics? And is it alive and well today? The Victorian cultural movement was transformative in our understanding of the i...

25 Feb 202442min

To mark LGBT+ history month, we're revisiting a classic episode on a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history. Speaking to Matt Elton in 2019, historian Chris Parkes explored the background to the 1969 Stonew...

24 Feb 202439min

What led two teenagers from Canton province in China to emigrate to California in the late 19th-century? And what lives awaited them on America's west coast? Speaking to Elinor Evans, Hugo Wong discus...

23 Feb 202435min

Bob Carlisle was a Victorian influencer and minor celebrity; a global seafarer, circus clown and lion tamer, and Britain’s original long-distance ‘wheelbarrow pedestrian’. This new six-part series see...

22 Feb 202426min