The Pirates' Code

Whatever your underwear preferences, have you ever wondered about their history?From the Tudor codpiece to Victorian bloomers, they've all got a story to tell. Sharing them with Kate today is Nina Edw...

24 Sep 202434min

Were the Vikings the original trendsetters?Even when they were raiding the poor monks in Lindsfarne in 793, they were passing on hairstyles that annoyed some of the local elders.Why did they file thei...

20 Sep 202440min

With privacy being a modern luxury, where did people in the past go to meet and hook up? Public toilets were (and can still be) a popular option.But what were secret signals? And what were the risks? ...

17 Sep 202439min

Struggling for role models in the modern world? We've got your back, looking way back to the ancient world.Join Kate and Jasmine Elmer, author of her new book, Goddess With A Thousand Faces, as they e...

13 Sep 202444min

Rituals are a big part of this funny human experience, aren't they?Whether that's morning rituals like making your bed... or pagan rituals that involve stripping down to your birthday suit for certain...

10 Sep 202438min

Why did the Ancient Greeks depict a womb as an octopus in their textbooks?Their writings and (mis)understandings of the female body might seem borderline comical now, but how did these beliefs on the ...

6 Sep 202446min

What was it really like inside a Victorian operating theatre? Did people really smoke cigars and eat oysters while they watched high risk surgery taking place? And what were the most common procedures...

3 Sep 202443min

When so much of history is written by men, Margaret Paston's letters offer us a rare insight into the life of a woman and the world around her in 15th century England.How did she cope with waves of pl...

30 Aug 202440min