Sick royals and the last year of peace

Professor James Palmer guides us through the 300-year reign of the Merovingians, the Frankish dynasty whose legacy helped birth the very idea of France. Speaking to Kev Lochun, he explores how they us...

21 Jun 202537min

This summer it's 80 years since the greatest conflict in human history came to an end. To mark the anniversary, the military historian, author and broadcaster James Holland has co-written a book that ...

19 Jun 202534min

The science of health and wellbeing is a hot topic of modern life, and it was no different for the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome. From what you should eat, to how you should exercise, and w...

17 Jun 202537min

Thomas Aquinas was a 13th-century Dominican theologian whose groundbreaking ideas set medieval Europe aflame – and continue to resonate today. As 2025 marks the 800th anniversary of Aquinas's birth, E...

16 Jun 202542min

Bogus sex parties, fake corpses, exploding tin cans and belligerent pigs. If you thought that James Bond's fictional escapades were outrageous, then the real-life experiences of his creator, Ian Flemi...

15 Jun 202539min

What does it mean to be a father? When did people first start talking about men as 'father figures'? And how has the concept of fatherhood changed over the millennia? In conversation with David Musgro...

14 Jun 202538min

During the Cold War, the CIA book programme was a covert campaign to smuggle books into the Eastern Bloc using everything from balloon drops to baked bean tins. But why was literature such a significa...

12 Jun 202534min

From Michelangelo's David and Machiavelli's The Prince to the plays of Shakespeare, the Renaissance produced some of history's most astounding works of culture, art and innovation. But can focusing on...

10 Jun 202547min