Hag Horror: Older Women in Film
Why are women over the age of 50 so often cast as terrifying, decaying, manipulative people in Hollywood? When did this start? And how might it have been a reaction to second wave feminism?In this epi...
17 Feb 202334min
Agrippina: Rome's Most Powerful Empress?
She was a woman of unparalleled power, descended from Julius Caesar and Augustus. But how did she get there, whilst most of the rest of her family were exiled and starved to death? And how, then, did ...
14 Feb 202352min
Food, Sin & Shame
Why might a medieval nun drink the pus of an ill patient? Where does ‘fishy Friday’ come from? And what does all of this have to do with religion?Today, Kate is joined between some Reformation sheets ...
10 Feb 202335min
The Real Casanova
Can you imagine being SO smooth-talking and seductive your surname becomes an actual noun in the dictionary to describe someone who has a reputation for being an expert at in the sack?Well today we’re...
7 Feb 202328min
Marie Stopes: Birth Control & Eugenics
Why would someone disown their son over a pair of glasses? How could an unmarried woman in 1918 have published a book about sexual pleasure? And what is an appropriate gift for a newlywed prince and p...
3 Feb 202335min
Prison Plastic Surgery
Facelifts, liposuction and nose jobs: since the mid 20th century people have saved up to have their faces and bodies transformed into their dreams.But why might these procedures have been offered in p...
31 Jan 202347min
Wallis Simpson
She is surely one of the most fascinating figures in royal history. Perceived as a bad match for Edward VIII, Wallis Simpson is at the centre of the scandal surrounding his abdication.But what do we k...
27 Jan 202339min
Eunuchs
From Ancient Assyria to the Byzantine Empire, from the Qing dynasty’s Forbidden City to 19th century operas; Eunuchs have been present across a huge range of the world’s history. Despite this, they ar...
24 Jan 202339min
