Royal Sex: Catherine the Great

When women's stories aren't being flat-out ignored from the history books, they can often be sidelined.Well not here! Joining Kate today is the comedian and author of Life Lessons from Historical Women, Eleanor Morton, to share some of her favourite stories of inspirational women through history and the lessons they have taught her.What would it have taken to make a daring escape from colonial Australia? And how did working class women in Victorian London create collective power?This episode was edited by Tom Delargy. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/votingEnjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXT.You can take part in our listener survey here.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

23 Aug 202435min

Why did Renaissance women say the Lord's prayer while removing pubic hair?If you're like us you definitely want to know the answer to this, and so much more about beauty culture during the Italian Renaissance between the 15th and 17th centuries.Joining Kate today is Professor Jill Burke, author of How to be a Renaissance Woman: The Untold History of Beauty and Female Creativity, to help us find out if beauty culture was oppressive to women, or empowering.Edited: Tom Delargy. Producer: Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/votingEnjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXTYou can take part in our listener survey here.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

20 Aug 202444min

Paris was a wild place in the 18th century.It was the Age of the Enlightenment, cafe culture was exploding along with the world of ballet and opera, and there's the small matter of the Revolution in 1789.Before that kicked off, though, there were estimated to be 30,000 sex workers in Paris, plus an additional 10,000 high-class courtesans.What was the world of sex work like during this time? Who were the King's courtesans? And what happened to these people after the Revolution?Joining Kate today is Nina Kushner, author of Erotic Exchanges: The World of Elite Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris, to help us find out.Edited: Tom Delargy. Producer: Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/votingEnjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXTYou can take part in our listener survey here.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Aug 202442min

Cleopatra. One of the most famous people from history, and remembered for her beauty, power and scandalous love affairs. But how accurate is her legacy?Did you know she married not one, but two of her brothers? Or that she could speak eight languages? Or that she lived closer to the invention of the iPhone, than the construction of the pyramids (what?!).Egyptologist Sarah Parcak joins Kate to get to the bottom of who the REAL Cleopatra was.Mixer: Tomos Delargy. Producer: Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer: Charlotte LongEnjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXTYou can take part in our listener survey here.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

13 Aug 202445min

Sex and beds have a long, interwoven history. Here on Betwixt we often cover sex history, but we haven’t done a deep dive into the history of where it’s often done… in bed.So today we have something a little different for you, here’s an episode all about the history of beds, and it’s a story that will take us from medieval France, to 17th century Hertfordshire and beyond.It’s an episode from our friends over at the Curious History of Your Home podcast, which you can follow here.Betwixt the Sheets will be back with its usual programming on Tuesday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

9 Aug 202433min

Anne Boleyn was smart, sophisticated and had SO much charisma.She kept Henry VIII waiting for SEVEN YEARS before they finally got together, and even then it was on her terms.So where did it all go wrong for Anne Boleyn? Were any of the wild accusations made against her true? And what do her last words tell us about her?Joining Kate today is the magnificent Tracy Borman, author of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History, to help us uncover the real Anne Boleyn.This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/votingEnjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXT.You can take part in our listener survey here.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

6 Aug 202450min

Why were nudes so significant in Victorian England? What role did painting them play in wider social change at that time? And why didn't men think that women had the capacity for genius?Joining Kate today is Tabitha Barber, curator of the Tate Britain exhibition Now You See Us, which explores women artists in Britain over the last 500 years.You can also watch Kate in a documentary all about this, called The Fight To Paint, over on History Hit - simply follow this link.This episode was edited by Tom Delargy and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/votingEnjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXTYou can take part in our listener survey here.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Aug 202432min

What would it have really been like to visit a Victorian freak show? Were "freak performers" exploited, or empowered in a world that would likely have otherwise rejected them? And has the Victorian freak show ever really gone away?Joining Kate today is John Woolf, author of The Wonders: Lifting the Curtain on the Freak Show, Circus and Victorian Age, to take us back to this world and explore its dark side.This episode was edited by Tom Delargy, the producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/votingEnjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXTYou can take part in our listener survey here.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 Jul 202439min