The 300-year battle over free speech
From the French Revolution to the social media age, Fara Dabhoiwala charts the surprising history of the idea that people should be able to say what they like From America's founding fathers via Jo...
29 Jul 202537min
Erik the Red: life of the week
According to the Vinland Sagas of the early 13th century, Erik the Red was a violent and murderous outlaw. But he was also an explorer, a powerful leader and the father of a famous dynasty. Historian ...
28 Jul 202544min
Power & terror: a history of the nuclear age
In the closing years of the 19th century, scientists began recording strange phenomena – mysterious glowing gas, smudges on photographic plates. Findings like these triggered a process of scientific d...
27 Jul 202552min
The Minoans: everything you wanted to know
Centred on the island of Crete, the Bronze-Age Minoan civilisation stretched from roughly 3000 to 1200BC, and is probably most famous for its legend surrounding the mythical Minotaur and the fabulous ...
26 Jul 202549min
Fun, fear and flatbread: childhood in ancient Rome
What was it like to be a child in ancient Rome? Historian, author and broadcaster Bettany Hughes delves into life for young people across the civilisation, unpicking everything from lice combs and goa...
24 Jul 202520min
Iron Mountain: the conspiracy that duped America
As the war in Vietnam spiralled out of control, US president Lyndon B Johnson was confronted by a different type of threat: a fake report so convincing that it tricked Americans into believing dangero...
22 Jul 202533min
Bayeux Tapestry politics & natural disasters: history behind the headlines
In the latest episode of our monthly series charting the historical background of current news events, regular panellists Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter are joined by Matt Elton and Dr David Musgrove to...
21 Jul 202552min
Deadly bellringing and fatal bacon: grisly accidental Tudor deaths
From drowning and agricultural mishaps to getting stabbed during a football match, crushed by a pig, scalded by porridge or suffocated by a fish, there were myriad ways to accidentally die in Tudor En...
20 Jul 202534min
