Ghosts, grief and the paranormal

What were your chances of surviving illness in ancient Rome? How did the Roman army deal with ailments and injuries on the go? And in what way were the medical practitioners of this ancient civilisati...

9 Mar 202548min

What is new research revealing about women's lives in the past? Does all women's history have to be feminist? And why do we need to be cautious about the 'girlbossification' of historical figures? To ...

7 Mar 202537min

On 11 June 1488, King James III of Scotland was hunted down and slain as he fled the field of battle. And more than 500 years later, the identity of his killer remains shrouded in uncertainty. Here, i...

5 Mar 202531min

From To The Lighthouse to Mrs Dalloway, the writing of Virginia Woolf shook up literary norms and challenged societal ideas about what it meant to be a woman. In this 'life of the week' episode, Franc...

4 Mar 202537min

How violent were towns and cities in the Middle Ages? And how did medieval citizens deal with cases of murder? Drawing on detailed coroner's reports, Professor Manuel Eisner has mapped out cases of mu...

3 Mar 202544min

Why were Assyrian armies so powerful? Did the Assyrians produce the ancient world's greatest cultural treasure? And what should we make of claims that they forged the world's first empire? In conversa...

2 Mar 202538min

In 1879, King Leopold of Belgium commissioned an expedition to transport Asian elephants from India to the African interior, with a vision of using them as working animals to unlock the continent's re...

28 Feb 202531min

Vicious civil wars. Gruelling sieges. Rebellious provinces, galling betrayals and tribes seeking revenge… Join us for the first series of History’s Greatest Battles, where we’re heading back to the Ro...

27 Feb 20251min