Surgery of the First World War, with Lindsey Fitzharris
"[T]he science of healing stood baffled before the science of destroying." The consequences of World War I weren't limited to deaths on the battlefield. Men returned home disfigured beyond recognition...
26 Jul 202227min
Ivan the Terrible and his Oldest Son
A living, male heir was essential to a monarch in the 16th century who wanted a secure dynasty. So why did Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar of Russia, murder his only viable heir to the throne? The s...
19 Jul 202233min
Queen Victoria, in White, in Black, in White
Queen Victoria wore white to her wedding, to emphasize that she was not just a monarch but also a loyal, obedient wife. The rituals of her life became heavily imitated, and we still feel the cultural ...
12 Jul 202228min
Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate
Before the HBO Max series, 'Our Flag Means Death,' Stede Bonnet was a footnote of history, an aristocrat who partnered with, and then was betrayed by, Blackbeard. But the full story of Stede Bonnet is...
5 Jul 202247min
The Safavid Princess in Power
When the Shah of the Safavid empire died in 1576, three of his sons would eventually become Shah. But the real power behind the scenes was their sister, Pari Khan Khanum, a brilliant strategist and po...
28 Jun 202239min
The First New Chronicle
In 1600, Guaman Poma began writing what would become a nearly 1,200-page open letter to King Philip III of Spain. Part history, part social critique, it's an illustrated depiction of Inca life and cul...
21 Jun 202220min
The Princess Imprisoned in her Celle
Sophia Dorothea of Celle was forced to marry a cousin she loathed. Stuck alone in restrictive Hanoverian court, her one happiness was the affair she began with a dashing visiting Count. But royal affa...
14 Jun 202250min
The Argyll Scandal
Margaret Whigham Sweeney Campbell was the most notorious tabloid figure of her day. Her divorce from Ian Campbell, Duke of Argyll, would be the longest and costliest divorce in British history until t...
7 Jun 202246min
