Noble Blood

Even though King George III had 13 living children, in 1817, he only had a single legitimate grandchild: Princess Charlotte. And then the unthinkable happened: Princess Charlotte died in childbirth an...

9 Aug 202239min

Sophia Duleep Singh was the granddaughter or Ranjit Singh, the 'Lion of Punjab,' but she had been born and raised in England, a goddaughter of Queen Victoria. But rather than spending her life quietly...

2 Aug 202245min

"[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

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 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

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

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

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