
How slavery & empire shaped epidemiology
Jim Downs speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about his book Maladies of Empire, which reveals how the conditions created by colonialism, war and slavery affected the study of disease and its spread in the 18th...
17 Nov 202139min

George V: not so dull after all
Jane Ridley speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the life and reign of George V. She reveals how the king, often unfairly dismissed as something of a dullard, in fact successfully steered the monarchy thro...
16 Nov 202136min

The man who made King Alfred great
As the author of the Life of King Alfred, the Welsh churchman Asser is in large part responsible for how the early medieval king was viewed, and the fact that he eventually got the moniker ‘the Great’...
15 Nov 202145min

Espionage history: everything you wanted to know
When did espionage become professionalised? What ingenious gadgets did intelligence agents use in the past? And how have animals been used for spying? Speaking with Elinor Evans, Michael Goodman tackl...
14 Nov 202159min

The St Brice’s Day Massacre of 1002
On 13 November 1002, the St Brice’s Day Massacre took place, when Danes living in England were killed, apparently on the orders of King Aethelred. But the extent of the violence and motivation behind ...
13 Nov 202156min

Medieval manuscript makers
Medieval manuscripts tell a story far greater than just what’s written inside them. In conversation with Emily Briffett, Mary Wellesley shares the hidden histories of the artisans, authors and owners ...
12 Nov 202150min

Surviving hell on earth: Polar explorer Ranulph Fiennes on Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton looms large in the heroic age of exploration, making two bids to reach the South Pole and famously attempting to traverse the Antarctic continent, before his ship was crushed by pack...
10 Nov 202150min

The CIA’s secret African missions
Historian Susan Williams discusses the United States’ covert programme to undermine the leaders of newly independent African nations in the 1950s and 1960s. Speaking to Rob Attar, she highlights the s...
9 Nov 202137min



















