Father Christmas: life of the week

Father Christmas: life of the week

Father Christmas – or Santa Claus – is one of western culture’s most recognisable figures. But from his mysterious origins to quite how he ended up as owner of a North Pole workshop staffed by elves, much about the festive season’s main man remains a mystery. In this episode, Thomas Ruys Smith joins Matt Elton to discuss the cultural life and career of the benevolent gift-giver – and reveals when Santa Claus first had to battle Father Christmas for the crown of festive figurehead. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Read Thomas Ruys Smith’s feature on the intertwined history of Father Christmas and Santa Claus on the HistoryExtra website: https://bit.ly/3MJN7LA ––––– Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The battle of the Arctic: the overlooked crucible of WW2

The battle of the Arctic: the overlooked crucible of WW2

The US and UK supplied the USSR with vast amounts of military materiel during the Second World War via the Arctic convoys. In this episode, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore speaks to David Musgrove about the imp...

5 Apr 37min

How the Vikings pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink

How the Vikings pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink

During the latter decades of the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms faced an existential threat as Viking forces launched an assault on a scale never seen before. In this first episode of our fou...

4 Apr 38min

How to stay healthy in the Middle Ages

How to stay healthy in the Middle Ages

In reality, were medieval people dirty and covered in mud? What did they think were the healthiest things to eat? And how often did they think they should be having sex? Speaking to Charlotte Vosper, ...

2 Apr 36min

Europe's Muslim history

Europe's Muslim history

From the magnificence of the Alhambra to the forgotten resting places of the Prophet Muhammad’s own relatives, Islam has long been a part of Europe’s history. Danny Bird speaks to Tharik Hussain about...

31 Mars 41min

Attila the Hun: life of the week

Attila the Hun: life of the week

Few historical figures have reputations quite as diabolical as that of Attila the Hun. This nomadic leader pitched up on the edge of the Roman empire in the fifth century AD, and spread terror and cha...

30 Mars 35min

Captured by Barbary corsairs: an Englishwoman's extraordinary tale

Captured by Barbary corsairs: an Englishwoman's extraordinary tale

In 1756, Elizabeth Marsh set sail from Gibraltar to Britain with the intention of meeting her fiancé. Instead, she was captured by Barbary corsairs – effectively pirates operating from north Africa, c...

29 Mars 33min

Was Elizabeth I's reign really a 'golden age'?

Was Elizabeth I's reign really a 'golden age'?

As Elizabeth I entered the final chapter of her reign, questions of ageing, succession, and legacy loomed large. In this final episode of our four-part Sunday Series on the Tudor monarch, Rachel Dinni...

29 Mars 28min

Spy, hero, rebel, traitor: the story of Roger Casement

Spy, hero, rebel, traitor: the story of Roger Casement

Rory Carroll unpacks the dramatic final years of Roger Casement – an Irish diplomat and nationalist whose tangled legacy includes heroism, betrayal, and personal scandal. Carroll tells Elinor Evans ab...

27 Mars 40min

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