The relentless rise of the mafia
The 20th century saw the mafia go global. Crime groups, from Japan's Yakuza to southern Italy's Camorra, capitalised on political chaos and mass migration to spread their influence around the world. I...
25 Mars 43min
Harriet Martineau: life of the week
Thinker, feminist, sociologist, campaigner: 19th-century writer Harriet Martineau was a pioneer and a radical across a huge range of areas, but it's very likely you've never heard of her. Stuart Hobda...
24 Mars 40min
Sores, sweat and secretions: the pox in early modern London
With sinful associations and incredibly painful symptoms, the pox could be a damning diagnosis in the early modern period. In this episode, Olivia Weisser speaks to Charlotte Vosper about the pox-ridd...
23 Mars 39min
Elizabeth’s enemies: plots, rivals and the Spanish Armada
Elizabeth I’s reign was defined by constant threat, both at home and abroad. In this third episode of our four-part Sunday Series on the Tudor monarch, Rachel Dinning is joined by historian Nicola Tal...
22 Mars 31min
Britain and the looted African gold
In the 1870s, British troops invaded the African kingdom of Asante, razed its capital, prowled its palace and plundered its exquisite golden treasures. In this episode, Barnaby Phillips tells Spencer ...
20 Mars 39min
The devastating Jewish revolt against the Roman empire
It was under the rule of the infamous emperor Nero that the Great Revolt, the first of the Jewish-Roman wars, began, sparking many decades of continuous conflict. Speaking to James Osborne, historian ...
18 Mars 47min
Culture and conflict: a historical tour of Dublin
Ireland's capital may be famous today for its nightlife and literature, but it has experienced more than its fair share of conflict and oppression alongside periods of great cultural and religious flo...
17 Mars 1h 6min
How Rasputin helped doom the Romanovs
The life of Grigori Rasputin, the Siberian peasant healer who wielded influence over the family of Russia’s last tsar, has fascinated the world for more than a century. Historian Antony Beevor speaks ...
16 Mars 44min
