“I am to flirt my last”: Jane Austen’s twenties
We might assume that Jane Austen led a quiet existence, writing dramatic plots instead of experiencing them herself – but that presumption is far from the truth. In this second episode of our four-par...
21 Dec 202533min
The secret propaganda war against the Nazis
In September 1939, an unlikely assortment of journalists, politicians, novelists and spies assembled in a Bedfordshire village and set about waging a covert propaganda war on Hitler's Germany. Here, i...
19 Dec 202532min
The many faces of James VI & I
Historian Clare Jackson delves into the life and reputation of James VI & I – a king who, says Jackson, has a legacy that has been much refracted and maligned in the 400 years since his death. In her ...
17 Dec 202541min
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: life of the week
Mozart is celebrated for his musical genius – but how did he rise to such enduring fame? What inspired him, and who was the man beyond the concert halls and compositions? Ahead of new TV drama Amadeus...
16 Dec 202538min
A short history of ghost hunting
A spooky story during the Christmas season has become traditional – and the modern ghost story was invented by the Victorians, who embraced the supernatural and tried to understand it. Ben Machell has...
15 Dec 202540min
Becoming Jane Austen
What inspired the daughter of a rural reverend to write about eligible bachelors and drunken misadventure? In this first episode of our four-part series on Jane Austen's life and work, Dr Lizzie Roger...
14 Dec 202528min
Ghosts, gods & sea monsters: a supernatural history of the Atlantic
For centuries, sailors crossing the Atlantic believed they were not alone – haunted by ghost ships, watched by mermaids, and stalked by sea monsters. Historian Karl Bell talks to Jon Bauckham about th...
12 Dec 202534min
The summer that changed everything for the Kennedys
Historian Leigh Straw describes one pivotal summer in the life of the Kennedy family. With most of the family in their Cape Cod summer home, the summer of 1944 was marked by personal grief and politic...
10 Dec 202538min
