Hypatia of Alexandria: mathematician, martyr and feminist icon
March 6, 2026
Hypatia of Alexandria was a highly respected Neoplatonist philosopher and mathematician whose influence was significant enough to generate intense antipathy from Christian fundamentalists in late 4th-century Alexandria.
Geoffrey Chaucer: the medieval father of English literature
February 27, 2026
Geoffrey Chaucer was born into a relatively prosperous, cosmopolitan merchant family in 14th-century London, and his family's material situation improved significantly due to social mobility following the Black Death.
Lena Horne: racism and resilience in the Golden Age of Hollywood
February 20, 2026
Lena Horne's early life was marked by a middle-class upbringing contrasted by her mother's dramatic 'kidnapping' and subsequent unstable care arrangements, leading her to seek financial independence early.
Philippe, Duc d’Orléans: in the shadow of the Sun King
February 13, 2026
Philippe, Duc d’Orléans, was raised in the shadow of his older brother, Louis XIV, with his early life marked by trauma, including civil war and the execution of their English cousins, while being educated to defer to the future king.
Renaissance Medicine: healthcare and disease in early modern England
February 6, 2026
Renaissance medicine in England was fundamentally based on the ancient Galenic theory of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile), which dictated personality types and treatment methods like purging and bloodletting.
Emperor Nero: ancient Rome’s most infamous ruler
January 30, 2026
Nero's historical reputation is heavily influenced by sources that are often hostile or theatrical, making the absolute truth of lurid stories (like poisoning attempts on his mother) difficult to verify but revealing about Roman anxieties regarding autocrats.
Marie Antoinette (Radio Edit)
January 23, 2026
Marie Antoinette was born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria in Vienna in 1755, contrary to the common assumption that she was French.
Hannibal of Carthage (Radio Edit)
January 16, 2026
Hannibal Barca, the subject of the *
Alexandria (Radio Edit)
January 9, 2026
Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC on the Mediterranean coast of the Nile Delta, quickly becoming a global capital for trade and knowledge under the Ptolemaic dynasty.
The Brontës
January 2, 2026
The Brontë sisters—Charlotte, Emily, and Anne—wrote some of the most famous 19th-century novels, including *
Justinian and Theodora
January 1, 2026
Justinian and Theodora were the co-rulers of the Byzantine Empire, which was the eastern half of the former Roman Empire based in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).
Emma of Normandy
December 31, 2025
Emma of Normandy was a powerful political figure who became Queen of England twice, first to Aethelred the Unready and then to the Viking King Cnut.
King John and the Magna Carta
December 30, 2025
King John's unpopular and chaotic reign, marked by losing French territories and conflict with the Pope, directly led to the creation of the Magna Carta.
Witch Craze
December 29, 2025
Between 1450 and 1750, approximately 90,000 people were accused of witchcraft across Europe, resulting in about 45,000 executions, often driven by social upheaval and the need for a scapegoat.
Marie Curie
December 26, 2025
Marie Curie was a pioneering scientist who defied sexism to achieve groundbreaking discoveries, including coining the term "radioactive" and discovering Polonium and Radium.
Kingdom of Benin
December 25, 2025
The Kingdom of Benin, located in modern-day southern Nigeria, spanned from the late 12th century to the 19th century, evolving from communities led by Ogisos ("rulers of the sky") to a powerful kingdom ruled by god-like Obas.
Owain Glyndŵr
December 24, 2025
Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion against King Henry IV was initially triggered by severe bad neighbor behavior from Lord Grey de Ruthyn and the English Parliament ignoring his legitimate complaints after years of military service to the crown.
Indus Civilization
December 23, 2025
The Indus Civilization, existing 4,700 to 4,000 years ago across modern Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan, was one of the world's first urban societies, notable for advanced city planning and sanitation, including private indoor toilets.
Zheng Yi Sao
December 22, 2025
Zheng Yi Sao, originally Shi Yang, rose from poverty in Guangdong, China, to become the powerful Pirate Queen commanding a massive confederation after marrying and then succeeding the pirate Zheng Yi.
Ramesses the Great
December 19, 2025
Ramesses II, or Ramesses the Great, was a pharaoh known for his excellent public relations, which often exaggerated his military successes, such as his performance at the Battle of Kadesh where the Hittites actually won.
Josephine Baker
December 18, 2025
Josephine Baker, born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906, rose from poverty as a maid to become one of the world's first Black superstars through her unique dance style in Paris, famously using performances like the Dance Sauvage (with the banana skirt) to challenge racist stereotypes.
Aztecs
December 17, 2025
The Aztec Empire, flourishing in Central Mexico between the 14th and 16th centuries, built its capital, Tenochtitlan, into a city four times larger than Tudor London, sustained by skill, trade, and intense religious belief.
Hadrian's Wall
December 16, 2025
Hadrian's Wall was constructed as a militarized border control system, intended to stop raids from Caledonia and facilitate controlled crossing and taxation, rather than being an impenetrable defense.
History of Football
December 15, 2025
Medieval football, often called folk or mob football, was a chaotic, town-wide game played on festival days like Pancake Day, lacking referees and featuring rough play.
Introducing... Dead Funny History
December 13, 2025
Greg Jenner is introducing a brand-new, family-friendly spin-off podcast from the *
Jane Austen (Radio Edit)
December 12, 2025
Jane Austen belonged to the "pseudo-gentry," a class aspiring to gentry status without owning land, which influenced her focus on financial security in her novels.
India Between Empires (Radio Edit)
December 8, 2025
The episode reframes India's 18th century not as a period of chaos following the Mughal decline, but as a time of dynamic transformation marked by the rise of new powers like the Marathas, Rajputs, and the Sikh Empire.
Renaissance Beauty (Radio Edit)
December 5, 2025
Renaissance beauty standards were heavily influenced by classical art, leading people to modify their bodies to resemble painted ideals, such as those seen in Botticelli's work.
Viking Women (Radio Edit)
November 28, 2025
Viking women were essential to the Viking Age economy and expansion, responsible for vital tasks like textile production (sails and clothing) and child-rearing, without which the men's raiding and exploration would have been impossible.
Kellogg Brothers (Radio Edit)
November 21, 2025
The feuding Kellogg brothers, John Harvey and Will Keith, were deeply influenced by their family's strong Seventh-day Adventist beliefs, which promoted vegetarianism and strict health regimens that formed the basis of their wellness venture, the Battle Creek Sanatorium.
Alexandre Dumas (Radio Edit)
November 14, 2025
Alexandre Dumas's father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, was a legendary, highly-regarded Black general who fought for Napoleon, providing a heroic foundation for his son's later literary themes.
Empress Matilda (Radio Edit)
November 7, 2025
Empress Matilda was married off by her father, Henry I, first at age eight to the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, and later to the much younger Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou.
American War of Independence (Radio Edit)
October 31, 2025
Prior to the Revolution, British North America comprised 26 colonies (including the Caribbean), not just the 13 that rebelled, all of which had developed significant autonomy.
Early Medieval Papacy (Radio Edit)
October 24, 2025
The period known as the "Papal Dark Ages" (roughly 9th and 10th centuries) was characterized by extreme political chaos, debauchery, and corruption within the papacy, leading to a temporary cessation of official papal biographies.
The Columbian Exchange (Radio Edit)
October 17, 2025
The Columbian Exchange, described as the start of globalization, involved a monumental, reciprocal exchange of plants, animals, foods, people, and culture between the Old and New Worlds, fundamentally shaping the modern world.
Jane Austen: the life of a Regency literary icon
October 10, 2025
Jane Austen was born into the 'pseudo-gentry,' a class aspiring to gentry status without owning land, necessitating side hustles like running a school for boys where she was surrounded by up to 18 males.
Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain introduce Curious Cases
October 8, 2025
The episode serves as a crossover promotion, dropping the first full episode of the new series, "Curious Cases," into the "You're Dead to Me" feed.
Marie Antoinette: last French queen before the Revolution
October 3, 2025
Marie Antoinette was Austrian, born Maria Antonia, and her early life was strictly managed by her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, to secure a political alliance with France.
Hannibal of Carthage: fearsome enemy of ancient Rome
September 26, 2025
Carthage, founded by Phoenicians, was a major Mediterranean superpower that controlled vast territories in North Africa, Sardinia, Sicily, and Spain before its conflict with Rome.
Alexandria: city of knowledge and culture
September 19, 2025
Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, rapidly evolved from a fishing village into a global intellectual and trade capital, connecting Africa, Asia, and Europe.
India between empires: the long 18th century
September 12, 2025
The 18th century in India was a period of significant political, economic, and cultural transformation, marked by the decline of the Mughal Empire and the rise of regional powers, rather than a simple narrative of European conquest.