There are a disturbingly high number of contenders for the title of Rome's Darkest Emperor - so as you can imagine, things get extremely disturbing in this episode.

Joining Anthony and Maddy to introduce you to a couple of them, is Rome-based historian and tour guide, Alexander Meddings.

Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

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Join Anthony and Maddy as they spend a day - or should that be night? - in the life of a 19th century body snatcher.

Find out which months they favoured for body snatching, why they never stole the dead body's possessions, and why they would never steal a body under a full moon - all referenced from a real-life grave robber's diary.

Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

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Did she do it? Did serving girl Eliza Fenning poison the dumplings she served the Turner family? This is a true crime case from 1813 that brings together class tensions, sexism, the law. have a go hero forensics! It's easy to see why this trial gripped the nation. Maddy tells Anthony the story of Eliza Fenning and the poisoned dumplings.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

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The Ancient Egyptians had a very different idea about death than most people do today.

And the idea of mummification is (excuse the pun) wrapped up in so many modern ideas, that we can lose its real purpose.

Joining Anthony and Maddy today to take us through the gory details of mummifying a body, and explaining where the term 'mummy' even comes from, is Dr. Campbell Price, author and Egyptologist at University of Liverpool.

Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

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On June 16, 1836, in New York City, Mary Jones stood in a courtroom that was a cauldron of hatred. Mary was African American and one of the first known transgender women in US history. Anthony Delaney tells Maddy Pelling the final story from his new book out now: Queer Georgians: A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers and Homemakers (published as Queer Enlightenments in the US).

Edited by Richie Power. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Please vote for us for Listeners' Choice at the British Podcast Awards! Follow this link, and don’t forget to confirm the email. Thank you!

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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Hear a chapter of Anthony's new book, Queer Georgians: A hidden history of lovers, lawbreakers and homemakers. It's out now!

For more information, click here.

Anthony tells listeners why he wanted to write this book, and introduces a special chapter, exclusive for After Dark listeners!

After Dark will return to its normal programming on Monday (Sunday for subscribers).

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In today's episode, we're taking you inside the towering walls of Ancient Rome's Colosseum to find out the dark reality of what happened there.

From the sex appeal of gladiators, to the choreographed means of human sacrifice, and the eternal question: did they really have sharks in there?!

Joining Anthony and Maddy today is historian and Rome-based tour guide, Alexander Meddings, to take us back to this world.

Edited by Amy Haddow. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Please vote for us for Listeners' Choice at the British Podcast Awards! Follow this link, and don’t forget to confirm the email. Thank you!

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What price might a man pay for sex in the 18th century? Well, if it was with another man, he might pay with his life.

In this episode, Anthony introduces us to 43-year-old milkman Gabriel Lawrence. Together, he and Maddy take us inside the Molly Houses of Georgian Britain, and through the criminal system from arrest, to imprisonment, to sentencing and execution.

This story can be found in more detail in Anthony's new book, 'Queer Georgians: A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers and Homemakers'!

Edited by Amy Haddow. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Please vote for us for Listeners' Choice at the British Podcast Awards! Follow this link, and don’t forget to confirm the email. Thank you!

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

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Jack the Ripper as we think of him, is an invention of the Victorian media. They took the complete absence of hard facts about the killer, and populated it with the period's anxieties, fantasies and fears.

We're joined again by Dr Bob Nicholson, presenter of ‘Killing Victoria’ podcast on BBC Sounds.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Please vote for us for Listeners' Choice at the British Podcast Awards! Follow this link, and don’t forget to confirm the email. Thank you!

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  

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This episode contains descriptions of execution and torture.

To be Hanged, Drawn & Quartered. Put on the Rack. Impaled on a spike. This list paints a very dark picture. What was the reality of execution and torture in the Medieval world? Was it as bad as we think? Worse?

Guiding us through this very grim history is Matt Lewis host of the History Hit podcast 'Gone Medieval'.

Produced by Annie Coloe. Edited by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Please vote for us for Listeners' Choice at the British Podcast Awards! Follow this link, and don’t forget to confirm the email. Thank you!

You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.