Let's talk about female empowerment, Tudor England style.

Meet Elizabeth, a young daughter from a family that barely classed as nobility. Not satisfied with the idea of being married off to incrementally improve her family's standing Elizabeth set out to climb the social ladder right to the very top using a carefully blended mix of good business sense, keen political instincts and of course aggressive marriage contracts.

She also loved building country houses, because everyone needs a hobby.

Guest Host: Ollie Green

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

Today we are talking about a truly remarkable feat of engineering, made all the more impressive by the fact that no engineer was involved in the project for over half a century.

William of Orange wanted to make Plymouth his main naval dockyard, with the only slight issue being a square mile of razor sharp rocks 9 miles offshore. But not to worry, it would be a simple fix. All it needed was someone to figure out how to build the worlds first open ocean lighthouse, and if they could front the money themselves then that would be just perfect....

Guest Host: Jack Heathcote

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

We enter the world of the supernatural this week as we discuss a Scottish Woman who claimed to be able to summon spirits. Helen Duncan and her pet spirit Albert spent the inter-war years happily reuniting the living and the dead at seances in the two most important cities in Britain... Edinburgh and Portsmouth. However when WWII started Helen's knack of 'knowing' sensitive state secrets led to one of the weirdest trials the Old Bailey has ever hosted.

William Churchill will not be pleased!

Guest Host: Emma Heathcote

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

This week we are heading back to the middle ages to tell the tale of the most bombastic end to a blood feud in Scottish history.

Not content to wait for the complex politics of the Clan system to resolve a dispute that had lasted for over 26 years, King Robert III decided to get a bit Roman and built a mini colosseum in Perth where the two sides could thrash things out (literally).

Featuring booze, blacksmiths and a cat's bot!

Guest Host: Ollie Green

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

We explore the world of the spiritual in this week's episode, heading back to Tudor times to meet a Polymath called John Dee who wanted to know all the things.

Convinced that Mathematics was the key that could unlock the gates of heaven itself all he had to do was convince the royal family that he was not a heretic, and find some way of talking to angels. Both tasks that proved to be quite difficult.

Guest Host: Emma Heathcote

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

This week we are going to Hull to follow the romantic career of trawlerman William Burkitt.

Forced to support his mother and eight siblings from the age of 14, William never had the chance to let his hair down and sow his wild oats at the time that most young men do. However after a (very) brief jaunt in the Navy William finally found time for love. Join us as we see how this worked out for William, and the women of Hessle Road.

Now with two extra Burkitts for no extra cost!

Guest Host: Ollie Green

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

On this week's episode we switch allegiances to talk about a woman who was a spy for the Axis powers in WWII. But mainly, she was a hairdresser.

Born in Scotland, Jessie Jordan was a woman on a lifelong mission to find a place to belong. Burdened with a family curse forbidding her to be able to find a satisfying romantic relationship she was more than willing to seek a sense of family in more clandestine circles. Because hairdressers are well known for keeping secrets... Right?

Guest Host: Emma Heathcote

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

This week we will be going further back than we ever have before (by at least 3 billion years) to try and answer the question 'why did anyone ever want to settle on this rainy little rock that we call Britain in the first place?'

In order to answer that question we have to discuss the origin of Humans, the rise of the Homo Sapiens and, of course, bears.

With special appearances by: Diprotodon! Gigantopithecus! and more!

Guest Host: Jack Heathcote

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

This week we are looking into the origin of a piece of Naval Slang from the Victorian Era. An origin that has nothing to do with sailors, boats or the sea.

So join us in the Market Town of Alton to see how a little girl called Fanny Adams became famous in the worst possible way, with a legacy that endures to this day,

Guest Host: Ollie Green

*WARNING - This episode does contain graphic descriptions of child murder. If this is triggering for you please feel free to give this episode a swerve*

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

Join us this week to meet a man who wanted nothing more than to be famous. Aubrey Beardsley was a truly modern artist, a man who curated his persona and artistic output to create the most drama possible in pursuit of his goal to be more notorious than any one else in 1890s Britain (Oscar Wilde included)

With a bold style and liberal use of nipples and penises he quickly rocketed to the top of the London artistic scene... Unfortunately the only way to go from the top is down.

Guest Host: Emma Heathcote

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