Everything Is Awful Forever

Have you ever thought that centuries of keeping kingship within a very, very tiny gene pool may have resulted in history's royal families being a little bit...off? Meet Charles the Mad who thought that he was a wolfman made of glass. Or The Mad King Christian VII of Denmark. Or The Mad King George.

This week, Jess and Philippa look at some of history's most eccentric rulers and the quirky habits that earned them that most sought-after epithet: mad.

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This Wednesday, we continue our hysterical journey, deep into the minds of the doctors as they searched frantically for a cure to the bizarre symptoms displayed by their patients. If labial leeches and some light hypnotism sound like just your cup of tea, join us for a diagnostic jaunt that would baffle Dr House himself.

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Have you got a case of the Monday Blues? Perhaps you didn't get enough sleep last night. Or you need another cup of coffee and a soothing podcast to settle your nerves.

That, or your womb might be crawling up your chest cavity and into your throat where it is now trying to strangle you. 

This week, Philippa and Jess talk about hysteria: one of history's most mystifying (and mesmerising) illnesses. 

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"No beauty without pain" said the mother to her daughter as she tugged at the knots in her hair; said the elder as she bound her daughter's feet; said the wealthy elite as they tottered around on twenty inch heels; said the debutante as she burned to ash in a crinoline conflagration. This episode, Jess and Philippa look at the ridiculous ways in which we have perished in the name of fashion and go through some of the greatest beauty Dos & Don'ts of all time.

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Ready for an exclusive club event with a little blasphemy, some sexy nuns, and a baboon dressed up as Satan? Well, here's your ticket to an episode on the hell-fire clubs, which gained in popularity and infamy throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. This week, Jess and Philippa look at some of the libertines who were members of clubs such as the Ballers, the Damned Crew, and the Bugle Boys. Hold onto your habits, we're in for a boozy ride!

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Content warning: animal abuse, murder (including infants), and sexual assault. Take care of yourself, and listen at your own discretion.

What do you do when your loved ones, pets, and household items have been replaced with flawless doppelgängers? Or when your organs have been replaced with soap? Or you're already dead and no one else has noticed? This episode, Jess and Philippa dip into the uncanny valley to discuss cases of Capgras and Cotard's delusion, the most famous of which being that of Richard Chase: The Vampire of Sacramento.

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Meet Mary Mallon: the first asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever, believed to have infected 51 people during her career as a household cook. Meet George Soper: the sanitation engineer who wasn't going to take no for an answer when she refused his request for her blood and faeces. This week, Jess and Philippa discuss a romcom for the ages (and the people infected along the way).

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The Witchfinder General is back, and touring Suffolk in search of vulnerable women to accuse of witchcraft. This week, Jess and Philippa finish Matthew Hopkins' grim story, discussing the greatest witch trial in English history and how East Anglia eventually returned to its senses.

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It's time to get familiar with the subject of witchcraft. Who were those adorable imps that hung around suspected magic-users in the medieval period? How did one actually catch a witch? Were witches hanged or burned? And just how many men and women were accused of witchcraft in England, anyway?

This week, Jess and Philippa look at supersitions surrounding witches and witchcraft in England during the mid-1600s, as well as Matthew Hopkins: the self-made Witchfinder General who instigated the biggest witch trial in all of English history.

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Is a seven day week just not enough? Do you have a list of chores as long as a very long arm? Have you considered children? This week, Philippa and Jess take another look at how the Victorians exploited children and used their labour to literally fuel their sooty lifestyles.  Join us as we dig up the dirty details on child miners.

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