Here for the History

How did curry become Britain’s “national dish”?

When you find a coin down the back of the sofa, have you ever wondered where it came from? Do you know your farthings from your pennies? Your guineas from your pounds?

From ancient Lydia and Roman Britain to the founding of the Royal Mint and Decimalisation Day — Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson tell the story of how Brits started using coins and banknotes.

Key Sources:

Economica, Victoria Bateman.

Britain’s First Coins, Chris Rudd.

The Big Reset: War on Gold and the Financial Endgame, Willem Middelkoop.

Royal Mint Museum website.

Bank of England website.

British people have terrible teeth. That’s the stereotype - but is it true? And what’s the story behind it?

Ben Henderson and Alice Loxton explore how Brits got a reputation for bad teeth thanks to our love of sugar, and we see how British and American teeth took wildly different paths after the Second World War.

Key Sources:

June Thomas - Journalist.

The Bad-Mouthing of British Teeth - Decoder Ring podcast.

Drills, Dentures and Dentistry: An Oral History - BBC Four.

Dr Irwin Smigel - The Times.

Austin Powers bites back: a cross sectional comparison of US and English national oral health surveys - British Medical Journal.

Have you ever stopped to think about the technological marvel that is the modern toilet?

Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson chart a course from a Roman fort in Northumberland via Victorian London to a council flat in 20th century Glasgow. All to find out - when did we get flushing loos? And what happened to all that waste?

Key Sources

Conversations with Dr Stephen Halliday and Lee Jackson

Do you ever feel like work is taking over your life? Well, society didn’t always place so much value on work ethic.

Ben Henderson and Alice Loxton uncover the surprising history behind our modern obsession with hard work.

First, medieval marriage reforms transformed people’s relationship with work. Then, monastic orders and the Protestant Reformation framed hard work as sacred. Finally, the industrial revolution kickstarted our modern fixation on productivity.

Key Sources:

The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous - Prof Joseph Henrich.

Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism - E. P. Thompson.

Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Evolution of Work - Richard Donkin.

The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism - Prof Richard Sennett.

Slavery, Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution - Prof Maxine Berg & Prof Pat Hudson.

For centuries leaving the house without a hat would be like leaving the house without your phone or keys - you simply wouldn’t do it. But these days, headwear is an optional add on - a fashion choice, a weather protector, or found on the head of a wedding guest.

Alice and Ben look under the brim of history to find out what on earth happened to the ubiquity of the hat?

We’ll cover a parent’s desperate tactic to keep a son out of trouble, there are highwaymen, practical jokes, and a British supermodel.

Key Sources:

Dogs are man’s best friend - but has it always been that way?

Ben Henderson and Alice Loxton look into how humans and dogs first got acquainted, we’ll hear about the tough lives of medieval dogs, and we’ll reveal how the Victorians forged our modern relationship with our canine friends.

This episode contains a brief description of cruelty to animals. Listener discretion is advised.

Key sources:

Collared: How We Made the Modern Dog - Professor Chris Pearson.

Man and the natural world: Changing attitudes in England 1500-1800 - Sir Keith Thomas.

The Hardworking Dogs of Medieval Europe - Livia Gershon.

Dog, Natural Histories - BBC Radio 4.

It was the vicar that did it! In the billiards room! With a candlestick!

To many fans of a murder mystery, this is perhaps a familiar sounding phrase from a classic “whodunit”. But just how did this endlessly popular genre come to be?

Alice and Ben leaf back through the pages of history to uncover just where “whodunits” came from, who invented them, and how they’ve endured centuries of changing tastes.

They will discuss multiple lines of inquiry; from our historical appetite for the gruesome and thrilling; to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Agatha Christie; and even the impact of the World Wars.

Key Sources:

Ben Henderson and Alice Loxton explore how Renaissance books on courtly conduct inspired an era of civility.

They untangle the 18th century age of politeness, and we’ll find out how the Victorians shaped the way we behave today.

But are manners getting worse?

Key Sources:

Sorry! The English and Their Manners - Henry Hitchings.

Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson dig through the folds of time to understand how Tartan became so woven into Scottish history.

Just how did the material become so intrinsically linked to the nation’s image?

It’s a winding and dramatic story. There’s an exiled prince, a romantic writer, a pair of charismatic brothers and a young queen. It’s a tale of ancient tradition, war and fakery.

Key Sources:

Tartan: The Highland Habit - Professor Hugh Cheape.