In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis with knowing smirks all over their self-satisfied faces uncover the unexpected history of SMUGNESS! Which is all about toxic insults, contemporary politics and the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID jab, the myth of the over-confident Icarus (he of the melting wings, depicted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder as pair of legs poking out of the sea), as well as about Schadenfreude, the joy of having someone's smugness punctured! It's also all about Napoleon (of course it is!), Nelson, Siegfried Sassoon's 'Suicide in the Trenches' and the horrors of trench warfare during WWI and the history of scrumping. Who knew!

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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis uncover the unexpected history of GRANDPARENTS! Which is all about oral history, WW2 and sociability during lockdown, as well as twentieth-century New Zealand, memory and identity, national grandparents day, Elizabeth Freke and the tragic death of a grandson! It's also all about monarch's grandfathers, Chinese relatives as well as James Daybell's great, great, great, great, great.......great, great, great.....grandparents and the Norman Conquest. Who knew!

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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis shuffle the decks of history to deal us the unexpected history of CARDS! Which is all about The Prize Papers of the High Court of Admiralty, annotations, seventeenth-century political culture and the Popish Plot of 1678, fashionability, gaming and leisure as well as gambling and the threat to moral society. It's also all about money, Armada playing cards and the German printmaker Peter Flötner! Who knew!

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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis lift the lid on the unexpected history of TEA! Which is all about seventeenth-century China and the history of medicine; wealth, display and female politeness, smuggling and the eighteenth-century novel. It's also all about neolithic archaeology, and the Cutty Sark! Who knew!

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Sam Willis and James Daybell explore the history of FUTILITY! Who knew it was so interesting and important? From a digital analysis of written sources 1590-2019 to the First World War via Oscar Wilde, hard labour in Victorian prisons - breaking rocks, turning crank wheels, moving cannon balls - to the charge of the Light Brigade - you'll never think about futility the same way ever again. Guaranteed.

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In this fantastic episode Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell explore the history of snails....who knew they were so interesting! From snails as symbols of resistance in occupied France in the Second World War, to the history of snail collecting, and snails in underwear and handbags and fighting giant snails...you'll never think about snails the same way ever again. Guaranteed!

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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, discuss the fascinating and completely unexpected history of LEATHER! Which is all about the history of medieval birthing girdles (and 'bio-codicology!' - yes that is a term; the fabulous National Leather Collection and the quest to buy as many interesting items as you can for £5; it's about glove-making and William Shakespeare's father; and it's also all about Benjamin Franklin and the leather apron man and Samurai warriors! Who knew!

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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, clear their throats to pontificate about the unexpected history of RHYMING! Which is all about the history of the singing game and the transmission of dance songs across the centuries to children's playgrounds; it's about Renaissance verse, Petrarchan sonnets, Thomas Wyatt, the court of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and WWI; it's also all about Edward Lear and nonsense, Limericks and professional writing for a living! Who knew!

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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, cast their beady historical eyes on the unexpected history of BAD HABITS! Which is all about the history of intoxication, alcohol, tobacco and drugs, as well as the material culture of early modern women's consumption of tobacco (think the hidden political meanings of snuff boxes) and female agency; it's also all about gambling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's addicted detective, Sherlock Holmes, cocaine, heroine and the Vietnam War. Who knew!

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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, don their wellies and splash around in the past to jump into the unexpected history of PUDDLES! Which is all about the history of child the play, the historical derivation of nursery rhymes, Sir Walter Ralegh (the romantic puddle-coverer), and the famous children's author and illustrator Shirley Hughes; it's also all about the Cornish mining landscape, pumping water out of mines to avoid puddles connected to the Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick, and of course the Taj Mahal. Who knew!

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