In the countdown to Christmas 2023, the Unexpected Christmas elves have been busy preparing a special podcast advent calendar for your delectation, based on their Histories of the Unexpected favourite past episodes. And behind door 4: the Unexpected History of Christmas is all about…..LUCKY FINDS!

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In the countdown to Christmas 2023, the Unexpected Christmas elves have been busy preparing a special podcast advent calendar for your delectation, based on their Histories of the Unexpected favourite past episodes. And behind door 3: the Unexpected History of Christmas is all about…..SHOES!

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In the countdown to Christmas 2023, the Unexpected Christmas elves have been busy preparing a special podcast advent calendar for your delectation, based on their Histories of the Unexpected favourite past episodes. And behind door 2: the Unexpected History of Christmas is all about…..EVIL!

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In the countdown to Christmas 2023, the Unexpected Christmas elves have been busy preparing a special podcast advent calendar for your delectation, based on their Histories of the Unexpected favourite past episodes. And behind door 1: the Unexpected History of Christmas is all about…..Bad Luck!

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Inspired by Bonfire Night, Sam Willis and James Daybell reexplore the unexpected history of fire. It's all about communicating with fire, propaganda, speeches, hunting, exploring, Captain Cook, arrows, burning barrels, heresy, greed, Zoroastrianism, the rise of Islam, eternal flames, paisley, Dante's Inferno, treachery and Julius Caesar!

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In this fourth and final RELEASE for HALLOWEEN 2023, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis discuss the unexpected history of FEAR!

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In this third RELEASE for HALLOWEEN 2023, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis discuss the unexpected history of MONSTERS!

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In this second RELEASE for HALLOWEEN 2023, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis discuss the unexpected history of ZOMBIES!

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In this RERELEASED episode for HALLOWEEN 2023, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis try to breathe new life into the unexpected history of CORPSES! Which is all about the eccentric Cornish landowner Sir James Tillie (1645-1713), who demanded that upon his death his body should be tied to a chair facing the River Tamar in a purpose-built mausoleum at Pentillie Castle (and he was to be fed every day!); Viking corpse doors and mortuary practices related to doors; and superstitions to do with bleeding corpses. It's also all about sixteenth- and seventeenth-century burial practices; exhumation, posthumous execution and corpses on the move (via Oliver Cromwell); Thomas Hood's poem, The Death Bed; body farms and swamp men! 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 PINK! Which is all about the history of death by duelling in eighteenth-century England (the transition from swords to pistols as the weapon of choice), masculinity and codes of honour. It's also all about elite status in ancien regime Europe, porcelain and female power at the French court, and the marketing of baby clothes in the late 20th century! Who knew!

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