For hundreds of years, people have gathered after dark to drink, dance and escape the pressures of everyday life. But how did 'going out' become a habit across the world? Jon Bauckham chats to Imogen Willetts about the hedonistic history of partying, journeying from 17th-century Japan to Weimar Germany, Cold War Las Vegas and beyond.

-----

GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

To learn more Berlin, including its role in shaping nightlife, don't miss this episode of our History's Greatest Cities series: https://bit.ly/4hb5Gp1

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yuri Gagarin’s journey from a Nazi-occupied Soviet village into outer space make him one of the most famous people on Earth. In this episode, historian Asif Siddiqi tells Danny Bird about the life behind the legend, revealing how Gagarin came to embody the USSR’s postwar ambitions and why his winning smile still evokes the optimism of humanity’s first steps into the cosmos.

-----

GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

Two television shows – For All Mankind and Star City – imagine an alternative universe in which Soviet cosmonauts completed the first moon landing in 1969 ahead of US astronauts. But how might global history have unfolded if the space race had taken a different course? This article by Matthew Trask explores that question: https://bit.ly/4vBKywv

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Roman empire was home to a multitude of religious cults in the first century AD. However, only one – Christianity – rose to global domination. But why? That's a question that Tim Whitmarsh sets out to answer in his latest book, Rome's Age of Revolution. In this episode, Tim talks Spencer Mizen through a story that encompasses Christian entrepreneurs, Greek intellectuals and the surprising parallels between Jesus and the Emperor Augustus.

-----

GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

If you’d like to hear more about the Roman empire in the first century AD, why not check out Spencer Mizen's Life of the Week interview with Edward Watts about one of the most remarkable characters in all of ancient history: the first emperor, Augustus. You'll find that here: https://bit.ly/4uOcNqR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why did Alexander the Great sleep with a copy of the Odyssey under his pillow? In this final episode of HistoryExtra's four-part series, Kev Lochun and classicist Daisy Dunn explore the astonishing cultural legacy of a poem that has been shaping how we think about home, heroism and hospitality for nearly 3,000 years. Plus, they consider what its portrayal of women reveals about power in the ancient world.

–––––

GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

Want to know more about ancient Greece? HistoryExtra's Kev Lochun has curated a selection of essential reading from the HistoryExtra archives to help you explore life in ancient Greece and the myths that shaped Greek religion: https://bit.ly/4pkQiZe

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who were the people that were accused of witchcraft in the 1640s British witch trials? And why did they confess to being in league with the devil? In this episode, Marion Gibson breaks down the trial and interrogation records left behind by the witch hunters, to reveal the real stories of the individuals who were accused.

Speaking to Charlotte Vosper, Marion explains why so many of these seemingly ordinary individuals actually agreed to the witchcraft accusations...

-----

GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

If you'd like to find out more about the Salem witch trials, we've got a brilliant podcast series about this called 'Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials'. You can listen here: https://bit.ly/4puBuYf

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Maya have a rich and varied storyworld shaped by diverse traditions and communities. In this episode, Mallory E Matsumoto tells Emily Briffett about her recent book, The Maya Myths, which explores tales of destruction and rebirth, people made of maize dough, and journeys into the underworld – revealing a living tradition that blurs the line between history and storytelling.

-----

GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

Curious to hear more about the mythology of Mesoamerica? Don’t miss our conversation with Camilla Townsend, in which she delves into Aztec legends and folklore to reveal a society bursting with life and colour: https://bit.ly/4s247vj

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Few pirates in history wielded as much power as Zheng Yi Sao, the woman who rose from obscurity to command one of the largest pirate fleets the world has ever seen, challenging the Qing empire's control of the South China Sea. Yet despite her extraordinary achievements, surprisingly little is known for certain about her life, and many of the stories told about her blur the line between history and legend.

In this episode, Dian Murray – author of Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790-1810 – joins Emily Briffett to trace Zheng Yi Sao’s remarkable rise to power, her carefully negotiated surrender, and the enduring legacy of history's most formidable pirate queen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1217, crusaders launched an ambitious campaign to conquer Egypt, believing it held the key to reclaiming Jerusalem and securing the Holy Land. Historian and author Thomas Smith tells Emily Briffett why the crusaders targeted Egypt, charts the dramatic naval assault that preceded the siege of Damietta, and explores how a promising campaign turned into one of the greatest missed opportunities in crusading history.

-----

GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

William Purkis reveals the wide and complex reality of crusading fervour in the Middle Ages – and considers how, if we look at it from a different perspective, we might gain a truer insight into the medieval mindset: https://bit.ly/4b7qQk0

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Odyssey is a tale of impossible monsters, angsty gods and the unquiet dead – but does that mean it holds no truth? In this third episode of HistoryExtra's four-part series, Kev Lochun and classicist Daisy Dunn turn archaeologist, tracing the real Bronze Age world of feasting kings and heroic warriors that inspired Homer's epic poem. What secrets can we glean from the layers of ancient Troy? What happened to the grand palace complexes of ancient Mycenae that caused them to vanish almost overnight? And why is a 3,000-year-old bathtub so exciting?

–––––

GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

Want to know more about ancient Greece? HistoryExtra's Kev Lochun has curated a selection of essential reading from the HistoryExtra archives to help you explore life in ancient Greece and the myths that shaped Greek religion: https://bit.ly/4pkQiZe

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Long before the modern debates over gun control, Renaissance Italy was grappling with many of the same questions. As firearms became smaller and easier to conceal, guns spread rapidly through society: moving from battlefields to appearances at court, and the streets of the Italian city states. Speaking to Emily Briffett, historian Catherine Fletcher reveals how they were weapons of war, tools of personal protection, and sources of deep social anxiety.

-----

GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

Want to know how the US got so many guns? Check out this podcast episode with Andrew C McKevitt as he charts the forces behind the postwar weaponry boom which has seen US civilian gun ownership skyrocket: https://bit.ly/3R7YvTG

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices