Life Lessons from History

You shall go to the ball. Or at least, that’s what you should do if you follow the advice of my expert in this episode of Life Lessons from History, from HistoryExtra. As Amy Boyington suggests to David Musgrove, we should throw away our phones and go to a ball, and channel the 18th-century art of socialising. They didn’t have much choice but to live in the moment in Georgian Britain and engage in real-life interaction, and we can take a leaf out of their books. And if going to a big dance isn’t your thing, don’t worry – we also discuss the lost art of letter writing, too.

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Just get outside and enjoy some fresh air. That was a simple pleasure that our medieval forebears embraced, and it’ll do wonders for us today. That’s the view of medievalist Katherine Harvey, talking on this episode of Life Lessons from history, from HistoryExtra.

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Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don’t. That was the approach that many people in the Middle Ages took to life, because they had an understanding of time that was more cyclical than we tend to have today. You can channel this in your day-to-day by being patient, taking a breath, and waiting for the wheel of fortune to turn back your way again. In this special live episode of Life Lessons from History from HistoryExtra, recorded in front of an audience at the Gloucester History Festival in the autumn of 2025, David Musgrove chats to the great medieval historian and broadcast Janina Ramirez about what we can learn about time and patience from the Middle Ages

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Become a secret agent and throw yourself into life-or-death situations because if it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger. That’s not very helpful or practical advice for most of us, but if you do want to build your confidence, Roderick Bailey tells David Musgrove that we can take something from the experiences of WW2 SOE agents and how they grew as people from the challenging situations they found themselves in.

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If you don’t think you can carry on with something, take a moment to consider the resilience of 17th-century patients. Sick people in the 1600s were remarkably resilient, even when the chances of them recovering from illnesses were slim. They still plugged on and kept trying cures to bring them round. In this episode of Life Lessons from History, from HistoryExtra, Alun Withey reveals to David Musgrove how he takes inspiration from that in his life today, when facing up to illness and in general life resilience. On an unrelated note, this conversation also includes advice on effective beard maintenance.

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Medieval Irish monks knew how to disagree respectfully. That’s a skill that we sorely need these days, as social media nudges us into binary anger. According to medievalist Elizabeth Boyle, in conversation with David Musgrove, we can learn a lot from the monastic habit of arguing.

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According to Prof James Romm’s reading of the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosopher Sophocles, if you prepare well for gloom, you can enjoy the sunshine more readily.

This episode of Life Lessons from History is all about mental fortitude, and how an awareness that things might not go well allows you to cope with the slings and arrows of bad fortune, and to revel robustly when things do go your way.

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What if the best way to solve a problem isn't to think harder, but simply to go for a walk? In this episode of Life Lessons from History, explorer and geographer Nicholas Crane joins Dave Musgrove to uncover the remarkable history of Britain's footpaths and explain why walking has always been far more than a means of getting from A to B.

From prehistoric routeways and medieval travellers to Charles Dickens and modern neuroscience, Crane argues that humans are hardwired to roam, and that walking frees the mind, deepens our understanding of the landscape, strengthens communities and restores perspective. It's a conversation about history, geography and wellbeing that suggests one of the oldest human behaviours remains one of the most valuable in the modern world.

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The Seven Deadly Sins are often dismissed as a list of religious prohibitions, but medieval historian Peter Jones reveals they were originally something much more profound: a practical guide to self-knowledge. Drawing on centuries of medieval thought, he explains how concepts like pride, envy and sloth were understood as recurring patterns of human behaviour rather than moral failings, offering people a structured way to examine themselves with honesty and compassion.

In conversation with Dave Musgrove, Jones explores why confession functioned as a form of psychological reflection, how medieval thinkers anticipated many modern ideas about wellbeing, and why learning to recognise our own blind spots may be one of history's most enduring life lessons.

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We should be better at talking about death, and maybe we could also do with being comfortable with the personal rituals that would allow that to happen. That’s what Helen Gittos suggests in this new Life Lessons from History podcast, as she explains how medieval people let rituals run throughout their lives, and how we might benefit from doing the same.

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