Mostly Unsung: A Comedy History Podcast

Welcome to a very special Halloween edition of Mostly Unsung the weekly comedy history podcast where Annie and Andrea uncover the strange, spooky and downright bizarre stories your history teacher probably never mentioned!

This week, we’re swapping our usual historical heroes and forgotten heroines for ghosts, poltergeists, séances and some seriously unsettling paranormal mysteries. So turn down the lights, grab something comforting, and prepare to question everything you thought you knew about the supernatural!

First, Andrea heads to 19th-century Canada to meet Esther Cox, the young woman at the centre of the infamous Great Amherst Mystery. In the 1870s, Esther’s home in Nova Scotia became the focus of reports of unexplained disturbances, strange noises and objects apparently moving on their own. Was it a genuine haunting, an elaborate hoax, or something that can never quite be explained? 

Then we cross the Atlantic to meet William Hope, the British spirit photographer who became famous for supposedly capturing images of the dead. Could Hope really photograph the supernatural, or was there something rather more earthly going on behind the camera?

From haunted houses to ghostly photographs, this Halloween special explores paranormal history, Victorian spiritualism, spirit photography and two extraordinary stories from the history of the unexplained.

👻 Join us for a spooky special filled with forgotten history, creepy true stories and paranormal mysteries. Just remember: if you hear a strange noise while listening, it’s probably nothing. Probably.

Happy Halloween from Mostly Unsung! 🎃

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cox_esther_14E.html

https://greatamherstmystery.com/story-of-the-great-amherst-mystery/

https://medium.com/@Charlie_OBrien/poltergeist-a-brief-look-at-the-great-amherst-mystery-bc2b8a985537

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/esther-fest-amherst-cox-haunting-young-woman-laurie-glenn-norris-1.6621586

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Amherst_Mystery

For this episode Annie used these sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2010/oct/29/haunted-photographs-william-hope-halloween

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hope_(paranormal_investigator)

https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/spirit-photography-occult-images

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!

Welcome back to Mostly Unsung, the weekly comedy history podcast where Annie and Andrea bring you two bite-sized biographies about the fascinating people history forgot!

This week Annie is sailing to 16th-century Ireland to meet Grace O’Malley, the legendary Irish pirate queen. Known as Gráinne Mhaol, Grace was a formidable seafarer, clan leader and political operator who challenged expectations at every turn. She commanded ships, defended her family’s interests and even met Queen Elizabeth I in a remarkable encounter between two powerful women. But how much of the fearsome pirate queen’s reputation is history, and how much is legend?

Then Andrea is stepping into the glittering, gossip-filled world of early 20th-century Britain to meet Lady Ottoline Morrell. An aristocrat, socialite and celebrated hostess, Ottoline gathered some of the era’s most influential writers, artists and intellectuals at her country home and London salon. Her circle included figures such as Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence and Bertrand Russell. With her striking appearance, unconventional tastes and complicated relationships, Ottoline became a fascinating character in her own right and a source of inspiration, fascination and scandal.

From Irish maritime history and the world of pirate queens to Bloomsbury, literary history and the eccentricities of British high society, this episode is packed with remarkable women, unexpected stories and plenty of Mostly Unsung nonsense.

What connects a 16th-century Irish sea captain and a 20th-century aristocratic hostess? A determination to live life on their own terms — and stories far more interesting than the history books might suggest!

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.welbeck.co.uk/lady-ottoline-morrell/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/oct/10/books.booksnews

https://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/lady-ottoline-morrell

https://tseliot.com/people-in-his-life/ottoline-morrell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Ottoline_Morrell

For this episode Annie used these sources:

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/maritime-history/grace-o-malley-pirate-history-fact-fiction-legend

https://www.mariner.ie/grace-omalley/

https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/grace-o-malley-pirate-queen-ireland-irish-history-biography-facts-grainne-ni-mhaille/

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!

Welcome back to Mostly Unsung, the weekly comedy history podcast where Annie and Andrea uncover the fascinating people and forgotten stories your history teacher probably never mentioned!

First up Andrea is telling the tragic story of Marie van Goethem, the young Parisian dancer who became immortalised in one of the most famous sculptures in art history. A student at the Paris Opera Ballet, Marie was the model for Edgar Degas’s controversial Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. But behind the famous sculpture is a much more complicated story about ballet, poverty, working-class girls and life in 19th-century Paris.

Then Annie heads across the Channel to meet Grace Darling, the Victorian lighthouse keeper’s daughter who became a national heroine after helping rescue survivors from a shipwreck off the Northumberland coast. 

From Victorian Britain to 19th-century Paris, ballet and art history to shipwrecks and British heroism, this episode explores two women whose lives became bigger than the historical records left behind.

Expect women’s history, Victorian history, art history, British history, fascinating true stories and the usual Mostly Unsung nonsense.

New episodes every Wednesday.

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/20/667448848/little-dancer-brings-us-to-see-the-person-behind-the-famous-degas-sculpture

https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2024/5/21/who-was-the-little-dancer-in-edgar-degas-famous-painting

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/true-story-little-ballerina-who-influenced-degas-little-dancer-180953201/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_van_Goethem

For this episode Annie used these sources:

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/maritime-history/grace-darling

https://www.gracedarling.co.uk/

https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/womens-history/maritime-women/grace-darling/

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!

Welcome back to Mostly Unsung the weekly comedy history podcast where Annie and Andrea bring you two bite-sized biographies about the fascinating people history forgot!

First Annie heads to the American Wild West to meet Bass Reeves, one of the most remarkable lawmen of the era. Born into slavery, Reeves went on to become a legendary U.S. Deputy Marshal, working across the vast and often lawless Oklahoma Territory. He arrested thousands of suspects, faced some seriously dangerous situations, and became known for his determination, courage and extraordinary career.

Then Andrea is back in England to meet Eglantyne Jebb, an extraordinary British humanitarian whose determination to help children changed the way the world responded to suffering. Breaking all the rules of the genteel world of charity work, anmd getting arrested in the process, Eglantyne helped found Save the Children. Jebb believed that children deserved rights and protection regardless of where they were born, ideas that helped shape the modern understanding of children’s rights.

From the Wild West to international humanitarianism, this episode is packed with remarkable lives, unexpected twists, social history and, as always, our usual Mostly Unsung nonsense.

Two extraordinary people. Two very different battles. And two stories your history teacher probably never mentioned.

In this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.savethechildren.org/us/about-us/why-save-the-children/eglantyne-jebb

https://www.lmh.ox.ac.uk/news/90-years-remembering-eglantyne-jebb

https://www.museumofcambridge.org.uk/resources/family-fun/story-time-with-cambridge-characters/eglantyne-jebb-founder-of-save-the-children/

https://cambridgeppf.org/eglantyne-jebb/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eglantyne_Jebb

In this episode Annie used these sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bass-Reeves

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/reeves-bass

https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=RE020

https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/reeves-bass-1838-1910/

https://nleomf.org/bass-reeves/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Reeves

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!

This week on Mostly Unsung, your weekly, comedy history podcast Annie and Andrea only went on holiday! Not together we hasten to add, we do sometimes do stuff without each other.

We didn't like to leave you dear listeners with none of our usual nonsense to brighten your week and so may we present our SECOND EVER OUT TAKES REEL!!

All the drama bought to you for your enjoyment: the arguments, the Igloo collapsing, a debate on cruise ships and Andrea having to get ice cubes like A DORK.

We'll be back next week with another two bite size biographies of the people that the history books forgot, next Wednesday, see you then!

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!

Welcome back to Mostly Unsung the weekly comedy history podcast where Annie and Andrea uncover the forgotten people, fascinating characters and extraordinary true stories that history somehow left out of the textbooks.

If you love history podcasts, British history, Tudor history, Elizabethan history, exploration, fascinating biographies and a good laugh along the way, you're in exactly the right place. Every Wednesday, we bring you two bite-sized biographies of people whose lives deserve to be much better known.

This week Andrea introduces Wanchese, a member of the Roanoke people who travelled from what is now North Carolina to England in the 16th century.  His story offers a fascinating glimpse into Native American history and early English exploration.

Then, in a weird coincidence, Annie is also at the Elizabethan Court! Introducing the wonderfully eccentric John Dee, Elizabeth I's mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, alchemist and adviser.  And if that wasn't enough, he also spent years communicating with angels through a mysterious series of séances.

Expect Queen Elizabeth I, Native American history, Roanoke, Tudor and Elizabethan England, exploration, astrology, alchemy, mysterious angels and plenty of laughs as Annie and Andrea uncover two extraordinary lives from one of the most fascinating periods in history.

If you enjoy history podcasts, forgotten history, Tudor history, Elizabethan history, women's history, exploration history, Native American history, royal history and unusual true stories, Mostly Unsung is your new favourite weekly listen.

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.nps.gov/people/wanchese.htm

https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/manteo/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanchese_(Native_American_leader)

For this episdoe Annie used these sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Dee

https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/john-dee-elizabeth-i-tudor-scientist-magician-spy-007-james-bond/

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/space-astronomy/john-dee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dee

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!

Welcome back to Mostly Unsung the weekly comedy history podcast where Annie and Andrea uncover the forgotten figures, daring adventurers and extraordinary true stories that history somehow left out of the textbooks.

If you love women's history, British history, wartime stories, fascinating biographies, adventure history and a good laugh along the way, you're in exactly the right place. Every Wednesday, we bring you two bite-sized biographies of remarkable women whose lives were anything but ordinary.

This week, we're travelling from wartime France to the deserts of the Middle East.

First, Annie introduces Phyllis Latour, one of the remarkable women of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. Fluent in French and working behind enemy lines in occupied France, Phyllis used extraordinary courage, ingenuity and determination to help the Allied resistance. Her story is one of women in World War II, espionage, resistance fighters, secret agents and the unsung heroines who risked everything to fight Nazi Germany.

Then Andrea heads to the Middle East to meet the gloriously unconventional Lady Hester Stanhope, the aristocratic adventurer who turned her back on polite British society and embarked on an extraordinary life of travel, exploration and independence. Travelling through the Ottoman Empire, adopting local customs and eventually establishing her own remarkable household in Lebanon, Lady Hester became a celebrity in her own lifetime. It's a fascinating tale of Victorian women, Middle Eastern history, travel, adventure and one very unconventional British aristocrat.

Expect female spies, wartime courage, desert adventures, eccentric aristocrats, Middle Eastern travel and plenty of laughs as Annie and Andrea uncover two women who were determined to make their own rules.

If you enjoy history podcasts, women's history, forgotten women, World War II history, espionage, British history, adventure stories and fascinating true stories, Mostly Unsung is your new favourite weekly listen.

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/walmer-castle-and-gardens/history-and-stories/hester-stanhope/

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/may/17/lady-hester-stanhope-middle-east-explorer-queen-of-the-desert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Hester_Stanhope

For this episode Annie used these sources:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67100792

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/13/phyllis-latour-obituary

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Latour

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!

Welcome back to Mostly Unsung the weekly comedy history podcast where Annie and Andrea uncover the forgotten people, brilliant pioneers and extraordinary true stories that somehow got left out of the history books.

If you love history podcasts, women's history, medical history, science history, forgotten heroes, fascinating biographies and a good laugh along the way, you're in exactly the right place. Every Wednesday, we bring you two bite-sized biographies of remarkable people whose stories deserve to be much better known.

This week, we're talking about blood, mathematics and aviation and a whole lot of caffeine fuelled nonsense!

First, Andrea introduces Dr Charles Drew, the pioneering American physician and medical researcher whose ground breaking work transformed blood transfusion and blood banking. His research had enormous consequences for medicine and wartime healthcare.  His story is one of medical history, Black history, scientific innovation and a man whose work continues to save lives.

Then Annie heads to Britain to meet Beatrice Cave-Browne-Cave, a remarkable mathematician and one of the early women working in aeronautical research. At a time when women in STEM were still fighting for recognition, Beatrice put her mathematical skills to work studying the problems of flight. 

Expect medical breakthroughs, pioneering women in STEM, Black history, aviation history, mathematics, scientific discovery and plenty of laughs as Annie and Andrea uncover two extraordinary lives that deserve to be remembered.

If you enjoy women in history, forgotten women, Black history, medical history, science history, aviation history, mathematics and fascinating true stories, Mostly Unsung is your new favourite weekly listen.

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.acs.org/explore/african-americans-in-sciences/charles-richard-drew.html

https://www.invent.org/inductees/charles-richard-drew

https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/color-blood

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Richard-Drew

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_R._Drew

For this episode Annie used these sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrice_Mabel_Cave-Browne-Cave

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Cave-Browne-Cave_Beatrice/

https://oro.open.ac.uk/56392/

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!

Welcome back to Mostly Unsung the weekly comedy history podcast where Annie and Andrea uncover the forgotten people, remarkable lives and extraordinary true stories that history somehow left out of the textbooks.

If you love women's history, forgotten history, social history, political history, royal history and fascinating biographies, you're in exactly the right place. Every Wednesday, we bring you two bite-sized biographies of people whose lives deserve to be much better known, with plenty of laughs along the way.

First, Annie introduces Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, the remarkable Nigerian women's rights activist, political campaigner and anti-colonial leader. A pioneering figure in African history and women's history, Funmilayo was also the mother of legendary musician Fela Kuti but her own extraordinary achievements deserve to be remembered in their own right.

Then Andrea brings us part two of her first ever two part story!! Back to Vienna to meet Katharina Schratt, the celebrated Austrian actress who became closely associated with Emperor Franz Joseph I. Known as the emperor's close companion, Schratt occupied a fascinating position within the glittering world of the Habsburg court. But behind the royal gossip and palace intrigue was a successful actress who enjoyed celebrity status in her own right. It's a story of Austrian history, European royalty, theatre, celebrity and one of the most intriguing relationships of the Habsburg era.

Expect women fighting for political change, imperial palaces, celebrity scandal, African history, royal intrigue and plenty of laughs as Annie and Andrea uncover two extraordinary women from very different corners of history.

If you enjoy history podcasts, women's history, forgotten women, African history, British colonial history, royal biographies, European history and fascinating true stories, Mostly Unsung is your new favourite weekly listen.

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://secretvienna.org/the-secrets-of-katharina-schratt/

https://www.amazing-sisi.at/en/2025/05/22/the-girlfriend-of-emperor-franz-joseph/

https://www.nytimes.com/1940/04/19/archives/kathi-schratt-87-emperors-friend-former-actress-beauty-whom-franz.html

https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/katharina-schratt-confidante-of-franz-joseph-i-emperor-of-austria/

https://www.dff.film/en/verleihangebot/der-ochsenkrieg/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharina_Schratt

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!

Welcome back to Mostly Unsung the weekly comedy history podcast where Annie and Andrea uncover the forgotten people, fascinating women, and wonderfully eccentric characters who prove that history is often stranger than fiction.

If you love history podcasts, women's history, royal history, true crime history, social history, and fascinating biographies, you're in exactly the right place. Every Wednesday, we bring you two bite-sized biographies packed with surprising facts, forgotten stories and plenty of laughs.

On this weeks episode Andrea introduces our first two part story!!  Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Sisi.  Elisabeth lived a life of royal privilege that was anything but a fairy tale. Behind the portraits and imperial glamour was a woman who struggled with the suffocating expectations of the Habsburg court, travelled extensively, pursued her own interests and became one of Europe's most fascinating royal figures. It's a story of Empress Elisabeth, Austrian history, the Habsburg Empire, royal life and the woman behind the legend of Sisi.

Then Annie takes us into the murkier corners of 17th-century Italy to meet Giulia Tofana, the legendary woman associated with one of history's most notorious alleged poison businesses. Surrounded by stories of secret potions, unhappy marriages and women desperate to escape abusive husbands, Tofana became a figure of fascination and folklore. But where does the historical evidence end and the legend begin? It's a gripping tale of Italian history, women, crime, poison, folklore and one of history's most mysterious women.

Expect imperial palaces, scandal, secret plots, historical mysteries, remarkable women and plenty of laughs as Annie and Andrea uncover two very different stories from the past.

If you enjoy women in history, forgotten women, royal biographies, European history, true crime history, historical mysteries and unusual true stories, Mostly Unsung is your new favourite weekly listen.

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-many-myths-of-empress-elisabeth-of-austria-the-19th-century-royal-whose-beauty-and-tragic-death-transformed-her-into-a-legend-180986486/

https://www.visitingvienna.com/culture/sisi/

https://www.sisimuseum-hofburg.at/en/about-the-location/sisi-museum/rooms/the-sisi-myth

https://www.amazing-sisi.at/en/blog/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Elisabeth_of_Austria

For this episode Annie used these sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/giulia-tofana-aqua-tofana-history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giulia_Tofana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_Tofana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gironima_Spana

https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/women-and-early-modern-poison/

Where you can find us:

https://www.instagram.com/mostlyunsung/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16J4vuMy1h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlyunsung

[email protected]

See you next Wednesday!