Discover the Remarkable Stories History Forgot. 

New Episode Out Now!

Welcome back to Mostly Unsung, the light-hearted weekly history podcast that shines a spotlight on the extraordinary people and moments your school textbooks left out. Join us every Friday for two captivating mini-biographies that bring the past to life in fresh, surprising and entertaining ways.

This week’s episode takes you on an unforgettable journey:

•  A Volcano Scientist Racing Against Time

 Annie transports us to the USA, where a brilliant young volcanologist is redefining the science of eruption prediction. As he works tirelessly to protect communities and guide emergency services, his research leads to one of the most dramatic natural-disaster warnings in American history. But when Mount St. Helens erupts with unimaginable force, we uncover the human story behind a tragedy no one could outrun.

•  Britain’s First Black Pilot & the Birth of the RAF

 Andrea marks Armistice Day with a remarkable, and long overdue, tribute. Dive into the inspiring life of Britain’s first Black military pilot, a man whose courage, skill and determination helped shape aviation history before the Royal Air Force even officially existed. Discover the hidden origins of the RAF and the forgotten heroes who paved the way.

If you love gripping true stories, overlooked heroes, and history told with warmth and humour, this is the perfect episode to jump in.

New episodes every Friday. Follow Mostly Unsung on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you never miss a story.

Andrea used these sources: 

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

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/pilots-of-the-caribbean/heroes-and-sheroes/pioneer-sergeant-william-robinson-clarke/

https://collections.rafmuseum.org.uk/story/robbie-clarke-britains-first-black-pilot/

Annie used these sources:

https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/cascades-volcano-observatory/legacy-david-johnston

https://eos.org/features/honoring-volcanologist-david-johnston-as-a-hero-and-a-human

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 comedy history podcast that digs up the funniest, weirdest, and most jaw-dropping stories you definitely didn’t hear in school! Every Friday, Annie and Andrea shine a light on the forgotten heroes, hopeless villains, eccentric geniuses, and absolute jerks who shaped history (usually by accident).

💂‍♂️ This week, Andrea introduces the ultimate historical jerk. He’s rich, well-educated, speaks half a dozen languages, and calls himself an Army man (sort of). A picture-perfect Victorian gentleman, if you overlook the monkeys, the ridiculous disguises, the massive cultural insensitivity, and, yes, the scandalous Victorian smut that’s now worth a fortune.

⚔️ Meanwhile, Annie heads to Napoleonic Russia, where the fight against Napoleon needs a hero and one dashing young cavalry officer answers the call. Brave, bold, and beloved by the troops… except for one tiny detail that might surprise you. But hey, if Tsar Alexander I isn’t complaining, who are we to judge?

🤣 Expect outrageous true tales, historical nonsense, and a side of chaos as Mostly Unsung unearths the brilliant, the bizarre, and the downright bonkers characters who make history hilarious.

🎙️ Subscribe now for your weekly dose of comedy, curiosity, and characters too strange to stay forgotten.

Andrea used these sources:

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

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/may/03/richard-francis-burton-explorer-mecca-horn-africa-nile-victorian

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Burton-British-scholar-and-explorer

Annie used these sources:

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/nadezhda-andreevna-durova

https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/durova-nadezhda-1783-1866

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 comedy history podcast that uncovers the extraordinary stories your teachers definitely skipped! Every week, Annie and Andrea dig up the weird, wonderful, and wildly underrated people who shaped the world in surprising ways.

🌍 This week’s episode travels from Kenya to Montana — two incredible stories of courage, creativity, and change:

🇰🇪 Annie heads to Africa, where a brilliant young woman from the foothills of Mount Kenya grows up to change the fate of her homeland. From studying in the U.S. to replanting and rewilding Kenya’s forests, she takes on climate devastation with unstoppable determination and a little bit of dirt under her fingernails.

🪶 Andrea journeys to Montana to meet a young man of the Crow Tribe — born into a family of warriors and storytellers. Called to serve in World War II, he fights wearing sacred body paint and an eagle feather beneath his helmet. Returning home “without a scratch,” he earns a new title and dedicates his life to preserving and sharing his people’s history with the world.

🔥 Expect laughs, gasps, and a few “wait, how did I not know this?!” moments as Mostly Unsung brings you the bold, the brave, and the beautifully bizarre from history’s sidelines.

🎧 Listen now for comedy, chaos, and forgotten legends who deserve the spotlight.

Andrea used these sources:

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

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-war/joseph-medicine-crow

https://www.nps.gov/bica/learn/historyculture/joseph-medicine-crow.htm

https://www.military.com/army-birthday/badass-of-the-week-joe-medicine-crow.html

Annie used these sources:

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2004/maathai/biographical/

https://wangarimaathai.org/wangaris-story/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wangari-Maathai

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!

It's spooky season listeners! Every week we bring you two Unsung (Mostly) names from history, those stories you were never taught in school. Let's skip off on a historical journey together and learn something new; have a giggle and get the torches out ready to up light our faces for a Halloween special!

This week Andrea is diving into entertainment history with a dynasty of everyone's favourite performers that aren't at all terrifying...CLOWNS! A story of whimsy, the big top, spooky dream visitation and eventually true crime.

Then Annie is in Yorkshire once more, where one young lady has found herself shunned and mocked. Was it magical powers that gained her revenge on her mean neighbours? It could be hard living in the woods as a lone woman who works as a herbalist, especially if powerful men start banging on the door threatening fires and stakes. But fear not...a peaceful ending awaits!

Plus the usual nonsense, ghost stories, wearing all black and whether or not Annie's house has a ghost.

Andrea used these sources:

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

https://www.factinate.com/people/facts-emmett-kelly-original-tramp-clown

https://theskeletonkeychronicles.com/2019/12/09/sad-clown-the-tragic-legacy-of-weary-willy/

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

https://thesilentfilms.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/weary-willie-and-the-three-kellys/

https://aadl.org/aa_news_19800820-minister_killing_admitted

Annie used these sources:

https://www.mothershipton.co.uk/the-story/

https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Mother-Shipton-Prophesies/

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!

Happy Podcast day listeners! It's Friday and that means we are back with your weekly dose of history and laughs. Enjoy the commute just a little bit more with our series of binge worthy biographies. All the stories your history teacher never told you. This week's stories lost to time are:

Annie tells the story of an exiled Sikh Princess with no kingdom, no parents and not much to fill her time but social functions and parties. All that changes when she discovers the Suffragettes and joins the campaign to gain the vote.

Then Andrea delves into the history of Philadelphia, a local  librarian is interested in change and her links to Communism come under the gaze of her employers and then the FBI. She looks forward to a quiet retirement, until the day she treats herself to a few of the latest gadgets, a Betamax Video Recorder and an Apple Mackintosh computer. The purchase leads to a thirty year project that would consume her and her whole family for three decades.

Check out the Internet Archive link to her astonishing project HERE: https://archive.org/details/marionstokesvideo

Andrea used these sources for this episode:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/marion-stokes

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/marion-stokes-television-news-archive

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

Annie used these sources for this episode:

https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/sophia-duleep-singh/

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/sophia-duleep-singh/

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!

Happy Friday listeners! Ready for two new historical biographies? The weekly podcast that brings you stories that your history teacher never taught you is back with more giggles, drama and some raging about the patriarchy....so much raging.

This week Andrea is delving into French history as we join the escapades of one Marie-Antionette...but not THAT Marie-Antionette. Trained as a Governess this 19th Century woman ran away to war, not once, but twice. The first time in disguise but the second time surprisingly as herself. A tale of European Wars and swordsmanship with a huge dollop of patriotism and an aside about not getting your car stolen and English Village Schools.

The come along with Annie as she joins an exceedingly capable woman who the men in charge just will not leave alone. The patriarchy klaxon is blasting for all to hear as she loses job after job to men less qualified. Until the American Civil War breaks out and she finds a new calling, first nursing the soldiers, then forming an entirely new office, to find and return the remains of thousands of missing veterans to their families. 

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Antoinette_Lix

https://www.tumblr.com/city-of-ladies/635745335663280128/marie-antoinette-lix-in-uniform-marie-antoinette

http://etienne.biellmann.free.fr/colmar/en/lixa.htm

For this episode Annie used these sources:

https://www.redcross.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/clara-barton.html?srsltid=AfmBOoo6aMHH453Ut8PQtjt2p72eQ8S3-FmbbREJVusFmqVn2ulTUb05

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/clara-barton

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!

Happy Friday Listeners! Mostly Unsung is here with two fascinating and twisting tales from History. Every week we tell two stories that the history books ignored, those lesser known people and forgotten fables that never came up in history lessons from eccentrics, to pirates, writers to criminals.

This week Annie is striding the streets of Post War London with an upstanding member of the bar. A judge who gained a reputation for harsh sentences and a theatrical style that some admired and others hated. Connected to such famous British crimes as The Kray Twins and the trial of Ruth Ellis, we can only thank the Gods we have an appeal system in the UK Courts!

Then Andrea introduces our earliest story ever! A young woman in the very epicentre of the intrigues of Medieval Europe. Wars are being fought, marriages secure alliances and betrayal is round every corner. Outraged at the betrayal of her own King, what's a woman to do? Cash in her French Estate and take to the High Seas, of course! A story of piracy, revenge and ensuring everyone who crossed you lives to regret it.

Andrea used these sources:

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

https://www.qaronline.org/blog/2021-01-20/pirate-profile-jeanne-de-clisson

https://theroyalwomen.com/2021/12/20/jeanne-de-clisson/

Annie used these sources:

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

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/5333417

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 your new favourite comedy history weekly podcast! Every Friday join two old friends as they share a forgotten story from world history. All the things you never learnt about in school, with a big helping of warmth and laughter, the perfect commute pod!

This week Andrea tells the story of a Kent man who led a very ordinary and sensible life indeed. Until he retired and discovered the joys of sea swimming. All year swimming might be fashionable now but for a retired MP in the late 1700s it was a very unusual sight!

Then come along with Annie as she tells the story of one of the inter-war period bright young things. A multi talented artist himself, he was surrounded by the stars of the day from authors, to painters to musicians. Throw in a penchant for silly jokes, an LGBTQ polycule room mate and the invitation to join a horse for afternoon tea and you have one of the UKs most interesting eccentrics.

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://kids.kiddle.co/Matthew_Robinson,_2nd_Baron_Rokeby

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Robinson,_2nd_Baron_Rokeby#:~:text=Matthew%20Robinson%2C%202nd%20Baron%20Rokeby%20(Baptised%2C%20York%2012%20April,stipple%20engraving%2C%20with%20tricorn%20hat.

https://medium.com/@DigitalTiger/great-british-eccentrics-1-2c3d275768ed

For this episode Annie used these sources:

https://www.faringdon.org/berners-more-information.html

https://www.classical-music.com/features/composers/lord-berners-2

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 hosted by women, where Annie and Andrea bring you two bite-sized biographies of the forgotten people, overlooked heroes, and wonderfully strange true stories history somehow left out of the textbooks.

If you love funny history podcasts, revolutionary history, social justice stories, and fascinating historical characters, you’re in exactly the right place.

This week, Annie tells the remarkable story of Zigi Shipper, a young Jewish man whose life was shaped by the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust. Surviving persecution, displacement, and unimaginable upheaval, Zigi later dedicated himself to sharing his experiences with future generations. It’s a powerful story of survival, resilience, and remembering history through personal testimony.

Then Andrea introduces the gloriously uncompromising Benjamin Lay, an 18th-century Quaker, abolitionist, and professional thorn in the side of polite society. Long before abolition became mainstream, Lay was loudly and dramatically campaigning against slavery in both Britain and colonial America often using bizarre public protests to make his point. Think fake blood, theatrical speeches, and absolutely no patience for hypocrisy. It’s a fascinating tale of abolition history, social activism, and one man determined to make people uncomfortable for the right reasons.

Expect revolutionary ideas, social history, moral outrage, and plenty of laughs as we explore two lives that challenged injustice in very different ways.

If you enjoy history podcasts, forgotten heroes, Holocaust history, abolitionist history, and true stories about people who changed the world, Mostly Unsung is your new favourite weekly listen.

For this episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/61/Benjamin-Lay

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

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-42640782

For this episode Annie used these sources:

https://hmd.org.uk/resource/zigi-shipper-hmd-2017/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/27/holocaust-memorial-day-zigi-shipper

And her own memories of one of his talks!

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!

Hey hey, it's Friday, and what does your day need, but a friendly story telling session with a cup of tea and a few laughs! It's that time again, two new historical biographies of people you never learned about in history class, celebrated right here in podcast land!

This week Andrea follows a woman who married once for her parents, once for the money, once for a title and was determined that the fourth time could only be for love. Sadly, the husband was an absolute garbage person, thank goodness it all had a happy ending and there is even a ghost story just for good measure!

Then Annie is delving, literally, into the stories of a forgotten class of people in Old London Town. Mudlarks might be collectors and antique hunters now, but back in the day they were a hard working people, the poorest of the poor. One woman, so unsung we aren't even sure of her name, became a symbol for the working classes of London and inspired charity and regulations in equal measure.

This episode Andrea used these sources:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/fermanagh/lady_cathcart.shtml

https://www.jstor.org/stable/20513061

https://www.shortstories101.com/story/the-amazing-life-of-lady-cathcart/

This episode Annie used these sources:

https://www.wickedwilliam.com/an-account-of-peggy-jones-the-london-mudlark/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/04/treasure-hunting-in-the-thames/

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!