It's Cocktail Hour! In honour of James Bond we ask who invented cocktails? Have they always been a cool thing to drink? And where do horses bottoms fit into things?

Dallas' guest today is the pre-eminent historian (and maker) of cocktails David Wondrich, author of 'Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash'.

In this story, the cart really does come before the horse. Horse transport doesn't begin with people riding around on horses' backs. It starts with the invention of the Chariot.

Dallas's guest to explain the origins of horse transport and how it changed the world is William T. Taylor, anthropologist at the University of Boulder and expert on all things ancient horse related.

Saddle up partners, it's time to gallop back into the mists of time for another exciting story of invention!

Edited and produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

Who was the first King of England? Who invented a place called 'England' anyway? And what on earth are the 'bracelets of sincerity'?

With coronations in the air Dallas is going back in search of the origins of all things regal with his guest Matt Lewis, host of the History Hit podcast 'Gone Medieval'. If you are not a listener to Gone Medieval yet then go check it out! It's a fantastic show.

Edited by Stuart Beckwith, Produced by Freddy Chick, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

How’s this for a CV? 1821 - invented the Electric Motor. 1831 - invented the Electric Generator. Oh, and I also created the first Electric Transformer, discovered Benzene and liquidised Chlorine. 

Michael Faraday is a giant of invention. Here to help Dallas tell the story of how he laid the foundations of the modern world is Frank James, editor of Michael Faraday’s correspondence and author of Michael Faraday: A Very Brief Introduction.

Produced by Freddy Chick, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long

Fast and sleek with a satisfying rumble in the engine. What else could you want from a car?

Well, for James Bond, the answer to this question is usually a couple of hidden weapons and some form of camouflage device.

For this episode of 'Inventing Bond' - our series marking the 70th anniversary of Fleming's Bond - Dallas is joined by Jason Barlow, author of 'Bond Cars: The Definitive Guide'.

We also spoke to David Butler, who drove some specially modified cars behind the Iron Curtain, about how close Bond cars come to the truth.

Edited by Tom Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick and Sophie Gee. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

The Book. It’s the most powerful object in history (sorry Sword fans). But how did it come to be? And what was wrong with good old scrolls in the first place?

Dallas is joined by Keith Houston, author of The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time to unpack the story of how the book came to be.

Edited by Siobhan Dale, Produced by Freddy Chick, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long

Dagger shoes, Lipstick gas grenade, Razor rimmed hat, Milk bottle Grenade…Prosthetic Nipple.

We’re continuing our exploration of the inventions that have made Bond, James Bond. This time it’s gadgets, gadgets, gadgets.

Dallas talks to Andre Millard, author of Equipping James Bond, about the role of inventions in the Bond books and films.

And to Andrew Hammond, curator of the Spy Museum in Washington D.C., to hear about Bond-esque gadgets in the real world.

Produced by Freddy Chick and Sophie Gee, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long

Get ready for the story of how the telegraph went from a long line of monks holding hands to a technology that straddled the earth. One which foreshadowed the internet in many strange ways, from online dating to fraud.

Dallas’s guest is Tom Standage, author of The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers and deputy editor of The Economist magazine.

With special thanks to Frances Grey for her wonderful acting.

Edited by Stuart Beckwith, Produced by Freddy Chick, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long

Well before Bond was lasering and limboing himself out of fictional situations, these were the questions faced by the British forces trying to repatriate prisoners of war during the Second World War. In this episode, we explore the solutions that they came up with.

Dallas is joined by Helen Fry, author of MI9: Escape and Evasion, to find out who the inventive 'Clutty' was, and how he managed to get men out of POW camps with the help of some playing cards and a monopoly board.

Edited by Tom Delargy, Produced by Freddy Chick and Sophie Gee, Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

Why did Sigmund Freud want a vasectomy at 67 years old? Why were goat gonads all the rage in the 1920s? Who was the first person to get the snip?

Today we're handing over the mic to our sister podcast at History Hit - "Betwixt the Sheets" - to bring you the weird history of vasectomies.

Host Kate Lister is joined by Georgia Grainger (https://twitter.com/sniphist) to discuss the vasectomy’s place as a contraceptive, as well as its relationship with eugenics and masculinity.

*WARNING this episode includes mentions of mental illness, eugenics and themes of an adult nature*

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Pete Dennis.