Dr James Barry was a respected doctor, military surgeon, humanitarian, and may well have performed the first caesarian in the English speaking world in which mother and child both survived. So eyebrows were probably raised, and monocles dropped amongst the establishment, when it emerged that Dr James Barry had, in fact been born a woman.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That extra E in the title is surprisingly important. This time on That Time When, Amelia tells us about a very odd stipulation by a French king; namely that a spy can return to the country if they then identify as a woman. Is there more context to that? Find out here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do you do when a great tragedy, say a huge fire, has destroyed your city? Build a huge palace of gold, of course! This week on That Time When, Barnaby finishes telling us about the life of the Emperor Nero, and how his own excesses and impulse control problems led to his downfall. Not that Rome was going to have an easy time once he was gotten rid of, but that's a story for another time.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you've heard our previous episodes about Caligula then you'll want to hear about his relative, the Emperor Nero. Was he as mad as claimed? Was he possibly justified in his actions? Well, spoiler, but it seems like Nero is far more deserving of the title of mad emperor than Caligula. But what we can really take away from his story is that Rome really needs to stop having co-heirs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who knew the damage that could be caused by speculating over onions? This week on That Time When, Amelia goes back to the story of the Onion King and how his dastardly works caused America to have to ban trading in onion futures. Also, weirdly, are spoilers for the book/movie Holes in the podcast. You have been warned.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you're the younger brother of one of the most famous writers of American literature, how do you, also a writer, differentiate yourself from him? The simple answer is, of course, use a century old law about claiming poop to found your own nation... No, I am not kidding. Note: There's some talk of suicide in this episode, it is about the Hemingway family after all, but we don't dwell on it too much.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It sounds fun having thirteen Father Christmases, right? Perhaps not if you're in 17th century Iceland and have to contend with a bunch of trolls coming to steal your assorted dairy products. That's not even mentioning their hungry parents, or the family cat, who really wants to make sure you appreciate your new Christmas socks.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can you believe that woke-left-liberal elite Oliver Cromwell decided to cancel Christmas? Well, not really, he doesn't get much air-time in this episode, but his government did! Cancel culture gone mad, I say. We should all be allowed to eat the relics of the Whore of Babylon... and that's not as dirty as it sounds.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you solve a problem like Niels Bohr? You've got some gold and you need to hide it from the Nazis. Christopher Walken might have the answer but that's impractical. The real way to do it is to invent Irn Bru. Confused? Find out what all this means on this episode of That Time When.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shock, horror! The French president has gone missing from his carriage on board the Orient Express! Call Hercule Poirot, or possibly just a platelayer who has encountered an odd gentleman in his pyjamas. This week on That Time When, Barnaby tells us the strange story of Paul Deschanel, whose short presidency gave us some amazing stories about his odd behaviour.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.