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Hold your noses this one's going to be a whopper as we delve into the murky depths of the Victorian Thames, which handily doubled as a mass sewer for all the city's waste. This all changed on one fatefully hot summer in 1858 when boiling faeces forced Parliament to act before their nostrils exploded. They passed a bill in just 18 days to build thousands of miles of sewers, designed by Joseph Bazalgette, which are still in use today! Spare a thought for him next time you spend a penny... 

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Years before a wall went up in Germany's capital, it took centre stage at the birth of the cold war. The city was in ruins, starving and subjected to the subjugation of its conquerors, but it was about to get a lot worse.

In 1948, following political squabbles gone array,  the Soviet blockade of Berlin began cutting off the city from the West. What followed was one of the most ambitious aid operations ever considered, and indeed completed, as the Western Allies’ fed a city of over two million, with nothing but a few hundred wings and a prayer.  So, without further Stalin, join us on a trip back in time to one of Berlin’s bleakest periods, with no David Hasselhoff to save the day!

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The discovery of radio waves was a seismic event in scientific history, it opened a whole new range of communication possibilities....even if the many individuals across the world who researched and developed the concept couldn't actually see a use for their work. Thanks to their discoveries, you are able to happily turn on the radio every morning for your daily dose of banal chat and overhyped pop music. God bless those talented souls...

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Political manoeuvring , experiments in eugenics, substance abuse...the third Olympiad of 1904 in St Louis really had it all. And we haven't even mentioned the bricklaying marathon runner getting a lift halfway through the race! Find out more about this bizarre and astounding event that forever etched itself onto the athletic history books, perhaps not necessarily for the right reasons.... 

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No this isn't the story about a delicious chocolate bar, this is the story of the most famous mutiny in British naval history. A tale of betrayal, madness, sexual slavery and murder. Who needs Netflix when you've got sailors?

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Coffee, Java, a cup of mud, the elixir of life....it has many names to many people. No matter where you are in the world, it's something we all enjoy to get us through the day. If there's one drink that can lay claim to being the worlds favourite, it's this one.  Who would have thought a simple fruit found on the slopes of Ethiopian hills by a goat would conquer the globe? 

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Ah, Christmas—the lights, the carols, the traumatising goat men.

It's that time of year again so, in the spirit of giving, we have a special bonus episode of The Gallimaufry for you all. Join us as we discuss the origins of Christmas and discover how many of the old traditions are a lot more modern than you might think.

From Pagans to Romans to Victorians to Coca Cola, the history of Christmas is as long and bizarre as Nick's list to Santa this year—but luckily we're here to help make sense of it all!

Hold on to your humbugs and join us as we delve into the muddled history of Christmas and the hodgepodged origins of some of our favourite traditions. 

Have a safe and happy Christmas and we'll see you all in the New Year!

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Did you know a polar bear used to call the tower of London home? Or that the Holy Roman Emperor loved a a good lion? From the playthings of the elite, sprung centres of learning and conservation that would come to be the modern zoos we know today...But hold your horses, cause there's an elephant in the room. Quite literally. Zoo's have a much darker past and possibly present than you may think...

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When we think of pirates, a few things spring to mind. Blackbeard, Treasure Island, a bedraggled Johnny Depp. For centuries in Europe though, the image of a pirate was far more terrifying, because it came in the form of a Barbary Corsair from North Africa. 

Listen to Episode 2 to learn about their exploits that spanned centuries and the surprising fact that quite often a lot of these "Turkish Scoundrels" were often European outcasts...

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In our very first episode we explore the origins of the world's first successful national health service, The NHS. Still beloved and admired 70 years on, we take a look at what helped inspire it and who the people were that made it happen.