Women In Industry with Ruth Goodman
parts 1 and 2
That Time Locusts Ate The Entire Midwest
In the 1870s the Midwest experienced a devastating natural disaster in the form of… an enormous cloud of extremely hungry locusts. Dylan and producer Amanda discuss what happens when a…
How the Public Library Became an American Civic Institution
Free For All: The Public Library tells the story of the quiet revolutionaries who made a simple idea happen. From the pioneering women behind the “Free Library Movement” to today's…
Ian McKellen finds another actor in the family
As the 'last of the McKellens', Sir Ian admits to a degree of melancholy as he delves into his family history. But the results pay off richly for one of…
The Pope’s Kidnapped Child
In 1858, a Jewish child was taken from his family. They said that because the boy had been secretly baptized, he was now a ward of the Papal States. And…
The Surprising Family History Charles Dance
Actor Charles Dance has made his name playing aristocrats, including Tywin Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones. But the upstairs world Charles inhabits on screen is nothing like his own…
The unification of Italy: everything you wanted to know
In 1861, the kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, unifying the various Italian states under one national banner. But what did it mean to be 'Italian' in the mid-19th century? How…
Dangerous delights: Victorian Britain’s cocaine habit
In the 19th century, a magic new drug took the medical community by storm, riding a wave of scientific endeavour. But, as this Long Read written by historian Douglas Small…
Behind Closed Doors
The Sicilian writer Maria Messina's captivating and brutal stories of the women of her home island are presented in an English translation by Elise Magistro. Messina, who died in 1944,…
Absolute History: Victorian Christmas
three installments of Christmas at the Victorian Farm