Why doesn’t English have genders? Well… it did!
Pretty much every other language seems to have grammatical genders… so why doesn't English? Well, it used to. Old English had three genders, meaning there were at least three different…
Christina A Medieval Life
Following the life of an ordinary woman and focusing on the life of medieval people.
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 Book Makers
Meet an eclectic group of people who have dedicated their lives to answering the question: what should books become in the digital age? From the esoteric world of book artists…
How to choose a pope
All eyes have been on the Vatican in recent days, as the conclave have decided who will be the next pope. But how does the process today compare to that…
The Red Scare
and the attack on the labor movement
British country names explained
Why is 🏴England named after the Angles and not the Saxons? Does 🏴"Welsh" really mean slave? And where was the original 🏴Scotland? These questions answered and many more on this…
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…
Where did our numbers come from?
Why do our numbers look the way they look? Why do we count the way we count? These questions answered and many more in this video looking at where English…
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…