Today about 85% of all serial killers are male. On the rare occasions when a woman commits murder, it is far more shocking to society. But history reveals a handful of femme fatals who took the lives of others to gain power or even for their own sadistic pleasure. Royal and noble women were particularly well positioned to indulge their evil impulses. Wealth ... Show More
Yesterday
Royals who Died of Bubonic Plague
As the great pestilence burned across central Asia, north Africa and Europe, roughly 100 million people lost their lives in the worst pandemic in human history. More than half of the populations of Florence, Paris and London fell victim. We will never know the names of most of th ... Show More
30m 9s
Sep 1
A History of Bubonic Plague | The Black Death & Quarantining with The Decameron
“How many valiant men, how many fair ladies, how many sprightly youths, … breakfasted in the morning with their kinsfolk, comrades and friends, and that same night supped with their ancestors in the other world.” Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron Between 1346 and 1353 a horrifyin ... Show More
31m 29s
Aug 25
Lady Godiva, Medieval Nude Equestrian
Lovers of folklore and Chocolate will have heard of the famous Lady Godiva, who rode her horse naked through the streets of Coventry with only her golden hair to preserve her modesty. And of peeping Tom, the only man in the town who dared to gaze upon her birthday suit and was st ... Show More
29m 5s
Oct 2022
Serial Killers & Misogyny
What is it with our culture’s fascination with serial killers? Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Peter Sutclifffe, Jack the Ripper….these violent people are as well known as our national treasures, but we only know them for their horrific crimes.What role does misogyny play in how these ... Show More
39m 35s
Mar 2025
Women killers of the early modern era
From true crime pamphlets to reports from the scaffold, early modern Britain was gripped by tales of women who killed. But were these cases as common as they seemed, or was something else at play? Speaking to Lauren Good, historian Blessin Adams explores the obsession with female ... Show More
34m 56s
Feb 2024
Lady Killers: what murder scandals reveal about Victorian society
What can brutal murders reveal about society at the time they were committed? And what additional insights can we gain when those killings were committed by women? In today's Long Read, Rosalind Crone, historical consultant on the BBC series Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley, reveal ... Show More
20m 49s
Oct 2018
The Ridiculous Story of the World’s First (Documented) Serial Killer
Locusta of Gaul, also known as Lucusta The Poisoner, was one of the most infamous criminals of ancient times. Alternately sponsored and betrayed by the noble class, she committed crimes with impunity for years — even, at one point, opening an academy to teach her poisoning skills ... Show More
34m 36s