episode-header-image

Jan 2023

41m 2s

Tattoos: a 5,000 year history

IMMEDIATE MEDIA

About this episode

Throughout history, people have got tattooed for a huge range of reasons, whether religious devotion, artistic expression, or to demonstrate cultural belonging – or cultural difference. Dr Matt Lodder talks to Charlotte Hodgman about 5,000 years of tattooing history, exploring everything from the punishment tattoos of ancient China to the pilgrim tattoos adopted by Victorian aristocrats, including a future king.

(Ad) Matt Lodder is the author of Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos (HarperCollins). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fpainted-people%2Fmatt-lodder%2F9780008402068

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next

Live Aid: pop's Big Bang moment

It may be hard to believe for those of you who can remember it, but this month marks the 40th anniversary of the iconic music extravaganza that was LiveAid. David Hepworth co-presented the BBC's coverage of the event, a role that gave him a ringside seat at Queen's celebrated per ... Show More

Exploring the medieval world with Marco Polo

You may be familiar with the name of Marco Polo – the 13th-century Venetian merchant who travelled along the Silk Road, journeyed through Asia and spent time at the court of Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. Famously, he documented his experiences in a detailed account that has inspire ... Show More

The Mitford Sisters | 1 : life of the week

For much of the 20th century, six sisters from Britain’s minor aristocracy had a knack for making headline after scandalous headline. They were Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah Mitford. Now, the sisters' incredible shared story has been adapted into a TV drama cal ... Show More

Recommended Episodes

There are many common misconceptions and misunderstandings about Tattoos. They can act as a window into the social economic and cultural issues of a period of time. Britain was in fact the 'land of the painted people' with tattooing going further back into our history than many p ... Show More

“As ancient as time, as modern as tomorrow.’ Why have tattoos been reinvented in so many cultures - and with so many different meanings - throughout history? And yet, tattooing is constantly portrayed as a new ‘thing’, when tattoos were just for criminals or sailors. Far from tru ... Show More

George V, Otzi the Iceman, possibly Winston Churchill and … Kate Lister. What do all these people have in common? They have tattoos. As do a fifth of the population of the United Kingdom. In this episode, Kate speaks to tattoo historian Matt Lodder about the origins of tattoos, t ... Show More

330: Herodotus: The Birth of History

Born on the Western edge of an empire that stretched all the way to India, Herodotus was a Greek historian of the 5th century BC. His major work The Histories, a long and detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars and the cultures of the ancient world, is considered the founding ... Show More

How to Write Historical Fiction | Interview with historian and author Dan Jones on his new novel Essex Dogs

Every historian I know has a secret dream of writing historical fiction, but few ever do it. Dan Jones, a longtime friend of Tides of History and an outstanding historian, has actually done it: Essex Dogs, his fantastic debut novel about a group of soldiers during the Hundred Yea ... Show More

14. Historical Fiction

Is the author’s responsibility to the quality of the novel or the truth of history? What makes a great historical novel and which authors have contributed to our understanding of history. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook range across literature in search of the best of historica ... Show More

163. The Tattooed Girl: From Mormon to Native American

In 1850, 13-year-old Olive Oatman and her family set off on the perilous journey by foot from Missouri to Arizona. Olive and her little sister were captured by a group of Native Americans and then sold to another. Yet rather than being treated as slaves, the girls were treated wi ... Show More

Writing a New History of the Middle Ages: Interview with Dan Jones on Powers and Thrones

Friend of the Show, TV presenter, author extraordinaire, and historian Dan Jones returns to Tides to discuss his new book, Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages. It’s a wonderful book and a tremendous achievement, written with both a consummate grasp of the huge sc ... Show More

What do I need to know before getting a tattoo?

A 2022 YouGov study suggested that 26% of British people have at least one tattoo, a statistic which reflects just how the perception of tattoos has changed over the years. They used to be reserved for subcultures, but are now very much in the mainstream, and seen as a positive w ... Show More

Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami