MYSTICAL: The Comte de Saint Germain

Perched on a cold, windswept island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz was designed to be inescapable. And for most of its prisoners, it was. But even after the federal penitentiary closed in 1963, something appears to have stayed behind. Guards, tourists, and park rang ... Show More

In the spring of 1977, schoolchildren in the small Welsh village of Broad Haven saw a silver, cigar-shaped craft land just beyond their school fence. When their headmaster separated each child and asked them to draw what they’d seen, each depiction was nearly identical. What foll ... Show More

For millennia, the legend of Medusa has haunted the human imagination, a creature so terrifying that a single glance could turn the living to stone. While most dismiss her as pure mythology, some researchers point to serpentine monsters appearing independently across ancient cult ... Show More

The Count of Saint Germain has been called a prophet, a sorcerer, and an immortal.He's been spotted all over the world for a thousand years. And every time he's seen, he looks exactly the same age.The Count of Saint Germain advised Kings, Queens and Emperors. He was present at ev ... Show More

<p>We're revisiting a classic episode, all about the Count of Saint Germain. His story features teleportation, alchemy and even rumors of immortality. Was he a spy? A concealed royal? A skilled con man? Or just a compulsive liar?</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a ... Show More

Between 1610 and 1614, a series of anonymous letters claimed to reveal hidden knowledge about a mystical secret society. Were the missives divine revelations—or hoaxes? And did a fourteenth-century Christian monk unlock the key to immortality? Learn more about your ad choices. Vi ... Show More

<p>How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capitalism? Does “the invisible hand” mean what everyone thinks it does? We travel to Smith’s hometown in Scotland to uncover the man behind the myth. (Part 1 of a series.)</p><br/> <p>Hos ... Show More

<p>The Chevalier d'Éon was a diplomat, spy, traitor, and international celebrity. She's also sometimes regarded as one of the most prominent transgender figures in European history.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">htt ... Show More

Greg Jenner is joined by historian Prof Olivette Otele and comedian Sophie Duker in 18th century France to meet the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Born the son of a slave and a white plantation owner, he lived a remarkable life in France, becoming a master fencer, violin virtuoso, c ... Show More

<p>In the late 1700s, one man became a celebrated fixture of Parisian salon culture: he was a prodigy fencer, and then a brilliant composer and violinists. He befriended Marie Antoinette and lead one of the city's most famous orchestras. And he was the son of an enslaved woman, f ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the great poet and dramatist, famous for Faust, for The Sorrows of Young Werther, for Storm und Drang and for being a colossus in German literature. Born in the middle of the eighteenth century he lived through the first ... Show More