Did you know that the seemingly bucolic Ploughman's lunch actually came about because of a marketing ploy? Or that turnips were once thought to be an aphrodisiac? Pen Vogler takes Lauren Good on a culinary journey through Britain's history, exploring moments when food was at the centre of social change and upheaval.
(Ad) Pen Vogler is the author of Stuffed: ... Show More
Yesterday
Is the Odyssey myth or memory?
The Odyssey is a tale of impossible monsters, angsty gods and the unquiet dead – but does that mean it holds no truth? In this third episode of HistoryExtra's four-part series, Kev Lochun and classicist Daisy Dunn turn archaeologist, tracing the real Bronze Age world of feasting ... Show More
43m 38s
Jul 30
Renaissance Italy's firearm revolution
Long before the modern debates over gun control, Renaissance Italy was grappling with many of the same questions. As firearms became smaller and easier to conceal, guns spread rapidly through society: moving from battlefields to appearances at court, and the streets of the Italia ... Show More
40m 21s
Jul 28
How blood banks saved Britain in WW2
How did the sign of the Red Vampire help British surgeons during the Second World War? Roderick Bailey, author of 'The Life Savers', explains to David Musgrove how Britain led the way in blood banks during the war, and how such prowess saved lives, strengthened the war effort, an ... Show More
35m 24s
Aug 2024
484. The Food that Changed the World
The unexpected evolution of Italian food can serve as a tantalising doorway into some of the greatest moments of Italian history: from medieval monarchs, murdered popes, and the Renaissance, to secret societies, and Mussolini’s fascist propaganda. Yet the history of Italian food ... Show More
46m 33s
Dec 2019
Episode 132: Food for Thought
In the midst of the English literary revival of the late 1300s, the household chefs of Richard II compiled the first cookbook in the English language. In the episode, we examine the cookbook known as ‘The Forme of Cury,’ and we explore the nature of food and cooking in medieval E ... Show More
1h 10m
Jan 2023
Cabbage, Surnames and Dungeons
Susan Morrison explores cabbage - no, not the stuff that used to bulk out the school dinners, but a mysteriously legal perk they used to carve out of the rag trade. Fashion historian Dr Jade Halbert of Leeds University has the goods on Scotland’s surprising contribution to cabbag ... Show More
28 m