logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2024
40m 47s

198. The Pirate Trial of the Century

Goalhanger
About this episode
William Kidd, a respectable Scottish privateer during the late 17th century, tasked with hunting down pirates on the orders of a murky cabal of British aristocrats, but with the crown’s blessing, finds himself and his crew frustrated by the absence of pirates in the waters off Madagascar during October 1696. With mutiny brewing on his ship The Adventure, Kid ... Show More
Up next
Nov 20
309. Tintin, Nazis, & Soviets
How did the young journalist with the quiff haircut and his companion Snowy The Dog feature in Nazi propaganda in the 1940s? What was the origin story of Hergé, the Belgian illustrator who created The Adventures of Tintin? How did an unlikely friendship transform Hergé’s life and ... Show More
45m 37s
Nov 18
308. Asterix and Obelix, Babar The Elephant, & Colonial Cartoons
How did a story made up by a mother for her sick children turn into Babar The Elephant? Why did two immigrants to France create such a patriotically French cartoon in Asterix and Obelix? How should we feel about racist depictions of people of colour in beloved children’s cartoons ... Show More
47m 27s
Nov 13
307. Austen vs Brontë: Unmasking Slavery Heiresses
What is the true history behind the “madwoman in the attic” in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre? How was Jane Austen’s aunt deeply connected to slavery in Barbados? Who were the British heiresses who married Caribbean plantation owners and inherited vast wealth made through chattel s ... Show More
41m 51s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2025
Pirates: Myths vs Reality
<p>When it comes to our perception of pirates, Treasure Island has a lot to answer for. They didn't make their enemies walk the plank, they didn't keep parrots as pets, and they didn't bury their treasure. But that doesn't mean the golden age of piracy wasn't an era of swashbuckl ... Show More
38m 1s
Jun 2025
Pirates of the Mediterranean
<p>As Rome rose to power, pirates seized the seas - wreaking havoc from Spain to Syria and challenging Roman dominance in the ancient Mediterranean.</p><br><p>In this episode of <em>The Ancients</em>, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Nick Rauh and Dr Adam Dawson to explore the expl ... Show More
1h 3m
Apr 2025
E103: Pirates, part 1
First in a double podcast about the Golden Age of Piracy, with historian Marcus Rediker. The legendary pirates of this era weren’t just thieves—they were daring rebels challenging the very systems of power and authority of their time. Fighting every colonial empire, and creating ... Show More
36m 2s
Aug 13
Was the “Pirate King” also the King’s Spy?
In 1695, “The Pirate King” Henry Every pulled off a heist, evaded a global manhunt, and vanished with his newfound treasure. He was never found…or was he? A new theory suggests the King of England not only knew what happened to Henry – he hired the “missing” pirate as a spy. Keep ... Show More
43m 16s
Nov 2021
The (Lady) Pirates of the Carribbean
Anne Bonny and Mary Read - the most notorious women to swashbuckle and plunder in the ‘golden age of piracy’ - were captured near Jamaica by pirate-hunter Jonathan Barnet on 8th November, 1720. Disguised as men for most of their careers, they sailed (and cavorted) with Pirate Cap ... Show More
11m 55s
Nov 4
Pirates of the Caribbean: Fact vs. Fiction
The real Pirates of the Caribbean were far more complex—and sometimes more brutal—than the swashbuckling legends in movies. From the late 1600s to the early 1700s, this region was a hotspot for piracy, where sailors turned outlaw raided ships for gold, goods, and freedom. Figures ... Show More
8m 14s
Feb 2025
539. Horror in the Congo: The Crimes of Empire (Part 2)
“A secret society of murderers with a king for a ringleader”. In 1885 King Leopold of Belgium; an awkward, ruthless, selfish man, was recognised as the sovereign of the Congo. Long determined to carve out his very own private colonial domain, he had alighted upon the Congo - Afr ... Show More
58m 59s
Feb 2025
538. Horror in the Congo: The Nightmare Begins (Part 1)
The story of King Leopold of Belgium’s brutal regime in the Congo Free State, during the late 19th century, is one of the darkest and most important in global history. It is a story of horror - the murky depths of the human soul pushed to its primal limits, European colonialism a ... Show More
1h 3m
Feb 2025
543. Death in the Amazon: Aguirre, the Wrath of God
“Anyone who even thinks of abandoning this mission will be cut up into a thousand pieces…I am the wrath of God!” At the height of the age of exploration, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, one story in particular gripped the imagination of European colonialists: El Do ... Show More
1h 7m
Feb 2025
540. Horror in the Congo: A Conspiracy Unmasked (Part 3)
Exposing the dark pit of human suffering, cruelty and corruption that had long been secretly festering in King Leopold’s Congo, would reveal one of the greatest abuses of human rights in all history, and instigate a human rights campaign that would change the world. Having establ ... Show More
1h 4m