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 murderers in this period, and what this tells us about historical attitudes to ... Show More
Today
Magna Carta: king v barons
In the early 13th century, England was a kingdom under pressure, as the challenges posed by King John’s reign had left the realm restless. By 1215, tensions had reached boiling point. What began as isolated grumblings among nobles soon evolved into an organised challenge to royal ... Show More
44m 29s
Feb 6
Untold LGBTQ stories of the National Trust
In 1895, when the National Trust was founded, homosexual acts of ‘gross indecency’ were still illegal in Britain. And yet, as Michael Hall reveals in his new book, A Queer Inheritance: Alternative Histories in the National Trust, the organisation had queer connections from its ve ... Show More
33m 30s
Feb 4
Why Greenwich is the home of time
Why is a small observatory in south east London so important to the story of how we tell the time? Speaking to Elinor Evans, Emily Akkermans, Curator of Time at the Royal Museums Greenwich, shares the history behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). From 17th-century efforts to solve th ... Show More
35m 42s
Oct 2025
Voices of Thunder: Radical Women of the 17th Century
In 17th-century England, women weren’t asked what they believed, they were generally told to obey. But amid civil war, revolution, and religious upheaval, a remarkable group of women risked everything to speak out. They preached, prophesied and published their defiance, surviving ... Show More
46m 58s
Mar 2025
The Servants' Revenge: Arsenic & a Poisoned Pint of Beer
<p>Why did two servants living in Plymouth, England, poison their whole household in 1675? How did they sneak arsenic into the food? And what on earth is pottage?</p><br><p>Today Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney talk to Dr Blessin Adams, author of "<em>Thou Savage Woman: female ... Show More
51m 51s