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Sep 2025
1h 1m

Ballads of Love and Death

History Hit
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Sep 11
Sword in the Stone: Origins of Arthurian Legends
Who first imagined King Arthur pulling a shining blade from solid rock? What do extraordinary Bronze Age discoveries reveal about the legend's deeper roots?Matt Lewis is joined by Amy Jeffs to uncover the surprising origins of the sword in the stone (and other Arthurian legends), ... Show More
51m 51s
Sep 8
How to Read Runes
**Contains very strong language/Tavern talk**Were runes really magical symbols used by Viking sorcerers? Or were they the everyday handwriting of merchants, lovers, pilgrims and children?From their mysterious origins and Viking Age memorial stones to medieval shopping lists, love ... Show More
52m 23s
Sep 4
Battle of Grunwald: Defeat of the Teutonic Knights
In July 1410, the formidable Teutonic Knights, rapacious crusaders clad in heavy plate armour, faced a massive Polish-Lithuanian alliance. After an insulting taunt involving two unsheathed swords, the Battle of Grunwald erupted into a bloody, day-long melee. Matt Lewis and Dr. Al ... Show More
57m 58s
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Sep 2023
Legends 10: Haunted Melodies
<p>Judging by music's ability to connect with us on multiple levels, it's no wonder that history is filled with legends about how that connection could go very wrong. Let's explore some of those dark melodies together.</p> <p><em>Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writin ... Show More
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Oct 2022
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How long have people believed in ghosts?Eleanor Janega is back Betwixt the Sheets with Kate to tell us why you should always stand up to ghosts and why you might be visited by a woman with frogs sucking on her body.From improper burials to resentful visitors, they delve into peop ... Show More
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Nov 2022
Gothic Fiction
From Dracula, to Frankenstein, to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, to Twilight’s Edward Cullen…when did our fascination with gothic fiction begin?In today’s episode Kate is joined by Abby Boucher & Daniel Jenkin-Smith to talk about the origins of gothic fiction, how we define it, and the g ... Show More
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Mar 2023
Medieval Women: Beauty, Work & Pubic Hair
How would a medieval woman achieve a Brazilian bikini line? Why can’t you trust a nun in the night time? And what were women doing at Medieval universities? Kate is joined for the THIRD time by Eleanor Janega to talk about how women were expected to be in the medieval era, and ho ... Show More
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Aug 2023
Medieval Science (Radio Edit)
Greg Jenner and his guests look at a range of scientific discoveries spanning 1000 years of history, widely known as the medieval period. How were knowledge and scientific findings shared across a world with its countless languages and regions before the internet?Greg is joined b ... Show More
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Aug 2024
Medieval Life During Plague & War
When so much of history is written by men, Margaret Paston's letters offer us a rare insight into the life of a woman and the world around her in 15th century England.How did she cope with waves of plague wiping out her town? What did she do when the War of the Roses reached her ... Show More
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