The Quarrymen took to the stage at a parish fĂŞte near Liverpool on 6th July, 1957: the event that first brought together the brains behind the Beatles, teenagers John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
John oozed cool with his swagger, sideburns, and low slung guitar. Paul, watching in awe, was struck by Lennonâs confidence and his seeming ability to improvise lyri ... Show More
Jul 3
Sailing Alone Around The World
Captain Joshua Slocum set sail from Nova Scotia in The Spray, his revamped oyster sloop, on 3rd July, 1895: the first solo circumnavigation of the world. Sailing alone for no reason other than pleasure was considered a foolâs errand at the time, but, motivated by the death of his ... Show More
12m 23s
Jul 1
The First Tour De France đ˛
Around sixty cyclists set off from a cafÊ in Montgeron, just outside Paris, on 1st July, 1903: the start of the first ever Tour de France. The event began as a circulation-boosting scheme by newspaper L'Auto; struggling to compete with its rival Le VÊlo, they launched the race as ... Show More
12m 18s
Oct 2025
Episode 638: Heinrich Himmler Part II - The Reich Stuff
<p>This week, the boys pick back up with Heinrich Himmler just after Hitlerâs failed Beer Hall Putsch, as the Nazi's most pathetic nerd stumbles through his failed-loser era. From chicken farming and occult rabbit holes to his first taste of Nazi bureaucracy, we trace how a sulki ... Show More
2h 5m
Nov 2022
Making a historical epic with actor Sophie Lowe & writer/director Petr JĂĄkl - Medieval
For this weekâs Friday special, weâve invited actor Sophie Lowe and director Petr JĂĄkl to the show. Together, they made the historical epic feature film Medieval, also starring the great Michael Caine, Ben Foster, Til Schweiger, only to name a few.
You might know Sophie from the ... Show More
53m 13s
Mar 2025
Douglas Stuart on Shuggie Bain, Storytelling, and the Human Condition (Part Two)
This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the worlds of literature, art, poetry and politics, click here.
Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain ... Show More
33m 8s
Oct 2025
Episode 639: Heinrich Himmler Part III - The Dachau Spirit
<p>The boys pick back up with the story of Heinrich Himmler, as the Nazis lock down Germany following the Reichstag Fire. Himmler helps build the Nazi police state, with Dachau becoming the prototype for the Nazi concentration camps.</p>
<p><p><strong>For Live Shows, Merch, and M ... Show More
1h 59m
Oct 2025
740 Mel Brooks and Other Eminent Jews (with David Denby) | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (#13 GBOAT)
In this episode, Jacke talks to author David Denby about his new book, Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer, a group biography (loosely inspired by Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians) that describes how four larger-than-life figures upended the restrained culture of ... Show More
1h 3m
Oct 2025
Episode 637: Heinrich Himmler Part I - Nazi Number Two
<p>This week, the boys turn the page and dive into a brand new overarching series, The Mt. Rushmore of Evil! Beginning with Adolf Hitler's right-hand man, head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, the pasty, double-chinned agriculture student turned bureaucratic ghoul who clawed his way ... Show More
2h 4m
Oct 2025
743 Fairy Tales (with Jack Zipes) [RECLAIMED] | Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (#11 GBOAT) | Chaucer News
An early encounter with one of the most famous people in the world initiated Jack Zipes into the world of fairy tales - and he never looked back. In this episode, Jacke talks to the fairy tale expert about his book Buried Treasures: The Power of Political Fairy Tales, which profi ... Show More
1h 2m