logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2019
46m 14s

Harriet Tubman

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

We are heading down to the Underground Railroad to discover the incredible life of American hero and abolitionist Harriet Tubman. From a torturous childhood to surgery without anaesthetic, get ready to understand true bravery as we uncover the events which made Harriet Tubman a phenomenal force for change. Greg Jenner is joined by comedian, actor and writer Desiree Burch and historian Dr Michell Chresfield from the University of Birmingham. It’s history for people who don’t like history!

This episode was produced by Dan Morelle, scripted by Greg Jenner and researched by Emma Nagouse.

Up next
Sep 11
History of Tea: Britain’s stolen brew
Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Yangwen Zheng and comedian Hugh Dennis to learn about the global history of tea, and how it became Britain’s national drink. Despite its popularity in the UK, much of our tea is grown in India and Kenya, while the tea plant itself is native to C ... Show More
54m 42s
Sep 4
Emperor Constantine the Great: Christianity and the Roman Empire
Greg Jenner is joined in ancient Rome by Professor Lucy Grig and comedian Ivo Graham to learn all about Emperor Constantine the Great and the Christianisation of the Roman empire. Born not in Rome but in the Balkans, Constantine’s life was shaped by the turbulent politics of the ... Show More
59 m
Aug 28
History of Underwear: from shirts and stays to bras and briefs
Greg Jenner is joined in western Europe by historian Dr Serena Dyer and comedian and actor Vic Michaelis to learn all about the hidden history of underwear. For as long as people have been wearing clothes, they have been wearing garments under them – Romans at Hadrian’s Wall were ... Show More
1 h
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2019
Harriet Tubman
Most grade school kids will tell you that Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave and conductor on the Underground Railroad which is a great start--but she was so much more! A nurse, a spy, a military leader, a public speaker, a humanitarian, a wife and mother who did everything in h ... Show More
1h 45m
Mar 2024
The Underground Railroad | Harriet Tubman’s Goodbye Song | 5
In 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped her enslaver in Maryland and freed herself. Over the next several years she took great personal risks, traveling back below the Mason-Dixon line at least a dozen times to free family and friends as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Today, Li ... Show More
38m 57s
Mar 2019
Harriet Tubman
Born into slavery during the early 1800s in Maryland, she survived a tragic, violent childhood before ultimately escaping and gaining her own freedom. Unsatisfied, Harriet Tubman embarked on a mission of liberation, freeing slaves and shepherding them to the North via the Undergr ... Show More
46m 27s
Jun 2021
SYMHC Classics: Harriet Tubman, Part 1
We're revisiting this 2013 topic in honor of Juneteenth. Most people are familiar with Tubman's involvement with the Underground Railroad, but she was also a spy for the Union during the Civil War, among many other things. Untangling the truth from the myth is the trickiest part ... Show More
27m 29s
Feb 2024
The Underground Railroad | Journey’s End | 4
In December 1850, Harriet Tubman saved three family members from an auction block in a daring rescue in Cambridge, Maryland. It was the start of one of the most legendary careers in the annals of the Underground Railroad.Underground activists like Tubman faced enormous danger und ... Show More
43m 21s
Jul 2022
Formidable Heroines of History
<p>From the notorious thief Mary Frith in the seventeenth century to industrialist and LGBT trailblazer Anne Lister in the nineteenth, these heroines redefined what a woman could be and what she could do in pre-twentieth-century Britain.</p><br><p>Holly Kyte, author and literary ... Show More
26m 13s
Jul 2023
From Runway to Resilience: Draptomaniax Reveals Untold History
From Dean of Black Twitter, Michael Harriot, comes a Black history podcast like you've never heard before. Using a recipe that includes detailed research, barbershop humor and a little seasoned salt, a parade of cookout-certified celebrity guests helps Michael Harriot serve up a ... Show More
2m 45s
May 2020
Florence Nightingale
Join Greg Jenner for a fun homeschool history lesson on the woman who changed the face of healthcare forever, Florence Nightingale. Learn about how she forged her own path to become a nurse, the obstacles she had to overcome to care for troops overseas and how she continued to fi ... Show More
14m 25s