AGE OF VICTORIA PODCAST

The world can be a dangerous place. For explorers like Darwin to see the treasures of nature, they had to go boldly to the ends of the world. Join me as Darwin sails into savage and stormy seas, and find breathtaking beauty. Intro.  The lonely lands of Tierra Del Fuego. Isolation. A fragile speak on a vast stormy sea. The Beagle Channel Into the Pacific Chile & the great quake Exploring the An...

January is here, and we are all feeling poor after Christmas. Time to talk about money. This is the first in a series of minisodes on Victorian money. To get things started we are looking at Victorian Coins. The age of gold, silver, sound money, and not having two farthings to rub together Intro, thank you’s and reviews.  Choosing a topic Its pre-decimal so I’m going slightly mad Remember thi...

Christmas is here, so we really need to watch Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” but how to choose the best version? Sentimental? Accurate? Musical? This episode has got you covered; Intro, thank you’s and reviews.  A little reminder of the essentials Honourable mentions Pick a film, any film A traditional ghost story. If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me...

Darwin’s great voyage of discovery continues. The ancient past was a vast mystery, with many claiming that God alone was the explanation for all things. As Darwin travelled and jotted his observations in his little notebooks, he began to lift the veil on the ancient past. New species, now long vanished, were discovered. Darwin began to build the foundations for our understanding of the world. This...

Darwin, and his Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection; in this podcast we’ve covered the creation of the new settler Empire and the transition to the new energy form of coal & steam, then the railways, but Darwin had a bigger impact on civilisation than even those. This episode is the start of a series of episodes on Darwin and Evolution. It covers; Intro, thank you’s and reviews. The philo...

Just for fun, here’s a fiendishly difficult pub quiz which has been requested by many listeners. Good luck! The post PUB QUIZ 0CT 2022 appeared first on AGE OF VICTORIA PODCAST .

The death of Queen Elizabeth II is a momentous event in modern British history. This special episode contains some facts about her life, reflections on events, thoughts about King Charles III, the Royal Finances, the constitution, national decline, the Commonwealth, and possibilities for the future. This episode covers; Intro  Birth, coronation & television WW2 & the ATS Post war austerity...

The essential guide to the Victorian class system. There was more to being middle class than drinking tea, and the working class weren’t all up the Chimney. From the well dressed footman, to the Haymarket prostitute, to the pie seller, and duke. All of Victorian life is here. This episode covers.  Intro.  A discussion of what is Class. A tiny bit of Marx. Life at the top. I say, those young people...

This much requested episode deals with the important but fun topic of women’s clothes and fashions in the 1840s. If you want to understand how a Victorian woman dressed and why, this is the episode for you.   This episode covers.   Intro & reviews. The importance of dressing well . We don’t do business casual.   Victoria, a Goth. Starting the day, the chemise Bloomers, and worries about the Fr...

This episode deals with the real and harrow position for women during with contraception, pregnancy, and abortion in the Victorian era. Campaigners like Annie Besant attacked the patriarchy, and fought for the right to be heard. Women risked their lives getting dangerous abortions, in constant fear of the law, whilst the great scandal of the Victorian era, infanticide, loomed in the background. Fr...

This anniversary is a memorable event and naturally deserves to be photographed by the paparazzi. But what was the story of the invention of the photograph, and how did it become a Victorian icon? A story filled with invention, persistence, a lot of daring do, and possibly holding back some manly tears. Not to mention artistic nudes, pioneering thinking from governments, lots of chemicals and real...

Our dive under the covers continues. How did sex and religion come together in the Victorian era? How was the bible such an influence on men & women’s sexuality? Should a religious Victorian be having sex? Some evolutionary pitfalls, social problems and a couple of wedding nights to talk about. This episode covers. Intro & reviews. The duties of Eve. A morally ambiguous bible. Seems...

Why yes, we will be asking what Victoria did with Albert. We will be asking about the how’s and why’s of Victorian sex & sexualities. There’s a lot to say, so we are getting started with just how reserved were they really, and did the have a lot of sex? This episode covers. Intro & reviews. General biology Darwin & sex Public health – a deceiving lens No, people...

What could be more of a traditional Victorian Christmas than carols by candlelight with an orchestra, piano and harp? Quite a bit actually. Victorian piano’s were a late addition and the carols were a really new thing. Find out how carols and piano’s go together like new age German synth and wannabe edgy 20 somethings. This episode covers. Intro & reviews. The Victorian carols hitl...

Marriage isn’t easy, even in the early days, especially a royal marriage. It’s even harder if you are an intellectual who dabbles in cutting edge music, but your wife only thinks of you as a sex object. It wasn’t easy being Albert. Victoria had a lot of on her plate too, what with being a new Queen, starting her journey to Empress, and that pesky pregnancy. Oh and saving the poli...

An ancient tradition, but surely one that the Victorians didn’t celebrate? Wrong, they did celebrate. Oh boy was it a big dangerous, flaming drunken party of a holiday. Join me to explore a Victorian Halloween. This episode covers Intro & reviews. The birth of Halloween. The ancient rites. Religion & superstition. The loss of the old ways. Queen Victoria’s Halloween’s. Pa...

With the hardships of the voyage across the ocean over, the settlers had to build a life in South Africa. An unsettled land, with slavery, war, opportunity, growth and social conflict, early colonial South Africa was no paradise for the rich and idle of Britain. For the lucky and hard working, their were opportunities and fortunes, but for most their was only dust, sweat and blood. This episode co...

An empire lives on the backs of people; its own or those it conquers. For the British, South Africa needed colonists to clear the forests, build the farms, and man the armies. But getting them from Britain to South Africa was no easy task. Learn about the hard start to a colonists voyage from the frozen Thames to the heat of the tropics to the far south, and for the unlucky, the horrors of being l...

The story of the British Empire in South Africa continues. The first battles were being won, but the cost was blood on the soil, spilt by the British and shed by the native peoples as well as the soldiers in red. This episode covers Intro & reviews. Col Graham and the imperial mindset. Warfare is a continuation of culture by other means. The clash between British and Xhosa mindsets. The proble...

The British Empire was vast, but it didn’t spring up over night. South Africa was a vital imperial staging post, then a fledgling colony. The story of how it got to be is intimately linked to the land and the people. Start the next series on empire, this episode covers Intro and reviews Why South Africa? Mythbusting: Africa, a continent of cities and kingdoms. The many African migrations thr...

Prison is never nice, but the Victorian prison of Port Arthur in Van Diemen’s Land combined starvation, deprivation, desperation, and isolation. It was considered a hell on Earth. This episode covers: Intro & reviews. Guest podcast promo’s A vision of a better future. Reality check – isolation and mental health Narrowly avoiding prison The problems of institutionalisation Pos...

To celebrate the 4th anniversary, the episode will be all about Lovelace and Babbage; the true inventors of the computer age. The episode covers Intro & reviews. “There must be an easier way to do this” – why being lazy can change the world What were these engines? Ada Lovelace, a life in Technicolour Ada’s Victorian childhood – of course it was awful. Mentorship...

At its heart, a prison is the people. But what kind of people ended up in the hellish Port Arthur Prison in Van Diemen’s Land? Was it really just for the worst of the worst? Or was it a machine that simple chewed people up indiscriminately. How can we begin to understand it. Join me to walk a mile or two in a convicts shoe. The episode covers Intro & reviews. The cultural melting pot A p...

How does it feel to be cast out? To lose everything you’ve ever known and be sent to the ends of the world? Want to understand what being a convict transported to Tasmania feels like? This show is for you. It covers; – Intro & reviews. – Introducing Hannah to the Court. – How did it feel to be a convict? – Her voyage. – Another convict – Linus Wilson M...

Clothes maketh the man; but how did a gent dress in the 1840s? This episode features; Intro & podcast update. Clothing, class, and mindset. Beauty standards. Aspirational dressing. Wasn’t it cold! Men getting dressed in 1840. Underwear. Shaving – a risky business. Shirts & sewing. Trousers. Waistcoats. A riot of colour & overcoats. Men get pockets; pistols optional. Reviews and s...