Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

It’s so important that it’s been ‘discovered’ at least twice, but what is the clitoris and why has it previously been so hard to find? The clitoris is the human female’s most erogenous zone, and is responsible for 75% of women’s orgasms. So why has it been so overlooked and demonised, and how have people sought to control female pleasure through it? Kate is joined by Sarah Chadwick, author of ‘The...

What do we know about the people who shared the surname Mussolini with the Italian fascist dictator? Edda Mussolini may have been Benito’s daughter, but she was also the wife of a convicted traitor, an unwilling mother and a hard-drinking socialite.   To find out about Edda’s life and its connections with the Italian and German leadership, Kate spoke to Caroline Moorehead, author of the new b...

George V, Otzi the Iceman, possibly Winston Churchill and … Kate Lister. What do all these people have in common? They have tattoos. As do a fifth of the population of the United Kingdom. In this episode, Kate speaks to tattoo historian Matt Lodder about the origins of tattoos, their meanings and why certain stereotypes have become attached to them. *WARNING there are naughty words and adult theme...

What makes a heartthrob? Is he brooding, flamboyant or a bad boy? And what qualities translate to sex symbol status in society? Which men have made the hearts of young (heterosexual) women flutter over the centuries? And why? Today, Carol Dyhouse joins Kate to talk about the history of famous men who have lit women’s hearts on fire. *WARNING There are adult themes and naughty words in this episode...

We might now be used to hearing about the intimate details of celebrities and world leaders, but when did this become the norm? In the lead up to the Second World War, a collection of American journalists began to report not only on world affairs - interviewing Hitler, Gandhi and Mussolini to name a few - but also private affairs, their own and those of others. Today, Kate is Betwixt the Sheets wi...

How did the people of Ancient China think about sex? From sexual vampirism to unrealistic representations of courtesan culture, from wife lending to avoiding *ahem* finishing: in this episode Kate and Paul R. Goldin from the University of Pennsylvania delve into the beds and sexual beliefs of Ancient China. *WARNING there are adult themes and mentions of rape in this episode* Produced by Charlotte...

It can happen on a bus, in a park, in your home, at the school gates. An estimated one in every ten women in England and Wales have reported it happening to them. So why do people flash? And when did it become criminalised? Indecent exposure is when someone deliberately exposes their genitals in order to frighten or upset someone else. It is difficult to prove, and has been prosecuted under a numb...

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 gender dynamics in the books and films throughout the centuries. You can hear Abby and Daniel’s podcast, Save Me From My...

Everybody hold hands! We're going for a seance! How long have we've been trying to talk to dead people for? And have we ever actually been speaking to the dead or just to somebody’s clicky toe joints? In today's episode Kate is joined by Lisa Morton, author of 'Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances', to talk about the long history of spiritualism, its believers and its fraudsters! Produced by...

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 people’s beliefs in ghosts and how they have changed through history. *WARNING there are naughty words and adult topics in...

Did Henry VIII really have syphilis? Who died from a red hot poker up the bum? And which king was taken down by a school of fish? To learn about the often gruesome ways that our royals have met their doom, Kate gets Betwixt the Sheets with Suzie Edge, TikTok historian and author of ‘Mortal Monarchs: 1000 Years of Royal Deaths’. *WARNING there are naughty words and gory discussions of death in this...

Who were Ignatius Sancho, Dido Elizabeth Belle and Francis Barber? Between 10,000 and 30,000 black people lived in Britain during the Georgian period. Despite this, some people have remained convinced that black British history doesn't start until after the Second World War. In this episode, Kate speaks to Gretchen Gerzina about some of the individuals who lived in Georgian Britain, their lives an...

What does it take to get the reputation as one of the least popular queens in history? Should we remember Henrietta Maria as the wife of the King executed by his subjects, the Catholic influencer and a serial adulterer? Or as a prankster, a patron of the arts and a mother of two Kings? Henrietta Maria became Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland aged 15. A quarter of a century and a civil...

What is it with our culture’s fascination with serial killers? Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Peter Sutclifffe, Jack the Ripper….these violent people are as well known as our national treasures, but we only know them for their horrific crimes. What role does misogyny play in how these serial killers are portrayed on our screens and in our newspapers? And how does it affect court cases?  Today Kat...

What did Salvador Dali, Elizabeth I and Sigmund Freud have in common? They all had phobias, and it's possible you do too. As ‘normal’ as you might consider yourself to be, it is highly likely that you have an irrational streak. Phobias and manias are very common, and we have a lot of names for them. In this episode of Betwixt the Sheets, Kate is joined by Kate Summerscale. Find out when we started...

Why is there an assumption that Victorian Britain was white? Who does this mean is missing from our history books? And how can we find out more about the lives of black people in the Victorian Era? Today, Kate is joined by Dr Keshia Abrahams and Dr John Woolf, authors of ‘Black Victorians: Hidden in History’. Keshia and John introduce us to physician George Rice, abolitionist Sarah Parker Remond a...

You might know him best as the longest reigning Scottish king, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, the father of Charles I, or the eponymous poster of the translation of the bible into English. But King James VI of Scotland, and I of England, had some very questionable traits and got up to shady stuff… Today Kate is joined Betwixt the Sheets with Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller to explore why James was act...

Private Members’ Clubs are often the location of suspected scandal - from Oscar Wilde to Chris Pincher, what happens behind these elitist doors? Seth Alexander Thévoz joins Kate Betwixt the Sheets to reveal the secret history behind some of London’s most famous members’ clubs, from 1693 to the present day. *WARNING there are naughty words and adult themes in this episode* Senior Producer: Charlott...

Marilyn Monroe. She's got to be one of the most famous people of all time, hasn't she? But what happens when an investigative war reporter dedicates years of his life to finding out who real Marilyn was, interviewing hundreds of people who knew her, from her co-stars, to her psychiatrist’s family, to her hairdresser? Today Kate is Betwixt the Sheets with journalist Anthony Summers who began his re...

What makes a book bad? Does it have to be nonsensical? Heretical? Libellous? Sexy? Well for 500 years, a panel from the Roman Catholic Church attempted to grapple with this distinction. Today Betwixt the Sheets, we find out what this collection of people deemed unsafe for the eyes of their worshippers. Kate is joined by Robin Vose, a professor of history at St Thomas University in Canada to find o...

What do Hatshepsut and Hillary Clinton have in common? Well, what do they have in common with the vast majority of women who have been so successful as to gain power? Women like Britain’s new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, just the third woman to hold the title. They have been subject to some very specific criticism which, whether it’s based on their looks or their character, would be unlikely to be d...

Whether they are online scams or in person card tricks, confidence games - better known now as cons - have been around for as long as we have. But while humans remain fundamentally gullible, the tricks of the trade have changed. Today, Kate is Betwixt the Sheets with writer and successful poker player Maria Konnikova, who tells us how confidence games have developed, what the most successful ones...

Why would a married couple stage an affair? Was Henry VIII really the beginning of the end for marriages? And how is the divorce process different for men and women? Today Betwixt the Sheets, Kate is joined by Henry Kha, Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University and formerly a legal associate in the Family Court of Australia. Henry has worked on divorces himself, and today shares the story of their...

Who was Pupetta Maresca? And what did she do to become the first woman in Italy to be prohibited from having a funeral? In this episode, Kate chats to Barbie Latza Nadeau, a journalist and author who has lived in Italy since 1996, and who, to find out more about the women of the Italian mafia, actually went to meet some of them. We find out why these women are just as dangerous as their male count...

Lucy Walter, Barbara Palmer, Louise Kérouaille and Nell Gwynn. These are the names of just a key few of King Charles II’s mistresses. In this episode, Kate is joined by Linda Porter to introduce us to these women, in addition to the King’s wife, Catherine of Braganza. We find out what these women gained from their connections to the King, and what they stood to lose. *WARNING there are naughty wor...