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

What do Alexa, Adolf and Karen have in common? They're all names that have plummeted in popularity. The most recent, Karen, is largely due to the meme-powered phenomenon of calling out white privilege by calling someone a 'Karen'. What is the history of calling out privilege in this way? Is this a force for good, or has it become sexist? Today Kate is joined by Senior Lecturer of Language and Ling...

What happened when medieval monks were told by the church that they had to be celibate? And how did their wives react? On today's episode, we're joined by Katherine Harvey, historian and author of The Fires of Lust: Sex in the Middle Ages , to take us back to the middle ages and answer the question: what was sex like in medieval times? This episode was edited by Tom Delargy. The producer was Stuar...

Joining us today is writer, actor and all-round Charles Dickens superfan Miriam Margolyes. You might be familiar with Dickens' hugely popular stories and characters, but what influence did the women in his life have on them? Having written and starred in the play, Dickens Women , Miriam knows better than most the complicated relationships he had in his life: from his mother who took him out of sch...

What comes to mind when you think of a neanderthal?  Probably a hunched, hairy, grunting version of a man who’s shuffling around his cave some 40,000 years ago. How accurate is this reputation? What were their sex lives like? And how much did they go back to the caves of us Homo sapiens?  Joining us is to explore the life and sex of neanderthals, is Palaeolithic archaeologist and author...

How sexually depraved were the Romans? Whilst they were a civlised, stoic and innovative bunch, they were also a promiscuous bunch with very questionable morals. Joining us today is friend of the show Emma Southon, author of A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women . How did the Romans view incest? What fate awaited the Vestal Virgins? And what went on at the debauched festivals of Bacchus? Let's...

How did the Ancient Egyptians differ from us? In many ways they did, but in terms of sexuality, perhaps not so much.  As we’ll find out, they were certainly partial to a filthy poem.  Taking us on a journey back to this ancient world is Egyptologist Sarah Parcak. Amongst other things, she talks us through the Turin Papyrus - possibly the oldest depiction of human sexuality we have.&...

How did an 18th century working class farm labourer climb the social ladder to become the most beloved poet Scotland has produced? By the time he died aged just 37, he had taken the country by storm with his romantic verse and was welcomed into the bosom of Edinburgh high society gentlemen clubs. Another side of Robert Burns' work was his bawdy work, which celebrates sexuality and barbed satire, m...

Most people would assume that the Kamasutra is a book of hundreds of fantastical sex positions. They would partly be right, but mostly wrong! Sex is a small part of this ancient text, which includes fascinating insights into 3rd century Indian culture. It also includes some extremely modern-sounding advice on how to dump a boring husband. What happened in the Victorian era that made us think it wa...

How real to true events is the Outlander series? The Jacobite uprising of the 18th century was led by Bonnie Prince Charlie to reclaim the thrown of Great Britain for the Stuarts. Recruiting Highland clans along the way, they put up a good fight. Anyone who's followed the series will know how brutal it could be, but what really happened? Did Prince Charles really flee the British army dressed as a...

Was he as great in bed as he was at conquering the Persian empire? Whether he even had time for it, is another question. In today's episode, we're revisiting a conversation Kate had with History Hit's Tristan Hughes, host of our sister podcast The Ancients. What did young Alexander learn from his dad's charming ways? Did he take both male and female lovers? Let's go Betwixt the ancient sheets, to...

Have you ever wondered where the &%@! swear words come from? Well today, Kate is going Betwixt the Sheets to find out. Linguist legend Deborah Cameron is back on the podcast to tell us more about the history of some of your favourite curse words. From the f-word and the c-word, to nicknames for nether regions; we're looking at the etymology of these words, and discovering when they were...

Going back hundreds of thousands of years, bumping uglies had to start somewhere. What was the first sexual position? Was sex even for pleasure at this stage of evolution? On today's episode we're going right the way back to the beginning, and talking to Professor John Long, the palaeontologist and author who discovered the fossils which showed us that copulation was invented by ancient armoured f...

Perhaps without you realising it, history is marked by iconic body parts. From Frida Khalo’s monobrow, to Queen Victoria's swollen armpit, and let's not forget Napoleon's penis. That one alone has had quite a posthumous life. What amazing stories do they tell us of the people they belonged to? What trends did they spark? And is there any truth to the rumours about Hitler’s ball?  We're joined...

Haiti was under French colonial rule in 1791 when the revolution began, resulting in the largest and most successful slave revolt in modern history. It's a compelling story that deserves to be heard, and one with some incredible women at the heart of it. Who were they? How did the island's vodou ceremonies help galvanise the cause? And what is their legacy today? Joining Kate is Marlene Daut, auth...

There had been sex manuals for hundreds of years, but by the 20th century they were quite underground. That is, until the Joy of Sex was released in 1972. It was a revolutionary book about sex, and sold over 12 million copies. Who was the man behind it? His name, aptly, was Dr. Alex Comfort, and he was a poet, novelist, anarchist and philosopher, amongst other things. Joining Kate today to explore...

They say he comes once a year... ahem. Santa is back! To a lot of people that's no bad thing at all, and we're not just talking about the present giving - he's got the whole package, when you think about it. In the build up to Christmas, we're exploring why some people are big on Santaphilia - the Santa fetish. What is it about him that lead some to such mischievous thoughts? What's the origins of...

The words "the man, the myth, the legend" can easily apply to King Arthur. Today we're looking past the round table, the sword in the stone, and his magician mate Merlin to explore what his love life can tell us about this man. Did his love Guinevere really do the dirty on him with his mate Lancelot? What does his own love life say about him as a man? Today, dear friend of the show Eleanor Janega,...

Margaret Cavendish was extraordinary for any time, let alone the 17th century. She was a trailblazer in fiction, writing and publishing what many believe to be the first science fiction book - her 1666 work 'Blazing World' imagined a planet led by an Empress. The story also featured a lesbian affair between the Empress and herself, Margaret Cavendish. Truly, fantastic. She played a provocative and...

What was it about the Kennedy's that attracted so much tragedy, that many believed them to be cursed? From plane disasters in World War 2, to drug overdoses and of course, assassinations - it has to be said, they had their fair share. Is there something sinister going on, or is this tragedy the by-product of such a go-getter risk-taking attitude? Joining Kate today to explore the so-called Kennedy...

Sexuality is a funny thing. It's a social construct just as much as, say, virginity is. We use words like heterosexuality and homosexuality because they are convenient, more than because they're wholly accurate. What roots do these words have in 19th century Germany? How did the word 'straight' come from the gay community? And what is the future of sexuality and its terms? Joining Kate today is th...

If the Kennedy's were America's first royal family, then Jackie was its queen. She was a style icon who, alongside her husband and president JFK, symbolised a fresh hopeful start in post-war America. And then on 22nd November 1963, the unimaginable happened. But who was the woman who led the country in its grief? Famously defining that time in America as Camelot. Who was the woman behind the immac...

How do we understand something as huge as a global epidemic? Similarly to Covid, the AIDS epidemic, which was most destructive in the 1980s and 90s, had such universal reach. Yet within that, there were millions of personal experiences. What was it like to work on the frontline with people who were hit by this cruel virus? How did a Canadian air steward come to be wrongly blamed for introducing AI...

“If I don’t have a woman for three days, I get terrible headaches.” That is what JFK allegedly told the UK prime minister, Harold MacMillan, after a meeting on nuclear arms. An interesting alternative to pain killers, right? Despite being in a high-profile marriage, JFK has been linked with many women. From Hollywood stars and White House interns, to potential Soviet Spies and Mafia wives. Kate is...

The 1980s have a lot to answer for - spandex, for one. It also saw the first new anti-gay law in Britain for over a century. Against the backdrop of the HIV epidemic, and increasing homophobia across the media and politics, the law Section 28 was passed in 1988, which stopped the "promotion of homosexuality" in schools and local authorities across Britain. What did this even mean? Who did it affec...

Napoleon Bonaparte has been described in many way throughout history. Conquerer. Lover. Legend. Shrivelled Eel? Perhaps you haven't heard the last description before, but that's how a journalist described Napoleon's 'penis' when it went up for auction in 1977. Yes, you read that correctly, and it sold for $3000. Today Kate is Betwixt the Sheets with Dan Snow to talk all about the adventures of Nap...