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

Lilith's story goes back 4,000 years, and she's still making an impact today. She takes on different forms, depending on where you're looking, but a popular one was that she was the first wife of Adam, long before Eve, and was expelled from the Garden of Eden to go and live as a promiscuous, baby-killing, semen-stealing demon. As you do. In short, she's embodies a lot of male anxieties about sex a...

What's the dinosaur equivalent of Netflix and chill? Were they capable of flirting? In today's episode, Kate speaks with Dr. David Hone, author of Uncovering Dinosaur Behaviour: What They Did And How We Know , to find out more about how different dinosaurs might have had sex. Could the T-Rex's little arms aid their sexual performance? How did they penetrate through so much heavy protective armour?...

Long before phones allowed for sexting, how did the Ancient Romans exchange their illicit thoughts and desires? And what did a Roman dick pic look like? Joining Kate today to explore erotic letters from antiquity to the modern day is Owen Hodkinson, Associate Professor of Greek and Roman Cultures at Leeds University. This episode was edited by Tom Delargy. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The sen...

How do you begin to look for examples of lesbians in the medieval period? Even though it was deeply frowned upon by the powers that be, the clues are very much there... if you know where to look. What examples do we have? How did the male-run church respond to fears that nuns were getting too close for their liking? And how did a 13th century court react when a dildo was presented in a case agains...

Red lipstick has a unique feminine power to it. It's been on the lips of some of the most influential people in history, including Cleopatra and Elizabeth I, and really took off in the 20th century. Why did it take on such an iconic status with the Suffragette movement? Why did Churchill choose not to ration lipstick? And why did Hitler hate it? Joining Kate today is journalist and red lipstick af...

Sex work was everywhere in the ancient world, but a known dedicated space for it (a brothel), is an extremely rare and important thing. Pompeii offers exactly that, with details such as graffiti and drawings immaculately preserved in the only known brothel from this period. Who were the people who worked there? What can we find out about the nature of sex work in this period? And why are there pen...

It's January and (reluctant) thoughts turn to gym memberships, but what are the ancient origins of this phenomena? From the naked workouts of Ancient Greece to the bodybuilders of the 19th century, a lot has influenced exercise culture over the centuries - and it's always had a healthy dose of homoeroticism to it. Joining Kate today is Eric Chaline, author of The Temple of Perfection , to take us...

From medieval d*ck pics to sex with monks, how did people in medieval times think about sex and sexuality? It was a period that spanned roughly 1,000 years and even though views on sex were largely shaped by the dominant Christian faith, whether this filtered down to every day experiences is another question. Joining Kate today is the legendary sex historian Professor Ruth Karras, author of Sexual...

Cosmetic procedures are a huge part of (most of our) worlds. With new ones seemingly cropping up all the time, the boob job feels like an old classic. What are the origins of the boob job? Who had the first ever one? And how has it changed over time? Today we're revisiting a conversation Kate had with Professor Ruth Holliday and cosmetic surgeon Professor Vikram Devaraj, to find out more about thi...

Dating back some 30,000 years, sex toys have a long (no pun intended) and fascinating history. What were the earliest sex toys like? How did technology change them? And did Victorian doctors really prescribing them for back pain? In today's episode, we're revisiting an episode where Kate was joined by writer, sex and gender historian Hallie Lieberman to discuss the first dildo, the myth of the vib...

Like it or not, there's no escaping Charles Dickens at this time of year. But who was the man behind classics such as A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist and of course, A Christmas Carol? His life is as rich as many of the characters' stories in one of his books, including a brutal Victorian upbringing and rumours of sex and scandal. Joining us in this re-run to explore the controversy of the man i...

At the time, surely Kateryn Parr had her reservations about being Henry VIII's sixth wife? Aside from being a tyrannical maniac who'd just beheaded his last wife, Catherine Howard, he was getting old, angry and his ulcerous leg was getting smelly. However, Kateryn was smart - she was the first queen to be a published author - and she loved the glitz and glamour of her new position. What was her li...

Accessing stories from the past can be difficult, but how do we access  smells  from the past? In today's episode, Kate is joined by Eleanor Jackson, curator of a new British Library exhibition,  Mediaeval Women In Their Own Words , which features original texts about, and by, women from this period. Whether that's Joan of Arc's signature or a welsh poet who wrote “Lovely bush you a...

Henry VIII called her his 'rose without a thorn', but the teenage Catherine Howard was to fall out of favour less than 18 months after becoming Queen of England. Out of all of Henry's wives it could be argued that the young queen, who was a cousin of Anne Boleyn, is most deserving of our sympathy. How did her past come back to haunt her? What would it have been like for this young woman to be with...

The history of lonely hearts ads might be a lot deeper than you'd expect. For as long as people have been printing newspapers, people (read: men) were enquiring about potential partners. By the time the culture took off in the 18th century, how were people looking for love? How did the First World War boost the medium? And what are some of the strangest dating stories from this history? Joining Ka...

Anne of Cleves gets a pretty raw deal in the history books. She's often accused of being ugly, after Henry VIII claimed the painting he had made of her was overly flattering. While their marriage was short-lived, is it time we give Anne of Cleves, who hailed from a small state in Germany, the props she deserves? Just who was this woman who came from relative obscurity into the madness of the Tudor...

What did Queen Elizabeth I gain from being thought of as celibate? Why was property so essential to the Christian church embracing celibacy? And what's really behind the 'No Nut November' movement? In today's episode, Kate's joined by Elisa Sobo , Professor of Anthropology at San Diego State University, and Sandra Bell of Durham University, to take a look at those of us today and throughout histor...

Meek and mild, or smart and scheming? Have we all been underestimating the third wife of Henry VIII? Was Jane Seymour the meek and mild lady she's often portrayed as, or was she more smart and scheming than we give her credit for? Although her time as queen didn't last long, Seymour's legacy was huge. Not only did she give Henry his first son, she was also the only one of his wives not to lose her...

We often think of the way we treat pubic hair as a relatively modern thing. But how did they manage pubic hair in Ancient Greece, or the Middle Ages? Why would someone wear a pubic wig (also known as a merkin)? And why was the pubic hair of suspected witches shaven off? Joining Kate today is Professor Jill Burke, author of How to be a Renaissance Woman: The Untold History of Beauty and Female Crea...

How did Anne Boleyn go from being a commoner to being the Queen of England? As soon as she arrived in the Tudor court she stood out from the other beautiful women who were throwing themselves at Henry VIII, but made him wait for seven years before they eventually got together. In the second episode of our limited series, Secret Wives of the Six Wives , Kate is joined once again by Tudor export Nic...

Evidence shows us that women gladiators fought in front of baying crowds in Ancient Rome. Who were these women? How would these fights have played out? And what did the rest of Rome think of women taking up such a masculine space? Joining Kate is historian and expert in all things Ancient Rome, Emma Southon, author of A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women , to help us explore how gender plays...

We know the fates of Henry VIII's wives, but what were these iconic women really like? In the first episode of this limited series, Secret Lives of the Six Wives , we'll explore the ways that Catherine of Aragon was a formidable queen and leader, and why, perhaps, she's been misunderstood all these years. Joining Kate, is author and Tudor export Nicola Tallis, to take us back to Catherine's childh...

Who really were the gladiators of Ancient Rome? With them once again hitting the big screens this month, we wanted to take you back a couple of thousand years to find out more about the people who fought and what their lives were really like. What rights in society did they have? How often did they meet a gruesome end? And were they sex symbols? Joining Kate is historian and expert in all things A...

** TW: This episode contains themes of suicide ** Sylvia Plath was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. During and since she died, she became known for her volatile relationship with fellow poet, Ted Hughes, as much as her own beautiful, confessional writing. What was Sylvia Plath like as a woman? What drew her and Ted Hughes to each other? And how did sex and sexuality influen...

With the US election happening, we wanted to take a look back at the presidents from the past what we know about their sex lives. Which president was well-endowed and supposedly presented it to staff in the Oval Office? Which president had an affair on his honeymoon? And which had an affair with his wife's secretary? And no, they're not all JFK. Joining Kate today to help us find out is Eleanor He...