If It Ain't Baroque...

Welcome to season SEVEN of our podcast! Everybody knows Shakespeare.    However, perhaps not as well known to most is that beneath the surface, much of Shakespeare’s work surrounds ideas of gender and queerness.  Many of the plays are concerned with cross-dressing, gender fluidity, and same-sex friendships that many scholars have interpreted to be much more.  Drawing inspiratio...

On this episode, we’ll be talking about Royal Couples that truly fit the trope of Friends to Lovers. The title of the episode is Give Me Your Hand and Let Me All Your Fortunes Understand , meaning our couples today knew each other of old and had to get married for practical reasons, but they grew to love each other with time.   On the Royal Menu today we have: The Fair Maid Joan of Kent...

Please welcome James Tejani on the show. We’re talking about his book A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth: The Making of the Port of Los Angeles and America. Published last year with WW Norton and Company . Let’s find out more about the San Pedro Bay and how it transformed into one of the most imPORTant locations in the world. Pun intended. What was the significance of this spot, why was it chosen,...

Welcome to our Royal Romance season. On this episode, we’ll be talking about Royal Pairs that never got together.  The couples in question were considered by the powers that be, or they took a fancy to each other, but they either weren’t allowed to follow through with their plans, or fate decided otherwise.  We’re looking at four such couples today, Richard III & Isabella of Castile...

Right trusty and well beloved, we greet you well! Gemma Hollman is back on the show! This time with her latest book  Women in the Middle Ages: Illuminating the World of Peasants, Nuns and Queens (Abbeville Press). This book has women’s stories told with some serious help from contemporary art. How were women depicted in paintings, pictures and drawings? Let’s find out more... Find Gemma : htt...

Join us this month and explore the love stories of the past. Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing with you our chats to various historians and we’ll be covering all the ways that Royals can come together, be it through arranged marriage, secret engagements or chance meetings.  My Heart Flies to Your Service... On this episode of our Valentines Series, we’re looking at couples, where a mon...

Please welcome to the podcast Dan E Parkes , he has just released a book called Titanic Legacy: The Captain, the Daughter and the Spy with Amberley Publishing . What happened to the family of Titanic ’s captain E J Smith after the sinking? Where their lives affected by other disasters of the 20th century? Is it true that his daughter’s husband is the original James Bond? Let’s find out… Of co...

This month please join us in exploring the love stories of the past. Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing with you our chats to various historians and we’ll be covering all the ways that Royals can come together, be it through arranged marriage, secret engagements or chance meetings.  On this episode, we’ll be talking about Royal Couples who faced revolutions and regime changes in their c...

Let’s talk about murder that was happening in Anglo-Saxon England, who was killing whom, why and what was the punishment? With kings and queens, Did primogeniture or the lack of it made any difference? What were the most gruesome cases? Annie Whitehead wrote a book on True Murder History in Anglo-Saxon England, with the tagline Justice, Wergild, Revenge , published by Amberley . Find Annie : https...

This month please join us in exploring the love stories of the past. Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing with you our chats to various historians and we’ll be covering all the ways that Royals can come together, be it through arranged marriage, secret engagements or chance meetings.  On this, the first episode of our Valentines series of 2025, we’re focussing on the Iconic Power Couples...

Please welcome to the podcast Ada Palmer, who is talking about her new book - Inventing The Renaissance , just published with Head of Zeus . Let’s dive in and debunk some myths, shall we? Get Inventing the Renaissance : https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/inventing-the-renaissance-9781035910120/ (UK) https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo246135916.html (USA) Find Ada: https://www.adapalm...

Let’s talk about women’s lives in the medieval era, did you know that they wrote books under their own names? They had a sense of humour? Let’s talk of those women who lived lives on their own terms… We’re sitting down with Hetta Howes, who has recently published her first book with Bloomsbury , called Poet Mystic Widow Wife . Welcome, Hetta! Get Poet Mystic Widow Wife : https://www.bloomsbury.com...

Today we’re sitting down with Anna Abney, who has written a historical fiction quadrilogy set in Stuart England, the first book is called The Master of Measham Hall , published by Duckworth Books . Let’s dive deep into the Restoration era with the Great Plague making its mark. As the story progresses, it will take us all the way to the Glorious Revolution, with the Christmas Prequel rewinding the...

Let’s welcome back Amy McElroy, to talk about Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, sister of Henry VIII, Queen of France by first marriage and Duchess of Suffolk by second. If you remember the Showtime series The Tudors, that’s the one who marries Henry Cavill, and if you watched the recent Amazon Prime show My Lady Jane , which is awesome, by the way, it features her granddaughter as the lead chara...

Today we have a very special guest. He is an OBE and a Grammy award nominee. He has conducted Baroque music the world over, and today he joined us for a chat about his decades-long career, his love of music, the history of his family and of course, his upcoming 75th birthday. Welcome, Nic! Find Nic : https://www.nicholasmcgegan.com/ Listen to Nic : https://open.spotify.com/artist/6tW7J49UTzVDW9ns4...

Heather R Darsie is back on the podcast, this time with her upcoming new book "Katharine of Aragon: Spanish Princess: I Am Not as Simple as I May Seem", published by Amberley Books . Let's re-evaluate what we know of Katharine, as the daughter of Spain. What family drama did she leave behind? What was going on the continent when Henry was trying to divorce her? Did the change of Pope affect Kathar...

This is one of our Bonus Episodes for the Katharine of Aragon Festival which happens this weekend in Peterborough, as it does every year. In this mini episode we’re chatting to Nicola Tallis about the great Tudor Matriarch, Margaret Beaufort. Welcome, Nicola! Join the Festival: Cathedral: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/peterborough/peterborough-cathedral https://peterborough-cathedra...

This is one of our Bonus Episodes for the Katharine of Aragon Festival which happens this weekend in Peterborough, as it does every year. In this mini episode we’re chatting to Dr Elizabeth Norton as she prepares for her talk on Reigning Spanish Queens. Welcome back, Elizabeth! Join the Festival: Cathedral: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/peterborough/peterborough-cathedral https://pe...

This is one of our Bonus Episodes for the Katharine of Aragon Festival which happens this weekend in Peterborough, as it does every year. In this mini episode let’s chat to Peter Stiffel as he teases us on the topic of his upcoming talk at the festival Welcome, Peter! Join the Festival: Cathedral: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/peterborough/peterborough-cathedral https://peterborough...

This is one of our Bonus Episodes for the  Katharine of Aragon Festival which happens this weekend in Peterborough, as it does every year. In this mini episode let’s chat to Nathen Amin as he teases us on the topic of his upcoming talk at the festival Welcome back, Nathen! Get Son of Prophecy : https://www.amberley-books.com/author-community-main-page/a/nathen-amin/the-son-of-prophecy.html Ge...

This is one of our Bonus Episodes for the  Katharine of Aragon Festival which happens this weekend in Peterborough, as it does every year. Let’s talk to Jackson van Uden  - the man in charge of the festival and find out more about this celebration of Katharine of Aragon.  Please enjoy this bonus episode. Join the Festival : Cathedral : https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/peterbo...

How were people educated in the 16th century England? Did girls and boys have different curriculums? Did Henry VIII’s antics influence education at all? And what were the whipping boys? Let’s welcome Amy McElroy, and we’ll be talking about her book Educating the Tudors , published by Pen & Sword . Find Amy : https://amymcelroy.blog/ Educating the Tudors: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Educati...

Today our guest is Ashley Wood, and we’re talking about his new Amberley Published book - Henry’s Shadow , which tells us about the life and times of John Morton, a cleric who was a very important figure during the Wars of the Roses. John Morton was born during the reign of Henry V, with the memory of Henry IV still in the air, and died during the reign of Henry VII, with a future Henry VIII being...

Welcome to season SIX of our independent history podcast. Today we’re talking to Sharon Bennett Connolly, about her upcoming book “Scotland’s Medieval Queens”, soon to be published by Pen & Sword. What do you call a collection of Royal Margarets? A Crown? A Madge? In Sharon's latest book, there is a significant and above average congregation of Royal Ladies named Margaret... Let's hear about t...

It is the 7th January 1536, Katharine of Aragon dies a few weeks after her 50th birthday. She dies ignored by her husband Henry VIII and unable to see her daughter. Let's talk to Jackson van Uden and find out more about the death of this great Queen... Please enjoy this bonus episode. Find Jackson here: https://historywithjackson.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/historywithjackson/ https://www.you...