Oh What A Time...

This week we’re trawling through history to figure out how the international rules based order took shape. We’ve got The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the huge success that was The Concert of Europe plus the flurry of treaties, conferences, and international agreements, aimed at building a new, peaceful global order in the aftermath of WW2. And this week we’re trying to figure out whether Macha or...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! Come with us, as we roll the dice and shoot a podcasting bullseye as today we’re discussing: games. We’ve got a brief history of chess, the game of life (as in, the board game) and.. the word gams dvlopd by a collction of Frnch xperimental writrs in tha 60s. And why on earth did we as a civilisation take so long to get round to inventing the bicycle? And...

Come with us, as we roll the dice and shoot a podcasting bullseye as today we’re discussing: games. We’ve got a brief history of chess, the game of life (as in, the board game) and.. the word gams dvlopd by a collction of Frnch xperimental writrs in tha 60s. And why on earth did we as a civilisation take so long to get round to inventing the bicycle? And why were the bicycle prototypes so bad? And...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! It’s time to trawl the historical archives for some of humanity’s great forgeries. We’ve got the infamous Dutch painter Han van Meegeren and the story of how he fooled Herman Goring. An incredible ruse concocted by ‘Iolo Morganwg’. Plus, we’ll be looking into the stories of those found guilty of ‘coin clipping’ in the 1600s. And birthday cards… Do we nee...

It’s time to trawl the historical archives for some of humanity’s great forgeries. We’ve got the infamous Dutch painter Han van Meegeren and the story of how he fooled Herman Goring. An incredible ruse concocted by ‘Iolo Morganwg’. Plus, we’ll be looking into the stories of those found guilty of ‘coin clipping’ in the 1600s. And birthday cards… Do we need them? And are fake IDs still a thing? So m...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! This week we’re trawling through history’s lost property bin to examine a bunch of famous things that went missing. We’ve got a load of Academy Awards, Lawrence of Arabia’s lost manuscript and Queen Victoria’s lost statue. Plus - did human happiness significantly degrade once jogging was invented? Although it does seem to have done wonders for a certain...

This week we’re trawling through history’s lost property bin to examine a bunch of famous things that went missing. We’ve got a load of Academy Awards, Lawrence of Arabia’s lost manuscript and Queen Victoria’s lost statue. Plus - did human happiness significantly degrade once jogging was invented? Although it does seem to have done wonders for a certain namesake in San Quentin prison. If you’ve go...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! Ever wondered how cities were planned? Then wonder no more with this week’s subject! We’re heading back to 100BC to check out the pre-Aztec city of Teotihuacan. We’ll see what kind of American city Robert Owen had planned in the early 1800s. PLUS let’s see what our old moustache’d mucker Josef Stalin planned to do with Moscow. And how did we ever survive...

Ever wondered how cities were planned? Then wonder no more with this week’s subject! We’re heading back to 100BC to check out the pre-Aztec city of Teotihuacan. We’ll see what kind of American city Robert Owen had planned in the early 1800s. PLUS let’s see what our old moustache’d mucker Josef Stalin planned to do with Moscow. And how did we ever survive before the age of the instagram fitness inf...

It’s another bonus episode! Featuring a couple of excerpts from our legendary 4th part megasode for OWAT: Full Timers - that famous episode which contains multiple never-heard-before on the main feed 4th parts to some of our earlier episodes. Today we’re delighted to present two 4th parts from: #34 Health and Fitness #36 Presidents And if you fancy hearing the full 4th part megasode PLUS a bunch o...

Just when you thought it was safe to relax, we surprise you with a bonus episode featuring a couple of excerpts from our legendary 4th part megasode for OWAT: Full Timers - that famous episode which contains multiple never-heard-before on the main feed 4th parts to some of our earlier episodes. Today we’re delighted to present two 4th parts from: #32 Escapes #33 Conflict And if you fancy hearing t...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! Grab your quill, a notebook and some candlelight, as this week we’re looking at some of the finest diarists history has to offer. We’ve got Einstein! We’ve got Anna Dostoevskaya along with Sofia Tolstaya and the diaries they wrote on their husbands. And no episode on diarists would be complete without the man himself, Samuel Pepys. And this week we’re co...

Grab your quill, a notebook and some candlelight, as this week we’re looking at some of the finest diarists history has to offer. We’ve got Einstein! We’ve got Anna Dostoevskaya along with Sofia Tolstaya and the diaries they wrote on their husbands. And no episode on diarists would be complete without the man himself, Samuel Pepys. And this week we’re consumed with: when did shame begin? Was it ov...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! This week we’re not building walls or tearing them down, in fact, we’re simply talking about them. But what a collection of walls we have: the Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall and the Berlin Wall. And elsewhere, isn’t schooling far more complicated these days?! No one being educated in a Victorian Workhouse ever had to worry about an outfit for world...

This week we’re not building walls or tearing them down, in fact, we’re simply talking about them. But what a collection of walls we have: the Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall and the Berlin Wall. And elsewhere, isn’t schooling far more complicated these days?! No one being educated in a Victorian Workhouse ever had to worry about an outfit for world book day - so did that make it easier? (Poss...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! This week on the show we’re discussing regents who were, let’s say, a bit different. We’ll be meeting the 11th century Norwegian King Magnus Barefoot, we’ve got the avid collector that was George III and let’s find out how terrible Russia’s Ivan the Terrible actually is. And this week we’re bemoaning expiry dates and the roulette of consuming slightly of...

This week on the show we’re discussing regents who were, let’s say, a bit different. We’ll be meeting the 11th century Norwegian King Magnus Barefoot, we’ve got the avid collector that was George III and let’s find out how terrible Russia’s Ivan the Terrible actually is. And this week we’re bemoaning expiry dates and the roulette of consuming slightly off food. Elis is happy to consume nuts that a...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! Who doesn’t love a good tree? This week we’ll discuss the awesome spectacle of the American sequoia, the slightly less massive Bonsai tree and the use of trees in political imagery. Elsewhere, the debate is raging: what’s the most ‘off’ thing you’ve ever eaten? And what is the most universal sign of danger? If you’ve got anything on these topics or anyth...

Who doesn’t love a good tree? This week we’ll discuss the awesome spectacle of the American sequoia, the slightly less massive Bonsai tree and the use of trees in political imagery. Elsewhere, the debate is raging: what’s the most ‘off’ thing you’ve ever eaten? And what is the most universal sign of danger? If you’ve got anything on these topics or anything else, do get in touch with the show: hel...

Just when you thought it was safe to relax, we surprise you with a bonus episode featuring a couple of excerpts from our legendary 4th part megasode for OWAT: Full Timers - that famous episode which contains multiple never-heard-before on the main feed 4th parts to some of our earlier episodes. Today we’re delighted to present two 4th parts from: #30 Discoveries #31 Myths And if you fancy hearing...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! Finally, AN EPISODE ON ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS. Come with us as we dig our way through the jungle to form the Panama Canal, we traipse back to Glastonbury to check out their canal, and we’re off to ancient China to take a look at the world’s oldest canal. And this week we hear all about Alex Brooker’s hot tub boat tour of New York. Plus, more on Donald Trum...

Finally, AN EPISODE ON ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS. Come with us as we dig our way through the jungle to form the Panama Canal, we traipse back to Glastonbury to check out their canal, and we’re off to ancient China to take a look at the world’s oldest canal. And this week we hear all about Alex Brooker’s hot tub boat tour of New York. Plus, more on Donald Trump once doing the Rumbelows League Cup draw....

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! We’ve touched on conspiracies on the show, but this week we have for 100% true conspiracies that really did happen - it’s Cover Ups! We’ll have the Ozyorsk Disaster hidden away by the Soviets, what the US Government really knew about bootlegging during prohibition and how Margaret Thatcher prepared to battle the striking minders of the 1980s. And boy are...

We’ve touched on conspiracies on the show, but this week we have for 100% true conspiracies that really did happen - it’s Cover Ups! We’ll have the Ozyorsk Disaster hidden away by the Soviets, what the US Government really knew about bootlegging during prohibition and how Margaret Thatcher prepared to battle the striking minders of the 1980s. And boy are we glad we’re in the elastic age with pants...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! This week we’re looking at horror throughout literature. Come with us as we meet the undead of Ancient Greece, Werewolves and the absolutely terrifying Wendigo. And are we in the golden age of the peeler? Would stone-age man have struggled to peel all the potatoes and carrots for Christmas dinner using flint? I mean, who knows. But if you’ve got anything...