Oh What A Time...

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 to add on this or anything else, hit us up...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! This week we’re trawling through history to discover how people got cancelled in the past. We’ll have the ancient Egyptians striking people from the record, how Stalin photoshopped associates away and how ‘getting cancelled’ worked during the European renaissance. And when did New Year’s resolutions kick in? Did anyone ever think “this year of 1024 is go...

This week we’re trawling through history to discover how people got cancelled in the past. We’ll have the ancient Egyptians striking people from the record, how Stalin photoshopped associates away and how ‘getting cancelled’ worked during the European renaissance. And when did New Year’s resolutions kick in? Did anyone ever think “this year of 1024 is going to be MY year!”? If you’ve got anything...

Space: the final frontier and indeed, the subject of this week’s episode. We’ll have early astronomy, we’ll take a trip to the moon and we’ll ask the fundamental question: are we alone in the universe and has anyone from another civilisation visited us on earth? (Outside of that one particular episode of Beadle’s About in the 80s). Elsewhere, we’ll be discussing the loneliest human in history and...

Space: the final frontier and indeed, the subject of this week’s episode. We’ll have early astronomy, we’ll take a trip to the moon and we’ll ask the fundamental question: are we alone in the universe and has anyone from another civilisation visited us on earth? (Outside of that one particular episode of Beadle’s About in the 80s). Elsewhere, we’ll be discussing the loneliest human in history and...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! Oh What A Time! is back for 2025 and this week we’ve got an episode we’ve been promising (and threatening) for a while: milk! Whatever happened to milk bars? What’s the history behind milk alternatives? Plus, we’ve also got lots on the humble milk float. And all this chat of milk bars got us thinking: has there been a greater loss to the high street than...

Oh What A Time! is back for 2025 and this week we’ve got an episode we’ve been promising (and threatening) for a while: milk! Whatever happened to milk bars? What’s the history behind milk alternatives? Plus, we’ve also got lots on the humble milk float. And all this chat of milk bars got us thinking: has there been a greater loss to the high street than Wimpy? (And after a quick google, a new que...

Ep4: New Year Extra Part Specials  We’re off on our Christmas / New Year break at the minute so while we’re off being festive, please enjoy two of our special 4th parts that were available for subscribers last year. In this ep you’ll hear bonus parts from: #27 Beauty #28 Nightlife And pop it in your diary: we’ll be back with some brand new OWAT on Monday 13th January 2025! If you fancy a bunc...

We’re off on our Christmas / New Year break at the minute so while we’re off being festive, please enjoy two of our special 4th parts that were available for subscribers last year. In this ep you’ll hear bonus parts from: #25 Calendars #26 Blunders And pop it in your diary: we’ll be back with some brand new OWAT on Monday 13th January 2025! If you fancy a bunch of OWAT content you’ve never heard b...

We’re off on our Christmas / New Year break at the minute so while we’re off being festive, please enjoy two of our special 4th parts that were available for subscribers last year. In this ep you’ll hear bonus parts from: #22 Big Projects #23 Christmas And pop it in your diary: we’ll be back with some brand new OWAT on Monday 13th January 2025! If you fancy a bunch of OWAT content you’ve never hea...

We’re off on our Christmas / New Year break at the minute so while we’re off being festive, please enjoy two of our special 4th parts that were available for subscribers last year. In this ep you’ll hear bonus parts from: #20 The Coast #21 The Great Depression And pop it in your diary: we’ll be back with some brand new OWAT on Monday 13th January 2025! If you fancy a bunch of OWAT content you’ve n...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! Pull down the decorations and throw the tree in the street; because this week we’re discussing a few of the attempts through history to cancel Christmas. You can expect an appearance from Oliver Cromwell, Maximilien Robespierre will pop up too, as will all the critics of Elvis Presley’s 1957 Christmas album. And this week we’ve got several great emails o...

Pull down the decorations and throw the tree in the street; because this week we’re discussing a few of the attempts through history to cancel Christmas. You can expect an appearance from Oliver Cromwell, Maximilien Robespierre will pop up too, as will all the critics of Elvis Presley’s 1957 Christmas album. And this week we’ve got several great emails on the subject of “who are you playing a song...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! This week we’re tackling a subject Elis has suggested, the writing of history itself: historiography! We’ll be chatting about one of the godfathers of history Herodotus, the owner of one of history’s all-time great beards Karl Marx and we’ll be discussing (and mainly trying to understand) postmodernism.   Elsewhere, Tom keeps losing his keys and cla...

This week we’re tackling a subject Elis has suggested, the writing of history itself: historiography! We’ll be chatting about one of the godfathers of history Herodotus, the owner of one of history’s all-time great beards Karl Marx and we’ll be discussing (and mainly trying to understand) postmodernism.   Elsewhere, Tom keeps losing his keys and claims there’s nothing he can do about it, Elis...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! This week we’re returning to a much loved subject: spies. We’ll be hearing about the British spy William Oliver, the origins of MI5 and MI6, plus how the Stasi operated in East Germany. Elsewhere, this week we’ve been discussing exactly how massive milk used to be; we can agree from ‘Milk Bars’ to sponsoring the football league cup, it was simply an enor...

This week we’re returning to a much loved subject: spies. We’ll be hearing about the British spy William Oliver, the origins of MI5 and MI6, plus how the Stasi operated in East Germany. Elsewhere, this week we’ve been discussing exactly how massive milk used to be; we can agree from ‘Milk Bars’ to sponsoring the football league cup, it was simply an enormous beverage. If you’ve got anything to add...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! This week we’re taking a look a Prehistory and specifically; how clever were the Neanderthals? What was early mankind getting up to? And finally, what did the Flintstones get right in their depiction of Stone Age man? And also this week, we’re discussing one of the greatest inventions ever: the humble ‘hot towel’. If you’d like to get in touch with the s...

This week we’re taking a look a Prehistory and specifically; how clever were the Neanderthals? What was early mankind getting up to? And finally, what did the Flintstones get right in their depiction of Stone Age man? And also this week, we’re discussing one of the greatest inventions ever: the humble ‘hot towel’. If you’d like to get in touch with the show, you can do so at: hello@ohwhatatime.com...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed! Elis’ is off filming his stand-up Christmas special, so we’re delighted to welcome in his stead the star of Radio X, Pappy’s and the Beckenham fireworks display: Matthew Crosby! And we’ll be discussing Recreation; how the vikings spent their spare time, the smash hit Tudor game of Fives and the national obsession with modelling. Plus, it turns out Tom sp...

Elis’ is off filming his stand-up Christmas special, so we’re delighted to welcome in his stead the star of Radio X, Pappy’s and the Beckenham fireworks display: Matthew Crosby! And we’ll be discussing Recreation; how the vikings spent their spare time, the smash hit Tudor game of Fives and the national obsession with modelling. Plus, it turns out Tom spent his childhood on a chair, up a tree. If...

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed from yesterday! We’ve got a different episode format for you this week; a book review of the 1989 classic chronicle of the French Revolution: Citizens by Simon Schama. We’ll be focussing on; the storming of the Bastille, the flight to Varennes of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and the fearsome guillotine.  Elsewhere this week we’re trying to fig...

We’ve got a different episode format for you this week; a book review of the 1989 classic chronicle of the French Revolution: Citizens by Simon Schama. We’ll be focussing on; the storming of the Bastille, the flight to Varennes of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and the fearsome guillotine.  Elsewhere this week we’re trying to figure out why piano teachers are, by and large, quite mean fo...

Oh What A Time is moving to the Wondery network! We’re thrilled to be joining forces with one of the biggest names in podcasting, and we couldn’t be more excited. They’re the home of some truly incredible shows - and 2 Elis James podcasts - and now, we’re joining that lineup! So what does this mean for you, dear listeners? First off, don’t worry - Oh What A Time is still the same show you know and...

This week we’re discussing 3 absolute icons: the iconic Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe, the incredibly talented JMW Turner and one of Victorian Britain’s most iconic sport stars, Arthur Gould. Elsewhere this week we are bemoaning the fate that has befallen the humble travel book, whilst also speculating on the fate of Horatio Nelson’s arm (which he famously lost on a disastrous lads holiday to Tene...