Versus History Podcast

In this episode, we interview actor, historian, podcaster and playwright Dominic Frisby about evacuation from London during WW2. Dominic is responsible for 'Kisses on a Postcard.' To set the scene, it is 1940. Two boys from London, Terry and Jack, aged seven and eleven, are being evacuated to escape German bombing. They end up in Cornwall, where they spend the next four years. The intensely moving...

In this exciting episode of the Versus History Podcast, we have something a little different. We discuss the 1990s and the wonderfully eclectic and inventive sounds it spawned, from Britpop's Oasis, Blur and Pulp to Jungle / Drum and Bass and Shy FX, General Levy and UK Apachi. We conclude with a guest mix from Leicester's and UMC Management's very own DJ Juvenile / DJ Juvie, playing an hour of or...

In this episode, we interview Kate Strasdin, who is a dress historian who has been fascinated by old clothes since she was a child.  Her new book, 'The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes: Secrets from a Victorian Woman’s Wardrobe' is a tour de force of History! Kate is a lecturer in Cultural Studies at Falmouth University and an Instagram sensation! In 2016 she was given an anonymous album full of anno...

In this episode, the editorial team meets at the Future Learning Summit to discuss the news today (25/02/23). We look at AI, Presidents, railway strikes, nationalisation and much, much more besides ... For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Join us for this episode where we check out the big news stories of the week and investigate the historical connections and correlations. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we are joined by Mandy Robotham. She is a Globe and Mail, USA Today, and UK, Canadian, US and Australian Kindle Top 100 bestseller. She has been an aspiring author from the age of nine, but was waylaid by journalism and later enticed by birth. She’s now a former midwife who writes about birth, death, love and everything else in between. She graduated...

Jungle. Drum & Bass. Its impressively long history goes back to the very early 1990s, synthesising elements of rave, house and techno, but also reggae and Soundsystem culture.  MC Co-Gee is a musician and artist who needs no introduction to fans of Jungle, Drum & Bass and Reggae. He was the very first Jungle MC on London's premier Jungle Radio Station, Kool FM 94.5 / Kool LDN, which ran be...

Chat GPT has been causing quite a stir on social media and in the news. But how revolutionary is it? Does all technological change have this much impact? What other changes have caused consternation through history? Find out in this episode, where the entire editorial team of Versus History gather round to discuss! For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we welcome back Historian Damien Lewis to discuss his new book 'SAS Brothers in Arms'. Damien Lewis' new bestseller tells the action-packed, riveting story of the band of mavericks and visionaries who made the SAS. Using hitherto untold stories and new archival sources, Damien Lewis follows one close-knit band of warriors from the SAS foundation throu...

Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster. She is the author of The Amber Fury, The Children of Jocasta, and A Thousand Ships, which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020. Her non-fiction book about women in Greek Myth, Pandora’s Jar, was a New York Times Bestseller in 2022. She has written and performed eight series of her BBC Radio 4 show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Cl...

In this episode, the editorial team got together to talk about a small slice of the history that they encountered during their summer travels and also to announce the winner of the amazing Wolfson History Prize 2022 book bonanza!

In the 150th episode of the Versus History Podcast, we interview author Eva Taylor about her new book, 'Sabine's War'. The book notes are below: Sabine’s War is the previously untold story of a remarkable resistance fighter and her incredible story of survival against the odds. When Germany invaded Holland in May 1940, Sabine Zuur joined the resistance movement without a moment’s hesitation aged j...

An interview with Dr Clare Jackson, the winner of Wolfson History Prize 2022 about her book, ‘Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688′. Clare is the Senior tutor of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. The description for the book: Among foreign observers, seventeenth-century England was known as ‘Devil-Land’: a diabolical country of fallen angels, torn apart by rebellion, religious extremism...

This is a Wolfson History Prize 2022 Special! In this special interview we chat with Professor Frances Stavrakopoulou (@ProfFrancesca) about her new book 'God: An Anatomy'. This was a nominee for the 2022 Wolfson History Prize. The description of the book is here: Three thousand years ago, in the Southwest Asian lands we now call Israel and Palestine, a group of people worshipped a complex pantheo...

Mr. Barry Cooper’s educational career spans 20 years, 3 continents, and 4 prestigious schools in London, Edinburgh, Shanghai and Dubai. Most recently, he shaped the academic curriculum for the newly launched Brighton College Dubai, while also finding time to create and curate a new Arts festival. Previously he championed the IB Diploma programme for History at Wellington College Shanghai, after 8...

In this episode, we interview Karina Urbach, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of London about her brand new book.  So what happened to the books that were too valuable for the Nazis to burn? Alice Urbach had her own cooking school in Vienna, but in 1938 she was forced to flee to England, like so many others. Her younger son was imprisoned in Dachau, and her older son, having emigrated to...

In this podcast, Conal, Patrick, and Elliott gather around the microphone to discuss the upcoming November midterm elections in the United States and put them in historical context for the listener. Will the party of the president lose seats in Congress and what might this mean for the man in the White House? Is there historical precedent for a president losing control of either the House of Repre...

In this episode, we catch up with WW2 author and historian Damien Lewis, discussing his brand new book ‘The Flame of Resistance: American Beauty. French Hero. British Spy’.  In December 2021 Josephine Baker, music hall and movie star, and civil rights activist, entered the French Panthéon – the nation’s highest honour. Now Damien Lewis reveals her gripping wartime story. It was during WW2 that Jos...

In this episode, cricket expert and the Head of History at Felsted School, Rakesh Pathak, returns to the Versus History Podcast. Having been our guest in episode #111, Rakesh is back to discuss a range of cricketing questions and themes, including how historians should view Joe Root’s captaincy of the England team, the future of red-ball cricket, the IPL, women’s cricket, The Hundred and the strea...

Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of an economic and political crisis the likes of which the island nation has not witnessed in the years since gaining independence in 1948. Under pressure from protesting Sri Lankans across the country, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse recently resigned and went into hiding. His brother the President - Gotabaya Rajapakse  - just appointed career politician Ranil...

In this episode, we interview Peter Bradley, who was the Labour MP for The Wrekin between 1997 and 2005, about his book ‘The Last Train - A Family History of the Final Solution’. Peter has written, usually on politics, for a wide range of publications, including The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The New Statesman and The New European, but in this interview, he talks at length about his boo...

In this episode, we explore the losing US presidential candidates with Peter Shea. His book, which he co-authored with Tom Maday, entitled In the Arena profiles 34 American leaders who captured their party’s nomination for the presidency, but never reached the Oval Office. Author Peter Shea chronicles the rise, early careers, campaigns, and later achievements of historical giants like Aaron Burr a...

In this episode, we talk with Samuel Clowes Huneke an assistant professor of history at George Mason University about his new book, States of Liberation. The book traces the paths of gay men in East and West Germany from the violent aftermath of the Second World War to the thundering nightclubs of present-day Berlin. Following a captivating cast of characters, from gay spies and Nazi scientists to...

For this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we are fortunate enough to be joined by Historian Bernd von Kostka, discussing Berlin during the Cold War and the book that he has co-authored, entitled ‘Capital of Spies: Intelligence Agencies in Berlin During the Cold War’. We cover lots of ground during the discussion, including legacies of the Cold War, Berlin’s geostrategic position during the c...

In this intriguing episode of the Versus History Podcast, we interviewed historical novelist Nina de Gramont about her truly captivating new book ‘The Christie Affair’. Agatha Christie needs little introduction as a figure of historical significance. The book itself was an Amazon Best Book of February 2022 and has been acclaimed around the world. Amazon Editor Seira Wilson de Gramont’s new novel a...