Yesterday's London Times

Living in Paris during the Revolution and Reign of Terror might not seem like the right place at the right time, but if your job is to make wax sculptures of heads, it’s kind of perfect. In this episode we meet Marie Tussaud, and follow along as she creates a London institution. Follow along as we: Meet little Marie, living with a doctor who makes wax anatomical models, Rub elbows with royals and...

We begin this episode by thinking about the work of people's hands.  We wonder about the connections between knitting and history, trade, the industrial revolution, social connection, activism, and new interpretations. Along the way, we’ll: visit Tudor England, when the wool trade was at its economic core and resulted in some pretty intense legislation for common citizens, check in on technol...

In this episode, we journey through the fascinating and often surprising history of Scotland Yard, the iconic home of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). Inspired by last week’s episode about the haunting tales of the Tower of London, we shift focus to uncover the evolution of law enforcement in London. From the chaotic days of watchmen during the 18th century gin craze to the formation of the...

The Tower of London has watched over the city for nearly a millennium.  If you are a priceless Jewel,  the Tower is your protector. To countless of the city’s accused, a captor. Royals, regals, religious, and rogues. The Tower has seen them all. Many have been famous, and many more have been lost to history. Holding in all of these secrets is a challenge for the Tower, and, late at night, after th...

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we deal with vampires in old London Town,’.    - Ben Aaronovitch in Rivers of London We start this episode in the London neighborhood of Highgate. It’s famous cemetery, exuding Victorian design and extravagance, is the setting for our first story, about a potential paranormal experience and the long term metaphysical feud that resulted. We’ll delve into main...

Until very recently, only London held the distinction of hosting the Summer Olympics three times, more than any other city in the world. The Games in London have been pivotal, memorable, and marked by very significant historical context, beginning with the early 20th-century growth of the modern Olympics in 1908, to the intense symbolism of post-war recovery in 1948, and finally the modern legacy...

In this episode, Jen and Mares take a moment to reflect on their journey as podcasters, and take a look back at episodes in their catalogue that both examine and celebrate London over time during the hottest months of the year. For both new listeners and veterans of the community alike, there’s something for everyone this summer in the city. We will highlight: virtual walking tours of past episode...

Mares and Jen have enjoyed playing  a game of luck called “Underground Roulette.”  The game is easy to play. Just select a tube stop at random, keep a curious mind, and hit the streets!  It’s an engaging way to get a sense of place and all that the city offers.  But, what if we could add the dimension of time, seeing not only the neighborhood as it is, but as it was? In this episode, we explore th...

Wildlife on the Tube: it’s not just on the Northern Line at night. It’s everywhere. Throughout the Underground, flora and fauna show up  intentionally - and unintentionally - in the most surprising places. In this episode, we will: explore the gardens maintained voluntarily by TfL employees  discuss the history of the London Underground In Bloom competition learn about a subspecies of mosquito tha...

“Is it worth anything to you, guv’nor?” It’s boots on the street in city centre as we pinball through time … from the 1600s, to 1912, to current day.  We’ll think and wonder about how unknown treasures might exist even in the heart of an urban area. Along the way we’ll … park ourselves in Cheapside, and learn of its history, shine a light on the work of a group of navvies, who excavated below the...

Providing up to 5 million passenger journeys a day, the London Underground is integral to the city's infrastructure.  It's impossible to imagine how the city would function without it. But why would something built for purpose become a source of admiration and entertainment?  A Transport for London style guide provides powerful evidence: "Every Underground station should include at...

At Yesterday’s London Times, we are all about inquiry, questions and stories, particularly stories that are new to us or that we just want to know on a deeper level. We seek out people, places, and facets of history that are lesser known, quirkier, or even downright strange. We also like to shine a spotlight on those who really do - or have done - amazing things, but perhaps have been forgotten ov...

A little romance? What began as a fluff piece about an eccentric romance novelist turned into a snapshot of a century through the eyes of someone who lived it to the fullest. Meet Barbara Cartland: extravagant, exaggerated, and … pink. As author of 723 books, she remains the most prolific romance novelist of all time. If you’ve ever seen her, you won’t likely forget her, dripping in jewels, layere...

Bears. Cute. Cuddly.  But when we looked at them through the long lens of London history, it got complicated pretty quickly. Join us as we take the ursine plunge, and think about…. the bears that roamed Britain 7000 years ago  the Tower menagerie, blood sports such a bearbaiting, especially popular during the Elizabethan period, the invention of the stuffed bear and its significance in the Great W...

It's a Yesterday's London Times tradition - the Boxing Day episode! Relax along with us as we look back at some of the people and places we met on the podcast this year. Half of our episodes sent us time traveling throughout the Sixties in different centuries of British history, and the other episodes were our regular mix of quirky yet thoughtful takes on the city we love. We  present ou...

WELCOME TO OUR 50th EPISODE! In the final stop of our ‘60s YLT Time Machine, we touch down in the 1560’s just in time for a Tudor Christmas. In a deeply divided nation in which religion is politicized, we’ll see how the young Queen Elizabeth finds her own path. The Tudor Christmas was a respite from work and from unrelenting poverty. It was a time of revelry and a loosening of societal roles. Our...

In our 2021 episode, “Here is Vogue , In Spite of it All!”, we explored how the British edition of the iconic fashion  magazine evolved into an outlet for groundbreaking Vogue wartime journalism. As we studied the reasons behind that seemingly unlikely transformation, we met some strong, creative, and intellectually brilliant women, among them the complex and multitalented Lee Miller. In this epis...

It’s getting all wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey at YLT as we celebrate a huge milestone in British culture: the 60th anniversary of the iconic Doctor Who! In this episode, we :  look at the unlikely-for-the-time trio who launched Doctor Who back in 1963 discuss the basic premise of the show examine its importance as a British cultural phenomenon reflect on the symbolism and deeper messages within the...

Let's do the Time Warp... it's the Rocky Horror episode! Though many people have seen the cult classic film, few people know about its origins in a 63 seat London theatre.   In this episode, we :  delve into the creative team and cast responsible for its deviant mayhem, sharing their back stories and how they all converged in time and place in early '70s London, take a trip back in...

Hop in the YLT time machine, we are on the move once again, but brace yourself: 1666 awaits. How do everyday people survive constant war, devastating plague, and raging destruction all within the span of a very short window of time? In this episode, we examine the perseverance of Medieval Londoners, and explore many themes of life in the 17th century that surprisingly overlap with some of the live...

In this 60’s time travel event, we explore deep! We’re in the 1060s, further, in history than we’ve ever gone on YLT. How can a simple craft help us to think about a complex, political and military event? We examine the Norman conquest, the battle of Hastings, through the Bayeux tapestry. You’ll meet the major players and dig deeper to discover some of the incongruous and enigmatic characters on t...

We’re back to the Sixties again; this time, the 1360s! Before commercial travel, a pilgrimage provided tourism with a spiritual twist. A veneration vacation, so to speak. Today, people travel for spiritual reasons to Mecca, the Ganges. Jerusalem, Israel, Mount Fuji, El Camino de Santiago de Compostela,  and other destinations.  The medieval pilgrimage was deeply linked to religion, social structur...

Are you ready for a break? Do you just need to get away? YLT understands, so let’s escape for a bit and go on holiday together! In this episode, we will: - examine the history of leisure in Britain and the evolution of paid leave from work - consider how public transportation increased mobility and accessibility to the seaside from Victorian era onward - take a look at the Victorian trend of “dark...

To celebrate London Pride 1st July, we share a tour through queer London history, anchoring at Gay’s the Word, a Bloomsbury book shop that has played a pivotal role in queer life and history. We’ll think about… the systems that have oppressed,  how oppression can stoke the spirit of activism, unusual alliances in times of struggle, how a bookstore can serve as beacon and safe harbor,  a specific s...

It’s that time of the year in certain places around the world. The ending of a school year sometimes comes with yearbooks, collections of formal and informal photos that capture memories. Often, yearbooks have awards.  Who will be Most Likely to Succeed ? Who’s the Most Athletic ?  Who will be dubbed Class Clown ? In this episode, Jen and Mares each nominate two Londoners from any time in history,...