Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
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Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
Quickfire history in history’s own words, Historycal is the podcast for anyone who’s ever marvelled at the stories that shape us. From the earliest Cuneiform to the crooning of Elvis, from Rock Art to the Model T Ford, Historycal is an exuberant jaunt through the words people have spoken, sung, or s...
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39 episodi
EP 039: 221B BAKER STREET
What was, unbelievably, even more exciting than the first Glenfiddich single malt Scotch, or a man circumnavigating the world on a Penny Farthing? In...
EP 038: THE MONARCH OF MONTGOMERY STREET
What do you do when there's more rice than sauce, nobody remembers your birthday, and you're fed up with the governance of a nation? If you aren't nam...
EP 037: WHEN TIGERS SMOKED PIPES
What came before K-Pop, Squid Game, and politicians dancing to Gangnam style? If you aren't picturing a tiger in a smoking jacket, listen up. Today, w...
EP 036: THE FIRST BIRTHDAY
What do the Ancient Egyptians, JFK, and Chapter One of the Lord of the Rings all have in common? If you aren't thinking of high drama birthday celebra...
EP 035: HEY MR SANDMAN
What's the secret to castles on the shore, beautifully sleeping children and automated girlfriends? In this episode, we're talking the Sandman, the Sa...
EP 034: THIS NIGHT IN SPAIN
What happens when you pay for a wife and lose the husband? This time, we're talking about what Prince Arthur did (or didn't do) in Spain, where Henry...
EP 033: THE FOOD OF LOVE
What do you get if you combine four lovers, two sea captains, and one brilliant disguise? If you aren't thinking of every tacky motivational poster yo...
EP 032: IF THE SHOE FITS
What gruesome sport is favored amongst Princes, and can a glass slipper really carry the weight of a running girl? Today, we're tackling the tough stu...
EP 031: MAN’S BEST FRIEND
What do a lawyer, a poet and the King of Prussia have in common? In this episode, we're talking love, loyalty, and how cats (and people) can't be trus...
EP 030: VARNEY THE VAMPIRE
What came before Twilight, the Salvatore brothers, and even Count Dracula? In this episode, we're talking Penny Dreadfuls, cheap thrills, and the geom...
EP 029: GO ASK ALICE
What did the innocent words in a high school yearbook foreshadow for one of the world's oldest and most stigmatized diseases? If you aren't thinking o...
EP 028: I HAVE NOT SHOT HER YET
What was John Peter Toohey thinking when he first called the Algonquin Round Table to order? And what did it take to crack an invite? Today we're talk...
EP 027: DEAR JOHN
What does mail have to do with morale, and how can you ruin both in one fell swoop? In this episode we're talking women, war and Dear John letters......
EP 026: JIBES, JEERS AND OTHER SICK BURNS
What do Winston Churchill, William Shakespeare and Pope John XXIII have in common? The answer: they all know how to deliver a sick burn. And now you d...
EP 025: THE GREAT FISH OF MĀUI
What's better for brothers than stowaways, shipwreck, and a good long fishing trip? Today, we're talking canoes, New Zealand's countryside, and the de...
EP 024: TURTLES, TRICKSTERS AND TROUBLE
What do Brer Rabbit, spiders and Tom Hiddleston have in common? If trickster figures in ancient mythology wasn't your first thought, this episode is f...
EP 023: BOTTOMS UP!
What makes a cocktail a cocktail, and how did some unsuspecting horses get dragged into it? In this episode, we've got Mint Julips, speakeasies, the F...
EP 022: I HATE MONDAYS
What does the world's favourite cat have against Mondays, and in how many other ways do they suck? As it turns out, many. And they're mostly self-infl...
EP 021: BURN YOUR BOATS
What do you do when someone tells you to burn the ride you came in? And how do you get home for dinner if you burn the bridges too? Today, we're going...
EP 020: THE GREAT KHAN
What do you say to a man who has taken the keys to your kingdom? And what do you say to cheer up your grieving daughter? In this episode, we're tackl...
EP 019: WE’RE ALL MAD HERE
What do you get when you cross a hat with a common (or garden) thermometer?
Mad hatters... and hatted madmen. In this episode, we're delving int...
EP 018: TALKING HEADS
What does it take to get a cow's head onto your doorstep? (Rest of cow, not included). Today, we're talking Ukrainian fairy tales, evil stepmothers, a...
EP 017: THE ARMADILLO’S SONG
What would you sacrifice for Art? And, more importantly, what does a wizard give an Armadillo when he comes to tea? In this episode, we take our first...
EP 016: THE SLAVE WHO KILLED THE POX
What is the juice of smallpox, and when it is it best served? In this episode, we explore variolation, milkmaids, and how a slave in Boston helped cha...
EP 015: MONSTROUS SPAGHETTI
What's squiggly, saucy, and digs a pirate patch? If Bobby Henderson's open letter to the Kansas School Board didn't spring to mind, this one is for yo...
EP 014: SANSKRIT, STORIES AND SAGES
What do you get when you go looking for the herbs of eternal life? Not that. But maybe something better. In this episode, we talk the Panchatantra, so...
EP 013: THAT WAY, MADNESS
What's the fastest route to unhappy daughters, war with the French, and eventual relegation to the self-help annals of YouTube? In this episode, we ta...
EP 012: WITH A BANG
What came first: the cosmic chicken, or the cosmic egg? Either way, Fred Hoyle would disapprove. In this episode we're off to the edge of the universe...
EP 011: AN EPIC DEFEAT
What happens in medieval Russia, when sudden darkness plunges you into one of your first (and only) military defeats?
Someone immortalizes it in...
EP 010: LET THEM EAT CAKE
What do Kirsten Dunst, chocolate gateaux and the French Revolution have in common? Today, we're talking about the most famous words Marie Antoinette n...
EP 009: THE SILK ODE
What do you get when you cross a mulberry leaf with a flying horse? In this episode we're answering that very question, diving into whether silkworms...
EP 008: HOW ANANSI GOT HIS TALE
What has eight legs, one wife, and all the stories in the world? If the trickster Anansi wasn't your first guess, listen up. If it was, listen anyway....
EP 007: BEWARE THE IDES
What do soothsayers, animal organs and the 15th of March have in common? Answer: one murder, 60 conspirators, and countless fantastic spinoffs. Includ...
EP 006: IT TAKES TUTU
What's the difference between an Archbishop and an activist? And is it ever appropriate to eat Yogi Sip for dinner? (Spoiler: Yes.) In today's episode...
EP 005: HALF A MAN WALKS INTO A BAR
What do you find when you get to the edge of the world? According to the Epic of Gilgamesh, it's a pub. Today, we're diving into the world's oldest pi...
EP 004: I LIKE HER NOT!
What did Henry VIII do to turn his wife into his sister? And, more importantly, why did nobody point out how totally bonkers that was? Today we’re tur...
EP 003: FROM EGYPT, WITH LOVE
What's the secret to a happy life in Ancient Egypt? These ancient words might be one of history's best (and best kept) secrets. In this episode, we di...
EP 002: WORDS ON WORDS
What do a pencil, a peanut, and a pilot have in common? They're all in the same book - and this is how they got there. In this episode, we take a quic...
EP 001: A HORRID LOOKING WRETCH
What convinced Abraham Lincoln to grow his most famous feature? In this episode, we dive into the charming letters between the famous president and hi...