You're Dead to Me

Greg Jenner is joined by guests Dr Sally Holloway and comedian Cariad Lloyd in the long 18th Century to explore Georgian love and courtship.

Forget Bridgerton and Jane Austen – this is a historical how-to guide to finding a spouse in Georgian England. This episode takes you through a typical courtship in the era, from where to meet a potential partner, what gifts to buy them, and how much involvement your parents might have in the w...

Greg Jenner is joined in 13th-Century Venice by Professor Sharon Kinoshita and comedian Ria Lina to learn all about medieval traveller Marco Polo and his adventures in China.

Born into a family of merchants, in 1271 a teenage Marco set out for the court of the Mongol emperor Qubilai Khan with his father and uncle. They would not return to Italy for nearly a quarter of a century. In the service of the emperor, the Polos saw all manne...

Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Jonathan Morris and comedian Sophie Duker to learn all about the bittersweet history of coffee.

Coffee is undoubtedly one of the most popular drinks worldwide, and we consume an estimated 95 million cups of the stuff everyday in the UK alone. But where does coffee come from, and when did we start enjoying its caffeinated effects? From its origins in medieval Ethiopia and Yemen, through the coffeeho...

Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Vanessa Heggie and comedian Stu Goldsmith to learn all about the perilous history of Arctic exploration.

From the 15th to 20th Centuries, Europeans searched for the Northwest Passage, a supposed seaway between the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean. Indigenous groups had been traversing the passage for centuries, using small skin boats and dog sleds, but from 1497, European expeditions were lau...

Greg Jenner is joined in ancient Mesopotamia by Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid and comedian Phil Wang to learn about the history of cuneiform, the oldest writing system in the world.

In the 19th Century, European scholars began to translate inscriptions found on ruins and clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia - an area of the world between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that encompasses modern Iraq, as well as parts of Syria, Iran, Turkey and...

Greg Jenner is joined in 16th-Century Mexico by Dr Amy Fuller and comedian Jen Brister to learn about Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his translator Malintzin.

In 1521, the powerful Aztec empire was brutally conquered by the Spanish, led by the ambitious and fanatical Hernán Cortés. After a falling-out with his boss in Cuba, Cortés disobeyed orders and led an expedition party into Mexico. He was helped in his conquest by loca...

Greg Jenner is joined in medieval Europe by Dr Mary Bateman and comedian Mike Wozniak to learn all about the legends of King Arthur.

Most of us have heard of Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. But where do these legends come from? Arthur first appears in the writings of a 9th-Century monk, but he’s not the king we know today: no Merlin or Lancelot, no Excalibur, and no Camelot. These elements were added la...

Greg Jenner is joined in 19th-Century America by Dr Michell Chresfield and comedian Desiree Burch to learn all about abolitionist and suffragist Sojourner Truth. Born into slavery in a Dutch-speaking area of New England, Sojourner Truth fought to free herself and then others, becoming one of the best-known abolitionist activists in America. She even succeeded in freeing her son, making her the first Black American woman to win a co...

Greg Jenner is joined in 16th-Century France by Dr Estelle Paranque and comedian Shaparak Khorsandi to learn all about controversial queen Catherine de’ Medici.

Catherine’s life was dramatic from the moment she was born: orphaned when she was just a few weeks old, she was brought up by her uncle the Pope, and her childhood was shaped by the tumultuous politics of Renaissance Florence. At fourteen, she was married to the son of the k...

Greg Jenner is joined in Victorian England by Dr Isabella Rosner and comedian Cariad Lloyd to learn all about the ethos, practitioners and creations of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Most people have heard of William Morris, one of the leaders of the Arts and Crafts movement that came to prominence in England in the last decades of the 19th Century. His abstract, nature-inspired designs still adorn everything from wallpaper and curta...

Greg Jenner is joined in 17th-Century England by Dr Jonathan Healey and comedian Toussaint Douglass to learn about King Charles I and the causes of the British Civil Wars.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Charles I coming to the throne on 27th March 1625. Less than two decades later, his antagonistic relationship with Parliament would ignite a civil war, one that would end with his capture, trial and execution, and the rule ...

Greg Jenner is joined in ancient Greece by Professor Edith Hall and comedian Dan Schreiber to learn all about famous philosopher Aristotle and his world changing ideas. Born a doctor’s son in the coastal settlement of Stagira, Aristotle would go on to revolutionise intellectual life in the west, writing on everything from theatre and the arts to politics, moral philosophy and zoology. After studying under Plato at his academy, Aris...

Greg Jenner is joined in 20th-century New York by Dr Hannah Thuraisingam Robbins and comedian Desiree Burch to learn about the history of Broadway.

Most of us are familiar with at least one Broadway musical, from classics like My Fair Lady and the Sound of Music to new favourites Hamilton and Wicked. In the last couple of decades, high-profile film adaptations of shows like Chicago, Cats and Les Misérables have brought musical theat...

Greg Jenner is joined in the 11th century by Dr Eleanor Barraclough and actor Kiell Smith-Bynoe to learn about legendary Viking explorer Leif Erikson.

Leif was possibly the first European to reach the Americas, nearly half a millennium before Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean. According to the stories told about him, he was a lucky explorer with a murderer for a father and a fearsome warrior for a sister, who travelled in...

Greg Jenner is joined in the Palaeolithic era by Dr Isobel Wisher and comedian Seán Burke to learn about cave art.

Tens of thousands of years ago, human ancestors all over the world began drawing and painting on cave walls, carving figurines, and even decorating their own bodies. Although archaeologists have known about Palaeolithic art since the late 19th century, cutting-edge scientific techniques are only now helping to uncover t...

Greg Jenner is joined in 17th-century Italy by Professor Michelle Sauer and comedian Sophie Duker to learn about notorious nun Benedetta Carlini.

From the moment of her birth in 1590, Benedetta – whose name literally means ‘blessed’ – was dedicated to God’s service by her father. As a young girl, she joined a community of religious women, where in her twenties she began experiencing mystical visions. These culminated in a number of ...

Greg Jenner is joined in the 19th century by Dr Annie Gray and comedian Ed Gamble to learn all about French celebrity chef Alexis Soyer.

Despite being well-known during his lifetime, Soyer is virtually unknown today. His primary legacy was a portable stove, used by the British army until the Falklands War. But Soyer was a prototypical celebrity chef: he opened the Reform Club kitchen to the public so that they could watch him cook, ...

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined in 17th-Century Japan by Dr Satona Suzuki and comedian Ahir Shah to learn all about the Edo period and the Tokugawa shogunate.

When he came to power in 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu became the first shogun to rule over all Japan. He made Edo – later renamed Tokyo – his power base, and over the 250 years of Tokugawa rule, this small town became one of the largest cities in the world. This episode charts...