🎧 Betwixt the Sheets

🎧 Betwixt the Sheets

Why did kings and queens have spectators on their wedding night? Who had the very first boob job? And did our ancestors have their unmentionables pierced?

Join historian, Kate Lister, Betwixt the Sheets as she unashamedly roots around the topics which seem to have been skipped in history class.

Everything from landmark LGBTQ+ court cases, to political scandal, to downright bizarre medieval cures for impotence. The etymology of swear words, gender bias in medicine, and satanic panic and cults - there’s nothing off limits.

She'll be bed-hopping around different time periods; from ancient civilisations, to the middle ages, to renaissance and early modern...right up to now.

You’ll laugh, you’ll wince, and you’ll ask yourself how much has actually changed.

So join Kate Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society - a podcast from History Hit.

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🎧 Betwixt the Sheets
  • 🎧 Sordid Soho

    From the Chevalier de Saint-Georges to the Merry Monarch to Madame Jojo and Madame Trenti, the district of Soho in London has played host to many of the naughtiest names in history. And now, we can include Kate Lister on that list.

    In this episode, join us for a walking tour of Soho with Katie W...

  • 🎧 Lord Byron: Incest, Adultery & Daddy Issues

    How debaucherous do you have to be to be remembered as the original bad boy? How mad, bad and dangerous to know was Lord Byron? And how much of it did he get from his family?

    For this episode, Kate is joined by Emily Brand, the author of β€˜The Fall of the House of Byron: Scandal and Seduction in ...

  • 🎧 Female Nudity & Modesty

    Why is the naked body of a life model more respected than a glamour model? Why has there been a resurgence in virtue policing? And why was Kate completely naked during the interview with today’s guest?!

    Today we’re casting off our clothes and slipping Betwixt the Sheets with academic, feminist, ...

  • 🎧 Medieval Women: Beauty, Work & Pubic Hair

    How would a medieval woman achieve a Brazilian bikini line? Why can’t you trust a nun in the night time? And what were women doing at Medieval universities?

    Kate is joined for the THIRD time by Eleanor Janega to talk about how women were expected to be in the medieval era, and how they actually...

  • 🎧 Women Rebels: The Spanish Civil War

    From aristocratic rebels to Civil Rights activists, tens of thousands of people travelled to Spain during the Civil War - and not all of them were men...

    Whether they were fighting, nursing or reporting, in this episode of Betwixt the Sheets we are going to meet a few of the women who chose to r...

  • 🎧 From Eve to Austen: Women in Literature

    Why might a woman have willingly confined herself to a cell for the rest of her life? Why have so many female authors in history published under aliases or initials? And what was Jane Austen’s dirtiest joke?

    In this episode of Betwixt the Sheets, Kate is joined by Anna Beer to discuss an alterna...

  • 🎧 The History of Periods

    β€˜It’s my time of the month’, β€˜the painters are in’, β€˜aunt flo is visiting’, or a simple β€˜I’m on the rag’

    Periods are a fact of life for so many people. So how have they been understood? How have they been talked about and concealed? And why have periods stopped so many people from going swimming...

  • 🎧 The Real Bridgerton

    The first series of Bridgerton broke viewership records and became the biggest series on Netflix ever when it first came out. But a raunchy period drama is nothing new, shows with an eroticised view of the past have always been popular. Think Game of Thrones, The Tudors, Peaky Blinders...they’re ...

  • 🎧 Wedding Dresses

    In the UK, just over half of people above the age of 16 are married. Whether in a registry office, a place of worship or a remote beach somewhere sunny, each of these couples will have had to do some form of planning. Guest lists, cake, flowers and, of course, outfits.

    Today Betwixt the Sheets, ...

  • 🎧 Cooking for Churchill: Georgina Landemare

    Clear soup, Irish stew and steamed puddings - this was the war work of Georgina Landemare, the Churchills’ longest-serving cook.

    Throughout the war years, Georgina served the Prime Minister, delegations of diplomats and the occasional royal, as well as the other staff of 10 Downing Street, Chequ...

  • 🎧 Hag Horror: Older Women on Film

    Why are women over the age of 50 so often cast as terrifying, decaying, manipulative people in Hollywood? When did this start? And how might it have been a reaction to second wave feminism?

    In this episode, Kate is joined by Caroline Young to talk about the birth of Hagsploitation, or Hag Horror...

  • 🎧 Agrippina: Rome's Most Powerful Empress?

    She was a woman of unparalleled power, descended from Julius Caesar and Augustus. But how did she get there, whilst most of the rest of her family were exiled and starved to death? And how, then, did she come to be murdered by her own son, Nero?

    Today Kate is joined by Emma Southon for an introd...

  • 🎧 Food, Sin & Shame

    Why might a medieval nun drink the pus of an ill patient? Where does β€˜fishy Friday’ come from? And what does all of this have to do with religion?

    Today, Kate is joined between some Reformation sheets by Eleanor Barnett, from instagram's @historyeats. They talk about how religion, and in particu...

  • 🎧 The Real Casanova

    Content Warning: This episode contains adult themes and language that may not be suitable for children.

    On this special network crossover episode we're calling 'History Hit in the Sheets', host of our chart-storming 'Betwixt the Sheets' podcast Kate Lister joins Dan to unravel the stories, adve...

  • 🎧 Marie Stopes: Birth Control & Eugenics

    Why would someone disown their son over a pair of glasses? How could an unmarried woman in 1918 have published a book about sexual pleasure? And what is an appropriate gift for a newlywed prince and princess?

    Today, we’re looking at the complicated woman who was Marie Stopes - family planning p...

  • 🎧 Prison Plastic Surgery

    Facelifts, liposuction and nose jobs: since the mid 20th century people have saved up to have their faces and bodies transformed into their dreams.
    But why might these procedures have been offered in prisons across the US, the UK and Canada? And what was the desired outcome?
    Today, Kate is joined...

  • 🎧 Wallis Simpson

    She is surely one of the most fascinating figures in Royal history. Perceived as a bad match for Edward VIII, Wallis Simpson is at the centre of the scandal surrounding his abdication.

    But what do we know about her life besides this? From childhood to exile - Anne Sebba introduces us to the Duch...

  • 🎧 Eunuchs

    From Ancient Assyria to the Byzantine Empire, from the Qing dynasty’s Forbidden City to 19th century operas; Eunuchs have been present across a huge range of the world’s history. Despite this, they are often mainly thought of in terms of their private parts.

    So today Betwixt the Sheets, Kate is ...

  • 🎧 A History of Porn

    What did porn look like before the internet? Who was it for? And how has it changed since?

    In this episode, Kate chats to Kathleen Lubey, a professor at St. John’s University and specialist in eighteenth-century literature. Kathleen talks us through the history of pornography … that is, the type...

  • 🎧 The Blues

    So much of today’s music takes inspiration from the Blues, but where did Blues music itself come from?

    Kate is joined by Lamont Jack Pearley - applied folklorist, ethnographer and historian of African American traditional music - who takes us through the history of Blues music, from influence to...

  • 🎧 Royal Sibling Rifts

    Just in case you haven’t heard, a certain prince has released a memoir recently detailing a challenging relationship between him and his brother, the heir to the throne.

    But royal sibling rifts are nothing new, in fact we can trace it back centuries… and we’re going Betwixt the Sheets to find ou...

  • 🎧 Syphilis

    From Acts of Parliament to unethical clinical studies to legendary symphonies (possibly) - syphilis has stained many different areas of history.
    To find out what this disease is, what it does to the body and how treatments of it and the people who have it have changed, Kate spoke to Cat Irving, H...

  • 🎧 Teen Sex

    Do you remember the first time you thought about sex? Or the first time you talked to someone else about sex?

    In this episode, Kate is discussing mid-20th century teenage sexuality with Hannah Charnock from the University of Bristol. Hannah has been using first hand accounts to find out how teen...

  • 🎧 Paganism & Festive Traditions

    The darkest nights of the year have long been the time for celebrations, from Yule and Mother Night, to Christmas and New Year's Eve. But where did these traditions come from? Who started kissing under the mistletoe? Why are trees decorated and brought into homes around this time of year? And how...