In the last week of March 1912, Captain Robert Falcon Scott died in his tent in Antarctica, on his failed effort to become the first person to reach the South Pole. He'd just missed out to the Norwegians under explorer Roald Amundsen. You might think the British had no chance from the beginning- ...

Early aquariums didn't have much more in them than some sorry looking trout. Yet such was the excitement at being able to see this underwater world for the first time people queued for hours to get a peak.

Taking Dallas through the surprising history of fish tanks and aquariums is the world's on...

You may have seen in the news that archaeologists have been reassessing a phallic object from Vindolanda Roman Fort in the north of Britain.

How does the saying go ... "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." Do you think this counts for d...

When we think of Vikings, we tend to picture them in the colder climates of Northern Europe, and not so much in the warmer regions of Spain and the Mediterranean beyond.

However, joining Dr. Cat Jarman today is Dr. Irene García Losquiño, a researcher whose work is uncovering Viking activity on t...

During the Battle of Trafalgar, the men on the gun decks of HMS Victory felt the heat of fire from above and from below; they dodged enemy cannon balls shot from just 2 metres away. HMS Victory was the flagship of Nelson's fleet during that historic clash with the French and Spanish on the 21st o...

With Putin's war in Ukraine raging on, the threat of a nuclear conflict feels as real as ever. But since the Iron Curtain fell, our understanding of what to do in the event of a nuclear strike has waned. In this episode, we look to the past to discover the extraordinary things that the British go...

This episode contains graphic references of violence and torture

The rise of Islamic State (ISIS) stands as one of the darkest legacies of the Iraq War. Founded as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the organisation joined the conflict in 2003 by attacking not only Coalition troops but Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi gov...

*Trigger Warning*

This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and cruelty against animals.

The Romans were - and still are - infamous for the brutal gladiatorial contests they held in their ancient amphitheatres. But often what made their games so spectacular were the exotic animals ...

While the President of the United States is often seen as the most powerful person in the world, the vastness of the Federal government is too much for just one person to oversee. The president needs someone to control events, run the White House, respond to challenges and handle emergencies. Tha...

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...

In early 1945, with an inevitable defeat of Nazi Germany on the horizon, the Allied leaders of the United States, Britain and Russia came together to decide the postwar future of Europe itself. The ‘Big Three’, made up of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin - met at Yalta in Crimea, with the reorgani...

The Ouija Board was patented in 1890. But in did not appear out of thin air. It was only one in a long, long line of devices attempting to pierce the veil between this world and the next.

Come with us, if you dare, on a journey through the Spiritualism that rocked America in the 19th century and...

Shrouded in mystery, the Nuragic culture was an enigmatic Bronze Age Civilisation that lived on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. With their name deriving from the Island's iconic fortress-like Nuraghe monument - they have not only defined Bronze Age history, but even the very land from which...

In the 17th Century, people experienced major social and economic problems that intertwined with religious disagreements and political debates. The turbulence led to civil war, the execution of King Charles I and a failed experiment with Republicanism. But what led Britain into this world turned ...

A Stuart time capsule has emerged from beneath the sand after 320 years. In early December 1703, barometers across South-Eastern England plunged as a cyclone made landfall in Britain leaving a path of destruction in its wake. In London, the roof of Westminster Abbey was ripped off and hundreds of...

As two of humanity's great religions, Islam and Christianity have shaped much of the world's history. Empires across the globe have risen and fallen under their influence, and there have been many occasions for them to go head-to-head on the battlefield. So what have been some of the greatest mil...

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 ‘The Fall of the House of Byron: Scandal and Seduction in ...

Looking back at the past few weeks, it seems like banks are collapsing left, right and centre; but what exactly does this mean for us? Are these inconsequential blips on the financial radar, or will they herald the beginning of a major banking crisis? On today's episode, Dan is joined by Charles ...

Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the legends of Thor, Odin and Asgard are familiar to millions today. Yet the histories of these myths are far richer than modern popular culture often implies. From Yggdrasil to Ragnarok, the seemingly unending tales of heroism, betrayal and intrigue found...

At its height the Iroquois Confederacy (or Haudenosaunee) - a union of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations - controlled lands from Quebec to Ohio.

Its origin story goes back to the legend of the warrior Hiawatha and the Peacemaker. In the end its system of governance may hav...

Perhaps one of the best known modern dictators, Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq for nearly 30 years before eventually being overthrown in 2003 by the US Coalition. Known for his authoritarian rule, the use of chemical weapons against his own people, and multiple invasions of neighbouring countries - Sa...

Every bottle of Tabasco sauce on earth comes from one place - Avery Island, deep down in Louisiana. The same place where the sauce was invented by one Edmund McIlhenny in 1868.

Joining Dallas to uncover the origin story of the world’s favourite spicy sauce is the official Tabasco historian Shane...

Over 100 miles further than the northern reaches of Britain, past Orkney, are a remote group of islands that make up Shetland.

It’s one of the best kept secrets of prehistoric Scotland, containing evidence of the lives that were lived there some 5,000 years ago with Viking archeology as well as ...

While rifling through a stall at a flea market in Leningrad- now St Petersburg- composer and music producer Stephen Coates came across something unusual. It looked like a vinyl record, but when he held it up to the light, he noticed he could see the pattern of human bones on it. It was a bootlegg...