Germans soldiers called it Blitzkatarrh, British soldiers called it Flanders Grippe, but the 1918 pandemic was most commonly known as 'Spanish Flu'. Catherine Arnold is the author of 'Pandemic 1918', and she joined me on the pod to discuss this terrible disease. A disease where victims suffered haemorrhages from the lungs and nose, skin turning blue from lack of oxygen and choking to death from 'air hunger' as the lungs filled with blood and pus. As Catherine explains, communities across the world battled with the infection in different ways, sometimes confronted with whole swathes of disobedient citizens. Yet again, it seems looking into the past provides valuable guidance for our actions today.
The Haitian Revolution caused a seismic shift in global politics. When a mixture of different groups on the French colony of Saint Domingue rose against the colonists, few expected the rebellion to succeed. However, under the leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitians became one of the few...
Rebecca Gibb is a Master of Wine. A ninja who can sniff out a Merlot from a Margot at 50 paces. I know ABSOLUTELY nothing about wine other than I like drinking it. So we had a lot to talk about. She has written a fascinating research paper on the riots that tore through the region of Champagne ju...
Dan Snow meets Leanda de Lisle, whose new biography of Charles I attempts to re-evaluate the reign of Charles I.