Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society
Join sex historian Dr Kate Lister on Betwixt the Sheets as she gets intimate with the stories that would make your history teacher blush. What were the Victorians really like behind closed (bedroom) doors? How did the Black Death favour women in medieval England? And what was Caesar like in the sack? Join Kate as she bed-hops 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. Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society - a podcast from History Hit. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Lord Nelson is remembered as one of history's greatest military commanders. His victories at the Battle of the Nile, the Battle of Copenhagen and the Battle of Trafalgar cemented his legendary status, as did his dramatic death mid-battle.
But there's another side to Nelson's story: his extraordinary love affair with Emma Hamilton. Today, Kate explores the scandalous relationship between Britain's greatest naval hero and his famo...
As if the Tudor world wasn't mad enough, in 1528 a mystic nun showed up demanding an audience with Henry VIII.
Elizabeth Barton stood in front of him and told him that his controversial marriage to Anne Boleyn would make God strike him down.
Did Barton survive this? Well, what do you think. As the only nun executed in English history, what was her origin story? How did she become so famous? And if her visions weren't real, wh...
The samurai are some of the most mythologised people in history, so let's do some myth busting!
Kate is joined by Joe Nickols, who co-curated the British Museum's samurai exhibition, to dive into the real lives of the samurai. How much fighting did they actually do? Could women be samurais? And what did they use for lube?
Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vot...
This is the wild story of a 12th century French philosopher, Abelard, who fell in love with his student, Heloise.
There are a lot of problematic issues going on. Not least their age gap, the resulting power dynamic, and, oh yes—Abelard was castrated.
So why does this love story endure?
Joining Kate today is the fantastic Dr Eleanor Janega, historian, author and co-host of our sister podcast Gone Medieval.
Voting i...
You know her from the perfume, the little black dress, the double C bag clasp, but who was the woman, Coco Chanel? What even was her real name?
From her origin story, through her inspirations and affairs, to her connections to the Nazi party - today we find out more about Chanel.
Kate is joined by NYT columnist Rhonda Garelick, author of 'Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History' and founding director at Hofstra's I...
‘Who wants a girl with a personality?’ Historically, not the royals.
Queen Caroline of Brunswick became Queen Consort of the United Kingdom in 1820, when her husband became King George IV. She was incredibly popular with the public, but unfortunately not so much with her husband, who had hated her from the start (the feeling was mutual).
Today, Kate is joined by Ann Foster to tease apart all of the wild parties, p...
Poor Catherine Howard. She was smart, intelligent and undeniably beautiful, but ultimately no match for the vicious Henry VIII.
She was certainly a victim but was she totally blameless?
Joining Kate today is the always-fabulous historian Gareth Russell, author of Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII, to help us find out more about this short-lived Queen of England.
Voting i...
Pablo Picasso's impact on the art world was sensational, but what impact did he have on the people around him?
His relationship history contains some problematic moments, to say the least, so we are asking if you can - or even if you should - separate the art from the artist.
Joining Kate today is author and Harvard professor, Suzanne Blier, to help us navigate this and find out more about Pablo Picasso.
Voting is now open...
After the Russian Revolution in 1917, sex work was a prime example of what capitalism did to society.
Under communism, sex work would no longer need to exist in society.
Spoiler: it very much still existed.
How were sex workers treated in Soviet Russia? Why were they glamourised? And what's the sex industry like in Russia today?
Joining Kate today is expert on all of this and more, Professor Emily Schuckman ...
Beautiful women are always causing trouble in history, and perhaps none more so than Helen of Troy.
She's the daughter of Zeus and a human mother, after all.
With the new film Odyssey hitting the big screen, find out all about the formidable Helen of Troy who was supposedly the most beautiful woman in the world and caused the Trojan War.
Joining Kate today is Ruby Blondell, Professor of Classics at University of Washington...
Picture a dragon and its dragon slayer. What do you imagine?
It's likely going to be a giant, scaly, fire-breathing beast and a rugged knight with a massive sword. However, throughout history we have amazing myths of women dragon slayers.
What are the ancient origins of the dragon? How do women dragon slayers differ from their male counterparts? And what genitals do medieval dragons have?!
Joining Kate today is historian a...
With the Fourth of July and America's 250th around the corner we wanted to revisit an episode and take a look back at the presidents from the past what we know about their sex lives.
Which president was well-endowed and supposedly presented it to staff in the Oval Office? Which president had an affair on his honeymoon? And which had an affair with his wife's secretary?
And no, they're not all JFK.
Why did 200 people queue to give blood in the San Diego summer heat on 16 July 1983?
During the AIDS crisis, many people living with HIV developed severe anaemia as a result of the disease and the treatments available at the time, leaving them dependent on regular blood transfusions. But where would the blood come from, especially with gay men being turned away from donating?
In this episode, we're exploring one of the most i...
Marlene Dietrich was unapologetic in her love of sex, and she had a lot of it.
She took Hollywood by storm in the 1930s and slept with some of tinsel town's most famous men and women.
What made her so unique and create such a legacy? As a sexually liberated German woman what did the Nazis make of her? And did she really sleep with JFK and his father?!
This is the final instalment of our mini-series, Supersluts of History, ...
Why on earth would anyone make a perilous journey across wilderness and snow covered mountains, all because of a bit of gold?
This isn't Lord of the Rings, it's the Klondike Gold Rush, when an estimated hundred thousand people made the journey across Alaska to goldfields in the Klondike region, Canada. Among them, women.
But why did women make this journey? How much of their work was sex work?
Kate is joined by Brian Castn...
Mata Hari was a dancer and courtesan who was executed in 1917 for being a spy during the First World War.
How did she get involved in such dangerous business? Was she really a mastermind spy who used her sexuality to gain intelligence? Or a scapegoat whose sexuality was used against her?
In our new mini-series, Supersluts of History, we're exploring and celebrating women whose sexuality was used to define them.
Has Burlesque always meant the same thing? Where did it come from? And how has it changed?
Kate is joined by Dr Marissa Vigneault, Associate Professor of Art History at Utah State University, to find out more about how burlesque has become the art form it is today.
This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.
Madam du Barry's life was remarkable: from rags, to riches, to... revolution. And she pi**ed off Marie Antoinette along the way, too.
How did this courtesan from a poor background make it to be royal mistress in Versailles? How did the French Revolution impact her? And what her 'special talents' that attracted King Louis XV?
In our new mini-series, we're exploring and celebrating women whose sexuality was used to define them.
...What really went down in the Garden of Eden? Was there an apple? Was there a snake? Was the 'original sin' all that bad?
To answer these questions and more, Kate is joined by Dr Dylan Johnson, biblical scholar and historian of the Ancient Near East at Cardiff University. His most recent publication is 'Lawgiving in the ancient Near East'.
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new relea...
In this new mini-series, we're exploring and celebrating women whose sexuality was used to define them.
First up is Roman Empress Theodora. How did "Theodora from the brothels", as she was known, rise to be the most powerful woman across the Roman Empire?
Joining Kate today is author Stella Duffy, to take us back to the 6th century and help us get to know Theodora's incredible story.
This episode was edited by Tim Arstall....
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