Noble Blood

Elizabeth Stuart was the daughter of King James I and VI of England and Scotland. Her husband was offered the throne of Bohemia, and who would ever say no to a crown? 

Support Noble Blood:
—PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

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Elizabeth Swaney fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming an Olympian, defying all odds. But it wasn’t supernatural athletic ability that got her there. And by the time she made it to the 2018 Winter Olympics, a lot of people were rooting against her. Here's the incredible story of a woman who made it to the Games by understanding those odds better than anyone else.

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Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola was a brilliant and precocious philosopher, who caused a stir in Italy with his writings before he was even 25. But Pico would have many powerful enemies and rivals, and his suspicious death would remain a mystery for centuries.

Support Noble Blood:
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story...

Dana is joined by the science writer for The Economist, Matt Kaplan, to discuss 18th century medical progress, the legacy of Maria Theresa, and the tragedy of Ignaz Semmelweis. Order Matt's new book, I TOLD YOU SO!, now.

Support Noble Blood:
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Cyrano de Bergerac is a larger-than-life figure in pop culture, whose story has been adapted countless times. But it turns out, Cyrano was a real man, albeit possibly with a smaller nose than media has led you to believe.

Support Noble Blood:
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

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The Florentine Diamond was one of the crown jewels (sorry) of the Habsburgs—a 137-carat diamond that had come from the court of the Duke of Tuscany. But after World War I, when the Austrian Empire collapsed, the royal family fled to Switzerland, taking the diamond with them. From there, it disappeared. Or did it?

Support Noble Blood:
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'An...

Antoine Lavoisier was a French chemist, who gave us the name for oxygen and other terminology that we still use today. But he was also a wealthy man who collected taxes and served the Ancien régime, and when the revolution came, the elements were ripe for explosion.

Support Noble Blood:
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortalit...

In the 17th century, aristocratic France was set on high alert—women were procuring poisons and using it for nefarious, murderous means. It was a scandal that mortified the nobility, quite literally. And it all seemed to come back to one woman, known as La Voisin.

Support Noble Blood:
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: ...

The glamorous Mitford sisters—six daughters of a Baron—have captivated the public imagination for decades. One became a duchess, one a famous novelist, one retired into a life of privacy, two become fascists, and one became a communist. Jessica "Decca" Mitford is a character larger than life, and the subject of the new book, TROUBLEMAKER, from Carla Kaplan.

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— Bonus episodes, stickers, and s...

Though she was born in Ireland with no Spanish blood, the self-named "Lola Montez" captivated Europe with her charm and sexuality, eventually entangling King Ludwig I in a scandal that would lead to the end of his reign.

Support Noble Blood:
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

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While sailing from France to the New World, Marguerite de La Rocque and her lover were punished, marooned on an island where they would be tormented by natural forces and, according to some stories, demons.

Support Noble Blood:

— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

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Listen to Dana Schwartz's conversation with Kal Penn on his podcast Earsay: An Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club, where they dive into Remain: A Supernatural Love Story, a genre-bending collaboration between M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks. 

Together, they discuss how two masters of their respective genres surprisingly complement each other and geek out over the intimate details that make books feel alive — from A...

After the Battle of Culloden, the Bonnie Prince Charlie needed to escape to safety. His salvation would come in the form of a young woman named Flora MacDonald, who would become an indelible piece of romantic Scottish history. 

Support Noble Blood:

— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

Se...

As a courtesan, Veronica Franco would entertain Henry III of Valois in her Venetian home. But her greatest accomplishments would be a literary career that defied public expectation and defended her honor from men who would mock and diminish her.

Support Noble Blood:

— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

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In 1820, a group of desperate radicals came up with a violent plan for complete social and political reform in England: murdering the entire cabinet at a nearby dinner party. But their scheme—known as the Cato Street Conspiracy—was over before it even began.

Support Noble Blood:

— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality...

On her deathbed, the unmarried "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I declared that her successor would be King James VI of Scotland. Or at least, that's the story that we've been told. In her new book THE STOLEN CROWN, historian Tracy Borman, Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, discusses the bombshell new discoveries that reveal that the Stuart Dynasty was built on a lie. (For more, here's Tracy for History Extra's Life Lessons from Hist...