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
What do we know about Jesus? Kate is joined for this episode by Professor of Christian Origins, Helen Bond, to find out more about the historical record for the events of the New Testament, why Jesus was persecuted, and who by.
Helen is Professor of Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh, and co-hosts the Biblical Time Machine Podcast.
This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The seni...
What you'll hear in today's episode is a story that strikes to the dark heart of the British Empire.
Despite being set in the time of Jane Austen's early 19th century polite society, Princess Caraboo's strange tale makes her an instant celebrity.
But how much of it, if any, is true? Where does it lead? And what happens when the truth is a lot darker than the lie?
Joining Kate today is the wonderful Dr. Maddy Pelling, co-ho...
When the British Empire colonised India, how did it treat their different ideas about sex? How did they treat sex workers like the Devadasi, meaning 'slave of God'? And did the Victorians fetishise Indian sexuality?
Joining Kate today is the magnificent Anjali Arondekar, Professor of Feminist Studies at the University of California, and author of For the Record: On Sexuality and the Colonial Archive in India.
Th...
Faces covered, identities unknown - masquerade balls sound like a place of anonymity and, therefore, SCANDAL.
But how true is this in the 18th Century? Could people sneak in unrecognised like they do in Bridgerton? And how much would people be misbehaving inside?
Kate is joined for this particular dance by Dr Meghan Kobza, author of 'Masquerade: Unmasking Georgian London'.
In today's episode we're taking you back to the brothels of 19th century St. Petersburg.
Sex work was legalised under the Emperor Nicholas I, but what was life like for sex workers? Why did they have to carry yellow tickets? And why did sex work there differ to the rest of Europe?
Joining Kate today is Dr. Colleen Lucey, Associate Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at the University of Arizona, to take us back to Imperia...
Was Sappho queer? Or was this Ancient Greek poet just really really good friends with women?
Today on Betwixt the Sheets, Kate is joined by Katherine Horgan to find out how Sappho's poetry has lasted through the centuries, what we can really know about her life, and why she is important in the modern world?
Katherine is researching classical reception in Early Modern English Literature at Harvard, and will be taking on a prof...
Where the American War of Independence raged, the camp followers...followed.
Among them were sex workers, for both the American and British troops. What was life like inside army camps where sex workers mixed with wives, soldiers and generals? How did race and slavery factor into sex and sexuality in this time? And how did each side view queerness in the camps?
Joining Kate today is the wonderful historian and author, Profess...
Sadism - the derivation of pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering and humiliation on others - is named after this man. So what exactly did he do?
Kate is joined by journalist and author Joel Warner to discuss the Marquis de Sade, an 18th Century French aristocrat who committed a multitude of crimes, yet survived three distinct political regimes and decades of imprisonment.
Joel is the author of ‘The Curse of the Marquis De ...
The Moulin Rouge opened its doors in 1889, at the height of the Belle Epoch - 'the Beautiful Age'.
Its famous windmill structure stood on the fringes of Paris, where intellectuals and artists mixed with thugs and criminals in a hedonistic neighbourhood.
What really went on inside the Moulin Rouge? Why was there a giant elephant in the garden? And did sex workers really solicit business while riding donkeys?!
Joining Kate t...
What is a mermaid? Do sirens, selkies and Aquaman fit into this category? And how far back in history do they go?
Kate is joined by Diane Purkiss to discuss the Little Mermaid, both the Disney and Hans Christian Anderson versions, and more!
Professor Diane Purkiss is a Fellow and Tutor of English at Keble College, Oxford. She specialises in Renaissance and women's literature, witchcraft and the English Civil War.
This epis...
Storyville was the red-light district in New Orleans, created in 1897.
What was it like in this neighbourhood, and inside the brothels there? How was race and segregation a factor in Storyville? And what triggered the downfall of Storyville?
Joining Kate today is the wonderful Dr. Alecia P. Long, Professor of History at Louisiana State University, to take us back to this time and place.
This episode was edited by Hannah Fe...
Was there really a boom in sex trafficking at the end of the 19th century? What was 'white slavery'? And how often did the traffickers get caught?
Kate is joined by Dr Julia Laite for this episode. Julia is a historian at Birkbeck, University of London, and the author of 'The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey'.
This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.
Charlie Chaplin had an extraordinary life: from the workhouses of Victorian London to the glamorous films sets of Hollywood's Golden Age.
He revolutionised the art form, but he wasn't without his scandals. So much so that he was monitored by the FBI and eventually exiled from America.
Joining Kate today is Charlie Chaplin expert Dr. Lisa Stein Haven, Professor of English at Ohio University Zanesville, to help us find out more...
Marie Antoinette went to her death as one of the most hated people in the world, but in recent years she has inspired millions with her style. How did she become such a contradiction?
For this episode, Kate and the Betwixt team went out and about, specifically to the V&A Museum in London. There, Kate met Dr Sarah Grant, curator of the exhibition 'Marie Antoinette Style', about the life of Marie Antoinette, just how much she spen...
Nearly 100 years ago, films in Hollywood were so much sexier and shocking than you might think they were.
One of the most shocking things was how empowered and sexual women were in those films.
Who were these women? And what are the scandalous reasons behind the censorship that came in?
Joining Kate to tell her about these incredible women is journalist and author Mick LaSalle.
This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. Th...
The Roman Emperor Tiberius has a harrowing reputation based on stories surrounding his latter years on the island of Capri. Stories of debauchery and abuse of the worst kind. But who was Tiberius and where does the truth lie?
Kate Lister is joined by is Rome-based historian and tour guide Alex Meddings.
This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.
In post-war Hollywood, the film industry had a reputation for its dark side as much as anything happening on the big screen.
So when Elizabeth Short was dramatically - and cinematically - murdered in Hollywood, the press called her the Black Dahlia and made a sensation out of her.
Who was the real woman behind the terrifying headlines? What did she have to do with the film industry? And why was no one ever caught?
Joining ...
Henry VIII, Charles II and Richard the Lionheart. What do all of these men have in common?
They're incredibly eligible bachelors! Well, if not that then they are all former kings of England.
At this live show in London we asked our audience which of these men they would shag, marry or avoid, keeping in mind style, syphilis and sex appeal.
This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior p...
Over 100 years ago the Hollywood film industry was shiny, new and sexy.
Sex and sexuality was present on screen, but as the 1920s drew to a close, scandals and censorship crept in.
Why did films begin to be made out in Hollywood? How raunchy was it? And what was the impact of such extreme censorship?
Joining Kate today is the fantastic historian and author William Mann, to take us back to Hollywood's Golden Age.
This ep...
The 17th century witch trials in Scotland were many and they were brutal.
Amongst the many people tried for being a witch, one woman's confessions stood out for being the most scandalous across all of Europe: Isobel Gowdie.
What made Isobel confess to having sex with the devil? What are the details of what she said? And what was happening in Scotland to create such a fear of witches?
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