Half-Arsed History

Half-Arsed History

This is the OLD, defunct Half-Arsed History feed - if you're reading this message, please get in touch with me through the contact form at halfarsedhistory.net and let me know which platform you're using, so I can fix the problem for you! For Podcast Addict listeners: unfortunately, the new feed is inaccessible on Podcast Addict ):

Episodes

Episode 404: The East India Company – Part 4 Expansion and Empire

March 22, 2026
In this week's episode, hear about the phase of conquest and expansion that transformed the British East India Company into one of the largest and most powerful imperial institutions on Earth.
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Episode 403: The East India Company – Part 3: Conquest and Corruption

March 15, 2026
In this week's episode, get across how the British East India Company transformed from a purely commercial enterprise to a sovereign entity exercising colonial authority over a growing part of the Indian subcontinent.
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Episode 402: The East India Company – Part 2: Footholds and Factories

March 8, 2026
In this week's episode, hear about the early history of the English East India Company, and how it moved away from the Indonesian spice trade and instead gained a foothold on the Indian subcontinent under the Mughal Empire.
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Episode 401: The East India Company – Part 1: Spices and Stocks

March 1, 2026
In this week's episode, learn about the global 16th century trading conditions that ultimately led to the formation of the East India Company, an institution that would eventually grow to effectively rule as a nation in its own right.
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Episode 400: What Half-Arsed History Could Have Been

February 22, 2026
In this week's episode, get a taste of what this show might have sounded like if it had begun as a podcast of a different genre.
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Episode 399: Nicolaus Copernicus and Copernican Heliocentrism

February 15, 2026
In this week's episode, get to know Nicolaus Copernicus, the 15th-century astronomer who brought about a historical paradigm shift with his radical proposal that the Sun, not the Earth, is at the centre of the solar system.
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Episode 398: The Foundation of Modern Singapore

February 8, 2026
In this week's episode, discover how, why, and perhaps most importantly where modern Singapore was founded, back in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles.
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Episode 397: Catherine the Great, the Enlightened Empress

February 1, 2026
In this week's episode, meet Catherine the Great, the empress who successfully ruled Russia for almost 35 years despite usurping a throne she had no claim to.
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Episode 396: The Horrors of Sarah Island

January 25, 2026
In this week's episode, become acquainted with Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, known as Sarah Island, which was one of the cruellest and most brutal convict settlements in Australia's history.
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Episode 395: The Raft of the Medusa

January 18, 2026
In this week's episode, head the gruesome and tragic tale of the Raft of the Medusa, when almost 150 people were set adrift and abandoned on a rickety raft, resorting to murder and cannibalism to survive.
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Episode 394: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Great Engineer

January 11, 2026
In this week's episode, meet Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the famous and immensely influential engineer, whose work encompassed bridges, tunnels, railways, ships, and much more besides.
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Episode 393: Operation Just Cause

January 4, 2026
In this week's episode, get across the story of Operation Just Cause, when the US staged an invasion of Panama in 1989, capturing and airlifting its leader back to the US to face drug-related charges.
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Episode 392: Jean de Carrouges and the Last Duel

December 28, 2025
In week's this episode, hear the tale of Jean de Carrouges, who fought a duel to the death to seek justice for his wife Marguerite.
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Episode 391: History’s Weirdest Epithets – Part 2

December 21, 2025
In this week's episode, meet five more historical figures with strange epithets: Æthelred the Unready, Constantine V Koprónymos, Louis Do-Nothing, Malcolm the Maiden, and Piero the Unfortunate.
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Episode 390: The Miracle Landing of the Gimli Glider

December 14, 2025
In this week's episode, hear the incredible tale of Air Canada Flight 143, when a Boeing 767 ran out of fuel mid-flight and so had to be flown and landed as a glider on a not-quite-abandoned airfield in the Canadian town of Gimli.
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Episode 389: The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable

December 7, 2025
In this week's episode, hear about the series of ridiculous setbacks and disasters that took place as part of the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable, a revolutionary step forward in global communications.
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Episode 388: Beatrix Potter, the Enterprising Author

November 30, 2025
In this week's episode, get to know the remarkable Beatrix Potter, whose historical legacy goes a lot further than just the authorship of an immensely successful series of children's books.
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Episode 387: Nations Named After People

November 23, 2025
In this week's episode, hear about the history behind the names of five nations, all named after real historical figures.
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Episode 386: The History of the Ashes

November 16, 2025
In this episode, get across the origin and history of a fierce century-and-a-half sporting rivalry, brought to life whenever Australia face off against England in Test cricket: the Ashes.
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Episode 385: The 1975 Australian Constitutional Crisis

November 9, 2025
In this week's episode, hear the story of the Dismissal: the 1975 Australian Constitutional Crisis, when Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was turfed out by the governor-general.
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