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History Hit

Join sex historian 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? 

She'll be bed-hopping 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.

So join Kate 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.

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

The history of lonely hearts ads might be a lot deeper than you'd expect.

For as long as people have been printing newspapers, people (read: men) were enquiring about potential partners.

By the time the culture took off in the 18th century, how were people looking for love? How did the First World War boost the medium? And what are some of the strangest dating stories from this history?

Joining Kate today is Francesca Beauman, author of Shapely Ankle Preferr’d: a history of the Lonely Hearts advertisement, to find out how lonely heart ads created a new way to date. 

In part two of the episode, Kate's joined by Ana Kirova, CEO of the dating app Feeld, who recently published a report with the Kinsey Institute on where dating culture is today, and where it could lead in the future.

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy, the producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

History (and Future) of Dating

Henry VIII called her his 'rose without a thorn', but the teenage Catherine Howard was to fall out of favour less than 18 months after becoming Queen of England.

Out of all of Henry's wives it could be argued that the young queen, who was a cousin of Anne Boleyn, is most deserving of our sympathy.

How did her past come back to haunt her? What would it have been like for this young woman to be with Henry VIII - an older man with a stinky leg ulcer? And what was the truth behind the scandal of her downfall?

In the fifth and penultimate episode of our limited series, Secret Wives of the Six Wives, Kate is joined by Tudor export Nicola Tallis, to help us find out more about the young woman who had to deal with so much drama and tragedy in her short life.

This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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. 

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Catherine Howard | Secret Lives of the Six Wives

Accessing stories from the past can be difficult, but how do we access smells from the past?

In today's episode, Kate is joined by Eleanor Jackson, curator of a new British Library exhibition, Mediaeval Women In Their Own Words, which features original texts about, and by, women from this period.

Whether that's Joan of Arc's signature or a welsh poet who wrote “Lovely bush you are blessed by God above” in her 'Poem to the Vagina'.

Kate's also joined by Tasha Marks, an artist who creates sensory experiences, who has brought to life smells such as medieval hair perfumes to life as part of the exhibition.

This episode was edited by Matt Peaty and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

How Did People Smell in Medieval Times?

At the time, surely Kateryn Parr had her reservations about being Henry VIII's sixth wife?

Aside from being a tyrannical maniac who'd just beheaded his last wife, Catherine Howard, he was getting old, angry and his ulcerous leg was getting smelly.

However, Kateryn was smart - she was the first queen to be a published author - and she loved the glitz and glamour of her new position.

What was her life like before Henry entered the picture? How did she narrowly escape being sent to the tower for heresy? And why was her marriage after Henry so controversial?

In the sixth and final episode of our limited series, Secret Wives of the Six Wives, Kate is joined by Tudor export Nicola Tallis, to help us find out more about the woman who would thrive as a queen and go on to live to survive Henry VIII.

This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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. 

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Kateryn Parr | Secret Lives of the Six Wives

Like it or not, there's no escaping Charles Dickens at this time of year.

But who was the man behind classics such as A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist and of course, A Christmas Carol?

His life is as rich as many of the characters' stories in one of his books, including a brutal Victorian upbringing and rumours of sex and scandal.

Joining us in this re-run to explore the controversy of the man is Charles Dickens super-fan Miriam Margolyes - a national treasure in her own right.

Having written and starred in the play, Dickens Women, Miriam knows better than most the complicated relationships he had in his life: from his mother who took him out of school to work in a rat-infested blacking factory aged 12, to his wife whom he had a bookcase wall built to separate her from him.

This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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. 

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Sex Life & Scandal of Charles Dickens

Dating back some 30,000 years, sex toys have a long (no pun intended) and fascinating history.

What were the earliest sex toys like? How did technology change them? And did Victorian doctors really prescribing them for back pain?

In today's episode, we're revisiting an episode where Kate was joined by writer, sex and gender historian Hallie Lieberman to discuss the first dildo, the myth of the vibrator, and more.

Find out more about Hallie's book, Buzz: The Stimulating History of the Sex Toy, here.

This episode was produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Seyi Adaobi.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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. 

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Did Ancient People Have Sex Toys?

Cosmetic procedures are a huge part of (most of our) worlds.

With new ones seemingly cropping up all the time, the boob job feels like an old classic.

What are the origins of the boob job? Who had the first ever one? And how has it changed over time?

Today we're revisiting a conversation Kate had with Professor Ruth Holliday and cosmetic surgeon Professor Vikram Devaraj, to find out more about this bumpy history.

This episode was edited by Annie Coloe & Tom Delargy. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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. 

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

When Was The First Boob Job?

From medieval d*ck pics to sex with monks, how did people in medieval times think about sex and sexuality?

It was a period that spanned roughly 1,000 years and even though views on sex were largely shaped by the dominant Christian faith, whether this filtered down to every day experiences is another question.

Joining Kate today is the legendary sex historian Professor Ruth Karras, author of Sexuality in Mediaeval Europe: Doing Unto Others.

Why did people in the middle ages think that women were more highly sexed than men? What did they believe were aphrodisiacs at this time? And what did they think caused STIs?

This episode was edited by Matt Peaty and Stuart Beckwith. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Medieval Sex Myths

It's January and (reluctant) thoughts turn to gym memberships, but what are the ancient origins of this phenomena?

From the naked workouts of Ancient Greece to the bodybuilders of the 19th century, a lot has influenced exercise culture over the centuries - and it's always had a healthy dose of homoeroticism to it.

Joining Kate today is Eric Chaline, author of The Temple of Perfection, to take us inside these spaces and find out more about them.

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy, the producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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. 

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Ancient Eroticism, Pagan Workouts & Body Ideals: History of the Gym

Sex work was everywhere in the ancient world, but a known dedicated space for it (a brothel), is an extremely rare and important thing.

Pompeii offers exactly that, with details such as graffiti and drawings immaculately preserved in the only known brothel from this period.

Who were the people who worked there? What can we find out about the nature of sex work in this period? And why are there penises drawn everywhere in Pompeii?

Joining Kate today is the wonderful Sarah Levin-Richardson, author of The Brothel of Pompeii: Sex, Class & Gender at the Margins of Roman Society, to help us find out.

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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. 

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Inside the Brothel of Pompeii

Bedlam: a scene of uproar and confusion, a noisy situation with no order or, originally, the slang name for a mental hospital in London… which for a while also happened to be a popular tourist attraction.

From chains on the wall to leeching - the history of mental health treatments is a lesson in questionable science and humanity.

Bethlehem hospital, founded around the 11th century in London, is a study of this history.

Kate is joined Betwixt the Sheets by Catharine Arnold: journalist, academic, popular historian and author of ‘Bedlam: London and Its Mad’.

*WARNING this episode includes adult themes and conversations about mental health*

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Matt Peaty.

Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society. A podcast by History Hit.

This episode includes music by Epidemic Sound and an archive clip from an American public service announcement from 1952.

Bedlam

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