Nature

Beastly History

Thrilling tales of people and the wild.

Join journalist and natural history super-fan Michelle Douglass, as we uncover the juiciest, strangest and most gripping true stories from our planet’s past.

From perilous polar expeditions and extreme survival stories to animal myths, legends, and natural history’s heroes, villains and oddballs – each month we dive into one unforgettable true tale, and explore the social history behind it with an expert guest.

The world is brilliantly beastly. Let’s explore. 🐾

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Beastly History on Acast website

https://shows.acast.com/beastly-history

Artwork by Bex Glover

Beastly History is created by Wild Beast Audio Visual Studios, Bristol, UK.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Latest Episodes:

Waterworld: Hollywood’s Most Epic Behind-the-Scenes Disaster Story? Oct 17, 2026

Show notes

It’s 1995 and Waterworld is meant to be blockbuster of the year. But everyone’s talking about it for all the wrong reasons.

Before filming even begins, director Kevin Reynolds is warned not to shoot on the open ocean. He decides to do it anyway — with unfolding consequences that will cost him dearly.

We’re revisiting one of Hollywood’s most infamously chaotic movie sets, and one of its most enduring cautionary tales.

What went wrong on the set of Waterworld to make it the most expensive movie ever made at the time? Why did filming on the Pacific Ocean create a storm behind the scenes? And what were the personal stakes of the legendary falling-out between director Kevin Reynolds and star Kevin Costner?

Does Waterworld really deserve its reputation as an epic Hollywood fail?

To help us navigate the choppy waters of 90s Hollywood filmmaking, Michelle is joined by movie expert Simon Brew

So settle in for a big-screen-worthy adventure, where things are about to get very wet and very wild.

Discover More:

Listen to more behind the scenes stories on Film Stories with Simon Brew:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/film-stories-with-simon-brew/id1400296642

Check out the Film Stories website for the latest entertainment news, features and reviews:

https://podfollow.com/filmstories

Follow Simon Brew on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/simon.brew/?hl=en

More Beastly:

Follow Beastly History on Instagram @beastlyhistory

Subscribe to @BeastlyHistoryPodcast on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@BeastlyHistoryPodcast

Email Beastly History at Wild Beast Studios: michelle@wildbeast.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Terra Nova Expedition: Sex, Death and Survival in Antarctica (Part 2) Aug 30, 2026

Show notes

It’s 1912, and on the Terra Nova British Antarctic Expedition, scientist and explorer George Murray Levick and five other men are marooned on what they’ll come to call ‘Inexpressible Island’.

Their ship has failed to return. The Antarctic winter is closing in — seven months of brutal cold and constant darkness.

With time running out, the men must build a tiny ice cave, hunt seals and penguins for food, and somehow survive the most hostile environment on Earth.

They’ll battle hunger, illness and exposure. And if they make it through the winter, they face a gruelling journey back to base, to discover what has happened to the rest of Captain Scott’s expedition.

They’ll need every ounce of physical and mental strength they possess to have a hope in hell of surviving.

And if they do make it… what changed world will they emerge into?

Michelle is joined by expert Douglas Russell from the Natural History Museum. So hunker down for Part 2 of this little-known story from Captain Scott’s expedition and the Age of Heroic Antarctic Exploration.

Discover More:

Discover London's amazing Natural History Museum:

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/

Read all about Scott of the Antarctic's doomed expedition with Antarctic Heritage Trust:

https://nzaht.org/conserve/explorer-bases/scotts-hut-cape-evans/history-of-scotts-expedition/

More Beastly:

Follow Beastly History on Instagram @beastlyhistory

Subscribe to @BeastlyHistoryPodcast on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@BeastlyHistoryPodcast

Email Beastly History at Wild Beast Studios: michelle@wildbeast.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Terra Nova Expedition: Sex, Death and Survival in Antarctica (Part 1) Jul 25, 2026

Show notes

You may have heard of Captain Scott's doomed race to the South Pole. But do you know about the other gripping survival stories on history's most infamous Antarctic Expedition?

Scientist and explorer George Murray Levick makes discoveries about Adélie penguins’ sex lives that shock him and could scandalise Edwardian British sensibilities.

But will Levick even live to share his story? When he and five other men are marooned on ‘Inexpressible Island’, they must summon all their mental and physical strength to face the most brutal winter on Earth alone.

Michelle is joined by expert Douglas Russell from the Natural History Museum for an epic true tale of sex, death and survival in this remarkable alternative story from the infamous Terra Nova Expedition.

This is Part 1 of a two-part tale. Part 2 is coming soon!

Discover More:

Discover London's amazing Natural History Museum:

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/

Read all about Scott of the Antarctic's doomed expedition with Antarctic Heritage Trust:

https://nzaht.org/conserve/explorer-bases/scotts-hut-cape-evans/history-of-scotts-expedition/

More Beastly:

Follow Beastly History on Instagram @beastlyhistory

Subscribe to @BeastlyHistoryPodcast on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@BeastlyHistoryPodcast

Email Beastly History at Wild Beast Studios: michelle@wildbeast.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Lion Queen: The Dangerous World of Big Cat Taming Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

Nellie Chapman has an extraordinary way of drawing a crowd. Born into the strange and spectacular world of 19th Century travelling menageries, she rises to fame as one of Britain's most celebrated lion tamers. Performing inside the cage with some of the world's most feared predators, Nellie captivates audiences eager for a glimpse of danger.

A performance for Queen Victoria offers the chance of a lifetime, but life among the big cats comes with enormous risks. At the height of Nellie's career, a shocking on-stage tragedy sparks public outrage and shines a spotlight on the hidden realities of the menagerie industry.

How did Nellie Chapman become Britain's famed Lion Queen? Why were Victorian audiences so enthralled by lion tamers and exotic animals? What dark and dangerous truths lay behind the spectacle? And what can Nellie's story reveal about our complicated relationship with wild animals?

Michelle is joined by expert Dr Peta Tait to explore a world of spectacle, danger, and caged beasts, uncovering the remarkable story of Britain's Lion Queen.

Discover More:

Check out Dr Peta Tait's book, Fighting Nature

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fighting-Nature-Travelling-Menageries-Publics/dp/1743324308

More Beastly:

Follow Beastly History on Instagram @beastlyhistory

Subscribe to @BeastlyHistoryPodcast on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@BeastlyHistoryPodcast

Email Beastly History at Wild Beast Studios: michelle@wildbeast.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Iceberg Right Ahead!' A Titanic Lookout's Story May 12, 2026

Show notes

(Content warning: please be aware this episode includes discussion of suicide). It's 1140pm in the North Atlantic Ocean, April 14 1912, when Titanic lookout Fred Fleet first glimpses a hulking great mass of ice looming out of the darkness. He desperately warns the crew with the famous words "Iceberg! Right Ahead!" But it's already too late.

Many things went wrong in the build up to one of history's most famous disasters and the loss of around 1500 lives.

And in this episode we're focusing on the Titanic story through the point of view of 24-year-old lookout Fred Fleet.

Why didn't Fleet see the iceberg in time? How come crew apparently ignored ice field warnings? And what does the catastrophe tell us about the Edwardian attitude towards the natural world in the name of progress?

Michelle's joined by Titanic expert Paul Lee for an epic Beastly History.

Discover More:

Explore Paul Lee's Titanic research: https://www.paullee.com/titanic/

Read Fred Fleet and others' testimony at the Titanic inquest in 1912: https://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq15Fleet01.php

More Beastly:

Follow Beastly History on Instagram @beastlyhistory

Subscribe to @BeastlyHistoryPodcast on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@BeastlyHistoryPodcast

Email Beastly History at Wild Beast Studios: michelle@wildbeast.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ireland’s Wolf Hunters Apr 01, 2026

Show notes

Rory Carragh has a deadly reputation. He hunts wolves, and he’s very good at it.

Now he faces his toughest challenge yet. Two large wolves keep taking sheep in a remote mountain village, and the people are getting desperate. These elusive wolves are said to be among the last in County Tyrone. For Carragh, success means reward and status. But failure could cost him everything.

In this episode, we journey back to a time when wolves and humans coexisted across Ireland, before the violent upheaval of the 17th century. Under Oliver Cromwell, forests were destroyed and bounties placed on wolves, pushing them toward extinction.

Join Michelle and expert guest Dr Kieran Hickey to unpack the gripping story of Ireland’s wolf hunters, and the cultural legacy of these lost magnificent beasts.

Discover more:

Check out Dr Kieran Hickey's book Wolves in Ireland:

https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2013/wolves-in-ireland

Read an account of wolf hunter Rory Carragh's famous case in the Irish Penny Journal:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/30001398?seq=1

More Beastly:

Follow Beastly History on Instagram @beastlyhistory

Subscribe to @BeastlyHistoryPodcast on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@BeastlyHistoryPodcast

Email Beastly History at Wild Beast Studios: michelle@wildbeast.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hound of the Baskervilles: Dartmoor’s Demon Dogs Feb 27, 2026

Show notes

It’s 1901. Writer Arthur Conan Doyle is on holiday when he first hears whispers of a chilling local legend - spectral hounds said to tear across the wilds of Dartmoor under cover of darkness.

A tale of an evil squire. A cursed family. And a pack of demonic dogs haunting the moors.

We’re delving into the story of how this eerie West Country folklore inspired one of the greatest gothic thrillers of all time: The Hound of the Baskervilles - and why its creation posed a huge dilemma for Doyle and his most famous character, Sherlock Holmes.

Joining Michelle is dark heritage expert Dr Romany Reagan to dig into folklore, fear, and the beasts that stalk our minds.

Get ready for a spine-tingling first ever episode of Beastly History!

More Beastly:

Follow Beastly History on Instagram @beastlyhistory

Subscribe to @BeastlyHistoryPodcast on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@BeastlyHistoryPodcast

Email Beastly History at Wild Beast Studios: michelle@wildbeast.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Beastly History Feb 22, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Beastly History – the podcast where you’ll hear the most thrilling tales of people and the wild.

Perilous polar expeditions. Unbelievable survival stories. The true origins of animal myths and legends. And natural history’s heroes, villains and oddballs.

Join me, wildlife producer Michelle Douglass as we investigate the juicy, mysterious and gripping history of our planet and our place on it.

The world is full of brilliantly beastly stories.

Come and explore with Beastly History, landing 27 February 2026.

Follow Beastly History wherever you get your podcasts

And find me on Instagram @beastlyhistory

More Beastly:

Follow Beastly History on Instagram @beastlyhistory

Subscribe to @BeastlyHistoryPodcast on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@BeastlyHistoryPodcast

Email Beastly History at Wild Beast Studios: michelle@wildbeast.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.