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

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Ancient Rome's Biggest Sex Scandal Oct 23, 2026

Show notes

Is this the story of a sex crazed empress? Or just some good (really) old-fashioned gossip?

Was Messalina, wife of Emperor Claudius, really a sex worker by night? And did she really marry another man whilst her very powerful husband was still alive?

This episode of Betwixt contains possibly the biggest scandal to take place in Ancient Rome, brought to us by the wonderful Alexander Meddings.

This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

Subscribe to the new Betwixt The Sheets YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@BetwixtTheSheetsPodcast

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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

The Scary History of Fairies Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

Forget what you think about fairies... they are not cute and definitely not harmless.

In today's episode we're going back centuries to a time when they could take human form and were mentioned as part of the witch trials.

What are the rules of talking to a fairy? What are the differences between Irish and Scottish fairies? And what influence did Shakespeare have on how we see fairies?!

Joining Kate today is Diane Purkiss, historian and author of books including Fairies and Fairy Stories and The Museum of Witchcraft.

This podcast was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

Subscribe to the new Betwixt The Sheets YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@BetwixtTheSheetsPodcast

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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

How To Swear Like A Viking Oct 16, 2026

Show notes

*TRIGGER WARNING: CONTAINS OLD NORSE SWEAR WORDS*

How would you insult a Viking? What strange nicknames did they give each other? And what did a Viking rap battle sound like?!

Brush up on your Old Norse and impress your friends with the most obscene Viking swear words. To help you out and talk Kate through the reasons behind their offensive language is historian and author Dr Eleanor Barraclough.

This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

Check out the new Betwixt The Sheets YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@BetwixtTheSheetsPodcast

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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

Was Tutankhamun Mummified Erect? Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

What happened to King Tut's 'Little Tut' during mummification? The rumour is that he took an erection to the afterlife, but what can we know after several millennia and a very rough excavation?

Dr Campbell Price came into the studio to bust a few myths about the boy Pharaoh. But not to worry, for every myth busted, Campbell has another golden nugget!

Campbell is Curator of Egypt & Sudan at Manchester Museum.

This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

Subscribe to the new Betwixt The Sheets YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@BetwixtTheSheetsPodcast

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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

Does Jesus' Foreskin Still Exist? Oct 09, 2026

Show notes

STOLEN! Jesus' foreskin!

Well, maybe not. But 2000 years after his birth, where might Jesus' foreskin be? And why does it matter to people?

Kate is joined by Dr James White for this episode to find out how the Holy Prepuce has supposedly survived the last two centuries, and what it has meant to the people devoted to it.

James is a historian of late medieval Europe, with a special interest in the body, gender, and religion. He teaches at the University of Alberta, where his research has focused on

late medieval devotion to the Holy Foreskin and anti-Jewish condemnation of circumcision by Christians.

This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

Subscribe to the new Betwixt The Sheets YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@BetwixtTheSheetsPodcast

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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

Why Were Nazis Obsessed With Birth Rate? Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

Why were the Nazis so fixated on birth rates? How did they encourage larger families? And what was their surprising angle on extramarital pregnancies?

In essence, what was the Lebensborn policy?

Taking us through Nazi family policy today is Lisa Pine. Lisa is Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

Subscribe to the new Betwixt The Sheets YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@BetwixtTheSheetsPodcast

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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

Is Rasputin's Willy in a Jar? Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

Was Rasputin really Russia’s greatest love machine? Did he have any healing powers? And why might his penis be pickling in a jar?

We're in the middle of some willy related episodes at the moment, and it would be wrong not to include the man, the myth, the 'mad monk'. In this episode from the early days of Betwixt, we are drawing Rasputin out of his cloud of green smoke to find out which of the things we know about him might actually be true.

Kate is joined by Douglas Smith, historian, translator and expert in Russian history, who has emerged from the archives with a new interpretation of this cartoon baddy.

*WARNING there are naughty words and discussions of sexual coercion in this episode*

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee.

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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

The Execution of England's Teenage Queen Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

To many she's known as Lady Jane Grey, but history should remember her as Queen Jane I.

She was only queen for 9 days in 1553, but this made her the first ever queen of England when she was just 16.

What happened in her short life that made her suddenly the most powerful woman in England? How did 'Bloody Mary' Tudor react? And how did it all go so wrong?

Joining Kate is the wonderful historian Kate Williams, author of Regina: A New History of Women and Power.

This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

Betwixt the Sheets is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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

What Happened To Napoleon's "Boner Part"? Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

Small. Shrivelled. Separated from its owner. What has been said about Napoleon Bonaparte's penis? And how much of it is true?

Dr Zack White joins Kate for this episode to discuss these rumours, and what kind of lover and partner Napoleon really was (hint: not great).

Zack is a research fellow at the University of Portsmouth, Chair of the Napoleonic & Revolutionary War Graves Charity, and host of 'The Napoleonic Wars Podcast'.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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

Get Ready With Marie Antoinette Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

Marie Antoinette famously spent quite a lot of money and time on her outfits and make-up. But what would it feel like to actually wear it?

Joining Kate in this episode is the amazing Casta Hex, historical drag queen, embroiderer and textiles artist for film and TV. Casta creates all her costumes using period accurate fabrics and techniques.

Layer by layer, they explore how to get ready like Marie Antoinette.

This episode was edited by Natasha Hughes. It was produced by Sophie Gee, McKenna Fernandez and Georgie Turner. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

Subscribe to the new Betwixt The Sheets YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@BetwixtTheSheetsPodcast

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.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa

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