Everything Is Awful Forever

Latest Episodes:

Bedlam: The Beginning Jan 13, 2020

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The New Year is here, and everything's gone to Bedlam. Join Jess and Philippa this week as we look at the beginnings of this infamous asylum, which would be founded in the thirteenth century and, over the centuries, come to haunt the minds and cultural works of the English - eventually embodying the very idea of madness itself.

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Awful Forever Pre-Christian Christmas Episode Dec 23, 2019

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This week, Jess and Philippa encourage you to make Great Britain great again with cannibal pre-Christmas feasts, druidic sacrifices, wode paint, and generalised screaming. Also, some great hair tips.

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Medieval Madness: Melancholy and Mania Dec 09, 2019

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It's Monday and the madness continues with medieval madnessess of melancholy and mania. Also, we can't stop alliterating, please send help.
This week, Jess and Philippa look at how medieval Christianity blended with classical Greek and Roman beliefs about madness, and how emotional and behavioural disturbances were analysed through the lenses of mania and melancholia.

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Hazzardous Healthcare Dec 02, 2019

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Now that December is upon us, Jess and Philippa anticipate your New Year's resolutions of health, wealth, and happiness by giving you a couple of wellbeing tips. 99% of doctors agree that 90 day fasts are NOT the way to the beach body you've always dreamed of (a beach body is a body buried on the beach. Get it right, this year). 99% of doctors would suggest NOT starving people to death in order to steal their wealth. This week, we look at the 1% that would say otherwise. The doctor will see you now.

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Humour in Your Humours Nov 25, 2019

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This week, Jess and Philippa's Ship of Fools embarks upon the sea of madness. Join us in this introductory episode to historical perspectives on insanity. What behaviours crossed the line? What caused "madness", and what cured it? This week, we dive into the Old Testament, archaic Greece, Hippocratic theory, and more.

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Serfs Up, Bro Nov 18, 2019

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This week, listen to Jess go mad with power as she and Philippa explore medieval feudalism through the lens of a Choose Your Own Adventure, dystopia style.

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The Irish Potato Famine Nov 11, 2019

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This week, Jess and Philippa go back to 1845 to look at the Great Hunger and England's response to a starving nation.

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Halloween Special: Vampire Variations Nov 04, 2019

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What's that rapping on your window? That shadow on the wall? Only Jess and Philippa who can't let go of Halloween and want to look at one more monster before the Christmas wave hits us. This week we invite vampires over the threshold and look at the different beliefs surrounding them in Eastern European folklore as well as the problems that they posed to the Christian faith.

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Halloween Special: The Spiderman of Denver Oct 28, 2019

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A violent murder. A locked house that no assailant could have left. A ghoulish presence in a house that should be empty. Who or what killed Philip Peters? And what's that looming over your shoulder right now? This week, Jess and Philippa get into some spooky history.

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Naval Cannibal Homicide: The Wreck of the Medusa Oct 21, 2019

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This week we explore the true meaning of checking oneself before wrecking oneself. The loss of the French frigate, the Medusa, was caused by gross negligence and incompetence, and resulted in the cruel and needless loss of over a hundred lives.

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