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Histories of the Unexpected — History
Histories of the Unexpected

Histories of the Unexpected explores the past in ways that you never dreamt possible. Surely there’s nothing unexpected about the past? About History? Aha, well Histories of the Unexpected adopts a new approach to exploring our past. Gone is the traditional linear plotting of battles, monarchs and political movements. Histories of the Unexpected argues that everything has a history, even the most unexpected of subjects. Like SLIME. Or COURAGE. or APPLAUSE…. Presented by Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell.

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

Latest Episodes:

Posing! Mar 11, 2021

Show notes

In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, strut their stuff on the catwalk of the past to strike a pose at the unexpected history of POSING! Which is all about seventeenth-century sartorial elegance and cutting a dash around town, as well as family paintings, photographs, and the history of the selfie. It's also all about Michelanglo's David and native Americans in the pictorial press. It's also all about the history of consumption and owning far too many pairs of gloves! Who knew!

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

Buttons! Mar 04, 2021

Show notes

In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, stroll elegantly and well-dressed around the archives to unravel the unexpected history of BUTTONS! Which is all about Robert Louis Stevenson, the outbreak of WWI, General John Joseph Pershing and American military uniforms, and Victorian clothing; it's also all about a conversation between Claude Levi-Strauss and Lucien Febvre and nothing less than 'bodily posture, the art of life and ways of integrating the world', as well as eighteenth-century industry, petitioning and changes in fashion. Who knew!

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

Elephants! Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, rampage around the archives to trumpet the unexpected history of ELEPHANTS! Which is all about drunken US behemoths, eighteenth-century biological inquiry, pachyderms on stage, a newsworthy postmortems; it's also all about early twentieth-century museums, and the Duke of Devonshire. Who knew!

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

Snakes! Feb 18, 2021

Show notes

In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, slither into the archives to capture the unexpected history of SNAKES! Which is all about fear and phobia, mythology (via Medusa, St Patrick, Jormungand, the Viking sea serpent and many more); it's also all about dreams and the US civil war, the Hopi Snake Dance, weaponizing venom for military uses, and also the invention of anti-venom. Who knew!

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

Hugs! Feb 13, 2021

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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, get all feel good and investigate the unexpected history of HUGS! Which is all about the science and psychology of hugging, babies and upbringing, greetings and the gendering of hugs, US Presidents and the politics of hugging; it's also all about free hugs, tree hugging and the Khejarli Massacre in September 1730. Who knew!

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

Tongues! Feb 08, 2021

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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, investigate the fascinating unexpected history of TONGUES! Which is all about licking earthenware and the tongue as an important archaeological tool, Mary Bateman and tongue collecting, the removal of tongues, it's also all about tongue twisters and the history of elocution, and the cultural politics of sticking out tongues, as a greeting, an act of aggression or rudeness, or even a gesture of flirtation. Who knew!

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

Ladders! Feb 06, 2021

Show notes

In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, climb the rungs of the past to reach the unexpected history of LADDERS! Which is all about prehistoric cave art, the Crusades and the capture of Constantinople in 1204 (using flying ladders), lamp lighters in eighteenth-century Dublin; it's about accidents and superstition (falling off and walking under ladders); and it's about Ancient and medieval sieges, a attacking fortified castles with ladders; and of course it's all about the popular children's game snakes and ladders, which originated as India, known as Moksha Patam. Who knew!

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

Meetings! Feb 05, 2021

Show notes

In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, wade their way through the paperwork and bureaucracy of the past to action the unexpected history of MEETINGS! Which is all about campus novels of the twentieth century, state sponsored sabotage by the CIA's precursor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the history of secret meetings and the Ku Klux Klan, Nelson and naval warfare and the court of Elizabeth I. Who knew!

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

Cheese! Feb 03, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, stir the whey of history as they unwrap the unexpected history of CHEESE! Which is all about Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London of 1666, witches and magic (via fortune telling, love potions and malevolent acts with cheese!), Homer's Odyssey and a cheese-making cyclops, the Flemings, ethnic cleansing in the Middle Ages, the Peasants' Revolt in 1381 and lost knowledge! Who knew!

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

Uncles: Homeschooling the Reign of Edward VI Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, explore the fascinating history of UNCLES. From discussions of the Richard III and the Princes in the Tower to seventeenth-century kinship networks in the diary of Samuel Pepys and the personification of the US state in the figure of Uncle Sam, James and Sam rampage around history of uncles before settling on the fascinating history of the reign of Edward VI (1537-1553), who ascended to the throne of England in January 1547 aged only 9 years old. After discussions of the provisions in his father King Henry VIII's will, we look at the seizure of power by Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, brother of Queen Jane Seymour, who became the Duke of Somerset and appointed Protector. In this capacity he oversaw the government of the country, and we explore his personality, his policies and his ultimate fall from power. The demise of Protector Somerset was orchestrated by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who effectively took over power, and we discuss the nature of his rule and government. With Edward VI's untimely death from tuberculosis aged only 15, Northumberland subverts the succession and supports the accession of Lady Jane Grey to the throne, a plot that ultimately failed and for which he and the tragic Lady Jane were both executed. As always, there is a quiz at the end, and a writing task, based on Edward VI's Journal.

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

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