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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:

Dressing Up! Homeschooling the Rebecca Riots and Turnpike Roads May 06, 2020

Show notes

This episode is about DRESSING UP! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of DRESSING UP, which is all Count Leo Tolstoy, Carnival in Venice, the Maldon Grain Riots of 1629, and the Lord of Misrule. Most of all though it's about THE REBECCA RIOTS and TURNPIKE ROADS during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which greatly improved the quality of roads in Britain, but with social consequences!

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

Insults! May 05, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of INSULTS, which is all about duelling, 3500 BCE Babylonia, poison pen letters, and of course gloves! It's also all about Shakespeare, slander and name-calling in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Devon, and much, much more!

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

Hiding! Homeschooling Elizabeth I and Catholics May 04, 2020

Show notes

This episode is about HIDING, but with some serious consequences! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of HIDING, which is all about Oak Trees (and the future King of England, Charles II), it's about keeping secrets, MARY QUEEN of SCOTS, but most of all it's about how CATHOLICS were treated in Elizabethan England, via PRIEST HOLES, which were used to hide priests sent to England from Europe who were hunted down by the Tudor State. LISTEN IF YOU DARE!

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

Presents! Homeschooling William the Conqueror and Feudalism May 03, 2020

Show notes

The Unexpected History of PRESENTS is all about power and politics at the TUDOR COURT, diplomacy and showing off, and getting people to do exactly what you want. It's especially about FEUDALISM in Norman England, and the transfer of land to Barons and Knights in return for military service!

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

Bullies! Homeschooling The Nazi Brownshirts and the Rise of Hitler May 02, 2020

Show notes

Who kew that BULLIES have a history! Well they do and it's FASCINATING. James and Sam explore the history of bullies across time and then focus on the Nazi Brownshirts and how they used their muscle to propel Hitler to power in the 1930s. The story is followed up to the Night of the Long Knives in 1934 when Hitler used his ultra-loyal personal bodyguard, the SS, to turn against the Brownshirts, ending their reign of terror.

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

Breath! Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of BREATH, which is all about halitosis, free diving, humanity and the soul, Harry Houdini, advertising and consumerism in 1950s America, mouth to mouth resuscitation and the Royal Humane Society and much, much more!

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

Sucking Up! Homeschooling the Appeasement of Hitler and the Outbreak of WW2 Apr 29, 2020

Show notes

Who knew that SUCKING UP had a history? Well it does, and it's all about the APPEASEMENT of Germany in an attempt to keep the peace before the outbreak of World War II. James and Sam brainstorm examples of sucking up from across history, focussing especially on Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler with discussion of the Anschluss that unified Austria and Germany, the Sudetenland and Munich agreement which promised 'peace in our time'. Was it all a matter of sucking up, or a clever way to buy time to prepare for a major global conflict?

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

Epic Fails! Homeschooling the League of Nations and Mussolini Apr 29, 2020

Show notes

The history of things that go HORRIBLY WRONG. And there are TONS of them...from shipwrecks to international relationships and military campaigns. Sam and James explore this theme throughout history and with particular focus on the League of Nations inspired by Woodrow Wilson and set up in the aftermath of the First World War....to prevent anything like that ever happening again. Did it work? HELL NO. #EpicFail

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

Broken Promises! Homeschooling the Gunpowder Plot and James VI and I Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

Who knew that Broken Promises have a history?! Well they do and it's FASCINATING, and James and Sam explore the wonderful of history of saying you're going to do ONE THING and then doing SOMETHING ELSE instead. SO ANNOYING. And they focus in particular on the promises that James VI and I made to Catholics, how he broke them...and how those broken promises led to Guy Fawkes stashing 36 barrels of gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament...the Gunpowder Plot!

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

Blame! Homeschooling WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles Apr 27, 2020

Show notes

Episode 16 in our Homeschooling series! This one's all about the history of Blame and wanting to say IT'S SO YOUR FAULT!! James and Sam explore the idea of blame in history and then focus on who was held responsible for the First World War, and the writing of the War Guilt clause in the Versailles Treaty.

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

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