Histories of the Unexpected

Latest Episodes:

Stench! Homeschooling Public Health in Victorian England Apr 11, 2020

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This eighth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores STENCH and Public Health in Victorian England. The Unexpected History of STENCH is all about personal hygiene and the marketing of smelling nice in 1950s USA; the holocaust and use of napalm during the Vietnam war, stinkiness in the medieval world, and of course nineteenth-century disease and public health. James and Sam explore discuss Public Health Reforms in Victorian Britain, including Edwin Chadwick's 1842 Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population, and look out for recipes to make your own stink bombs!

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Rabbits - Easter Special! Apr 10, 2020

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In this episode the Histories of the Unexpected team of James Daybell and Sam Willis take on the topic of RABBITS - as an Easter Special! Now, of course, the UNEXPECTED history of loneliness is all about poaching and disputes over land; eighteenth-century England and Mary Toft who allegedly gave birth to rabbits (it was a hoax!); Aborigines and the Stolen Generation in Australia; mapping rabbit warrens in Devon; and bizarrely enough, dead cats soaked in aniseed. Intrigued? Well listen up

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Fire! Homeschooling The Spanish Armada Apr 10, 2020

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This seventh episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores FIRE and the SPANISH ARMADA. The Unexpected History of FIRE takes us from the pre-historic invention of fire and its impact upon the world all the way to the global climate crisis and the wildfires that raged in Australia in early 2020. Fire is also all burning things: it's about Nazi burning of books, the Tudors burning Protestant martyrs; scorched earth tactics in warfare, and fireships and naval history. James and Sam explore the history of the Armada and the use of beacons to communicate during the Tudor period. Look out for Queen Elizabeth's famous Tilbury speech of 1588, and how to decode the symbolism and imagery of her Armada Portrait.

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Darkness! Homeschooling WWII and The Blitz Apr 09, 2020

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This sixth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores DARKNESS and WWII and THE BLITZ. The Unexpected History of darkness is all about the not so 'dark' Dark Ages, the Winter of Discontent and blackouts, child labour during the Victorian period, coal mining and hidden histories. James and Sam explore discuss WWII, the Blitz, and air raids, including Morrison Shelters. Look out for instructions on how to be a historian by interviewing your grandparents about their lives - a great way to keep in touch with elderly and vulnerable people during lockdown!

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Boredom Apr 08, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of BOREDOM, which is all about British imperialism, travel, the armed forces, governors, sea voyages, Elizabethan gentlewomen, controlling the working classes in post WWII Canada!

Boredom is the root of all evil – the despairing refusal to be oneself. – Soren Kierkegaard

Unless a man has been taught what to do with success after getting it, the achievement of it must inevitably leave him a prey to boredom. – Bertrand Russell

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. – Ellen Parr

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Solitude Apr 05, 2020

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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of SOLITUDE, which is all about monasticism, pillars, ornamental hermits (and shoes), desert islands, and the Beatles!

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Slime! Homeschooling the Industrial Revolution Apr 04, 2020

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This fifth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SLIME and the Industrial Revolution. The Unexpected History of slime is all about the medical properties of snail slime, ectoplasm and Victorian spiritualists, the use of black slugs to lubricate hay carts in pre-Industrial society, and of course the Industrial Revolution. James and Sam explore discuss the major inventions of the period, including Stevenson's Rocket, and look out for recipes to make your own magnetic slime!

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Loneliness Apr 01, 2020

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In this episode the Histories of the Unexpected team of James Daybell and Sam Willis take on the topic of LONELINESS! Inspired by the events of a global lockdown, an UNEXPECTED history of loneliness is all about widowhood, eighteenth-century shopkeepers, Queen Victoria, prisons, the Beatles, chairs, teenagers, old photographs and nostalgia!

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Soap Mar 28, 2020

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In this episode James and Sam explore the Unexpected History of SOAP, which is of course all about hazing, the British Royal Navy, profanities, marketing, the Spanish Flu, popular politics, freedom of speech, Speakers' Corner, and John Major's 'Soap Box' electioneering...and a little bit about coronavirus!

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Homeschooling 4 - Behind the Scenes at Histories of the Unexpected Mar 27, 2020

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This is the FOURTH in this special series of Histories of the Unexpected Episodes geared towards homeschooling, as the United Kingdom and much of the globe enters into lockdown, schools close, and the world begins a period of isolation and educated online and at home. Over the next few weeks, we will endeavour to record a series of history podcast episodes catering for kids, parents and teachers, with the intention of providing interesting history material readily available to anyone interested in history, and with access to a device capable of receiving a podcast, and with access to the internet. It is aimed at audiences from 8-108!

In this Histories of The Unexpected Homeschooling Episode FOUR, James offers A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK AT HISTORIES OF THE UNEXPECTED, uncovering the historical tricks of the trade that going into putting together each episode. Of interest to all, the episode also caters for sixth-formers, whose exams have been cancelled, to get them thinking about how historians interpret the past. As curriculum enrichment for all - whether you are university-history-degree-bound or not this essay teaches you the methods of: taxonomy; comparative and global history; object biography and the archaeology of things; historical causation (via G.R. Elton and Fernand Braudel), and micro history. There's something for everyone!!

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