Today In History with The Retrospectors

Latest Episodes:

Pepys the Philanderer Oct 25, 2022

Show notes

On 25th October, 1668, Elizabeth Pepys walked in on her maid and her husband – the inveterate restoration shagger Samuel Pepys – in a position so compromising that Samuel himself could only bear to describe it using a mixture of French and Latin.

And even though Pepys charted a period that included the Great Fire of London, wars, plagues and the triumphant return of Charles II, this unfortunate episode is one of the most compelling parts of his famous diary.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss the fallout from the unfortunate clinch; wonder why going to church seemed to be such a turn-on for the celebrated diarist; and detail how Pepys came to kiss the mummified remains of a dead queen...

CONTENT WARNING: descriptions of sexual abuse, rape

Further Reading:

• 'Dear Diary, another day, another grope: Pepys and his women' (The Times, 2015): https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dear-diary-another-day-another-grope-pepys-and-his-women-qwttz5tch3n

• 'The Illustrated Pepys' (University of California Press, 1983): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Illustrated_Pepys/TC7bKxaolDMC?hl=en&gbpv=0

• 'Putting Samuel Pepys on the couch' (Prospect Magazine, 2016): https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/samuel-pepys-on-the-couch-psychoanalysis

• ‘The Diary of Samuel Pepys – read by Kenneth Branagh’ (Hodder Headline Limited, 2008): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_7qxymcn2A

Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!

Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.

Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet Mr Blobby Oct 24, 2022

Show notes

Mr Blobby made his anarchic television debut on 24th October, 1992, in a new segment called “Gotcha” on the hugely popular BBC show Noel’s House Party.

The googly eyed, perma-grinning, yellow and pink character was an immediate hit, selling masses of merchandise to British kids and adults alike. At the height of Blobbymania, Mr Blobby released a No. 1 UK single and spawned four theme parks around the country.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly defend Mr Blobby against the haters; speculate on how he became an inadvertent victim of his own success; and marvel at what can be achieved with a lot of alcohol and just five minute of doodling...

Further Reading:

• ‘'A Loveable Anarchist': The Oral History of Mr Blobby’ (Vice, 2021): https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj85mq/mr-blobby-oral-history-television

• 'A decade of Crinkley Bottom: Noel’s House Party remembered' (BBC, 1991): https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/november/noels-house-party/

• ‘Noel’s House Party: Season 2, Episode 1’ (BBC, 1992): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b53wCwecec

Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!

Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.

Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome To The Guggenheim Oct 21, 2022

Show notes

Frank Lloyd Wright’s extraordinary Guggenheim building finally flung open its doors on 21st October, 1959, after a gestation period of two decades - during which time both Wright, and Solomon Guggenheim himself, had died.

The reaction was mixed. Art critics panned the design, likening it to “a washing machine”, an “inverted oatmeal bowl”, and an “oversized and indigestible hot cross bun”. Even those who praised the architecture mostly felt it nonetheless overwhelmed the modern art displayed within it.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the notoriously nature-loving Wright had been persuaded to work on such an quintessentially urban project; reveal what colour Wright had intended the famously off-white exterior to be; and discover the attempt by artists and intellectuals to stop the beloved museum ever being built…

Further Reading:

• ‘Guggenheim Museum Opens in New York City’ (HISTORY, 2009): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/guggenheim-museum-opens-in-new-york-city

• ‘What Wright Hath Wrought’ (The New Yorker, 1959): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1959/12/05/what-wright-hath-wrought

• 'American Built: An architect who broke all the rules' (Fox Business, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9YZ-6ZYLTI

We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!

Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.

Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Boy Who Poisoned His Granddad Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

Rerun. William Alnutt tipped arsenic into the family sugar bowl on 20th October, 1847 - and five days later, the 12 year-old’s sweet-toothed grandfather, Samuel Nelme, was dead.

It was the second time the deeply troubled Alnutt had attempt to murder to his grandfather, after a failed plot to shoot him with a pistol in their garden. His trial caused a media sensation.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how Alnutt’s arrest coincided with the burgeoning concept of juvenile delinquency; study Alnutt’s letters from prison, begging forgiveness from God; and uncover the alarming availability of arsenic in Victorian London…

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Today In History with The Retrospectors

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected