Tony Robinson's Cunningcast

*/ ?>

Latest Episodes:

TRAILER: Season 3 Oct 02, 2025

🎙️ Tony Robinson’s Cunningcast is back, with new episodes dropping Thursdays…

Actor, presenter and author, Sir Tony Robinson is back with another series of his hit ‘history with a twist’ podcast. Throughout the series, the ‘eternally curious’ Sir Tony combines his unique blend of wit, brains, and humour, with his passion for popular history to explore a new selection of his cunningly curated histories with a line-up of expert guests.

➕ Follow Cunningcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts now to hear Tony and his guests explore fantastic new topics, including:

🪨 New discoveries at STONEHENGE

🇷🇺 Who is Vladimir PUTIN and what makes him tick?

🪏Uncovering the mysteries of SUTTON HOO

⚓️ In search of SHIPWRECKS and SUNKEN CITIES

✍️ Who wrote the BIBLE?

👑 Tony’s book tie-in special on ALFRED THE GREAT

No subject is off limits... because everything has a history.

🎙️ Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | IG @sirtonyrobinson

📻 Produced by Melissa FitzGerald I X @melissafitzg

X: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

Youtube @Cunningcast

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

BONUS: What drives Vladimir Putin? Oct 02, 2025

Today we bring you a bonus episode on Vladimir Putin, digging deeper into who he really is and what makes him tick.

Tony and his expert guests Mark Galeotti and Anna Arutunyan unpick the man from the myth. They discuss how Putin is a pragmatic, cautious leader, shaped more by circumstance than by ideology, as Anna says, “he is very much driven by the needs of the moment, and this is why you'll see very different iterations of Putin throughout his rule. He was not always this quasi-imperialist that we see today.”

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg

With

Mark Galiotti | X @MarkGaleotti

Honorary professor at UCL and director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence, Mark has been studying Russia since 1988 and was banned indefinitely from it in 2022.

‘Downfall: Putin, Prigozhin, and the fight for the future of Russia’ (Ebury/Penguin, June 2024)

'We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West gets him wrong' (Penguin, 2019)

Anna Arutunyan | X @scrawnya

Russian-American writer who spent two decades as a journalist in Moscow, where she wrote for The Moscow News and other publications around the world. She served as senior Russia analyst for the International Crisis Group before leaving Russia in 2022 and is the author of five books about the country, its politics, society and its wars. She is currently associate director of Mayak Intelligence and lives in the UK.

‘Rebel Russia: Dissent and Protest from the Tsars to Navalny' (Polity Books, May 2025)

‘The Putin Mystique: Inside Russia’s Power Cult’ (Interlink Books, 2014)

Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast

-------

If you enjoy this podcast please do share it and leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Who is Vladimir PUTIN and what makes him tick? Sep 25, 2025

Vladimir Putin casts a shadow over our lives, but it wasn’t always that way, there was a time when the West was in love with Putin, so what’s happened? Today Tony and his guests Mark Galeotti and Anna Arutunyan unpick the man from the myth.

They discuss how Putin was shaped by a tough childhood in Leningrad, his KGB years and formative time in East Germany, how he rose through the political ranks in the 1990s as a ‘everyone’s favourite bag-man’, until he was hand-picked to be Yeltsin’s successor.

At first President Putin restored order and wealth to a chaotic Russia, but he also built a system of fear and cronyism around him, similar to a Medieval court. They argue that once he could have been remembered as a stabiliser, instead he is now viewed as a paranoid strongman, whose need for control has dragged Russia into repression and conflict.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg

With

Mark Galiotti | X @MarkGaleotti

Honorary professor at UCL and director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence, Mark has been studying Russia since 1988 and was banned indefinitely from it in 2022.

‘Downfall: Putin, Prigozhin, and the fight for the future of Russia’ (Ebury/Penguin, June 2024)

'We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West gets him wrong' (Penguin, 2019)

Anna Arutunyan | X @scrawnya

‘Rebel Russia: Dissent and Protest from the Tsars to Navalny' (Polity Books, May 2025)

‘The Putin Mystique: Inside Russia’s Power Cult’ (Interlink Books, 2014)

Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast

-------

If you enjoy this podcast please do share it and leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

BONUS: Decoding Stonehenge Sep 18, 2025

Today we bring you a bonus episode on Stonehenge, digging deeper into the mysteries of the world’s best-known ancient stone circle.

Tony speaks to leading archeologist Mike Parker Pearson and top geologist Jane Evans about Stonehenge’s altar stone, once thought to come from Wales, which is now believed, through zircon analysis, to have originated in northeast Scotland, linking it to wider Neolithic traditions such as Orkney’s architecture and pottery. They also discuss how dating methods have transformed our understanding of Stonehenge and how it uniquely brings together stones from extraordinary distances, perhaps as an attempt to unify Britain’s peoples.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson

With

Mike Parker Pearson

Professor of British Later Prehistory, University College London | @ucl

Jane Evans

Honorary Professor in archaeology at the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester and Honorary Research Associate at the British Geological Survey | @britgeosurvey

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg

Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast

If you enjoyed this episode please do share it and leave us a review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

We’re back with …. New Discoveries at STONEHENGE Sep 11, 2025

Cunningcast is back and Tony is kicking off his new series with one of his favourite subjects, Stonehenge, where new discoveries show that once again this ancient site is throwing up new evidence. Tony has invited his old friend, leading archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson, to discuss the Altar Stone's Scottish origins and its implications for understanding the monument's significance.

Also joining the chat is top geologist Jane Evans, whose new research has revealed the fascinating story of an ancient cow's journey from Wales to Stonehenge. Through isotope analysis, Jane has uncovered insights about the Stonehenge cow's diet and origins, leading to broader implications about our ancient communities and their interactions.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

With

Mike Parker Pearson

Professor of British Later Prehistory, University College London. He specialises in British and European prehistory from the Neolithic to the Iron Age; Stonehenge and the British Neolithic; the Beaker people of Bronze Age Europe; the archaeology of the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides); the archaeology of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean; the archaeology of death and burial; public archaeology and heritage.

Parker Pearson, M. 2023. Stonehenge: a brief history. London: Bloomsbury Publishing | https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781350192263

Parker Pearson, M., Bevins, R.I., Bradley, R., Ixer, R.E., Pearce, N.J.G. and Richards, C. 2024. ‘Stonehenge and its Altar Stone: the significance of distant stone sources’. Archaeology International 27: 113–37 | https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/ai/article/id/3293/

Professor Jane Evans

Geologist whose early career focused on using isotope methods for dating rocks. She later turned her expertise toward archaeology, pioneering the use of isotopes to study past human migration. Now retired, she holds honorary professorships in archaeology at the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester and is an Honorary Research Associate at the British Geological Survey. Throughout her career, Jane has used the chemical signatures preserved in human remains to reveal where people came from and how they moved across landscapes. Her work has been central to major discoveries — from uncovering stories at Stonehenge and identifying Viking remains near Weymouth, to contributing to the investigation of King Richard III.

Evans, J., Pashley, V., Wagner, D., Savickaite, K., Buckley, M., Madgwick, R. and Parker Pearson, M. In press. Sequential multi-isotope sampling through a Bos taurus tooth to assess comparative sources in strontium and lead. Journal of Archaeological Science |https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440325001189

Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast

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

Cunningcast Season 3, Coming Soon... Sep 06, 2025

Announcing the launch of Season 3 of Tony Robinson’s Cunningcast on Thursday 11th September. Follow us on social media and wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss it!

Series 3 will treat listeners to brand-new episodes covering:

· New discoveries at STONEHENGE

· Who is Vladimir PUTIN and what makes him tick?

· Uncovering the mysteries of SUTTON HOO

· In search of SHIPWRECKS and SUNKEN CITIES

· Who wrote the BIBLE?

· Tony’s book tie-in special on ALFRED THE GREAT

….And many more fantastic subjects, changing the way we see history.

X: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

Youtube @Cunningcast

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

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

Cunningcast S2 BEST BITS May 15, 2025

In advance of the new series of his cunningly curated history podcast, coming soon, Tony looks back at the best bits of Cunningcast Series 2 with series producer Melissa FitzGerald.

Series 2 features fabulous episodes about Tattoos, Bones, Jelly, Magic, Cars, Beards, Bletchley Park, Hadrians Wall, Turnips, Dr Who and more with some incredible guests including: Alice Roberts, David Mitchell, Grace Neutral, Ben Elton, Annie Gray, Richard Curtis and Sophie Aldred.

If you like these best bits but haven’t heard the full episodes, have a wander back on our #Cunningcast feed to check them out.

Follow us on our socials and hit follow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss any new episodes of Cunningcast Series 3 coming soon...

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

X: @cunningcastpod

YouTube @Cunningcastpod

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

@SirTonyRobinson

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

X | Instagram

@melissafitzg

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

CHRISTMAS with CHRISTINA ROSSETTI - Re-release Dec 17, 2024

Another chance to hear a Cunningcast Christmas treat: Tony reading his favourite poem ‘Goblin Market’ by Christina Rossetti. He's discussing the context and history of Rossetti’s iconic work with Madeleine Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield.

In his electrifying reading, Tony captures all the magic and strangeness of ‘Goblin Market’, set in a fairy-tale world where a fraught encounter takes place between the two sisters Laura and Lizzie and a band of sinister goblin merchants who tempt Laura with their ‘forbidden fruits’. Can Lizzie save her sister from the evil Goblin’s temptations?

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Madeleine Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield. Author of ‘Shelley’s Living Artistry: Letters, Poems, Plays’ (2017) and ‘The Poet-Hero in the Work of Byron and Shelley’ (2019) published by Anthem Press. ‘Eternity in British Romantic Poetry’ (Liverpool University Press), June 2022.

www.sheffield.ac.uk/english/people/academic-staff/madeleine-callaghan

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

DEMENTIA ACTION WEEK: A Defining Year May 16, 2024

To mark Dementia Acton Week, Tony is bringing you a special episode dedicated to the past, present and future of this difficult disease with his expert guest Fiona Carragher, Director of Research and Influencing at the Alzheimer’s Society. Dementia the UK’s number one killer, 1 in 3 people will develop dementia in their lifetime and yet most of us don’t know a great deal about it. But this is a defining year in the history of Alzheimer’s with two new drugs: Lecanemab and Donanemab which have been found, for the first time ever, to slow the progression of the disease.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

With

Fiona Carragher, Director of Research and Influencing at the Alzheimer’s Society.

X @alzheimersoc | FB @alzheimers society | IG @alzheimerssoc

If you’re worried about yourself, or someone close to you, then check your symptoms today using Alzheimer’s Society’s symptom checklist. Visit alzheimers.org.uk/checklist or call the Dementia Support Line on 0333 150 3456

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @Cunningcast

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

BEN ELTON | Blackadder: The Lost Pilot May 09, 2024

Ben Elton is on Cunningcast today. Ben was the co-writer on Blackadder Series 2, 3 and 4: they talk about Ben's comedy roots, working on The Young Ones with Rik and Ade and how Ben got the Blackadder gig via a near miss TV sitcom about Madness. They also chew over the highs and lows of working on Blackadder and how Ben and Richard Curtis created 'Adder speak'.

Alongside Blackadder, Ben Elton cut his comedy chops on The Young Ones. He’s a stand-up legend on stage and TV and one of Britain's biggest live comedy acts. His stellar CV includes writing an incredible 17 novels, as well as the hit musicals ‘The Beautiful Game’; ‘We Will Rock You’ and the sequel to ‘The Phantom of the Opera’.

Last year Blackadder turned 40, to mark the occasion, Tony made a TV show in which he tracked down the lost Blackadder pilot to discover the truth of Blackadder's beginnings. For the show, Tony interviewed many old friends and people who are central to making Blackadder the success it was. You are hearing Tony’s unedited, behind the scenes chat with Ben Elton, recorded for the programme. The show is called Blackadder: The Lost Pilot and you can watch it on catch up on Sky, Virgin & Now.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Ben Elton | https://benelton.live/

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Blackadder: The Lost Pilot is produced by Red Sauce

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @cunningcast

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

A Cunning History of Dr WHO and the WHONIVERSE May 02, 2024

Fresh off the back of celebrating 60 years of Dr Who last year and looking ahead to welcoming the 15th Doctor to the blockbuster show, Tony is joined by Sophie Aldred who played Dr Who’s assistant Ace and the writer, broadcaster and Dr Who superfan, Matthew Sweet. Together they look back over an incredible history of this abidingly successful show, sharing all the Whoniverse gossip from the very first episode starring William Hartnell as the Doctor; the cutting-edge soundtrack created by Delia Derbyshire; hearing how Sophie got the role as Ace aged just 24; though to the show getting cancelled in 1989 and the creative ‘wilderness years’ of Dr Who when it was off air but not out of mind; Russell T Davis’s reboot and the new Doctors for a new generation. We also get answers to the popular questions: was Tony ever in Dr Who? What kind of Doctor would he have made and is Baldrick the ultimate time traveller?

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | @Tony_Robinson

With

Sophie Aldred | @sophie_aldred

Sophie played The Doctor’s companion Ace in the original television series (to Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor). She later reprised her role in ‘Ascend From Darkness’. She was in the last episode of Dr Who ‘Survival’, before it was cancelled in 1989.

Matthew Sweet | @DrMatthewSweet

Journalist, broadcaster, author, and cultural historian. Matthew presented 'Dr Who: The Wilderness Years' on Radio 4 to mark its 60th anniversary

Follow the Show:

X @cunningcastpod

IG @cunningcastpod

Youtube @Cunningcast

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | @melissafitzg

Episode Producer: Simon Hollis

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

A Totally Tremendous History of the TURNIP (Baldrick’s Favourite Vegetable) Apr 25, 2024

20 years after playing Baldrick, Tony is still stopped in the street and asked where my turnip is! Turnips made him famous, so today Tony is talking turnips in history: have they always been so unloved, a food fit only for animals and peasants like Baldrick, or is this a recent British bugbear? And when did the potato steal their veggie crown? Tony’s guests today are food historians Rebecca Earle and Serin Quinn alongside a chef for all seasons who loves to cook with turnips, Oliver Rowe.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Professor Rebecca Earle | www.rebeccaearle.co.uk

An historian of food at the University of Warwick, Rebecca is interested in how ordinary, every-day activities such as eating or dressing shape how we think about the world and how others view us.

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/people/staff_index/earle

Oliver Rowe | www.oliver-rowe.co.uk/ | IG: @oliver_rowe_london

Chef and author whose work focuses on local and seasonal food. Oliver’s book, Food for All Seasons, a personal wander through the food year is published by Faber and available online and from all good bookshops.

Serin Quinn

PhD student in the Department of History at the University of Warwick, interested in all things vegetable!

https://theconversation.com/turnips-how-britain-fell-out-of-love-with-the-much-maligned-vegetable-201007

Follow the Show:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @cunningcast

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

HOWARD GOODALL | Blackadder: The Lost Pilot Apr 18, 2024

Today Tony is talking to the composer Howard Goodall CBE, who wrote the now iconic Blackadder theme tune. Howard is one of Britain’s best-known composers of choral music, stage musicals, TV and film scores. He wrote the themes tunes for many hit comedy shows including Red Dwarf, Mr. Bean, The Vicar of Dibley, The Catherine Tate Show, 2point4 Children and Q.I. but like so many of the talent who worked on the show, it all started with Blackadder.

Last year Blackadder turned 40, to mark the occasion, Tony made a TV show in which he tracked down the lost Blackadder pilot to discover the truth of Blackadder's beginnings. You are hearing Tony’s unedited, behind the scenes chat with Howard Goodall recorded for the programme. The show is called Blackadder: The Lost Pilot and you can watch it on Sky, Virgin & Now

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Howard Goodall CBE | www.howardgoodall.co.uk | @Howard_Goodall

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Blackadder: The Lost Pilot is produced by Red Sauce

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @cunningcast

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Building The Wall: An Enthusiast’s Guide to HADRIAN’S WALL Apr 11, 2024

Marching 73 miles from coast to coast across the narrowest neck of England, Hadrian’s Wall was the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire for nearly 300 years and yet there is still so much we don’t know about it: only 5% of the wall has been excavated and 7% is viable today. Tony is joined by leading archaeologist Richard Hingley and Collections Curator for Hadrian's Wall and the North East at English Heritage, Frances McIntosh, to give him the low down on how and why Hadrian’s Wall was built, by whom and what it means to us today.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Prof. Richard Hingley | https://richardhingley1.wordpress.com/

Professor Emeritus in Archaeology at Durham University. An expert on Hadrian’s Wall, Richard is the author of Conquering the Ocean: The Roman Conquest of Britain (Oxford University Press) and Hadrian’s Wall: A life, (Oxford University Press). https://global.oup.com/academic/product/conquering-the-ocean-9780190937416?cc=gb&lang=en& | https://academic.oup.com/book/27846.

Dr. Frances McIntosh | @englishHeritage | @wallcurator

Collections Curator for Hadrian's Wall and the North East at English Heritage. An archaeologist by training, Frances specialises in Roman small finds, having completed her PhD on the Clayton Collection material, on display at Chesters.

Follow the Show:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @cunningcast

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

BLETCHLEY PARK: Codebreaking Then and Now Apr 04, 2024

Passwords and codes are something we take for granted in the digital age, but this is such a new development and today Tony is going back to a time when making and breaking codes was an almost exclusively high-level military activity: most famously done behind closed doors by the brains at Bletchley Park. He is joined by two people who are giving him the long view on codes and codebreaking: the Bletchley Park military historian David Kenyon and the Chief Information Security Officer at the BBC, Helen Rabe.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Dr David Kenyon

David is responsible for historical research in support of all public content at Bletchley Park, the Second World War code-breaking site in Buckinghamshire, now a museum. He has published two books on BP; Bletchley Park and D-Day in 2019, and Arctic Convoys, Bletchley Park and the War for the Seas in 2023.

https://bletchleypark.org.uk/ | X @bletchleypark | IG @bletchleyparkuk

Helen Rabe

Chief Information Security Officer at the BBC, Helen has a proven track record of developing, executing, and maturing bespoke ISMS strategies. She has managed successful high performing teams to mitigate risk, counter threats and deliver world-class security & data privacy management solutions across varied industry sectors ranging from financial services, life sciences & more recently, broadcasting & media.

Cover photo courtesy of the Bletchley Park Trust

Follow the show:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @Cunningcast

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

A Zinc Media Group production X @zinc_media

If you enjoyed my podcast, please follow the show and leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

A Fan-tash-tic History of FACIAL HAIR Mar 28, 2024

Men’s facial hair is very prone to fashions: moustaches and beards are back in, but why is that and what sparks bread trends and facial hair fashions? To help him find out, Tony has invited ‘beard’ historian Alun Withey and male grooming influencer Robin James | Man For Himself. They discuss 17th Century notions of facial hair as a waste product; through barber-surgeons and early shaving practices; powdered wigs; the Victorian beard movement; King Camp Gillett’s safely razor; the First World War military moustache; film star fashion icons to the rising popularity of men’s hair products and male grooming.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Robin James | Man For Himself

www.ManForHimself.com and IG @ManForHimself

Exploring men’s hair, grooming, fragrance and lifestyle.

Dr Alun Withey | Historian

http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/staff/withey/

Historian of early modern medicine and senior lecturer in History at the University of Exeter. Alun's major research project ‘Do Beards Matter?’, funded by the Wellcome Trust forms the basis of his book Concerning Beards: Facial Hair, Health and Practice in England, 1650-1900 (London: Bloomsbury, 2021).

Follow the show:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @Cunningcast

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

RICHARD CURTIS | Blackadder: The Lost Pilot Mar 21, 2024

Today Tony is talking to his old friend and collaborator, the screenwriter Richard Curtis. They share memories of making Blackadder from the early years to how it all ended. Along the way, they discuss Richard’s comedy roots and how he became a top comedy screenwriter: meeting Rowan Atkinson at Oxford Uni; working on Not The Nine O’Clock News; the influence of Fawlty Towers and plans for a Blackadder series set in the 1960s that never happened. Plus, they read lines from the Blackadder pilot script and discover where Baldrick’s ‘cunning plan’ catch-phrase comes from.

Last year Blackadder turned 40, to mark the occasion, Tony made a TV show in which he tracked down the lost Blackadder pilot to discover the truth of Blackadder's beginnings. For the show, Tony interviewed many old friends and people who are central to making Blackadder the success it was, as well as Blackadder superfan David Mitchell, who is featured in Cunningcast Series 2, Episode 4. You are hearing Tony’s unedited, behind the scenes chat with Richard Curtis recorded for the TV programme. The show is called Blackadder: The Lost Pilot and you can watch it on Sky, Virgin & Now.

Richard Curtis was Blackadder’s mastermind and writer, alongside Ben Elton. He’s one of Britain's most successful screenwriters and producers, with credits including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Mr Bean, The Vicar of Dibley, Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Yesterday. He’s also the co-founder of Comic Relief.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Richard Curtis

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Blackadder: The Lost Pilot is produced by Red Sauce

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @cunningcast

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

The Past, Present and Future of CAR Engineering and Sustainability Mar 14, 2024

Electric cars are the future of motoring, or so we are told, but today’s Cunningcast guests don’t agree. In fact, Hugo Spowers of Riversimple thinks hydrogen is the future and he’s designing hydrogen powered cars to prove it. Together with experienced car broadcaster Richard Sutton, they give Tony the low down on the past, present and their vision for the future of car engineering and sustainability.

Hosted by Si Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Hugo Spowers

Chief engineer and founder of Riversimple, who are pioneering the next generation of zero emission vehicles. They use hydrogen, not batteries and emit nothing but water. Hugo is responsible for all technical aspects of the cars and for the architecture of the business itself. He is considered something of a thought leader on the Circular Economy and has been invited to give talks on entrepreneurship at Imperial College, London and Cranfield University among others. At the Real Innovation Awards in October 2019 hosted by the London Business School, Hugo was awarded the George Bernard Shaw Unreasonable Person Award “for someone who has shown enormous tenacity and stubbornness in pursuing an idea despite the difficulties encountered along the way”.

https://www.riversimple.com/project/hugo-spowers/

IG @Riversimplemovement

X @Riversimple

Richard Sutton

Richard presented ‘Deals on Wheels’ on Channel 4 and he also worked at Goodwood, he’s been immersed in cars for many years.

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @Cunningcast

If you enjoy my podcast, please follow us and leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Conjuring Up… A History of Stage MAGIC Mar 07, 2024

Today Tony is conjuring up a history of stage magic: from Reginald Scot's 1584 ‘Discovery of Witchcraft’ to Servais LeRoy ‘The Belgium Conjuror’ and Talma, ‘The Queen of Coins’ via escapologist Harry Houdini to TV magic with David Berglas, Paul Daniels and David Copperfield. Tony also explores women in magic and how ‘female assistants’ were integral to the magic tricks they performed. He’s invited two accomplished magicians and knowledgeable members of the magic circle, Paul Kieve and Laura London, to help him out with the history and share some magic secrets along the way.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Paul Kieve

Designer of storytelling magic and illusion, Paul has devised original magic for over 100 productions internationally. Paul is an honorary lifetime member of The Magic Castle, Hollywood, Gold Star Member of the Inner Magic Circle and an associate artist at The Old Vic Theatre, London.

www.stageillusion.com/

IG @kievepaul

Laura London

Laura is one of the world’s best female ‘sleight of hand’ artists specialising in cards and is also fabulous close-up magician with a large and varied repertoire. Laura’s interest in magic began at 10 years old, when, for a birthday present, she was given her first magic trick. Just one week after her 18th birthday, Laura became the youngest ever female member of The Magic Circle and is now a member of the Inner Magic Circle.

www.lauralondonmagic.co.uk/

IG: @lauralondon52

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

YouTube @Cunnningcast

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

DAVID MITCHELL | Blackadder: The Lost Pilot Feb 29, 2024

Comedian David Mitchell is joining Tony on Cunningcast today. They cover David’s comedy awakening; meeting Robert Webb and the early years of Peep Show; how Olivia Coleman got involved; his love of Blackadder; playing William Shakespeare and working with Ben Elton in Upstart Crow and meeting his wife, Victorian Coren Mitchell.

Last year the iconic comedy Blackadder turned 40, to mark the occasion, Tony made a TV show in which he tracked down the lost Blackadder Pilot to discover the truth of Blackadder's beginnings. The show is called Blackadder: The Lost Pilot and you can watch it on catch up on Sky, Virgin & Now.

For the show, Tony interviewed many of those involved and some who were inspired by Blackadder: you are hearing Tony’s unedited, behind the scenes chat with David Mitchell recorded for the programme.

David Mitchell has had a stellar career in British comedy. His big breakthrough was Peep Show with David Webb and Olivia Coleman and since then, he’s worked on a plethora of panel shows, including Would I lie to You, Mock the Week and QI. He starred as William Shakespeare in Upstart Crow, a historical comedy devised by Ben Elton. His new book ‘Unruly: A History of England's Kings and Queens’ is a thoughtful, funny exploration of the entitled and enthroned.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

David Mitchell

@RealDMitchell

#Unruly | https://www.waterstones.com/book/unruly/david-mitchell/9781405953177

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Blackadder: The Lost Pilot is produced by Red Sauce

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow the show:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

Youtube @Cunningcast

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

A Wobbly History of JELLY: From Elite Dining to Kids’ Parties and Back Again Feb 22, 2024

It's all going a bit wobbly in Cunningcast Towers as we are talking about the history of jelly. Tony wants to rescue jelly from its place as a children’s party food because there was a time when making jellies was an art form and took pride of place on the tables of the wealthy. He’s invited leading food historian Annie Gray and jellymonger-in-chief Sam Bompas to help him out.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Sam Bompas

Food designer, one half of Bompas and Parr food design agency.

www.bompasandparr.com

X @bompasandparr

IG @bompasandparr

To buy jellies and kitchenalia:

https://www.benhamandfroud.com

Annie Gray

Food historian, Annie has worked widely across TV and radio talking about and recreating the food of the past, and has been the resident food historian on BBC Radio 4’s award-winning culinary panel show, The Kitchen Cabinet since its inception in 2012. She includes a recipe for Champagne Jelly in her ‘Downton Abbey Cookbook’.

http://www.anniegray.co.uk/

X @DrAnnieGray

IG dranniegray

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

Youtube @Cunningcast

If you enjoyed my podcast, please follow us and leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

What Do BONES Tell Us About Past Humanity With ALICE ROBERTS Feb 15, 2024

Tony catches up with Alice Roberts to talk about her new book ‘Crypt’ and what developments in the extraction of ancient DNA from bones can tell us about the humans they once belonged to.

They cover the syphilitic anchoress of All Saints Church, Fishergate, York; new findings about the Black Death and the bones in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Braemore, Hampshire; damage to the bones of the Mary Rose crew; 'the cockle amongst the wheat’ and new finds relating to the St Brice’s Day Massacre via isotopic analysis of human bones at St John’s College, Oxford as well as revisiting their Time Team days.

‘We experience the world through our bodies, and our lives are written into those bodies and into our bones. And this is what the skeletons of the dead say to us when we find them: listen to us, we have stories to tell.’ (‘Crypt’ 2024, Alice Roberts)

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | IG

With

Professor Alice Roberts

Biological anthropologist, author and broadcaster. Alice’s new book ‘Crypt: Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond’ is available from the 29th Feb, 2024.

X | IG

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

Youtube @Cunningcast

If you enjoyed my podcast, please follow the show and leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

The History of Painting on Skin: Where Do TATTOOS Come From? Feb 08, 2024

The art of painting on the skin, it’s fashionable now, but it wasn’t always so. To kick of the second series of his cunningly curated podcast, Tony and his special guests Matt Lodder and Grace Neutral discuss where we can find the oldest tattoos, what’s the history behind them, ancient and modern tattoo techniques, tattoo inks, queer tattoo history, body modification including tattooing eyeballs and when did tattoos stop being taboo?

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Dr Matt Lodder

Senior Lecturer in Art History and Theory, and Director of American Studies at the University of Essex. Matt is the UK's foremost expert on the history of tattooing. His book 'Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos' is out now.

https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/LODDE23007/Matt-Lodder

@mattlodder | @beneaththeskin

Grace Neutral

Hand-poke tattoo artist, presenter and influencer. Grace runs Femme Fatale Studio, showcasing a wide range of tattoo styles from international artists.

https://www.youtube.com/@graceneutral | @graceneutral

https://www.femmefatalelondon.com/ | @femmefataletattoo

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

Youtube @Cunningcast

If you enjoy my podcast, please follow the show and leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Tony Robinson's Cunningcast Season 2 TRAILER Jan 16, 2024

Sir Tony Robinson is back with another series of his cunningly curated history podcast. Series 2 of Tony Robinson's Cunningcast treats listeners to brand-new cunningly curated episodes including;

· The history of painting on skin: where do TATTOOS come from?

· What do BONES tell us about past humanity with PROF ALICE ROBERTS

· Harry Houdini to David Blaine: conjuring up the history of stage MAGIC

· Who built HADRIAN’S WALL and why?

· From aristocratic dining centrepiece, to kids’ party favourite: A wobbly history of JELLY

· How does the past inform the future of CAR engineering and sustainability?

· Dr WHO at 60: exploring the history of Britain’s most famous time traveller with Ace, Aka Sophie Aldred.

X: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

Youtube @Cunningcast

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

Tony Robinson's Cunningcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and other popular podcast platforms.

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

If you've enjoying Cunningcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Christmas with CHRISTINA ROSSETTI: Tony explores the Pre-Raphaelite's Poetry and Reads GOBLIN MARKET Dec 21, 2023

A Cunningcast Christmas treat: today Tony is reading his favourite poem ‘Goblin Market’ by Christina Rossetti, an often-overlooked member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and he's discussing the context and history of Rossetti’s iconic work with Madeleine Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield.

In his electrifying reading, Tony captures all the magic and strangeness of ‘Goblin Market’, which is set in a fairy-tale world where a fraught encounter takes place between the two sisters Laura and Lizzie and a band of sinister goblin merchants who tempt Laura with their ‘forbidden fruits’. Can Lizzie save her sister from the evil Goblin’s temptations?

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

With

Madeleine Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield. Author of ‘Shelley’s Living Artistry: Letters, Poems, Plays’ (2017) and ‘The Poet-Hero in the Work of Byron and Shelley’ (2019) published by Anthem Press. Her latest book, ‘Eternity in British Romantic Poetry’ (Liverpool University Press), came out in June 2022.

www.sheffield.ac.uk/english/people/academic-staff/madeleine-callaghan

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

X @cunningcastpod

Instagram @cunningcastpod

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

TRAILER: CHRISTMAS Episode and SERIES 2 announcement Dec 13, 2023

Tony Robinson is pleased to announce his Christmas episode of Cunningcast is dropping on the 21st December and stay tuned for Series 2, starting in the new year.

X: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

X | Instagram

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

If you've enjoyed Series 1 of Cunningcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Cunningcast S1 BEST BITS Jun 22, 2023

Tony looks back at the best bits of Series 1 with Cunningcast’s series producer Melissa FitzGerald.

If you like the these best bits but haven’t heard the full episodes, have a wander back and check them out. Or if you listened first time and liked them so much that you want to hear them all over again, give us another listen...

Follow us on our socials and hit the notification bell wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss new episodes when they drop.

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

Twitter | Instagram

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

If you've enjoyed Series 1 of Cunningcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

MEN'S HEALTH WEEK: Living with PROSTATE CANCER Jun 08, 2023

Tony has lived with prostate cancer for 10 years and yet he knows very little about it. 1 in 8 men in the UK will get prostate cancer and the risk of getting it rises with age, but men can also be pretty rubbish at getting medical concerns checked out, especially down in the nether regions. In this special episode, made to mark Men’s Health Week, Tony is having a frank chat about prostate cancer - the most common cancer in men - with leading urologist Professor Hash Ahmed. He also hears from his old friend in the ‘prostate club’, Stephen Fry.

Hosted by Tony Robinson IG @SirTonyRobinson / Twitter @Tony_Robinson

With

Professor Hashim Ahmed / Twitter @LondonProstate1

FRCS(Urol) PhD BM BCh MA • Chair in Urology at Imperial College London and Consultant Urological Surgeon.

If you are concerned about prostate cancer or prostate problems, you can find out more on the Prostate Cancer UK website, where they provide a range of information and support so you can choose the services that work for you. Find them online at ProstateCancerUK.org

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

Supporting @ProstateUK

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

TRAILER: PROSTATE CANCER and S1 BEST BITS special episodes COMING SOON May 25, 2023

As we reach the end of Series 1, Tony Robinson is pleased to announce a special episode on PROSTATE CANCER in partnership with Prostate Cancer UK to coincide with Men's Health Week PLUS a special episode celebrating the BEST BITS of series 1. Coming soon.

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

Twitter | Instagram

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

If you've enjoyed series 1 of Cunningcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

The National CENSUS 100 Years Apart May 18, 2023

Tony is a self-confessed Census nerd and today he’s having a nose around the newly released data from the 1921 census, alongside data from the 2021 census, to reflect on the National Census 100 years apart: what it says about us and why it matters.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

Twitter | Instagram

With:

Jessamy Carlson

Jessamy is a historian and an archivist who has worked at The National Archives for fifteen years. She was the research lead for the 1921 Census when it was released, and she has just finished her PhD in Sociology at the University of Essex.

Instagram: @jessamycarlson @nationalarchivesuk

Twitter: @jessamycarlson @UkNatArchives

Jon Wroth-Smith

Director of Census Statistics at the National Records of Scotland (NRS). At the time of recording, Jon was Census Deputy Director at Office for National Statistics.

Instagram @ons

Twitter: @onsfocus

Find out more about the 1921 Census here: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20s-people/the-1921-census/

Head to https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/maps to find out more about what people's lives were like across England and Wales in March 2021.

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Do our DOGS Really Love Us? May 11, 2023

Tony really loves his dog Holly Berry, but does she really love him back? During lockdown there was a huge surge in the demand for dogs and the ‘pandemic puppy’ became something of a cliché. Now we are all going back to work, these dogs are being left home alone more often and the ‘post pandemic’ dog’s life is potentially very lonely. As a keen dog owner, Tony wants to know more about the history of dogs: dog evolution, keeping dogs as pets and why it is that we turn to dogs to bring us comfort in difficult times.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

Twitter | Instagram

Clive Wynne / Twitter @caninecognition

Professor, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University. Clive is a behavioural scientist with a fascination for dogs and their wild relatives, he directs the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University in Tempe, he’s the Director of Research at Wolf Park in Battle Ground, Indiana, and the author of ‘Dog Is Love’.

www.clivewynne.com

Ingrid Tague

Professor of History at the University of Denver. Ingrid’s recent book, Animal Companions: Pets and Social Change in Eighteenth-Century Britainexplains the rise of pet keeping as a widespread phenomenon in Britain.

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

KNIGHTS: What Would a Medieval Sir Tony Robinson have Looked Like? May 04, 2023

Tony was knighted for services to culture back in 2013, and it got him thinking about the concept of Knighthood: where does it come from? How and why has it changed over time? What would a medieval Sir Tony Robinson have looked like? And what would his knightly duties have been?

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

Twitter | Instagram

Featuring:

Toby Capwell / Instagram @tobiascapwell

Tobias Capwell is an independent scholar of arms and armour, curator, author, lecturer, jouster, historical advisor, mailmaker and student of the martial arts. For TV, he rode from Canterbury to London with Tony and worked on ‘Worst Jobs in History: The Lance Maker’ with Tony. Most recently, Toby has completed his three-volume study ‘Armour of the English Knight’, after twenty-three years of work.

Matt Lewis / Instagram @mattlewishistory / Twitter @mattlewisauthor

Historian, writer, presenter at History Hit and co-host of the ‘Gone Medieval’ podcast. Matt has written biographies of Henry II & Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry III, and Richard III, and histories of The Anarchy and The Wars of the Roses.

Credits:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Being JOHN LLOYD Apr 27, 2023

This year is the 40th birthday of the TV show that changed Tony’s life. Since playing Baldrick in Blackadder, he’s still routinely asked in the street if he’d like a turnip. Blackadder was first broadcast on 15th June 1983, so today Tony has decided to test himself to see if he can find out something that he didn't already know about the series, with John Lloyd, who was the producer of Blackadder. John went on to create Have I got News for You and QI but, like Tony, it all started with the Adder.

Hosted by Tony Robinson

Twitter @Tony_Robinson / Instagram @sirtonyrobinson

With

John Lloyd CBE

Creator, producer and comedy writer. John’s television work includes Not the Nine O’clock News, Spitting Image, all four Blackadder series and most recently QI. Whilst at the BBC he produced and created The News Quiz, To the Manor Born and Quote…Unquote. He also co-wrote episodes of the radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy with Douglas Adams. John also presents The Museum of Curiosity on BBC Radio 4 which he co-created.

CREDITS:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Exec Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

What Did The Past SMELL like? Apr 20, 2023

Today Tony has followed his nose and chosen a topic which is often overlooked: what did the past smell like? Was it bad? Are we loosing smells to history? Tony doesn’t have a brilliant sense of smell so his two guests: smell historian William Tullett, and smell designer Tasha Marks, are on hand to help him out.

Hosted by Tony Robinson @Tony_Robinson

With

Tasha Marks / Twitter @avmcuriosities / Instagram @avmcuriosities / www.avmcuriosities.com

Award-winning artist, food historian and founder of AVM Curiosities®, a creative practice that explores the relationship between art and the senses, championing the use of food and fragrance as artistic mediums. Tasha’s projects range from olfactory curation and scented installations to interactive lectures and limited-edition fragrances for institutions including the Royal Academy of Arts, Victoria & Albert Museum, The National Gallery, The British Museum and Historic Royal Palaces. She has developed a diverse portfolio from recreating an Ancient Egyptian Beer, to manufacturing the scent of human breastmilk.

William Tullett / Twitter @WillTullett / Instagram @williamtullett / www.williamtullett.com

Dr William Tullett is Associate Professor of Sensory History at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge and is currently part of the Odeuropa project. His first book Smell in Eighteenth-Century England is in paperback with Oxford University Press and his latest book, Smell and the Past, can be downloaded for free from Bloomsbury here. He is currently working on a big, bold, new history of smells from antiquity to the present for a wider audience.

CREDITS:

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Exec Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

CORONATIONS: Why Does the King Need a Stick and a Ball? Apr 13, 2023

Tony remembers driving a matchbox royal coach under his dining table during Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953. Ahead of King Charles’s Coronation on May 6th 2023, he’s finding out more about where this extraordinary ritual comes from and what it all stands for with historian Kate Williams and HELLO!’s Royal Editor Emily Nash.

Hosted by Tony Robinson @Tony_Robinson

With

Emily Nash / Twitter @emynash / Instagram @emilynashhello.

HELLO!'s Royal Editor, Emily has covered the birth of ten royal babies, four royal weddings, two royal funerals and has travelled across five continents on tour with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Emily is also the co-host of ‘A Right Royal Podcast’.

Professor Kate Williams @KateWilliamsme

Professor of Modern History at Reading University, Kate’s a specialist in modern history, royal and constitutional affairs. She's provided expert analysis for the State Opening of Parliament, the Diamond Jubilee, the 60th anniversary of the Coronation and the Royal Wedding. Kate is also a NYT bestselling author of six historical books.

Credits

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

Exec Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Women in Politics with JESS PHILLIPS Apr 06, 2023

When Jacinda Ardern stepped down from her role as Prime Minister of New Zealand in early 2023, saying she was burnt out and wasn’t able to do her job to the best of her ability anymore, it was surprising, not only because she is such a successful global leader, but the way she did it, with such humility, felt like a refreshing change. So how much harder is for women to stay at the top of their political game?

To have this discussion, Tony has called up someone he’s always got on with: Labour MP Jess Phillips. And to give us some context and background, he’s also invited Rainbow Murray, a Professor of Politics who researches politics and gender, into the studio.

Hosted by Tony Robinson @Tony_Robinson

Featuring:

Jess Phillips, MP @jessphillips

Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, Jess has been Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding in Keir Starmer's Opposition frontbench since 2020.

Rainbow Murray @rainbowmurray

Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London. Rainbow is an expert on gender and politics and has published widely on topics including leadership, access to politics, and parliamentary representation, in the UK and comparatively.

Credits

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

Exec Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Why Were PIES Invented? Mar 30, 2023

Pies are one of life’s great pleasures: that delicious, crusty, warm, buttery foodstuff which Tony loves. Don’t you? Doesn’t everyone? The humble pie also has a history, and today Tony and his guests GBBO 2019 winner David Atherton and food historian Neil Buttery, are helping him get under the lid of the pie: what is it, where it comes from, how to make the best pie and they even get to eat some pie too…

Hosted by Tony Robinson @Tony_Robinson

Featuring

David Atherton @nomadbakerdavid

Food writer, Bake Off 2019 winner and co-host of Sticky Bun Boys podcast.

Neil Buttery @neilbuttery

Food historian, food writer, host of The British Food History Podcast and chef specialising in cooking food from our past. His new book ‘Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England's Most Influential Housekeeper’, was published in February 2023.

Credits

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

Exec Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About STONEHENGE But Were too Shy to Ask Mar 23, 2023

Stonehenge is Tony’s favourite piece of archaeology – he’s had so many adventures there over his long and varied career digging up history, so the second of two Cunningcast launch episodes is all about Stonehenge.

Around 5,000 years ago, ancient people began construction on this Neolithic monument and Stonehenge has been a mystery ever since - the big questions of why did they do it and how still leave us guessing. Whoever built it left no written record and few clues for us to piece together, but clues there are. In this episode, Tony is inviting some old friends onto the podcast - fellow Time Team presenter Raksha Dave, Professor Mike Parker Pearson and archaeologist Alison Sheriden - to find out more about the world’s most famous stone circle, which never stops surprising us.

Hosted by Tony Robinson @Tony_Robinson

Featuring:

Raksha Dave @Raksha_Digs

Field Archaeologist, Public Archaeologist and Broadcaster, recently appointed as President of the Council for British Archaeology London. Raksha's experience spans prehistoric times to the Second World War with primetime documentaries and series on BBC, Channel 5 and Channel 4.

Mike Parker Pearson

Professor of British Later Prehistory, University College London. Mike specialises in British and European prehistory from the Neolithic to the Iron Age; Stonehenge and the British Neolithic; the Beaker people of Bronze Age Europe; the archaeology of the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides); the archaeology of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean; the archaeology of death and burial; public archaeology and heritage.

Dr. Alison Sheriden

Research Associate, Department of Scottish History and Archaeology, NMS; Honorary Research Fellow in Archaeology, University of Edinburgh; Vice President, Archaeology Scotland.

Credits

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

Exec Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

The Legend That is MIRIAM MARGOLYES Mar 23, 2023

This year is the 40th anniversary of Blackadder, the cult TV show that changed Tony’s life. He famously played the ‘turnip brained’ Baldrick, who always had ‘a cunning plan’. To celebrate this year's special birthday, Tony welcomes fellow Blackadder alumni, and dear friend of almost 60 years, onto the launch episode of Cunningcast - yes, it’s the legend that is Miriam Margolyes.

Back in the day, before she was a national treasure, Miriam made a handful of standout appearances on Blackadder, including the Spanish Infanta in Series 1, Lady Whiteadder in Series 2, and Queen Victoria in Blackadder's Christmas Carol. In this special episode, Tony and Miriam recount stories from the series and discuss: where they first met, how she built her hugely successful career, the joys of travelling late in life, her new book, and most importantly… does she have a cunning plan?

Health warning: this being Miriam, the language does get a little fruity at times!

Hosted by Tony Robinson @Tony_Robinson

Featuring Miriam Margolyes

Writer, political activist, TV and screen personality, Miriam Margolyes received a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993) and portrayed Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series (2002–2011). She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2002 New Year Honours for Services to Drama.

Miriam has spent many years dividing her time between the United Kingdom, Australia and Italy. She became an Australian citizen in 2013. She has also written two books, Dickens' Women (2012) and her autobiography This Much is True (2021).

Credits

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

Exec Producer: Dominic de Terville

Cover Art: The Brightside

A Zinc Media Group production

Follow:

Twitter: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

YouTube

If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.

Thank you, Love Tony x

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

Introducing Tony Robinson's CUNNINGCAST Mar 08, 2023

Tony Robinson is best-known for playing turnip-brained Baldrick who always had 'a cunning plan' in the iconic TV show Blackadder. He's presented countless documentaries throughout his 50-year career, including 20-years on Channel 4's Time Team, inspired by his passion for history and for digging deep into the past to understand more about the present. That's his thing!

In his cunningly curated history podcast, Tony is taking the long view on the big stories of the day and delving into other weird and wonderful stories that grab him and make him want to know more about the world around us. He’s asking: Why was Stonehenge built? What did the past smell like, was it horrible? Why were pies invented? Why do our dogs love us so much? Amongst other intriguing questions.

Along the way, Tony is joined by experts and special guests, such as Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry, Raksha Dave and John Lloyd who help provide some answers.

So join Tony Robinson as he hosts his cunningly curated history podcast - now available on Spotify; Apple Podcasts; Acast and all good podcast apps.

X: @cunningcastpod

Instagram: @cunningcastpod

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