This time on History is Sexy, Emma and Janina begin their deep dive into the tumultuous history of the Balkans.Von History Is Sexy

Why have chefs historically been men, and how did the concept of the restaurant take shape?Von History Is Sexy

Gabrielle Falloppia is credited with inventing the condom. He didn’t, but he did discover the fallopian tubes, all while battling academic rivals, accusations of heresy, a syphilis epidemic, and the pirates who kidnapped his boyfriend. He has been accused of vivisecting the criminals given to him by the Medicis—that is, dissecting them while they w…

Support us at patreon.com/historyissexy! Thank you!Von History Is Sexy

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyWho were the Luddites? Were they really "anti-technology", or were they about something entirely different? Was the problem capitalism all along?Von History Is Sexy

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyWhere do Teddy Bears come from? Why did they suddenly take over the world? Was Teddy Roosevelt really involved? Join Emma and Janina as they unravel the hairy truth behind our plush pals.Show notes: https://historyissexy.com/show-notes/episode-89-whats-the-history-of-teddy-bears…

Ancient history has traditionally been dominated by the lives of great men, while ancient women are confined to the margins or omitted altogether. In The Missing Thread, award-winning classicist Dr Daisy Dunn pulls these women out of the shadows and puts them center stage, where they belong. This week, we talk about the lives of ancient women: love…

Burned, hanged, and symbolically “executed,” tea was a controversial commodity in 1770s America. This week we talk to Dr James Fichter about tea consumption, bans, the protests like the Boston Tea Party in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. Dr Fichter’s new book is Tea: Consumption, Politics, and Revolution, 1773-1776.…

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyWho was Catiline? Why did he try to do a coup? was it a big deal? Why did Cicero hate him? Find out all this and more in this episode!Further reading and show notes https://historyissexy.com/show-notes/episode-88-what-really-happened-in-catilines-conspiracy…

Under the 1913 Mental Deficiency Act, Britain imprisoned 50,000 people as “moral imbeciles.” Many of them were young women—working class, poor or unwed mothers, often victims of sexual assault—and most were confined to so-called Mental Deficiency Colonies for the rest of their lives. It was all down to eugenics; as the middle-class birth rate decli…

Just this week, all but two Senate Republicans voted against the Right to Contraception Act. At the same time, the GOP is calling for a nationwide ban on abortion. But what happens when abortion is banned? It happened in Italy in 1588…but it didn’t work. It was overturned only three years later in 1591. This week, Jess talks to Dr John Christopoulo…

Nostalgia can be both good and bad—at its best, it manifests in historical reenactment, vintage fashion, and mid-century modern furniture. At its worst, it can drive regressive political policies, fascism, and book bans. But nostalgia itself isn’t a bad thing—it’s a bittersweet, rose-tinted longing for the past, but how did people in the past exper…

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyJoin Emma and Janina on the high seas as Janina tells us all about her favourite shipwrecksVon History Is Sexy

During Josephine McCarty’s trial for murder, she was portrayed as an ordinary woman—a mother of six, she was only looking out for her children when she shot her lover in the face in front of dozens of witnesses. Over the course of her trial, she told the story of her life—she had been a lobbyist, an abortion provider, one of the first female doctor…

This week we welcome back to the show Susan Wands, author of the Arcana Oracle Series. We’re looking at the extraordinary lives of Florence Farr and Ellen Terry, two incredible women who broke all the rules of Victorian society. Divorce! Affairs! Illegitimate children! And best of all—careers! Ellen was an incredibly successful actress, and Florenc…

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyHow big of a dickhead was Napoleon III, anyway?Von History Is Sexy

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyDormice? Sow's Uterus? What on earth did the Romans eat? Join Emma and Janina for a culinary odyssey through the world of Roman Food.Von History Is Sexy

Following on from Episode 3.19 on sex toys with Hallie Lieberman, this week we talk to clinical psychologist Dr Eric Sprankle about the history and science of masturbation. We talk about the not-so-sexy origins of graham crackers and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, bizarre conspiracy theories about porn, semen retention myths, and the Founding Father who th…

Literary nerds rejoice! This week, we have another history/literature episode, looking at sex work in Victorian poetry with Emily Calleja. We’re talking about how sex workers were portrayed, what that can tell us about women’s real-life frustrations, and how it impacted the suffrage movement.

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/historyissexyWho are some of the most badass saints? What were their lives like? What's a "desert father"? Find out all of this and more!Von History Is Sexy

Sex toys have existed for 28,000 years, so why is there still such a stigma around them? This week we’re talking about the history of sex toys from the ancient world to the present, the evolution and cultural significance of the vibrator in the 19th and 20th centuries, Masters and Johnson’s revolutionary research, the ups and downs of the adult ent…

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyThe most devious, murderous cut-throat family of renaissance Italy.. or misunderstood victims of slanderous propaganda? Emma and Janina take a look at one of Italy's most infamous families, their rise, and fall.Von History Is Sexy

You’ve heard it all before—corsets are dangerous, uncomfortable, a tool of the patriarchy meant to oppress women! But are they? Were they ever? This week on DSH, we talk to biological anthropologist about corsets—how they really affect the body, why women wore them, and the surprising reason men wanted to do away with them at the turn of the 20th c…

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexy... and were they really so dark?Listener survey link: https://forms.gle/78wMyX42uQvpHf1Y8Show notes: https://historyissexy.com/show-notes/episode-82-what-makes-the-dark-ages-darkVon History Is Sexy

In seventeenth-century England, seeing a doctor was a big deal. Before the NHS, people paid doctors, quacks, and even astrological medical practitioners out of pocket for cures that could be dangerous and downright unpleasant. Some people turned to household recipe books to treat themselves at home, but for many serious ailments, this just wasn’t p…

For women in Renaissance Italy, beauty was everything: it could be a vocation, a way to get ahead, entertainment, or even a weapon. Women of all classes used cosmetics, and many were employed as beauticians, apothecaries, and beauty writers. This week, Jess talks to Professor Jill Burke about Renaissance beauty standards, cosmetics, hair dye, plast…

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyGraham and Ali from Rex Factor are here and we're talking about England's most consequential Queen Consorts, and all the skulduggery she got up to!⚠ Listener survey! ⚠We want to get to know our wonderful audience (that's you) a little better, and find out how we can improve our podcast to be the b…

Between 1848 and 1879, the Oneida Community tried to build heaven in Upstate New York through the principles of communism, free love, and contraception. Under the guidance of charismatic preacher John Humphrey Noyes, the community practiced “complex marriage,” meaning everyone was allowed to sleep with everyone else. But there was a dark side to th…

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyWillkommen in Österreich! Emma is joined by History Is Sexy producer and Austria Correspondent Oliver to have a look at a story that's captured Austrian hearts for a hundred years, the life of Empress Elisabeth.⚠ Listener survey! ⚠We want to get to know our wonderful audience (that's you) a little…

What can folklore teach us about history? More than you’d think! This week, Jess talks to Icy Sedgwick about fairies, ghosts, gods, psychopomps, tricksters, banshees, and more. Who was the real Lady Godiva? How did colonialism influence the folklore of the Americas? And why are people so obsessed with Robin Hood? We cover all this and more this wee…

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyEmma is joined by HR Owen once again to discuss the most dramatic family in Classical Egypt!⚠ Listener survey! ⚠We want to get to know our wonderful audience (that's you) a little better, and find out how we can improve our podcast to be the best that it can be. To help us figure this stuff out, p…

He might not be the most famous pirate, but Black Sam Bellamy may have been the most successful: when his ship wrecked in 1717, it took Sam with it, along with an astonishing 4.1 tonnes of gold and treasure. Forbes estimated that at his death, the "Prince of Pirates" was worth more than $120 million. And he did it all for love. This week on the pod…

Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyissexyJanina's on a bit of a break, but history never sleeps, so Emma is joined by acclaimed podcaster HR Owen for a deep dive into perhaps one of the most dramatic families in history, the Ptolemys.⚠ Listener survey! ⚠We want to get to know our wonderful audience (that's you) a little better, and find …

Madame Blavatsky is no longer a household name, but her ideas changed the course of history. A central figure in Victorian Spiritualism, she is credited with starting the New Age movement. She influenced everyone from Aldous Huxley and H.P. Lovecraft to Aleister Crowley and David Bowie. Even Dungeons & Dragons borrows from Blavatsky. Although her “…