St Patrick's Day

Ghost stories have haunted conversations since ancient times, from the Mesopotamians to the Romans to the Vikings. The medieval period was particularly awash with ghost stories - after all, it was an era of great plague, piety and corporal punishment. Ghost stories served as usef ...  Show more

In June 1940, France was collapsing. Paris was in enemy hands, the government had fled, and Marshal Pétain was preparing to surrender. Into that chaos stepped a lanky, rigid French general with no army, no government and almost no followers - Charles de Gaulle. From penniless exi ...  Show more

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  No, Tom isn't turning Brixton's River Effra green, nor is Dominic distributing shamrocks throughout the Oxfordshire countryside, but they're here anyway with a very special pod on the mysterious Apostle of Ireland.  When was St. Patrick alive? Where wa ...  Show more

Man, myth or legend... who was the real Saint Patrick? Did he really banish all the snakes from Ireland? Where does the shamrock tradition come from? And was he even Irish?

In this episode, Tristan is joined by Professor Lisa Bitel of USC Dornsife to find out more ab ...

For St. Patrick's Day, we're exploring the very symbol of good luck itself! Where in history does this Irish tradition come from, and what does its presence say about the land it originated from? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices