213 – Danegelds, Peace, and Shame

It’s 872 and Halfdan’s year has been a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, he had received a major Danegeld from Mercia, to add to the one he received from Wessex in the previous year. And now he was residing within London. But on the other hand, he had just gotten word […] The ...  Show more

It’s 873 and so far Halfdan has extracted THREE Danegelds from King Burgred in exchange for promising to not occupy Mercia. And, of course, he’s gone on to occupy Mercia… most recently in a town called Torksey. He also put down a rebellion in Jorvik and reclaimed the city. He pus ...  Show more

George Price is on a mission to prove that human kindness is real. He's seen the latest research suggesting any altruism is ultimately selfish and finds it deeply depressing. George decides to learn the mathematics he needs to prove that research wrong, and throws his career, and ...  Show more

Described by the first officer to arrive as “the worst domestic scene” they’d ever witnessed, the brutality of what Alex Skeel endured was shocking. Alex had deep gashes on his arms, burns upon burns, and according to his family, he smelt like he was dead. But his years of isolat ...  Show more

The UK was the first European country to surpass 100,000 deaths from Covid 19. The UK has one of the worst death rates. But can we trust the numbers? Many of our listeners have asked us to investigate. Long Covid is widely acknowledged as being a growing problem, but what are the ...  Show more

The Oedipus complex, Freudian slip, repression, the ego and the id – Sigmund Freud’s ideas have become part of everyday language. He opened up the world’s mind to the idea of the subconscious. He also pioneered the idea that our childhood shapes who we are. But what are the secre ...  Show more