Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Greg Jenner is joined in late antique Egypt by Professor Edith Hall and comedian Olga Koch to learn about the life of mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria.An important mathematical and astronomical thinker, Hypatia is best known today for her brutal death at the hands of Christian ...  Show more

Greg Jenner is joined in medieval England by Professor Marion Turner and comedian Mike Wozniak to learn all about Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales.Since the 15th century, Chaucer has been referred to as the father of English literature. He was one of the first aut ...  Show more

In the late 1700s, one man became a celebrated fixture of Parisian salon culture: he was a prodigy fencer, and then a brilliant composer and violinists. He befriended Marie Antoinette and lead one of the city's most famous orchestras. And he was the son of an enslaved woman, f ...

Popular historic dramas like Bridgerton, Hamilton and Sanditon sometimes receive criticism that their diverse casts are historically inaccurate. But in fact there have been people of color in Britain and France since Roman times. By the 18th century the trans Atlantic slave trade ...  Show more

Jean-Baptistle Lully is perhaps best known for the unusual circumstances of his death. But he lived a fascinating life that would rival any fictional rags-to-riches story. 

Research:

Peter White draws on the latest research to reveal the lives of physically disabled people in the 18th and 19th centuries. In this third episode, he challenges our modern ideas of freaks and freak shows.Many disabled people who exhibited themselves in the 18th century were in fac ...  Show more