La Voisin, The French Abortionist Tried As A ...

Ancient Rome is often thought of as an ideal society where toga-clad men debated democracy while eating grapes. But in fact, the Roman Empire and Republic couldn't have existed without slavery. What were these enslaved people's lives like? Pretty awful, actually! Historian Emma S ...  Show more

NeferTV is a new TV recap podcast by Ann Foster and Gina Berry, where we talk about shows set in the ancient world. This season, we're going through every episode of SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND. Subscribe to NeferTV wherever you get podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...  Show more

Why did Cleopatra soak the sails of her ship in jasmine? How did Queen Elizabeth smell? And why was perfume an essential tool of power for women across history? 

Whilst it’s hard to research the history of something that leaves no physical trace, we actually kno ...

On the eve of the worst winter for over a century and with France on the brink of war with the English, the 1400s in Paris were a tumultuous period. With a mentally unstable king and a collection of dukes, lords and nobles all vying for power in the background, catastrophe was on ...  Show more

What does it take to get the reputation as one of the least popular queens in history?

Should we remember Henrietta Maria as the wife of the King executed by his subjects, the Catholic influencer and a serial adulterer? Or as a prankster, a patron of the arts and a m ...

Following the fortunes of one extended family in a south-western French town in the 18th and 19th centuries, Emma Rothschild’s Cundill Prize-shortlisted book An Infinite History builds up a picture of what life was like for ordinary people in provincial France. She tells Rhiannon ...  Show more