Surgical history: everything you wanted to kn...

He was barely a toddler when he was paraded as a captive in a Roman triumph in 46 BC, but young North African prince Juba went on to marry a daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, and rule an African kingdom. Andrew Kenrick, author of Rex Juba: 15 Glimpses of an African King, unravels ...  Show more

In 1665 the Portuguese Inquisition arrested Crispina Peres, a powerful slave trader in the west African port of Cacheu. The records of her case provide a remarkable window into everyday life in 17th-century west Africa, and form the basis of Toby Green's latest book, The Heretic ...  Show more

What was it really like inside a Victorian operating theatre? Did people really smoke cigars and eat oysters while they watched high risk surgery taking place? And what were the most common procedures?In today's episode Kate joins Dr. Monica in the Old Operating Theatre in London ...  Show more

Today, it is one of the most commonly performed surgeries. But when was the hysterectomy, the removal of the uterus, first performed? How has this procedure interacted with ideas such as femininity and eugenics? And WHY would a very brave woman perform this surgery on herself?Kat ...  Show more

Almost half of births in the UK are delivered via Cesarean section. But when was this operation first performed?Kate Lister is joined by Hannah Marsh, author of 'Thread, A Cesarean Story of Myth, Magic, and Medicine', to hear how this medical procedure developed, and how it has b ...  Show more

Welcome to the Dark History podcast. How old do you think plastic surgery is? I thought it started like 50/60 years ago. But then someone told me it started because of soldiers injured in WWI, GASP. But then someone else said that forms of plastic surgery had been around since be ...  Show more