Pirates of Madagascar

To continue our summer of travel with Close Readings, Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley look at the medieval bestseller The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. The fictional traveller’s fantastical descriptions of different places, peoples and animals across the Holy Land and Asia ...  Afficher plus

In April this year, the US Supreme Court struck down Louisiana's voting map on the grounds that state lawmakers had violated the constitution by creating a second district with a majority of Black voters. This was followed by a similar decision by the court in June, giving Alabam ...  Afficher plus

Will and Mango have so many questions about pirates: did they really exaggerate their R's? Did they all have parrots? Were lady pirates more successful than male ones? And was there really a rabbi pirate who made his crew keep kosher? From buried treasure to walking the plank, ...

The so-called Golden Age of Piracy was a time of lawless, terrifying, at-times amazing and objectively ridiculous history. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Matt explore a fascinating claim: Did some anti-authoritarian pirates really form their own government?See omnystudio.com/l ...  Afficher plus

In the Golden Age of Piracy, pirate crews often came from different countries and walks of life. They shared equal pay and voting rights aboard the ship. Captains often chose their crew based on fierce loyalty rather than nationality or race. Some proved more fierce than others. ...  Afficher plus

First in a double podcast about the Golden Age of Piracy, with historian Marcus Rediker. The legendary pirates of this era weren’t just thieves—they were daring rebels challenging the very systems of power and authority of their time. Fighting every colonial empire, and creating ...  Afficher plus