The Tabloid Sacrifices of the Spare, Princess...

History has often reduced the brilliant mathematician and physicist Émilie du Châtelet to her relationship with a famous man (Voltaire). But she was a fascinating figure in her own right, an 18th century polymath at the forefront of conversations about how the world worked. Suppo ...  Show more

When the future Queen Elizabeth I was just 13 years old, she was living with Catherine Parr, who remarried after the death of Henry VIII. Catherine's new husband was handsome and charming, but he was also someone who would threaten scandal. A scandal that could cost Elizabeth's f ...  Show more

The Duchess of Argyll was shameless, in all the right ways. That’s what drew historian, Lyndsy Spence, to write a book about her. She joins Matt and Alice to discuss why Margaret Campbell was the precursor to the female celebrities of today who are scrutinised by the tabloids. ...

Princess Diana was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Not only was she married to the future King of England, she was also a fashion icon, a humanitarian, a devoted mother, and a role model for millions. However, her life was far from the fairytale she’d env ...  Show more

Greg Jenner is joined in 16th-Century France by Dr Estelle Paranque and comedian Shaparak Khorsandi to learn all about controversial queen Catherine de’ Medici.Catherine’s life was dramatic from the moment she was born: orphaned when she was just a few weeks old, she was brought ...  Show more

Thackeray's comic masterpiece, 'Vanity Fair', is a Victorian novel looking back to Regency England as an object both of satire and nostalgia. Thackeray’s disdain for the Regency is present throughout the book, not least in the proliferation of hapless characters called George, ye ...  Show more