History's Worst F*ckboys: Henry VIII

The Renaissance, a period of transformation in art, learning, philosophy and science that brought us Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello (the artists, not the turtles). This era of the Early Modern period seems to have been tinted with reds and golds, it all so ...  Show more

It's been estimated that between eight and twelve percent of soldiers in contracted a venereal disease during the American Civil War. What on earth were they up to?Kathryn Olivarius is a Professor at Stanford. She joins Kate to discuss syphilis, why it spread so far during the wa ...  Show more

With six wives, Henry VIII must have had something going for him, right? Was he handsome? Charming? Intelligent? Just plain powerful? In this episode, the tables are turned on Professor Suzannah Lipscomb as she becomes the guest of Dr. Kate Lister on our sister podcast, Betwixt t ...  Show more

In 1542 Jane Boleyn was executed for having aided and abetted Henry VIII's fifth wife Catherine Howard to commit adultery. It was the second time Jane Boleyn had been connected with charges of treason as just six years earlier, she had allegedly asserted a charge of inces ...

The rich and powerful Guise family was one of the most treacherous and bloodthirsty in sixteenth-century France. They whipped up religious bigotry, overthrowing the king. They ruled Scotland for nearly 20 years through Mary Queen of Scots, plotting to invade England and overthrow ...  Show more

Henry VIII is famous for marrying 6 wives, abandoning 2 of them and beheading another 2. Some might say he ruined their lives! And though they may have briefly been Queens, they also likely cursed they met the royal tyrant. In his Majesty’s search for new brides there were a hand ...  Show more