Zoot suits, mashers & New Romantics: the evol...

Prosthetic legs, wheelbarrow wheelchairs and guide… children? Those were just some of the assistive technologies and body augmentations available to our medieval and early modern ancestors. In this episode, Rae Gillibrand highlights how bodily difference was understood in this pr ...  Show more

It's now often used as an adjective for anything standard, plain, and borderline boring – but the history of vanilla is anything but. Eric T Jennings – whose book Vanilla: The History of an Extraordinary Bean is among the titles shortlisted for the 2026 Cundill History Prize – te ...  Show more

In today's podcast we tackle "Menswear Revolution - The Transformation of Contemporary Men's Fashion," tracing the evolution of menswear throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. We'll see how evolving designs reflect and shape shifting ideas about masculinity, key periods an ...  Show more

In today's podcast we exploe "Men's Style - The Thinking Man's Guide to Dress" by Russell Smith, a complex interplay between men's fashion, social class, and personal expression. We examine historical and contemporary perspectives on menswear, tracing the evolution of conventions ...  Show more

We can learn a lot about what a culture thinks is important through its fashion. These days, most men don’t wear makeup to work, or lace collars, or powdered wigs, but that wasn’t always the case! Joy and co-host Max go on a journey to the history spa, where they get a 1770s make ...  Show more

Underwear! Whether we're talking boxers, briefs, loincloths, brassieres or even lingerie, undergarments have a storied history in cultures across the planet. It's a tale touching on everything from shifting attitudes about morality to scientific innovations, fashion and more. ...