Everything Is Awful Forever

Everything is awful forever both in life, and podcast. An update about our hiatusi and our futureSupport the show

As autumn draws to a close and the chill creeps in, follow Jess and Philippa into the cold and dark as they look at the misadventures of Floyd Collins.Support the show

It's been a bit of a hiatus, but nothing is going to stop Jess and Philippa from crawling out of their graves on Halloween. Join us around the table as we listen to the rappings of spirits, and look at the tricks of the trade in the (not so) otherworldly lives of Victorian spirit mediums. Sources:TBASupport the show

We wanted to do an Easter-themed episode but have already covered Mary Toft, the woman who gave birth to rabbits. May we interest you in some Easter...floods? Grab your water wings and hope they'll keep you afload as Jess and Philippa dive into the very non-watery substances that have plagued humankind. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Join Jess and Philippa as they set sail off the west coast of Ireland with Grace O'Malley, or Granuaile, a woman whose piratical journey would take her from the Irish seas to the throne of Queen Elizabeth Tudor.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Why do so many monarchs get stuck with the nickname of "...the Mad"? It can't possible be because they're...oh...nevermind. Welcome to the return of the Mad Monarchs series. Join Jess and Philippa as they look into the lives of four teen rulers who should never have been allowed to rule. Content warning for brief mentions of sexual assault in the episode. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Let's talk about sects. Join Jess and Philippa for another episode on the Wickedest Man in the World, Aleister Crowley. Magical societies, demonic battles, and newspaper scandals: just another regular day in the life of Britain's most famous dark wizard.Sources: Churton, T. (2011) Aleister Crowley: The Biography. London: Watkins.   Lachman, G. (2014) Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Wickedest Man in the World. New York: Tarcher Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Known to history since for over 4000 years, and it's only recently that we've begun to understand it. In the meantime, people had to endure some "cures" that may have been worse than the disorder - especially since most of them did very little help in the first place. Join Jess and Philippa as they look into the confusion surrounding epileptic seizures, and how it was dealt with in the ancient world and medieval period. Sources:Sugg, R. (2011) Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: The History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians. London and New York: Routledge.Temkin, O. (1945) The Falling Sickness: A History of Epilepsy from the Greeks to the Beginnings of Modern Neurology. Baltimore and London: John Hopkins University Press.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

CW: Animal experimentationWe know what you're thinking: when will Jess and Philippa release their next episode?! January 1st was more than three weeks ago! If you want to know how we read your minds, join us as we delve into the Russian search for the psi particle and the secrets of Project Stargate. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Knock knockWho's there?JessJess who?Jester jokes are difficult to ad lib when you're Jess and Philippa. Join us as we prance along the bell-strewn history of jesters and joculators, and find out that the life of a joker wasn't all shits and giggles.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Join Jess and Philippa as they accompany Crowley up to the heights of his greatest accomplishments as well as down to the depths of failure and despair.Sources: Churton, T. (2011) Aleister Crowley: The Biography. London: Watkins.   Crowley, A. (1909) The Book of the LawOriginally published  as part of ΘΕΛΗΜΑ in London by the  A∴A∴ Lachman, G. (2014) Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Wickedest Man in the World. New York: Tarcher Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

As we approach Black Friday, join Jess and Philippa as we dive into one of the many ways in which labour has been exploited in the name of profit. It's time at last to work out what they really did in the Victorian workhouse.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

CW: Violence against children, child deathGood childcare is notoriously difficult to find - and expensive when you do come across it. And if children are really the future, the Victorians were having none of it. Join Jess and Philippa as they look into the grim options available to many a late-Victorian mother and the money-hungry killers that preyed on their children.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

They were your childhood friends. You played with them every day. You told them all your secrets. And while you grew up, they stayed the same. And when you left home, they...waited. This Halloween, join Jess and Philippa as they look into two of the most famous dolls to haunt your nightmares. Sources:Brittle, G. (1981) The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed + Lorraine Warren. New York: Maymalkin Media.Ocker, J. W. (2020) Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World's Most Infamous Items. Philadelphia: Quirk Books.    Robert the Doll Official Website: http://robertthedoll.orghttps://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/story-behind-robert-the-dollhttps://allthatsinteresting.com/annabelle-dollSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

This week we look at the greatest mountaineer, poet, chessmaster, spy, and wizard of all time: Aleister Crowley. Join Jess and Philippa as they look into his humble beginnings from a cupboard under the stairs (sort of kind of not really), his initiation into the Golden Dawn, and his role in the most epic wizard battle to ever shake the streets of London. Sources: Churton, T. (2011) Aleister Crowley: The Biography. London: Watkins.   Crowley, A. (2021) The Confessions of Aleister Crowley: An Autohagiography Part I-III. Houston Texas: The Winged Globe Libary. Originally published by Mandrake Press as The Spirit of Solitude in 1929.Lachman, G. (2014) Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Wickedest Man in the World. New York: TarcherSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Join Jess and Philippa for a quintessential Awful Forever episode. Witches! Boats! Henry VIII! Murder most foul, and maybe a little murder most pleasant - if you're a king on the hunt for witches.Sources:https://www.britannica.com/story/acts-of-union-uniting-the-united-kingdom https://www.scotlandmag.com/james-vi-and-witch-trials/ https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/king-james-vi-i-hunted-witches-hunter-devilry-daemonologie/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

If you're having trouble getting started with your week, Jess and Philippa are ready to help you get over those Monday morning blues by getting into the (fashion) details of Victorian mourning rituals. Wilde may have thought "Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months" but Victorian women could be confined to black bombazine for two years at a time. Sources: Arnold, C. (2006) Necropolis: London and its Dead. London: Simon & Schuster.  Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Sometimes you throw in your lot with rogues who convince you to board their ramshackle vessel and go die in the Arctic. Sure, you might perish in the frozen darkness - but what happened to the person who abandoned you there? Join Jess and Philippa as they see what Vilhjalmur Stefansson, leader of the doomed Karluk and the  Canadian Arctic Expedition, got up to after he left his previous crew to die.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

What do you do when your graveyards are at capacity and everyone's simply dying to get in? Join Jess and Philippa as they confront burial reform in Victorian London and the corpse-ridden scandals that shook the city.Sources: Arnold, C. (2006) Necropolis: London and its Dead. London: Simon & Schuster. Jackson, L. (2014) Dirty Old London: The Victorian Fight Against Filth. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Walker, George. (1839) Gatherings from Graveyards.https://wellcomecollection.org/works/y95wwnenSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

It's a Monday and we're all feeling a little down. Sickly, even. But you can always join Jess and Philippa for a small pick-me-up and some sound advice about achieving a healthy glow that is literally radiant.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Do you ever feel torn between an endless list of podcasts to listen to and that massive pile of books sitting there...judging you for not reading right now? Right. Now? Why not join Jess and Philippa instead, as they flip through the pages of anthropodermic bibliopegy - books bound in human leather.  SourcesBrooke-Hitching, E. (2020) The Madman's Library: The Strangest Books, Manuscripts and Other Literary Curiosities from History. London: Simon & Schuster.Flanders, F. (2011) The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime. London: HarperCollins Publishers.Rosenbloom, M. (2020) Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Flesh. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The Anthropodermic Book Project: https://anthropodermicbooks.org/Needham, P. (2014) A Binding of Skin in the Houghton Library: A Recommendationhttp://www.princeton.edu/~needham/Bouland.pdf Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Worry not, for Jess and Philippa will explain to you how to do the perfect crime. If you don't understand it maybe it's just because you're not smart enough; not like two white, wealthy, teenage boys from the 1920's, who were certainly smarter than everyone else, definitely able  to flawlessly execute  perfect crime. Sources:  For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago By Simon Baatz (2008) Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

...Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

It's that time of the week in which we discuss that time of the month. Join Jess and Philippa as they look at the mysteries of the medieval womb, and the monstrous ways in which women were misunderstood.Sources:Hartnell, J. (2019) Medieval Bodies: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages. London: Wellcome Collection.Miller, S. (2010) Medieval Monstrosity and the Female Body. New York, London: Routledge. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Ever wished that you could be a royal? Who doesn'tt? Well, sign up to our three-step Rags to Royalty program, inspired by Madame de Maintenon, that will 100% absolutely take you to queenhood in no time. Sources:Françoise d’Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon (1635—1719) - John J. Conley – 9-(2021) https://iep.utm.edu/mainteno/ Madame de Maintenon – Louis XIV’s secret wife -Moniek (2018) https://www.historyofroyalwomen.com/the-royal-mistresses-series/madame-de-maintenon-louis-xivs-secret-wife/ Undercover Queen - Caroline Weber - 2009 https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/books/review/Weber-t.html Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon - The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica –(2021) https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francoise-dAubigne-marquise-de-MaintenonSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Pocahontas. John Smith. The love. The colours. The wind. You've seen the movie. Now bear witness to the journal ramblings of the hero himself. John Smith, British explorer (2021) https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Smith-British-explorer First Prison in Colonial Virginia (2017) http://www.virginiaplaces.org/government/firstprison.html Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend (2015) https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/pocahontas-her-life-and-legend.htm John Smith of Jamestown: Facts & Biography (2013) https://www.livescience.com/40898-captain-john-smith.html John Smith (2020) https://historicjamestowne.org/history/pocahontas/john-smith/ The True Story of Pocahontas (2017) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-pocahontas-180962649/ Following John Smith - Stingray Point and another shallop (2006) https://cbf.typepad.com/johnsmith/2006/07/following_john__2.htmlSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

If there's one thing you've come to expect from our history podcast it's that we look at the very bluntest edge technology available. And where else to look other than the operating theatre? Join Jess and Philippa as they look at two surgeons: one, the paragon of his age just before the advent of anaesthesia; the other, a French surgeon who got up close and personal with the dark side of the Sun King. Sources:Fitzharris, L. (2017) The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine. New York: Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Porter, R. (2004) Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company.Snow, S. (2006) Operations Without Pain: The Practice and Science of Anaesthesia in Victorian Britain. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Van de Laar, A. (2018) Under the Knife: A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations. New York: St. Martin's Press.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Artichokes! Church brawls! Bounties! Tennis matches to the death, fought beneath the cold gaze of the indifferent stars. Pimp knights. Join Jess and Philippa for one last look at the life of the walking catastrophe also known as Caravaggio.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

We've looked at demonic possession in Demoniac and Double Demons, but how exactly does one get rid of them once they've invaded your home, made a mess, and insulted your mother-in-law? In this episode, Jess and Philippa look at some of the ways in which both Catholic and Protestant authorities have tried to politely suggest that it might be time for everyone to get on home. So join us for tales of possession, faith, and potatoes.Sources:Levack, B. (2013) The Devil Within: Possession and Exorcism in the Christian West. New Haven, London: Yale University Press.Sands, K. (2004) Demon Possession in Elizabethan England. Westport, Connecticut, London: Praeger.Young, F. (2016) A History of Exorcism in Catholic Christianity.Cambridge: Palgrave MacMillan.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Art! Betrayal! Stabbing! Also, what rhymes with testicle? Join Jess and Philippa as they continue with the Blood and Butter epic tale of one artist testing the limits of just how many people he can stab. Caravaggio can get away with murder...but what about a mean poem?Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

We had one demon, yes. But what about second demons? Another turn of the screw, so to speak. In addition being possessed by paraphrase, Jess and Philippa are obsessed (possessed) by the case of June and Jennifer Gibbons. Join us as we look at this peculiar case that has so much in common with historical cases of alleged demonic possession.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

We've always known that Jess might not be quite right, and Philippa suspects that she might finally understand why. Join the demonic duo as they weigh up the pros and cons of possession, as well as two common modern explanations for this phenomenon.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

We've covered the temptations of butter. But have you considered the essential eroticism of fruit? This week, Jess and Philippa talk about the early life of Caravaggio (aka the human dumpster fire) and his fetish for shoulders, lizards, and the fruits to be plucked in the Garden of EvilInstacart link: http://instacart.oloiyb.net/5Vqm3Instacart - Groceries delivered in as little as 1 hour. Free delivery on your first order over $35.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Shakespeare was talking about a different Henry, but our favourite Tudor would have had a few reasons to keep up at night. After all, his servants needed time to throughly kiss his bed before his head could hit the pillow. Join Jess and Philippa as they look at poison prevention in the Renaissance period. Even if you have a few unicorn horns or bezoars, you'd better hope you have a strong stomach! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Join Jess and Philippa as they explore the importance of context in a sweeping history of 1500 years, in which empires rose and fell, towers were buttered, battles were fought, and people were excessively tortured - all in the name of some Middle Eastern Jewish guy. Also, it's about art, maybe?Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Strap in and hold onto your bottoms because this week we're going monster hunting. Join Jess and Philippa as they chat about the Whipping Toms and the London Monster: criminals with an unhealthy fixation on the female derrière.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

If you've ever gotten stuck with a nickname that made you want to burn down an entire kingdom just to abolish it from the face of the earth, then this episode may be for you. Join Jess the Incorrigible and Philippa the Long-Suffering as they look at some of history's rulers whose names reflected - or altered - the course of their rule.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

CW: Graphic medical descriptionsPhilippa's back from her time abroad in the land of disease and she's got syphilis...facts. Join her and Jess for a sexy discussion about disease, eugenics, medical experiments, and blaming foreigners and minority groups for your problems.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Join Jess and Fauxlippa (Rosie Cowling) as she tell us about the wheelings and dealings of the the biggest fence in the U.S. The criminal, exciting kind, not the keeps-your-chickens-in kind. A massive criminal enterprise, a school to teach kids how to pick pocket. She was the best. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

From the most powerful Italian families comes a tale of promiscuity, mistresses, bribery, rackets and murder. No,no, not the mafia, but the Vatican of course! Join Jess and Philippa??? Rosie, the backup ginger exploring the wild sex parties and crimes of this mob boss pope and his equally terrible children. Everyone run, he comes the popo....pe. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Is your current desk job getting you down? Is the capitalist system leeching off your hard labour? Console yourself with the fact that some Victorian jobs involved actual leeches. Join Jess and Philippa as they search for new jobs among the Sin Eaters, Mudlarks, and Funeral Mutes of the Victorian underbelly.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

We've looked at the inventive methods of execution that were designed to get attention (and at least a few chuckles), but who was it that had to ensure that the death sentence was carried out to the letter? Join Jess and Philippa for a game of hangman and look into the complicated, stigmatised existences (and fashions) of those who ruled the noose. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

This week, we are so lucky to have Moxie LaBouche, the host of Your Brain On Facts, pay our podcast a visit! Join Jess, Philippa, and Moxie as they cling to the wood-and-canvas wings of the outdated, ramshackle planes flown by the Russian Night Witches during WWII and look into the lives of those who are often lost to history and the impact of those whom we choose as a culture to memorialise. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

If we've learned anything, during our time podcasting (and that may be up for debate), it's that nothing good happens on a boat. Join us onboard the Batavia, which set out from Texel in the Netherlands in 1628 and never returned. It would, however, carry its passengers to the site of one of the bloodiest, murderiest (technically not a) mutiny in naval history.CW: Sexual assault, child death, and murderSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Join Jess and Philippa as they look at one of the greatest boat-based love stories of all time: that of Blackbeard and Black Sam Bellamy. Plunder, booty, and most important of all...REVENGE! Get your best pirate voice going and dive with us into this tale of broken hearties.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

This week, see what we're getting up on Patreon with one of our older episodes dated back to Halloween (a.k.a. back when things were kind of okay). Join Philippa and Jess as they look at a couple of monsters from eastern lore and one very real life monster who took the idea of eternal one-sided love way too far.Content warning for child death in one story and necrophilia in another. Also, turns out we got super confused about the origin story of the langsuir. Turns out no one was owls to begin with. Go figure.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Hold onto your heads (and perhaps your limbs, bowels, and sundry bits) because this week, Jess and Philippa are sticking their necks out to peer at public execution. Just how (and why) did England desire to despatch its dastardly denizens? Hang around to find out!Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

It's a sad fact that children go missing every day. Sometimes, if one is lucky, they're found once more. But after a long separation, how can you be certain that you've got the right kid? Join Jess and Philippa as they dive back into the early 1900s and the swamps of Louisiana to discuss one of the most baffling disappearances of the century.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

It's 1726 and all of London is abuzz with the news of a woman who has allegedly given birth to seventeen rabbits. Join Jess and Philippa as they explore the messy affair and the full potential of a Georgian woman's reproductive power.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

Hold onto your everything because, this week, Burke and Hare are headed to Surgeon's Hall and need some body to go with them. Join Jess and Philippa as they shadow the resurrection men as well as those with a more "go get 'em" attitude.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)

It's the mid 1850s and one thing is on everyone's lips (and perhaps their freshly laundered handkerchiefs): tuberculosis. Deadly, incurable, and oh so incredibly fashionable. Join Jess and Philippa as they look at what was then called "the white plague", "consumption", or even "graveyard cough" and how the Victorians cultivated its sickly pallor in order to give themselves a moral, intellectual - and above all trendy - glow.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Awfulforeverpodcast)