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Deze zomer is er hopelijk genoeg tijd om uit te puffen en op te laden voor een spannend politiek najaar. Jaap Jansen en PG Kroeger dienen je geestelijke vitaminen toe om er straks vol inspiratie en nieuwe energie weer tegenaan te gaan! *** Op 21 september live in Het Concertgebouw! Betrouwbare Bronnen: muziek en tirannie. Kom ook! Deze aflevering is mede mogelijk gemaakt met donaties van luisteraars die we hiervoor hartelijk danken. Word ook vriend van de show! Heb je belangstelling om in onze podcast te adverteren of ons te sponsoren? Zend een mailtje naar adverteren@dagennacht.nl en wij zoeken contact *** 1] Adolf Hitler – Mein Kampf (1925) / Mijn Strijd (Prometheus, 2018) Het eerste boek is honderd jaar oud. En het is echt heel slecht geschreven, vond ook de Italiaanse journalist Benito Mussolini. Maar Mein Kampf is opnieuw actueel. De wordingsgeschiedenis, de titel, het verdienmodel en de worstelingen ermee na 1945 zijn een boek op zichzelf waard. Zonder de Britse sociaal-darwinistische schrijver Houston Stewart Chamberlain was het boek er nooit gekomen. Zijn schoonfamilie regelde zelfs dat Hitler in de cel het schrijfpapier ervoor kreeg. Jaap en PG duiken in diens merkwaardige leven, werk, netwerk en impact rond 1900 en in diens hysterische verering voor de jonge Führer. 2] Benjamin Duerr – De Droom van Den Haag (Atlas Contact, 2024) Het tweede boek gaat over de dromen van wereldvrede rond 1900 en de unieke rol daarin van Den Haag. Het begon met een jonge tsaar die zichzelf een vredesvorst waande. Zijn ministers hadden heel nuchtere, geopolitieke argumenten om decennia geen oorlogen te willen. Zijn nichtje, de net ingehuldigde koningin Wilhelmina, vond dat mystieke pacifisme maar lariekoek. Haar minister Willem Hendrik de Beaufort zat klem tussen deze twee Romanovs. Tegen vele klippen op kwamen er twee vredesconferenties op rij en Den Haag werd juist vanwege de saaiheid opvolger van Wenen 1814-1815. Niet alleen de tsaar spande zich in. Ook president Roosevelt van Amerika, zeker nadat hij een Nobelprijs kreeg voor vrede tussen militaristisch opkomend Japan en de door hen de verwoestend verslagen Russen. Die conferenties bleken verrassend productief. Het Vredespaleis kwam er. En nieuwe regels voor oorlogsrecht. 3] Sergey Radchenko – To run the world, the Kremlin’s Cold War bid for global power (Cambridge, 2024) De tsaar snakte naar vrede, maar hoe zat dat na zijn ondergang met de heersers in het Kremlin? Sergey vertelt het fascinerende verhaal van de ambities van de Sovjet-Unie en haar leiders na 1945. Over honger naar erkenning door Amerika, over de obsessie met Mao en Deng en over vrede met West-Duitsland om de EEG te breken. Het boek put uit vele archieven en inzichten die hier in het Westen nooit bekend waren. To run the world is ook een boek over duo's: rivalen die partners wilden zijn. Stalin en FDR. Mao en Chroesjtsjov. Chroesjtsjov en JFK. En vooral Nixon en Brezjnev. Met als apotheose hoe Reagan er in slaagde met Gorbatsjov aan de pretentie van zulke duo's een eind te maken en hoe Deng daar het meest van profiteerde. 4] Max Boot – Reagan, his Life and Legend (Liveright, 2024) Dit boek werpt nieuw licht op de oud-president van de VS. Een noodzakelijke biografie. Want in dit post-Reagantijdperk in Amerika en zijn Republikeinse partij is een nieuwe, gedistantieerde kijk op zijn betekenis en leven zeer welkom. “Mister Norm is my alias”, zei de man die voor iedereen óók een ster was met aantrekkingskracht uit de gouden jaren van Hollywood. Niemand kende hem daarom echt, op zijn Nancy na. Hij had politiek succes doordat hij uitermate pragmatisch was, verliezen kon slikken en toch als held van hoge principes en idealisme kon blijven stralen. Zo kon hij bijna moeiteloos het Kremlin als 'the Evil Empire' beschimpen en met Moskou samen de voorraad kernraketten fors verminderen, terwijl hij eveneens hightech fantasieën uit zijn oude films werkelijkheid wilde laten worden. Ook hier realist, pragmaticus en visionair tegelijk: “Trust, but verify!” Zijn verbindende warme stijl en zijn aura van idealisme zorgden ervoor dat hij beginselen als vrijhandel, kansen voor vluchtelingen en immigranten en respect voor bondgenoten glans gaf. In het Trump-tijdperk lijkt Reagan inmiddels iemand uit een vergeten verleden. 5] Anne Somerset – Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers (William Collins, 2024) Meer dan zestig jaar wereldmacht, dynastie, intriges en een flamboyant karakter. ‘She reigns but does not rule’ was volgens Anne Somerset een fraaie verpakking voor heel veel complexe en soms heftige politieke toestanden. Ze versleet maar liefst tien premiers. Ze verfoeide Lord Palmerston - die haar manipuleerde - en William Gladstone nog meer. Ze was dol op haar leermeester, ‘Lord M’, en nog meer op 'mijn coauteur' Benjamin Disraeli. Zij manipuleerden elkaar en genoten er schaamteloos van. Ten diepste was de vorstin gewoon dol op politiek, hoe zwaar ze tegen die heren ook zuchtte en klaagde. Somerset toont nog iets. Victoria was buitengewoon toegewijd. Van haar man, 'darling Albert', keek ze af hoe je focust op de essentie, daarbij desnoods koppig bent en ministers te overrompelt met visies en memo's die al klaar lagen voordat die een probleem zagen aankomen. 6] Jasper Dekker, Alexander van Kessel en Afke Groen (red.) – De minister-president, een ambt in ontwikkeling (Boom, 2025) Buitengewoon instructief is de analyse door Jelle Gaemers van de effectiviteit van Willem Drees als minister president. Voor de opvolger van Dick Schoof essentiële, onmisbare lectuur. Ook de gedurfde poging door Ronald Kroeze tot een eerste summa van veertien jaar premier Mark Rutte maakt de bundel de moeite waard. Op de gedachte dat Rutte wel degelijk visie had, maar deze liefst verborg omwille van het VVD-belang, kan nog wel een tijdje gekauwd worden. 7] Thomas Mann – Achtung Europa! Een eigentijdse waarschuwing (Arbeiderspers, 2025) Thomas Mann - favoriet van Mark Rutte - is 150 jaar geleden geboren. Zijn furieus, literair briljant verzet tegen die auteur van Mein Kampf trekt aandacht, mede dankzij de eerste Nederlandse vertaling van zijn bundel Achtung Europa!. Voortreffelijk hoe Arnon Grunberg daarbij ook de eigenaardigheden van de grote schrijver niet veronachtzaamt. PG haalt nog iets erbij: de eerste druk uit 1938 uit zijn persoonlijke collectie. En nóg zo'n letterkundig juweel, want deze nieuwe vertaling biedt meer voor de lezer - zelfs nu nog - en dat komt uit een ander boek van Thomas Mann. Meest verbluffend is hoe Mann zich durft te verdiepen in en vereenzelvigen met Adolf Hitler. Zag deze zich niet vooral ook als een kunstenaar, een bohemien? Zat in niet elke artistieke geest wat vertekend en duivels verziekt in deze politieke extremist zit? Geen tijdgenoot heeft zo briljant, zo ijskoud en ook zelfkritisch durven kijken naar 'Broeder Hitler', de tiran als verwante ziel. En wat verbindt Victoria, Mann, Rutte, Stalin en Hitler? Operaliefde. In het bijzonder het werk van Richard Wagner. *** Verder luisteren 1] 478 - Was Hitler een socialist? 105 - 75 jaar bevrijding: Dagelijks leven in Nazi-Duitsland 341 - Oplichterij, kunstmatige intelligentie en de dagboeken van Hitler 2] 508 – De NAVO-top in Den Haag moet de onvoorspelbare Trump vooral niet gaan vervelen 481 - Donald Trumps nieuwe idool William McKinley, ‘de tarievenkoning’ 342 - Willem-Alexander en het einde van de monarchie. Plus: zijn eigenzinnige voorgangers 3] 258 - De kille vriendschap tussen Rusland en China 163 - De ondergang van de Sovjet-Unie: hoe een wereldmacht verdampte 298 - De Cubacrisis, dertien dagen die de wereld schokten. En: de angst voor nucleaire catastrofe nu 4] 133 - Amerikaanse presidenten: boeken die je volgens PG móet lezen! 44 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 93 - Hoe Gorbatsjov en het Sovjet-imperium ten onder gingen 5] 303 - Bijzondere Britse premiers 6 - Pim Waldeck over 'die gekke Britten'- Paul Rem over The Queen 99 - PG over de biografie van Prince Albert 6] 472 - Winterboekeneditie - Premiers, Leiderschap, Macht 448 - Premier zonder kompas 443 – Negen premiers en een explosief Oranjehuis 274 - Thorbecke, denker en doener 7] 148 - Stefan Zweig als inspirator van Europa als culturele en politieke gemeenschap 208 - Max Weber: wetenschap als beroep en politiek als beroep 387 - Niets is zó politiek als opera - 100 jaar Maria Callas *** Tijdlijn 00:00:00 – Deel 1 00:52:09 – Deel 2 01:30:00 – Deel 3 02:18:00 – EindeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Phil has just returned from a week Northern Ireland - a place where he worked during ‘the Troubles'. It prompted him to think about the peace process there, today's fashionable support for the pro-IRA (and allegedly pro Hezbollah) band called Kneecap, and why history tends to be kind to extremists.Then Sam Kelly joins from America to discuss his fantastic, often scandalous and sometimes very funny book on why drugs explain all human history. It's a little tongue in cheek but it reveals so many terrific new angles on some of the most celebrated figures of all time - from Alexander the Great through George Washington to Queen Victoria!Sam's book is available here...https://www.amazon.co.uk/Human-Histor...Several Australia listeners have asked for a full list of where Phil is speaking there in October. And so here are six opportunities to see him and say ‘G'Day'.1) Perth 9 October...Was Australia Always the Good Guy in 1945? With Phil Craighttps://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/13793372) Melbourne with Prof Clare Wright 10 October...Phil Craig in conversation with Clare Wright.https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/14247563) Day Long conference in Melbourne 11 October...Fighting to the Finish: Australia in 1945 – Strategy, Victory and Legacy – MHHVhttps://www.mhhv.org.au/event/fighting-to-the-finish-australia-in-1945-strategy-victory-and-legacy/4) Sydney with Chris Masters 12 October Author Talk: 1945 The Reckoning - Phil Craighttps://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/author-talk-1945-the-reckoning-phil-craig-tickets-12487638492895) Sydney with Michaela Kalowski 12 October...Author Talk and Book Launch - Phil Craig ‘1945: The Reckoning'https://events.humanitix.com/author-talk-and-book-launch-phil-craig-1945-the-reckoning6) Canberra with Christine Helliwell 15 October...Marking the end of the Second World War | Australian War Memorialhttps://www.awm.gov.au/the-end-of-the-second-world-warLooking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help...https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalM...You can get in touch with the show via...team@podcastworld.org(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Alexander the Great. George Washington. William Shakespeare. Queen Victoria. What do all of these people all have in common? Not just that they're commonly in every student's history class, but what's left out of the textbook: they all routinely used drugs. They got drunk, stoned, high—and they aren't the only ones. Historian and viral TikToker SamKelly Kelly covers 40 historical figures in 40 chapters, starting in Ancient Greece and imperial China through modern day. His viral TikTok account has proven the voracious appetite for these uncovered histories, with more than 100k followers and 2.4 million likes, and HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUGS expands upon his most successful videos while also offering tons of brand-new content.Hysterical, reflective, and illuminating, Kelly introduces readers to the history that isn't included in school's curriculums. He covers well-known historical figures but introduces new angles to their stories that most people don't know about—such as William Shakespeare's fondness for cannabis, Sigmund Freud's love affair with cocaine, and Steve Jobs' endorsementof the benefits of LSD. He shares amazing true stories that will blow the most ardent history fans away, from how one of the most prolific creators of psychedelic drugs was on the DEA payroll, to the CIA allegedly doing sinister experiments with LSD on the college kid who became the Unabomber, to the pope who drank cocaine wine to fortify himself “when prayer was insufficient,” and more.Perfect for fans of bite-sized history, like Bad Days in History and Lies My Teacher Told Me, but also fit for hardcore history buffs, HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUGS is a punchy, easy-to-pick-up read the entire way through. History is rife with drug use and drug users, and HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUGS takes us through those highs (pun intended) and lows on a wittily entertaining ride that uncovers their seriously unexpected impact on our past.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.
After a brief summer break, I am thrilled to be back with an all-new episode of Broadway Nation! My guest this week is RICHARD SCHOCH, author of the recent and much-acclaimed book, HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Just when you thought there might be nothing left to say about the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, Schoch's engaging book opens up a new treasure trove of fascinating analysis and insight. Richard Schoch, is a Professor of Drama at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, and is the author of eight books, both popular and academic, on topics ranging from musical theatre to Shakespeare to Queen Victoria. Become A PATRON of Broadway Nation! This episode is made possible in part through the generous support of our Patron Club Members. If you are a fan of Broadway Nation, I invite you to become a PATRON! For as little as $7.00 a month, you can receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact, I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional, in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host, Albert Evans, that have not been featured on the podcast. And all patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgement of your vital support of this podcast. And If you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits. If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link: https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/ Thank you in advance for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode we discuss with author Jennifer Selway her book "The Godfather of Horror Films: Boris Karloff, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee". Boris Karloff, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee: three middle-class Englishmen whose names are synonymous with the history of the horror movie. Karloff was born in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, and Lee, the youngest, died in 2015, when Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning British monarch.
Alexander the Great. George Washington. William Shakespeare. Queen Victoria. What do all of these people all have in common? Not just that they're commonly in every student's history class, but what's left out of the textbook: they all routinely used drugs. They got drunk, stoned, high—and they aren't the only ones. Historian and viral TikToker SamKelly Kelly covers 40 historical figures in 40 chapters, starting in Ancient Greece and imperial China through modern day. His viral TikTok account has proven the voracious appetite for these uncovered histories, with more than 100k followers and 2.4 million likes, and HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUGS expands upon his most successful videos while also offering tons of brand-new content.Hysterical, reflective, and illuminating, Kelly introduces readers to the history that isn't included in school's curriculums. He covers well-known historical figures but introduces new angles to their stories that most people don't know about—such as William Shakespeare's fondness for cannabis, Sigmund Freud's love affair with cocaine, and Steve Jobs' endorsementof the benefits of LSD. He shares amazing true stories that will blow the most ardent history fans away, from how one of the most prolific creators of psychedelic drugs was on the DEA payroll, to the CIA allegedly doing sinister experiments with LSD on the college kid who became the Unabomber, to the pope who drank cocaine wine to fortify himself “when prayer was insufficient,” and more.Perfect for fans of bite-sized history, like Bad Days in History and Lies My Teacher Told Me, but also fit for hardcore history buffs, HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUGS is a punchy, easy-to-pick-up read the entire way through. History is rife with drug use and drug users, and HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUGS takes us through those highs (pun intended) and lows on a wittily entertaining ride that uncovers their seriously unexpected impact on our past.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Here's a little known story about Queen Victoria and a person who became her closest friend. But the question is: why nobody's ever heard of him? Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music by Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Queen Vic, Lil' Drina, Granny Europe, The Windsor Widow, The Saxe-Coburg Slicker, Big Bo Peep. Whatever you call her, Queen Victoria still holds the record for the monarch with the most pubs and Spice Girls named after them. No wonder Pete from Derby wanted a lukewarm lens cast over her - and he knew just the beans for the job.With thanks to our editor Laura Grimshaw.Join our PATREON for ad-free episodes and bonus/video episodes: www.patreon.com/threebeansaladTickets for our UK TOUR available here: https://littlewander.co.uk/tours/three-bean-salad-podcast/Merch now available here: www.threebeansaladshop.comGet in touch: threebeansaladpod@gmail.com @beansaladpod
Queen Victoria, who ran the British Empire for 63 years, defined the buttoned-up, conservative era named for her… the Victorian Era. But it turns out… her many pleasures included opium, cocaine, and sex!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This series celebrity historical brings us Queen Victoria as played by a previous Doscar winner. We talk the Koh-i-Noor and Balamory, but will Sarah be amused?
Tulsa is a thriving city with a diverse cultural and arts scene, but it wasn't always that way. The city suffered through the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The area was settled by the Creek Nation after they were removed from their ancestral homes in Alabama and Georgia and Tulsa eventually became an oil boomtown. The history here has led to hauntings in many locations and we are joined by Teri French of Tulsa Spirit Tours to explore the history and hauntings of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Moment in Oddity features Queen Victoria's burial requests and This Month in History features the beginning of the Tour de France. Tulsa Spirit Tours: https://www.tulsaspirittour.com/ Check out the website: http://historygoesbump.com Show notes can be found here: https://historygoesbump.blogspot.com/2025/06/hgb-ep-594-haunted-tulsa.html Become an Executive Producer: http://patreon.com/historygoesbump Music used in this episode: Main Theme: Lurking in the Dark by Muse Music with Groove Studios (Moment in Oddity) "Vanishing" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (This Month in History) "In Your Arms" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Outro Music: Happy Fun Punk by Muse Music with Groove Studios Other music used in this episode: Creepy Western Theme - produced and created by History Goes Bump
While May 2-4 weekend (we still celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday in Canada, on the third weekend of May, typically called "May 2-4" after our cases of beer that hold 24 bottles or cans) marks the beginning of summer in Canda, nothing marks summer like the end of school followed by Canada Day, on July 1. The festivities were great this year, our new national motto of "elbows up" seems to have sparked national fervor that had wilted in the recent past. A few days later, we woke to a cooling rain, which the gardens and farmers enjoyed. I hope you will too. All comments can be sent to me at meanderingswithtrudy@gmail.com. As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-HumaLife live joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.
Sam Kelly, a history graduate from Stanford University, is on the autism spectrum and his interest and passion for history has become an almost physical compulsion. He loves to dig up forgotten and weird stories from the past and spends hours uncovering every last stubborn detail. “I've been obsessed with history since I was a little kid. In ele-mentary school, I'd beg my history teacher to let me take home the teacher's edition of the textbook so I could read ahead and see the extra info they put in the margins to help teachers provide context. When my mom came to wake me in the morning, she'd find me sprawled on top of the bed with the history book still lying open on my chest.” As a deep believer that history can be as exciting as any Marvel movie, Sam aims to— whether on TikTok or through a book—make history both engaging and accessible to all. Human History on Drugs: An Utterly Scandalous but Entirely Truthful Look at History Under the Influence is his first book. In his fascinating book you'll find historical figures bombed out of their minds, including: Alexander the Great. George Washington. William Shakespeare. Queen Victoria, Nietzche, the Beatles, Sigmund Freud, Steve Jobs, Van Gough, The Unibomber and Marilyn Munroe. They got drunk, stoned, high—and they aren't the only ones. In this book, Sam Kelly brings readers on one hell of a trip through history. ——
Sam Kelly, a history graduate from Stanford University, is on the autism spectrum and his interest and passion for history has become an almost physical compulsion. He loves to dig up forgotten and weird stories from the past and spends hours uncovering every last stubborn detail. “I've been obsessed with history since I was a little kid. In ele-mentary school, I'd beg my history teacher to let me take home the teacher's edition of the textbook so I could read ahead and see the extra info they put in the margins to help teachers provide context. When my mom came to wake me in the morning, she'd find me sprawled on top of the bed with the history book still lying open on my chest.” As a deep believer that history can be as exciting as any Marvel movie, Sam aims to— whether on TikTok or through a book—make history both engaging and accessible to all. Human History on Drugs: An Utterly Scandalous but Entirely Truthful Look at History Under the Influence is his first book. In his fascinating book you'll find historical figures bombed out of their minds, including: Alexander the Great. George Washington. William Shakespeare. Queen Victoria, Nietzche, the Beatles, Sigmund Freud, Steve Jobs, Van Gough, The Unibomber and Marilyn Munroe. They got drunk, stoned, high—and they aren't the only ones. In this book, Sam Kelly brings readers on one hell of a trip through history. ——
This is an Annette on the Road post at Non-Boring History, in which your host, historian Annette Laing, plays tourist around the US and UK.Voiceover podcasts of NBH posts are normally only available to paid subscribers, but this time, it's a free sample. Join us today to get every one Annette records!Note from AnnetteJames Garfield belongs to that select group of American presidents whom people remember—if at all— for being assassinated. Look, I'm not an exception to “people”. I'm a historian, sure. Dr. Laing, that's me! But historians don't know everything about history. Not even in our own subjects. Not even close. Or close to close.Hoosen and I did not mean to stop at President James Garfield's home. But while Hoosen was peering at our tires in this land-that-time-forgot-yet-cool gas station parking lot in Mentor, Ohio, I peered at Google Maps. I noticed we were a half mile from the James A. Garfield House, and that it's owned by the National Parks Service.Sorry, libertarians, but even non-historian Hoosen has noticed that a federal government museum is a guarantee of high quality, and as is sometimes the case, as here, it means free admission. Think of the taxpayer value as I spread the word and you read it! Trust me, there's no commercial value in a Garfield museum, but there is value.This museum isn't about Garfield's extremely short presidency (100 days) much less his political career. It's about James Garfield's home, and what happened to that home after his untimely death. Home, Sweet Home!Middle class Victorians—American and British— put the family home on a pedestal. Until now, the home for most Americans had been a workplace, a farm or a shop or a workshop, where the whole family worked together, ate, and slept. But big changes in the economy in the 19th century meant that many men of the new middle class now left the home to work, kind of the reverse of going remote. Such men now thought of home sentimentally, as a cosy refuge from a cruel and complicated world. Their wives (typically more educated than their predecessors) continued to stay home, but now had servants to do much of the drudgery. Middle-class women were encouraged to consider the home their domain. The Garfields were no exception. This estate, Lawnfield, is their home, and it appears largely as it did when Mrs. Garfield died. The lawn of its name would become more important than the field. When the Garfields bought Lawnfield, however, it was a working farm. Garfield bought this place because he wanted his kids to grow up on a farm, just like he had, only with more money. James Garfield thought that farms were an essential part of a great, healthy childhood. Which is striking, because James Garfield was an unlikely champion of the “good old days”: He helped usher in the modern age.Garfield fought in the Civil War, tried to improve civil rights and education for newly freed slaves, and even participated in the great money grab as the American “gilded age” began. He also added eleven rooms to his farmhouse to accommodate the family in comfort, so his commitment to the simple farm life had its limits. Yet James Garfield wasn't entirely comfortable with modern life. Garfield had grown up in what historians call a “face to face” society, in which people mostly dealt with people they knew, or at least recognized. Even the “front porch” political campaign technique James Garfield invented harked back to an earlier time: On Lawnfield's front porch, he met voters. But he also met there with newspaper reporters who communicated his words around the nation and the world- very modern. Lawnfield, as a farm, was mostly cosplay for the Garfields. Most of the farmwork at Lawnfield was done by hired men. But James and the children also dabbled at farm chores, pitching hay to build character. James Garfield was a self-made and possibly a teensy bit corrupt politician (see Credit Mobilier scandal).I've written at Non-Boring History about an over-the-top monument to two of the most scandalous men involved in Credit Mobilier :So James Garfield was very much a man of the mid-19th century. He was torn between the modern world of cities and business, and the agricultural world of his youth that was fast disappearing.What I most enjoyed about visiting Lawnfield was that about 80% of the house furnishings really had belonged to the Garfields, which is very unusual for a house museum. Let me rush to add that I'm not one of those people who's super-interested in old furniture. No, what I liked about the Garfield house is that I felt (rightly or wrongly) that I could sense the family personality. No, no ghosts, please. I'm a historian, for heavens' sake. I have some standards. No, okay, I don't, I love ghost stories, but not today.Home Shadowy Home: American Victorians I love a gloomy, gaslit Victorian house. Yes, ok, the Garfield home is all-electric now for health and safety, but work with me here. The house is dark, cluttered, and makes me think of arsenic poisoning, and other morbid mid-Victorian subjects. Look, the problem isn't me, at least I don't think it is. Victorians were weird, and especially the people I think of as mid-Victorians, a period I am going to date from 1851 to 1875, based on British historian Geoffrey Best's definition of mid-Victorian Britain. In this case, those dates marking off the era work fairly well for America too. Oh, what the hey. If Geoffrey Best could decide when a historical period ends, so can Annette Laing! I say 1881 for the end of the mid-Victorian era. Oh, that's the year James Garfield died? You don't say. Perfect! 1881 it is! ANNOUNCEMENT from the NBH QUALITY CONTROL GNOME : Dr. Laing is correct that historians can argue for changes in commonly-accepted dates for the beginning and end of historical periods. Most historians, however, would consider changing the ending date of the British mid-Victorian era simply because a United States president, in Annette's words, “snuffed it” that year is, however, unconvincing. Thank you.Mid- Victorians like James Garfield lived in an increasingly modern age, and yet death stalked the land like, as the old BBC historical sitcom Blackadder would put it, a giant stalking thing. Americans and Brits, especially those living in cities, were defenseless against disease. Antibiotics were almost a century in the future. Anesthetics and antiseptics were in their infancy. Germs were a new concept. Sewer systems and clean water were a novelty. Victorians were only just learning that illness wasn't a product of “bad air” (note those high ceilings and lots of windows in Victorian institutions). Result? Children, especially, died in horrifying numbers. James and Lucretia Garfield lost two kids in infancy, and James himself was named for a brother, James, who had died young. Get a little shudder at the idea of naming a child after a deceased sibling? Welcome to history!How gloomy is this hallway in the Garfield House? In fact, my wonderful phone camera automatically brightened up the room: It was actually darker than you see. Here's Claire, our NPS tour guide (but without the intimidating Smokey the Bear uniform) who was full of energy, knowledge, and good cheer, which while appreciated, seemed at first to be all wrong for this setting. I was thinking we should have been led by some guy dressed as Lurch the Butler from the Addams family.This hall wasn't a welcoming space to strangers when the Garfields lived here. Most callers had to run through a selection process. When a servant greeted you at the door, she looked you up and down to see if you were suitable for admission. If you passed her first test, she invited you into this hall, and you deposited your visiting card on a waiting plate. A visiting card was basically like a business card, except that only your name was on it. If you graduated high school in the US, you may recall the company that expensively printed your graduation invitation also hit you up for visiting cards. A rip off, wasn't it?Right. Anyway. So the servant now shows you into the reception area (entryway is in the photo above, next to the dude on the left who's staring at the ceiling). Here you wait awkwardly, standing or sitting on a bench or upright chair, while the maid takes the card upstairs to the mistress of the house. She will decide whether to come down and receive you in the parlor, or whether she will instruct the maid to tell you she's unavailable (at least to you) and show you the door. Until then, you are not admitted into the family home. Indeed, there were sliding wooden “pocket” doors in this reception room which were closed so you can't see into the family room or the dining room that leads off it. The pocket doors are now gone, but they were once there, as I pointed out to a surprised Claire the guide, who examined the doorways and confirmed my hunch, while everyone else wondered how that funny little British woman knew such a thing, or thought me some ghastly showing-off Karen.This reception area, created for the purposes of the odd little ritual I just described, wasn't here when the Garfields moved in, or even when James died. It was originally the kitchen. The reception area was devised by Mrs. Garfield after her husband's death. That's because, in her very public widowhood, Mrs. Garfield had further converted the home from workplace to middle-class family sanctuary.On Garfield (man, not cartoon cat)James Abram Garfield may have been the poorest man ever to have ended up as President, and he was definitely the last United States President to be born in a log cabin, a type of tiny dwelling that definitely wasn't a lifestyle choice in 1831.Not only was James Garfield's family poor, but they got poorer: His dad, Abram, died when he was a baby, and he and his four siblings were raised in poverty by his single mother, Eliza. Like many Americans, and especially in new Midwestern states like Ohio, the Garfields were repeat migrants. Eliza's family started out in Wales, something of which she was very proud, while Abram's came from Warwickshire, Shakespeare's county, two centuries before James' birth. The first American Garfields came over as part of the Great Migration of Puritans in 1630 who started Massachusetts. But, like many poor New Englanders, some Garfields eventually moved on to New York State, where land was cheaper.Garfield's dad, Abram, traveled to Ohio all the way from rural New York to propose to the girl of his dreams. He arrived to discover she had already married someone else, and so, not wanting to waste the journey, he married her sister instead. When James was a baby, Abram and his wife Eliza were caught up in the Second Great Awakening of the early 1830s, a massive evangelical Christian movement that swept America. As an early Americanist, I'm more familiar with the first Great Awakening (about a century earlier) but the second was just as profound. The Garfields got religion, but Abram died not long after. James, as the youngest, became very close to his mum, Eliza.So, in short, young James Garfield was poor, fatherless, and after his mother remarried and then divorced, a member of a scandalous family. He was ostracized by his peers. But he had the kind of rags-to-riches success story that Victorian Americans loved, and that were broadcast in the books of Horatio Alger. Indeed, Alger wrote a biography of Garfield called From Canal Boy to President. Alger's implied message was that if you're not rich, you're just not trying hard enough, a message that has caused Americans great anxiety from that day to this, and kind of ignores the roles of inherited wealth, connections, corruption, and plain old luck in gaining worldly success.James Garfield didn't have boyhood friends. So, instead, he read books, and learned. He left home at 16, and tried working on the new canals of the 1840s. But illness forced him home. His mother encouraged him to try school, which he did, and the education bug bit him. After two years of schooling, he was determined to go to college. Working as a part-time teacher, carpenter, and janitor, James Garfield paid his own way through Williams College in Massachusetts. And before anyone says “He couldn't afford to do that now,” he would certainly have qualified for full financial aid today.When I read Garfield described as a “radical Republican” and an abolitionist, I figured I had a handle on his politics. But I quickly realized that no, I don't, and I don't have time to learn enough to write confidently on his career. I really don't get 19th century politics —good luck getting that kind of honesty from pretendy “historians” of the blowhard fake variety! Sure, Garfield was radical: He supported abolition, and education for former slaves. But he opposed the eight hour day, labor unions, and federal government relief during economic downturns. So I'm not going to write about his politics until I read a book or two.Back to Garfield's house and family!Garfield's Doting MumI started to get a feeling of looming tragedy when the tour got to this room. This was where Garfield's mum Eliza lived when she moved in with the family. Check out the impractical but gorgeous Victorian stained glass firescreen emblazoned with Garfield's face in the top right corner. A firescreen is supposed to prevent burning embers entering the room from a fireplace. In summer, when the fireplace wasn't used, the fire screen served as a decorative thingy. This firescreen, featuring Garfield's head in stained glass, is just one of several images of Garfield in his mother's bedroom, as you can see above. Eliza outlived her favorite child, the boy who, unbelievably, had become president, by several years. It was, it seemed to me, a tragic room, a fragile room. I was already thinking of the gloomy Garfield home as a very sad place.Yet this was also a home filled with people, judging from the number of bedrooms. This one caught my eye because of the delicately patterned carpet.Let's take a closer look, shall we?WHAT HELL IS THIS? Was President Garfield a Nazi before Nazis were a thing?? No worries. The swastika was a symbol of good luck before the Nazis ruined it. Please try to look at this carpet from the perspective of people who had never heard of Hitler, and would be horrified if they had. Real, Flesh and Blood Americans: A President and His FamilyRoom by room, the Victorian Garfield family came to life. The dining room, where they gathered, was a typically formal middle-class Victorian room, sure. But the dining room was warmed by a fireplace surrounded by individually painted tiles that every child had a hand in creating. Suddenly, I was intrigued. Painting personalized tiles was a project that suggested a happy home. There were at least two pianos, so this wasn't the quiet house that greets us today: I imagine a kid or two was always bashing away on the ivories. No, wait, they were Victorians . . . Playing the piano properly, with straight backs. Or was I stereotyping?Garfield's children remained a muddled lot in my head, but I did enjoy the teenage girl room, with its “Turkish corner”, bright fabric wall hangings over a daybed, kind of like having a batik hanging over a beanbag for a later generation, and its cluttered dressing table (think loads of make-up today).Garfield's library was a very masculine space, just what you would imagine a Victorian father would have. A sort of ship feel to the design. Pictures of Civil War Union General William T. Sherman, French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte, and founder of Germany Otto Von Bismarck, an odd collection of powerful men, lined up on the walls. And, of course, a huge, eclectic book collection, including the delightfully titled Brain Hygiene, a Victorian manual of psychology from the people who brought you measuring heads to check for mental illness (Oh, and Americans, gotta love your often slightly odd applications of the word “hygiene” over the years, just saying. Love you. Mwah.)The highlight of the house in my view, though, was this chair in Garfield's study. His kids had it made for him in light of Dad's habit of sitting in a desk chair sideways while reading, draping his legs over the side. Can't you just see him lounging in this? Much less formal and stuffy than his portraits and the library suggest!A Real Victorian Woman: Mrs. Garfield Takes ChargeFor me, Lucretia Garfield did not come at all into the picture until Garfield's assassination, and then, boy, did she. A Victorian GoFundMe raised the equivalent of millions for the family, and Lucretia sprang into action with the money. She had all the farm buildings (except the house) moved back on the lot, away from the road, and the house expanded to be more befitting of a martyred president. She completed Lawnfield's emphasis as a respectable middle-class family home that received frequent visitors, more than a working farm. And Lawnfield was an increasingly modern home. A widowed Lucretia did not shrink away from technical stuff. She learned that there was a source of natural gas on the property, and had the power source converted to gas from coal. The gas house is still on the grounds, next to the visitor center. Garfield 's library now became the focus of Lawnfield's third role as a semi-public shrine to a martyred President. Lucretia expanded the library in the years after her husband's death, adding a walk-in safe for official documents that even included a desk for researchers who hopefully didn't have claustrophobia. Lucretia basically created the first US Presidential Library, although the official holder of that title is the purpose-built Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York.There's even a touch of Lucretia in the remodeled library: A photo of Queen Victoria, who had written Lucretia a letter after James's death. Queen Victoria, who became a professional widow after Prince Albert's early death at age 41, twenty years before Garfield's assassination, wrote Mrs. Garfield a very sweet letter of consolation, which you can also see on site. I was pleasantly surprised by her words. I thought Victoria would, as usual, turn the letter's subject immediately to Albert (Never mind your husband, what about mine?) but she only did that a little bit in her note to Lucretia Garfield. When Death and Life Came to LawnfieldA deranged assassin named Charles Guiteau shot James Garfield at a train station in Washington DC in September 1881, just three months after he was inaugurated. Garfield took two months to die, and might even have survived if his doctors had paid more attention to British surgeon Joseph Lister's work, and not messed around in Garfield's wound with unwashed hands and instruments.Garfield was popular, and especially so after his death, only 100 days into his presidency, because it came as such a shock to the nation. In the museum in the visitor center, you will find all the creepy Victorian cult of death stuff on display: The preserved mattress used as an improvised stretcher to get him from the train station to a bed. The black-bordered stationery. The death mask. The souvenirs. The works. But our tour guide, Claire, insisted that the Garfield children later remembered Lawnfield as a happy, lively place. Wikipedia uses the word “cheerful” to describe the family who came to the White House in 1881. James Garfield, the fatherless boy from poverty (but whose family roots in New England suggested he had inherited educational wealth), and Lucretia Garfield, the intelligent and educated woman of her time whom Garfield met in college in Massachusetts, had done well by their five surviving children. Alone, Lucretia took charge, caring for kids, mother-in-law, home, and new role as Presidential widow. These people aren't remote and fascinating relics. They're real. Lucretia Garfield long outlived her husband, and spent at least part of the year at this house until her own death in 1918.Before leaving, I had a chat with Mary the National Parks Service ranger at the reception desk. Yes, Mary was one of those unlikely-looking museum staff in a quasi-military uniform with broad hat, Brits, don't worry, I don't get it either. But Mary was very pleasant. She asked me where Hoosen and I were headed next, and I told her. She said, “Oh, but you'll know about Guiteau, of course?”No. I didn't know about Guiteau and his connection to my next destination. But I was about to find out. Nothing is newThis post first appeared in earlier form (not much different) at Non-Boring History in 2022. Our next stop, long planned (unlike our stop in Mentor, Ohio), was in New York State, about 350 miles away. By astonishing coincidence, it really did have a direct connection with James Garfield, and also a very different interpretation of domestic bliss from the Garfield home in Mentor.Did you know? Become a paid subscriber and you get access to all my work. That includes EVERY weekly Tuesday post and my Sometimes Saturday posts for supporting subscribers only. It's a deal, I tell you! Going paid also gives you access to more than five hundred other still-fresh posts, including these, about our fascinating visit to a unique place in New York State that followed our stop in Mentor:Part 2 includes my chat with Dr. Tom Guiler, the resident historian at this truly astonishing site in New York:I'm Annette Laing, a Brit in America, and I am beyond grateful to every “Nonnie”, aka paying subscriber, in the US, UK, Canada, and around the world, who supports Non-Boring History. No exaggeration: I cannot do this without you and more people like you. In going paid, you can take pride in knowing that you're making it possible for me to continue to write for you as the world churns around us. Not yet a Nonnie? Please join us. Details: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit annettelaing.substack.com/subscribe
With NINE children, it can probably be assumed that Queen Victoria was no stranger to the sheets, but what do we actually know about her love (and sex) life?To examine Victoria's diaries, her passionate relationship and her society's attitude to sex, Kate is joined for this special episode by Royal Historian Kate Williams and journalist Robert Hardman. Kate and Robert are cohosts of 'Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things', a podcast from the Daily Mail.Listen to find out why bicycle porn was all the rage!This episode was edited by Tomos Delargy. The producers were Sophie Gee and Benedick Devlin. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.Please vote for us for Listeners' Choice at the British Podcast Awards! Follow this link, and don't forget to confirm the email. Thank you!Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.
Part 2: The exploration of the lives of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine 'Kate' Eddowes, who were murdered by Jack the Ripper in 1888, begins in earnest. The Ripper mythos labels them as 'unfortunates,' which tramples on their true stories. These women were beloved daughters, sisters, students, wives, mothers, and business owners, all struggling to navigate the harsh realities of life in the East End of London during Queen Victoria's reign. They were not just victims, as history often depicts. What twists of fate led Elizabeth and Kate to end up dead on the streets of Whitechapel? Don't miss this compelling episode, the second part of the trilogy. A BADGE? USE JILL'S CODE murdershelf AND GET 10% OFF! https://www.crimecon.com/CC25 SEE YOU IN DENVER MURDER BOOKIES! BUY- THE FIVE BY HALLIE RUBENHOLD ON AMAZON! BUY- NAMING JACK THE RIPPER BY RUSSELL EDWARDS ON AMAZON BUY- JACK THE RIPPER AND THE CASE FOR SCOTLAND YARD'S PRIME SUSPECT BY ROBERT HOUSE Sources, photographs, recipes and drink information can be found on Jill's blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com –June 2025. Contact: jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, or X, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. Join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book! CRIMECON IS COMING! Support Jill and the podcast! Get your Murder Shelf Book Club merch!
It doesn't matter if Trump‘s so called “Big Beautiful Bill” will cost your state and constituents considerably, if you're a Republican and you don't vote the way Trump wants you to, you're in big trouble. White House officials increased pressure on Republicans to support the measure, saying that failure to do so by Independence Day “would be the ultimate betrayal.” That's an official policy statement. We will talk about it with iHeart television and radio political analyst Gary Dietrich.Logistical expert Jonathan Rosenthal will join us. Did you know some of the most well-known people throughout history had some serious drug issues? It's all detailed in a new book called, Human History on Drugs: An Utterly Scandalous but Entirely Truthful Look at History Under the Influence. We'll hear from author Sam Kelly.The Mark Thompson Show 6/30/25Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you'd like to help, here's our Patreon Link:https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshowMaybe you're more into PayPal. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24And you'll find everything on our website: https://themarkthompsonshow.com
In response to Queen Victoria's love of Osborne House, railways were built that ran from Cowes to Newport and from Ryde to Ventnor. As if to underline the significance of the project, two rival companies, the LSWR and LBSC, collaborated to create a train network that was soon hailed as a triumph of public service over profitability and that ran from Ryde to Ventnor, Freshwater to Newport, Cowes to Ryde via Newport, Newport to Sandown and Merstone to Ventnor. All of this happened in 1860: Railways on the Isle of Wight by Mike Hutton from All-Aboard Games.Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/06/28/1860-railways-on-the-isle-of-wight-digital-eyes/Useful Links1860: Railways on the Isle of Wight: https://all-aboardgames.com/products/international-1860-railways-on-the-isle-of-wightRulebook: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/238952/third-edition-rulesRules video: https://youtu.be/tb8DpmU0JrE?si=0gUdS68QBy_AOmJQAll-Aboard Games: https://all-aboardgames.com/BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12750/1860-railways-on-the-isle-of-wight18xx.games: https://18xx.games/MusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Sound Effects: bbc.co.uk – © copyright 2025 BBCMusic I Use: Bensound.com/free-music-for-videosLicense code: CILZ3MAE6USRDRHRSupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/
Since it was seized from the Knights Templar in the 14th century, the Inner Temple in London has housed acolytes of a different sort: men (and eventually women) who serve as advocates of the law. Sally Smith spent her legal career—and now is spending her retirement—inside the 15 acres that comprise the Inner Temple, now one of the four Inns of Court. Smith has previously written non-fiction books about historical crimes and legal figures. When she decided to turn her hand to writing fiction, the familiar setting of the Inner Temple was the perfect setting for her new mystery novel, A Case of Mice and Men. Set in 1901, mere months after the death of Queen Victoria, A Case of Mice and Men introduces a new (and very reluctant) sleuth to the literary scene. Sir Gabriel Ward KC is happiest either when holed up in his Inner Temple lodgings with his books, or when making a compelling case in front of the High Court judges. A solitary, particular and cerebral man, Ward is not looking for excitement beyond the intellectual. But he finds it early one morning when he trips over the body of the Lord Chief Justice of England, which has been left on the doorstep of his professional chambers. The ancient privileges afforded to the Inner Temple mean that no policeman is allowed to enter without permission, and an aghast Ward is told he will conduct the investigation himself or be at risk of being kicked out of his lodgings. Unused to the world outside the Temple walls, or of conversing with any women apart from his old nanny or his mother, Ward must stretch himself to discover who killed Lord Norman Dunning. All the while, Ward is also wrestling with a knotty legal issue involving the rights to a bestselling children's book, and will need to exercise all his skills on behalf of his client, the publisher of Millie the Temple Church Mouse. Written by a mysterious author, the book has been a runaway success, bringing throngs of children to the Temple Church and spawning toys, games and an American publishing deal. Now that the author has reportedly surfaced and is demanding her share of the money and control of the intellectual property, what will happen to Millie the Temple Church Mouse? In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Smith and the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles discuss the launch of this new series, which will contain at least three books following Ward's adventures. Smith describes her own career as a barrister, and why she chose to set the series at the beginning of the Edwardian era. She also discusses the issues of class, gender and the complex world within the walls of the Inner Temple.
Since it was seized from the Knights Templar in the 14th century, the Inner Temple in London has housed acolytes of a different sort: men (and eventually women) who serve as advocates of the law. Sally Smith spent her legal career—and now is spending her retirement—inside the 15 acres that comprise the Inner Temple, now one of the four Inns of Court. Smith has previously written non-fiction books about historical crimes and legal figures. When she decided to turn her hand to writing fiction, the familiar setting of the Inner Temple was the perfect setting for her new mystery novel, A Case of Mice and Men. Set in 1901, mere months after the death of Queen Victoria, A Case of Mice and Men introduces a new (and very reluctant) sleuth to the literary scene. Sir Gabriel Ward KC is happiest either when holed up in his Inner Temple lodgings with his books, or when making a compelling case in front of the High Court judges. A solitary, particular and cerebral man, Ward is not looking for excitement beyond the intellectual. But he finds it early one morning when he trips over the body of the Lord Chief Justice of England, which has been left on the doorstep of his professional chambers. The ancient privileges afforded to the Inner Temple mean that no policeman is allowed to enter without permission, and an aghast Ward is told he will conduct the investigation himself or be at risk of being kicked out of his lodgings. Unused to the world outside the Temple walls, or of conversing with any women apart from his old nanny or his mother, Ward must stretch himself to discover who killed Lord Norman Dunning. All the while, Ward is also wrestling with a knotty legal issue involving the rights to a bestselling children's book, and will need to exercise all his skills on behalf of his client, the publisher of Millie the Temple Church Mouse. Written by a mysterious author, the book has been a runaway success, bringing throngs of children to the Temple Church and spawning toys, games and an American publishing deal. Now that the author has reportedly surfaced and is demanding her share of the money and control of the intellectual property, what will happen to Millie the Temple Church Mouse? In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Smith and the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles discuss the launch of this new series, which will contain at least three books following Ward's adventures. Smith describes her own career as a barrister, and why she chose to set the series at the beginning of the Edwardian era. She also discusses the issues of class, gender and the complex world within the walls of the Inner Temple. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Since it was seized from the Knights Templar in the 14th century, the Inner Temple in London has housed acolytes of a different sort: men (and eventually women) who serve as advocates of the law. Sally Smith spent her legal career—and now is spending her retirement—inside the 15 acres that comprise the Inner Temple, now one of the four Inns of Court. Smith has previously written non-fiction books about historical crimes and legal figures. When she decided to turn her hand to writing fiction, the familiar setting of the Inner Temple was the perfect setting for her new mystery novel, A Case of Mice and Men. Set in 1901, mere months after the death of Queen Victoria, A Case of Mice and Men introduces a new (and very reluctant) sleuth to the literary scene. Sir Gabriel Ward KC is happiest either when holed up in his Inner Temple lodgings with his books, or when making a compelling case in front of the High Court judges. A solitary, particular and cerebral man, Ward is not looking for excitement beyond the intellectual. But he finds it early one morning when he trips over the body of the Lord Chief Justice of England, which has been left on the doorstep of his professional chambers. The ancient privileges afforded to the Inner Temple mean that no policeman is allowed to enter without permission, and an aghast Ward is told he will conduct the investigation himself or be at risk of being kicked out of his lodgings. Unused to the world outside the Temple walls, or of conversing with any women apart from his old nanny or his mother, Ward must stretch himself to discover who killed Lord Norman Dunning. All the while, Ward is also wrestling with a knotty legal issue involving the rights to a bestselling children's book, and will need to exercise all his skills on behalf of his client, the publisher of Millie the Temple Church Mouse. Written by a mysterious author, the book has been a runaway success, bringing throngs of children to the Temple Church and spawning toys, games and an American publishing deal. Now that the author has reportedly surfaced and is demanding her share of the money and control of the intellectual property, what will happen to Millie the Temple Church Mouse? In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Smith and the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles discuss the launch of this new series, which will contain at least three books following Ward's adventures. Smith describes her own career as a barrister, and why she chose to set the series at the beginning of the Edwardian era. She also discusses the issues of class, gender and the complex world within the walls of the Inner Temple.
fWotD Episode 2961: 1860s replacement of the British copper coinage Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Friday, 13 June 2025, is 1860s replacement of the British copper coinage.Beginning in 1860 and continuing for several years, Britain replaced its copper coinage with bronze pieces. The copper coins (principally the penny, halfpenny and farthing) had been struck since 1797 in various sizes, all of which were seen as too large. Over time, the copper metal wore or oxidised, or had advertising punched into it, and there were also counterfeits and foreign coins in circulation. The state of the copper coinage was ascertained by a survey in 1856 and 1857 in connection with the Royal Commission on Decimal Coinage. Though the commission recommended no action on moving toward decimalisation, the Master of the Mint, Thomas Graham, persuaded the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Gladstone, that it would be an opportune time to replace the copper coinage with smaller, lighter coins of bronze, which would be more durable. Gladstone secured authorising legislation and a vote of funds in parliament. The Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint, Leonard Charles Wyon, was tasked with rendering designs for the new coinage.Wyon produced an obverse for the new coins depicting Queen Victoria, who modelled for him multiple times and let her views be known, leading to delays as Wyon sought to secure her approval. The reverse featured Britannia, as Wyon had been directed. There was initially some controversy over the Latin abbreviations in the inscriptions on the new issue, with some believing that there were errors that might require it to be withdrawn. With the aid of two outside firms, the Royal Mint struck sufficient of the new bronze coins that it started calling in the copper pieces in 1861, a process complete after 1877, though less than half, in terms of value, of the extant coppers were paid in. The new coins remained current until the run-up to decimalisation in 1971, except for the farthing, which was demonetised from 1 January 1961.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:12 UTC on Friday, 13 June 2025.For the full current version of the article, see 1860s replacement of the British copper coinage on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Justin.
Part I: Step into Victorian London, 1888. In the wake of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, a shadow looms over Whitechapel as a series of gruesome murders unfolds. Jack the Ripper, a figure of unimaginable horror, terrifies the East End with his shocking brutality, leaving a trail of mutilated bodies that haunt us still! But who were the five tragic victims: Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly? Hailing from diverse backgrounds, their lives and stories have been largely forgotten—until now. Join Jill as she delves into the chilling murders, the ensuing terror, and the compelling narratives of the women whom history has unjustly neglected. Meet Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols and Annie Chapman in this incredible first part of the series. ANNOUNCEMENT! JILL WILL BE ON CREATORS ROW AT CRIMECON DENVER 2025, SEPT 5-7, 2025! NEED TO BUY A BADGE? USE JILL'S CODE murdershelf AND GET 10% OFF! https://www.crimecon.com/CC25 SEE YOU IN DENVER MURDER BOOKIES! BUY- THE FIVE BY HALLIE RUBENHOLD ON AMAZON! BUY- NAMING JACK THE RIPPER BY RUSSELL EDWARDS ON AMAZON BUY- JACK THE RIPPER AND THE CASE FOR SCOTLAND YARD'S PRIME SUSPECT BY ROBERT HOUSE Sources, photographs, recipes and drink information can be found on Jill's blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com –June 2025. Contact: jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, or X, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. Join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book! Get your Murder Shelf Book Club merch!
Is a $400 wine really ten times better than a $40 one? Does the right glass really improve your wine and is it worth it when the size makes you look ridiculous? Why do wine labels matter and should the label's look be part of every wine review? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Charles Jennings and Paul Keers, co-authors of the hilarious book I Bought It So I'll Drink It. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks Giveaway Three of you are going to win a copy of their terrific book,, I Bought It So I'll Drink It. To qualify, all you have to do is email me at natalie@nataliemaclean.com and let me know that you've posted a review of the podcast. I'll choose three people randomly from those who contact me. Good luck! You can find the wines we discussed here. Highlights Why do we feel guilty about window shopping when it comes to wine? What's the worst wine gadget or gimmick Paul and Charles have encountered? How did a 1947 Sauterne create a bond between Paul and a French wine seller? What was their most triumphant wine deal discovery? Are there elements that expensive wine delivers, that bargain wines can't? Why are Charles and Paul suspicious of mixed cases of wine? Has the quality and perception of box wines changed? What's the strangest vessel Paul and Charles have drunk wine from? What was it like drinking wine at 10 Downing Street and Lambeth Palace? What was Queen Victoria's tipple like? Why does Charles love drinking on his own? Which current wine trends will we look back on as ridiculous? Which wines would Charles and Paul now pair with their favourite childhood foods? Who would Paul and Charles love to share a bottle of wine with? Why should wine critics write about wine labels in their reviews? Key Takeaways Charles and Paul believe there is a greater experience to be gained from drinking better wine, but that the return for your money plateaus quickly. If you go up from a £10 wine to a £30 wine, you will really notice the difference and have a tremendously greater experience. But then if you multiply that by 10 and go from £40 to £400, the difference in quality isn't that great. If I've got people around for dinner and I sit at the end of the table and everybody else has got normal wine glasses, I look like a complete plonker. And I'd love to sit there, “Oh, it's magnificent.” And they're going to think, what an idiot. So unfortunately, it doesn't get much use. It does enhance the taste of the Bordeaux, there's no doubt about it, but I'm so embarrassed sitting there drinking out of this thing the size of a melon that it really doesn't get much use. Charles and Paul mention wine labels because they think that they are ignored by most wine writers, and they're terribly important for two reasons. Firstly, because they're about the only marketing that most bottles of wine have, because we go into shops and that's all we can see, the labels. And second, if you're setting a table for dinner, you've invested in the table, in the dishware, the cutlery, the glasses to set up this beautiful thing. Why would you put a bottle of wine on the table - however it tastes - if it looks terrible? Wine critics should always say what the label looks like and whether it would look good on the table. About Charles Jennings & Paul Keers Charles Jennings and Paul Keers are award-winning writers based in London, England. Charles and Paul co-authored the wine blog Sediment, described by New Statesman writer and Guardian literary critic Nick Lezard as “the finest wine blog available to humanity.” The blog became the basis for their book, I Bought It So I'll Drink It. Book-Prize-winning novelist Julian Barnes called it “The funniest wine-book I've read in a long time. Not just laugh-aloud funny but snortingly, choke-on-your-cornflakes funny – up there with Kingsley Amis and Jay McInerney.” Their book won the prestigious André Simon Award. To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/341.
Geoff and Rory are joined by renowned writer, film-maker and Mughal historian, Sam Dalrymple, for a fascinating and storied episode on the history of Elveden Hall in Suffolk.Once the English home of the last ruler of the Sikh Empire - Sir Duleep Singh, Maharajah of Punjab - and now the seat of the Guinness family, Earls of Iveagh, Elveden is a resplendent Mughal palace (complete with scalloped arches, lotus-bud capitals, drop-traceried arcading, and a four-storey Marble Hall reminiscent of the Court of Lahore)... all encased within a Victorian Italianate shell.
Tennyson described 'In Memoriam' as ‘rather the cry of the whole human race than mine', and the poem achieved widespread acclaim as soon as it was published in 1850, cited by Queen Victoria as her habitual reading after the death of Prince Albert. Its subject is the death in 1833 of Tennyson's friend Arthur Hallam at the age of 22, and in its 131 sections it explores the possibilities of elegy more extensively than any English poem before it, not least in its innovative, incantatory rhyme scheme, intended to numb the pain of grief. From its repeated dramatisations of the experience of private loss, 'In Memoriam' opens out to reflect on the intellectual turmoil running through Victorian society amid monumental advances in scientific thought. In this episode, Seamus and Mark discuss the unique emotional power of Tennyson's style, and why his great elegy came to represent what mourning, and poetry, should be in the public imagination of his time.Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applecrldIn other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingsldRead more in the LRB:Frank Kermode:https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v32/n09/frank-kermode/eliot-and-the-shudderSeamus Perry:https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n02/seamus-perry/are-we-there-yet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Actor Danny Dyer became a household name when he joined the cast of EastEnders as Mick Carter, landlord of the Queen Victoria pub. He recently stole the show from some stiff competition playing Freddie Jones in the television adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals which won him a Royal Television Society Award for Best Supporting Actor.Danny was born in Custom House, East London in 1977. He loved drama at school and, with his teacher's encouragement, he signed up for after-school classes in north London which were run by a charity called Wac Arts. When he was 14 he was cast in the television drama Prime Suspect 3 alongside Helen Mirren and David Thewlis. He went on to star in a series of films including Human Traffic and Football Factory. In 2000 he played the waiter in Harold Pinter's new play Celebration and went on to appear in two other productions by the playwright - No Man's Land and The Homecoming.In 2013 he took over the Queen Vic and his performances earned him three National Television Awards. He appeared on the BBC genealogy programme Who Do you think you Are? in 2016 and discovered he was descended from King Edward III and related to Thomas Cromwell. Danny lives in Essex with his wife Jo. They have three children and three grandchildren.DISC ONE: Slave to Love - Bryan Ferry DISC TWO: Rebel Yell - Billy Idol DISC THREE: Move Closer - Phyllis Nelson DISC FOUR: Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd DISC FIVE: Playing with Knives - Bizarre Inc DISC SIX: Columbia - Oasis DISC SEVEN: Nebraska - Lucy Rose DISC EIGHT: Wicked Game - Chris Isaak BOOK CHOICE: Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft: A Handbook of Survival LUXURY ITEM: A Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Playing with Knives - Bizarre Inc Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley
Nannie Kelly Wright ran an iron furnace at a time when most women weren't even allowed near one. Born in Kentucky, raised on the Ohio River, and later married into the iron industry, Nannie became one of the few women in American history to manage a furnace operation herself — traveling weekly, overseeing workers, and building a fortune.Once rumored to be the richest woman in the world after Queen Victoria, she was also presented at the Court of St. James, backed Teddy Roosevelt's trust-busting policies, and made headlines with a divorce scandal where her husband asked for alimony.Join us as we tell the story of Nannie Kelly Wright, Appalachia's Iron Lady.
Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamic years in European history. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napoleon and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamic years in European history. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napoleon and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Tonight, we'll read recipes from A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, written by Charles Elme Francatelli and published in 1852. Born in London of Italian descent, Francatelli was a French-trained cook who worked for Queen Victoria. While best known for his lavish cookbook The Modern Cook, filled with elaborate dishes for aristocratic tables, Francatelli also had a keen interest in practical nourishment for everyday people. A Plain Cookery Book was his attempt to provide affordable, nutritious recipes for the working poor—a surprisingly progressive endeavor for someone with royal credentials. The book contains instructions for everything from humble gruels to hearty stews, with occasional flourishes of culinary elegance. Francatelli emphasized the importance of thrift and economy in the kitchen, recommending ways to stretch small amounts of meat or repurpose leftovers. Though the language may feel formal by today's standards, many of the recipes offer a glimpse into the ingenuity of 19th-century home cooks working with limited means. — read by 'V' — Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How do you truly make people feel cared for? Dan welcomes Dr. Carmen Vlasceanu, an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience in the hotel, aviation, catering, and cruise industries. They discuss the essence of hospitality, Dr. Carmen's career journey from Romania to Carnival Cruises, and her current roles, including Founder and CEO of Global Hospitality and Maritime Leaders. They touch on Dr. Carmen's book “Dare to C.A.R.E”, her contributions to improving customer experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her charity work through Angel's Wings Charity. The episode highlights her insights on personal and professional growth in the hospitality industry and her vision for future success.Takeaways:Emulate the spirit of hospitality by ensuring clients and guests feel cared for and valued during their experiences, no matter the industry or context.Looking beyond one's own country for hospitality practices can broaden horizons and provide valuable insights into delivering and receiving hospitality.Encourage yourself and others to pursue career paths aligned with personal dreams and passions, and be open to changing directions if new opportunities or interests arise.Attend events and workshops to connect with peers and leaders in the hospitality industry, gaining diverse perspectives and learning from their experiences.Prioritize your mental and emotional well-being to better serve others. If you are fulfilled in your personal life, it will reflect positively in your professional interactions.Explore educational platforms providing leadership and personal development courses to enhance your skills and career trajectory in hospitality.Quote of the Show:“ I wanted to get to the point where I would anticipate their needs successfully and not just meet their expectations, but exceed them.” - Carmen VlasceanuLinks:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-vlasceanu-phd-mba-fih-21400425/ Website: https://ghleaders.com/ Book Link: https://amzn.to/4mj73Cp Shout Outs:0:42 - Institute of Hospitality https://www.instituteofhospitality.org/ 0:56 - Angels-Wings Charity https://angels-wings.org/ 5:38 - Carnival Cruise Line https://www.carnival.com/ 42:21 - Royal Victoria Patriotic Building https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Victoria_Patriotic_Building 42:55 - Queen Victoria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria
Should Prince Harry have retained Royalty Protection? (Part 2) Black Spy Podcast, 195, Season 20, Episode 0006 In this week's Black Spy Podcasts, Carlton King and his compatriots, Firgas Esack and Doctor Rachel Taylor delve into the subject of the provision of state controlled close protection operations. As they began last week in part one, the team continues looking into the fall out of the court decision on to agree with the UK Home Office and the Metropolitan Police Service to withdraw police close protection from Prince Harry and his family. The argument played out in the UK Government, Civil Service, Police and finally the High Court was that the withdrawal of Prince Harry's 24 hour armed close protection was seemingly based on the fact that now Prince Harry is estranged from the British royal family and hence no longer undertaking royal duties, that state, in the form of the Royalty Protection section of the RaSP department (Royalty and Specialist Protection Command) of the Metropolitan Police Service should no longer provide Prince Harry with this state sponsored function. Whereas, Prince Harry's argument was, that by virtue of his birth into the Royal Family that regardless of his role, he'd still be seen as intrinsically linked to the very essence of the UK and hence be at threat from the UK's enemies. Carlton uses his decades of expertise in the UK's governmental protection, national security and secret intelligence fields to answer the questions on this issue posed by his podcast colleagues. Moreover some surprising connectivity is uncovered by both Firgas and Dr Rachel vis-a-vis Prince Harry's situation. So, if you want to continue learning whilst being entertained this and next week's continuation of this subject are must listen episodes. Please don't forget to subscribe to the Black Spy Podcast for free, thereby you'll never miss another episode. To contact Firgas Esack of the DAPS Agency go to Linked In To contact Carlton King by utilising any of the following: To donate - Patreon.com/TheBlackSpyPodcast Email: carltonking2003@gmail.com Facebook: The Black Spy Podcast Facebook: Carlton King Author Twitter@Carlton_King Instagram@carltonkingauthor To read Carlton's Autobiography: “Black Ops – The incredible true story of a (Black) British secret agent” Click the link below: https://amzn.eu/d/fmzzq9h
As well as the Great Kitchen of Alnwick Castle being opened to visitors for the first time in 2025, the suite of larder rooms connected to it are also available to see. One of these was the Game Larder - a very important space in the Victorian period for the types of meat that were stored in there ready to be cooked. And one of the ways that game was procured was the traditional pursuit of falconry!With that in mind, who better to tell us about hunting with birds of prey at this time in history than Raphael Historic Falconry? We sat down with Emma and Mike - with an extra special guest appearance from Ella the goshawk, who you will hear at various points! - to learn about how falconry might have played a part in the processes of the castle Kitchens.You will hear about the restoration of falconry as a fashionable 19th century gentleman's pursuit, and how it pushed the medieval and Tudor traditions of falconry forward. You'll also discover the kinds of birds used, how the game they caught would then be gutted, plucked and hung (skip ahead a minute or two if you have a sensitive stomach) and how Queen Victoria and the Duke of Wellington pioneered the use of birds of prey as pest control!You can see Raphael Historic Falconry in action at Alnwick Castle this summer, where they'll be performing - hopefully with Ella the goshawk accompanying them! - on select dates in July and August. Please check our website for full details.And for more from Emma, head all the way back to episode 4 of this podcast for an introduction to falconry and Alnwick Castle's links to this fascinating tradition.
Victoria, Ella, Irene and Alix of Hesse were four young European princesses and granddaughters of Queen Victoria, whose marriages would change the face of early 20th-century Europe. Speaking to Elinor Evans, Frances Welch introduces the four sisters. She explores their relationships with one another, and reveals how their stories stretch from the court of their respected 'Grandmama Queen', to revolutionary Russia. (Ad) Frances Welch is the author of The Lives and Deaths of the Princesses of Hesse: The Curious Destinies of Queen Victoria's Granddaughters (Hachette, 2024). Buy it now from Amazon:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lives-Deaths-Princesses-Hesse-granddaughters/dp/1780725213#:~:text=Drawing%20on%20hundreds%20of%20previously,Revolution%2C%20and%20through%20both%20World. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Geoff and Rory discuss the remarkable life of a Victorian genius; the upwardly mobile Joseph Paxton. The son of a farmer, he found a patron in the 6th Duke of Devonshire and by the age of 23 Paxton was Head Gardener at Chatsworth. He would later become a nationally sought-after engineer and latterly a Member of Parliament.The Silicon Valley entrepreneur of his day, Paxton embraced the latest technology, designing the Great Conservatory and Conservative Wall at Chatsworth, before catapulting to fame as the designer of the Crystal Palace in London.
Should Prince Harry have retained Royalty Protection? (Part 1) Black Spy Podcast, 195, Season 20, Episode 0005 In this week's Black Spy Podcasts, Carlton King and his compatriots, Firgas Esack and Doctor Rachel Taylor delve into the subject of the provision of state controlled close protection operations. Specifically the team assess the fall out of the court decision to agree with the UK Home Office and the Metropolitan Police Service to no longer provide this support to Prince Harry. The argument played out in the UK Government, Civil Service, Police and finally the High Court was that the withdrawal of Prince Harry's 24 hour armed close protection was seemingly based on the fact that now Prince Harry is estranged from the British royal family and hence no longer undertaking royal duties, that state, in the form of the Royalty Protection section of the RaSP department (Royalty and Specialist Protection Command) of the Metropolitan Police Service should no longer provide Prince Harry with this state sponsored function. Whereas, Prince Harry's argument was, that by virtue of his birth into the Royal Family that regardless of his role, he'd still be seen as intrinsically linked to the very essence of the UK and hence be at threat from the UK's enemies. Carlton uses his decades of expertise in the UK's governmental protection, national security and secret intelligence fields to answer the questions on this issue posed by his podcast colleagues. Moreover some surprising connectivity is uncovered by both Firgas and Dr Rachel vis-a-vis Prince Harry's situation. So, if you want to continue learning whilst being entertained this and next week's continuation of this subject are must listen episodes. Please don't forget to subscribe to the Black Spy Podcast for free, thereby you'll never miss another episode. To contact Firgas Esack of the DAPS Agency go to Linked In To contact Carlton King by utilising any of the following: To donate - Patreon.com/TheBlackSpyPodcast Email: carltonking2003@gmail.com Facebook: The Black Spy Podcast Facebook: Carlton King Author Twitter@Carlton_King Instagram@carltonkingauthor To read Carlton's Autobiography: “Black Ops – The incredible true story of a (Black) British secret agent” Click the link below: https://amzn.eu/d/fmzzq9h
Remove From Your Process as Often as You Add To It - Mike CohnCan you imagine being so angry about a team doing something wrong that you institute a rule for them to follow for the next 100 years? Literally 100 years.Queen Victoria was that angry.One day in 1894, the Queen went to the Horse Guards building expecting her Household Cavalry to be ready to escort her back to Buckingham Palace. She instead found the guards either asleep, drunk, or gambling.Infuriated, she commanded that an inspection of the Guards be held at 4:00 p.m. every day for the next 100 years.I'm guessing the Guards got the message to stop sleeping, drinking, and gambling on duty long before 100 years. The 4:00 p.m. inspection could have stopped after perhaps a year or two. Maybe sooner.Things that become part of a team's process sometimes stay there too long, like that inspection of the Queen's Horse Guards.This happened in a company that had a large database that was shared by multiple applications. When one team changed the database, they screwed up the change and left other teams scrambling to quickly change their code in production.They held a multi-team retrospective and agreed that each team would produce a Database Impact Report every sprint. The report would describe how a team's work would affect the database.This doesn't sound horrible yet, except it was rare for most teams to do any work at all in a sprint that would affect the database.These teams were still expected to complete a Database Impact Report each sprint that basically said: No impactNo impactNo impactThese no-impact Impact Reports were emailed to all other teams.After opening a PDF every two weeks that said “no impact,” recipients stopped bothering to even read the reports that were still being generated.Stop. Just stop.These reports were probably useful for a period. They may have helped identify a risk. They certainly made people more aware of the impact a database change could have on other teams.But after a while, they should have been removed from the teams' process, especially once the teams who actually did routinely alter the database had found better ways of communicating potential impacts.In retrospectives, it's always tempting to look for new things to add (“Let's start using AI to inspect our code!”).But make sure you also reserve time in retrospectives to look for things to remove.Unless your team members are all drunk, gambling, or asleep at 4:00 p.m., you can probably find something to remove from your process.A barely sufficient process with unnecessary actions and rules removed will help you succeed with agile How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/
Britain's declaration of neutrality recognised the Union and the Confederacy as belligerents, allowing the Confederacy to contract for supplies and commission warships, but it fell short of recognising the Confederacy as a sovereign nation. This protected British interests by avoiding entanglement in the conflict while maintaining the country's right to trade with both the Union and the ...
The British Royal Family has long been entwined with the secret services. Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac reveal in their book 'The Secret Royals', how Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II (Codename 2519) were the ultimate handlers; privy to daily intelligence reports, globally well connected, capable of outmanoeuvring their own governments. Host Charlie Higson speaks to Richard and Rory about uncovering this hidden history, why top spies sip tea at Buckingham Palace, and how the next generation of Royals are continuing this intelligence-loving legacy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Who was Commissioner Lin and how did he crack down on foreign opium in China? Why was Charles Elliot so hopeless that he landed Queen Victoria with a bill owing millions to drug dealers? What was the Canton factory system and what was it like to live there? Anita and William meander through the at-times shocking story of how Victorian drug dealers willingly handed over millions of pounds worth of their product to Commissioner Lin, the emperor's right-hand man. Empire Club: Become a member of the Empire Club to receive early access to miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to live show tickets, bonus episodes, book discounts, our exclusive newsletter, and access to our members' chatroom on Discord! Head to empirepoduk.com to sign up. For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com. Email: empire@goalhanger.com Instagram: @empirepoduk Blue Sky: @empirepoduk X: @empirepoduk Assistant Producer: Becki Hills Producer: Anouska Lewis Senior Producer: Callum Hill Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Headteachers are gathering today in Harrogate for the annual conference of the National Association of Head Teachers. The negative effects on their students of smartphones and social media access has become a national conversation in recent months, with differing views on who should take the lead in protecting children; the Government, schools, parents, or tech companies. Anita Rani talks to secondary head Emma Mills. Her school, Birchwood High in Warrington, attracted national attention two years ago when teenager Brianna Ghey was murdered. Emma joins Anita to explain why she implemented the ban and what the effects have been so far.Barrister and campaigner Charlotte Proudman first came to prominence ten years ago when she called out a lawyer on LinkedIn who praised her profile picture. Never afraid to speak her mind, she talks to Anita about her new book ‘He said, She Said: Truth, Trauma and the Struggle for Justice in Family Court'.Writer George Eliot is brought to life in a new stage setting, accompanied by contemporary music by British female singer songwriters and using mainly her own words to tell her story. Author of seven novels, a poet and translator, George Eliot - real name Mary Ann Evans - was ahead of her time, befriended pioneering feminists and at one point became the second richest woman in England after Queen Victoria. Performers SuRie and Hermione Norris join Anita to discuss their celebration of her extraordinary and ground breaking life. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Laura Northedge
Sunday roast dinner, Queen Victoria, oast houses. Queen Matilda and more... What a mixture this midweek message is! I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed chatting.
This title was released in March 2025. It will be exclusively available to buy from the Big Finish website until 31 May 2025, and on general sale after this date. 1901. Six months after the death of Queen Victoria, her gung-ho daughter Princess Beatrice goes to visit the organisation she's inherited. What is Torchwood? Meanwhile, something has broken out of a vault deep beneath London. The Smiling Man is coming. **Please note: the collector's edition CD is strictly limited to 1,000 copies**
Who was the worst house guest at Buckingham Palace? Listen to find out! In the first of two episodes, Royal historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams look through the visitors book for Buckingham Palace to discover the tyrants and troublemakers who've come to stay. How did Queen Elizabeth II react to the infamous and brutal African dictators Idi Amin and Mobutu, and is it true that Queen Victoria took a surprising shine to the lustful Shah of Persia? All will be revealed, along with the elaborate and secret details involved in laying out the red carpet for an official state visit. Each week, Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things takes a look behind palace curtains at royal history - from William the Conqueror to King Charles III. The hosts offer exclusive insights into the lives of the royal family - from Meghan Markle to Anne Boleyn; the royal scandals and intrigues, and the turbulent and bloody history of the crown. Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams Series Producer: Ben Devlin Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Bella Soames Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This is episode 219 — a new Governor has sailed into Table Bay. Sir Philip Edmond Wodehouse, born in 1811, eldest child of Edmond Wodehouse who married his first cousin Lucy, daughter of Philip Wodehouse, uncle Philip to Sir Philip Edmond. How very Victorian. Queen Victoria herself, who married her first cousin Prince Albert—did allow and even encourage cousin marriage, particularly among royalty and the upper classes to consolidate power, property, and lineage. But it also increased the risk of birth defects by 2 percent, and if both parents carry a recessive gene mutation, their child has a 25 percent chance of expressing the disorder. Scientists have a well-worn phrase for this — its called inbreeding. Wodehouse junior entered the Ceylon Civil Service in 1828, and was installed as superintendent of British Honduras between 1851 to 1854. From there he sailed to British Guiana where he served as Governor between 1854 to 1861 — before heading to the Cape in 1862. It's illuminating to touch on Sir Philip Wodehouse's disastrous time in British Guiana. Two years after he took office in the South American country, the Angel Gabriel riots broke out. His implacable opponent was John Sayers Orr, whose nom de guerre was the Angel Gabriel, was half Scottish, half African. Edinburgh's Caledonian Newspaper of the time reported that his mother Mary Ann Orr was a respectable coloured woman and married to a respectable Scot — John Orr senior. Young John Sayer Orr was rabidly anti-papal, hated the Pope and had an anti-Catholic obsession. He took to the Guianese streets with bullhorn in hand, whereupon the distant Glasgow Herald noted he spoke “rampant anti-papist froth and lies..” Between 1850 and 1851 he popped up in Boston, then New York, Bath in Maine, and Manchester in New Hampshire. In 1854 he was hustled off by police in Boston. Apart from the usual racial insults levelled at him, the Boston police report says he had more impudence than brains .. “…who with a three cornered hat and a cockade on his head, and old brass horn .. took advantage of the political excitement .. travelled around the city …tooting his horn … collecting crowds in the streets, delivering what he called his political lectures and passing around the hat for contributions…” Sounds like a modern political influencer, the bullhorn, the disinformation, the extreme rhetoric, not to mention his hat which is literally crowd sourcing. He was arrested at least 20 times for what was called his international harangues tour — where he'd shout confusing messages like “Scorn be those who rob us of our rights — purgatory for popery and the Pope — Freedom to man be he black or white — Rule Britannia…!!” Bizarrely, the resonances to today's crazy politics continued, Orr was associated with the fantastically named Know Nothing Party in America. Wait to hear about this bunch, you'll recognise bits of modern USA. Members of the movement were required to say "I know nothing" whenever they were asked about its specifics by outsiders, and that providing the group with its colloquial name. Before you wonder aloud what relevance all this has, let me quickly point out that the so-called Know Nothing Party had 43 representatives in Congress at the height of its power in the late 1850s. In 1855 this strange 19th Century character pitched up in British Guiana, and Sir Philip Wodehouse had his work cut out. Soon Orr was up to his old tricks, walking about with his bull horn, carrying a flag and a British imperial badge, followed by a group of …. Well .. followers. They were not repeating they Knew Nothing, but attacking the British establishment. We'll also hear about the Angel Gabriel riots. By 1862 Wodehouse who survived a public stoning in Guiana, had arrived in the Cape as Governor. Here he was to face the implacable enemies - the Westerners and the Easterners. Two parts of the Cape that did not get along.
Dress codes can tell us so much about historic court fashion and the rules and regulations of royal clothing. But they can also relate to the way we think about, and express who we are today, as much as in the past. To celebrate the opening of our new exhibition at Kensington Palace, Caterina Berni speaks to Curator Matthew Story and bespoke period tailor Zack Pinsent of Pinsent Tailoring; to explore the Dress Codes we follow every single day. Decode the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection in our Dress Codes exhibition at Kensington Palace. See the Royal Wardrobe and items from the exhibition up close in our online collaboration with Google Arts & Culture. See the garments discussed in this episode: 18th century court suit with silver thread 1920s Court Dress Vivienne Westwood's Investiture dress Mourning Dress with white and mauve flowers. Japanese Diplomatic Court Suit Gold Wedding Dress Duke of Windsor's Tartan suit Fancy Dress gown worn gown worn to Queen Victoria's costume ball
Strange But True: Ancient Egyptians were so into oral sex, they put it in their religion — and religious art, Salon, Matthew Rosza, January 29, 2023 Sex and morality have been tightly controlled by religion throughout history, shaping societal attitudes toward sexuality. The discussion begins with ancient Egypt, where gods were depicted engaging in acts like autofellatio as part of creation myths. While some assume ancient societies were more sexually open, the reality is that Egypt had conservative sexual norms comparable to their neighbors in Israel. The control of sex, particularly by religious institutions, has historically been a tool of power, reinforcing shame and guilt around natural human behavior. Victorian England is often blamed for sexual repression, but it's argued that this is more a product of later interpretations than the reality of Victorian life. The Victorians were far from prudish in private, as demonstrated by explicit personal writings, including Queen Victoria's enthusiastic comments about Prince Albert. More broadly, history shows fluctuating attitudes toward sex, from the uninhibited Greeks and Romans to later societies that sought to regulate and repress it. Religion, particularly Christianity, often attempts to define acceptable sexual behavior, controlling it in ways that reinforce their broader authority. A notable aspect of ancient Egyptian sexuality is their exclusion of homosexuality from their records, raising questions about whether labeling and recognizing sexual identities make societies more tolerant or simply more aware of division. Regardless of historical shifts, the pattern remains: sex is a fundamental human drive, and societies continuously shape and reshape its role based on cultural and religious influences. Ultimately, the gods people create reflect their own desires and societal norms, further proving that human behavior, rather than divine decree, dictates morality. The Non-Prophets, Episode 24.10.2 featuring Jason Sherwood, Aaron Jensen, Richard Firth-Godbehere and Scott Dickie.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-non-prophets--3254964/support.
Born in 1781, Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld grew up in a world convulsed by the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. And her life proved to be as tempestuous as the age she inhabited. Wed to Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia when she was just 14, her deeply unhappy marriage pushed Julie to make an audacious bid for freedom, in defiance of the social expectations placed on women of her social status. Now, her little-known story has been brought to life in a new book by historian Helen Rappaport, who speaks to Danny Bird about the unconventional life of Queen Victoria's trailblazing aunt. (Ad) Helen Rappaport is the author of The Rebel Romanov (Simon & Schuster, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebel-Romanov-Helen-Rappaport/dp/1398525960/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices