We Are History
116 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago -The less-than-serious history podcast with stand up comedian Angela Barnes (The News Quiz, Mock The Week and Live at The Apollo) and writer John O'Farrell (An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, Things Can Only Get Better, Spitting Image). In each podcast our two history nerds discuss, explain and laugh at interesting and quirky episodes from the olden days, such as East German Nudism, Spy Pigeons or Vlad the Impaler. Angela and John’s in-depth knowledge of world history has been described as ‘laughable’ - and now they read the history books so that you don't have to. The We Are History podcast - not as world-changing as the Black Death, but slightly funnier.
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Episodes
The 1960s - The advent of the permissive society
April 30, 2024 03:00 - 42 minutesHow a handful of landmark events and reforms suddenly shook off the hypocrisy, censorship and repression that had plagued Great Britain since Victorian times. (Available in Northern Ireland several decades later) We Are History is written and presented by Angela Barnes and John O’Farrell. Production by Simon Williams. Group Editor is Andrew Harrison. We Are History is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Painful History of Dentistry
April 23, 2024 03:00 - 49 minutesHow travelling quacks and snobby doctors held back dentistry for centuries, while millions endured the agony of toothache and wondered why ‘smoking out the tooth worms’ didn’t seem to be working. Reading List: An Excruciating History of Dentistry by James Wynbrand Support We Are History on Patreon and get exclusive benefits including bonus episodes, mugs and more! https://patreon.com/WeAreHistory We Are History is written and presented by Angela Barnes and John O’Farrell. Production by Simon ...
British Shops and Shopping Centres
April 16, 2024 03:00 - 1 hourThis week Angela drags John around the shops of Britain for about 200 years as we take a look at the history of how we shop. We look at why shopping moved out of town centres and ask the important questions like “Does Selfridges sell fridges?” Reading: Back to the Shops: The High Street in History and the Future by Rachel Bowlby We Are History is written and presented by Angela Barnes and John O’Farrell. Production by Simon Williams. Group Editor is Andrew Harrison. We Are History is a Podmas...
The Brighton Bomb – 1984
April 09, 2024 03:00 - 50 minutesHow the IRA came very close to killing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the British Cabinet and triggered a massive manhunt for that world famous crime fighting agency, the Sussex County Constabulary. Reading List: Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll Buy Killing Thatcher through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund [name of podcast] by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Support We Are History on Patreon and get exc...
The History of April Fool’s Day
April 01, 2024 03:00 - 1 hourThis week Angela tricks John into learning about the history of April Fool’s Day. Where did it originate? Why do we do practical jokes on people we are supposed to love? Fom the Swiss spaghetti harvest to the Black Cliffs of Dover, we look at some of the best April Fool’s Day pranks across the centuries. And this episode is brought to you in smellovision, so don’t forget to scratch your screen to get the accompanying aromas. Gotcha! Reading List: Practically Joking by Moira Marsh https://hoa...
The Grand Tour
March 26, 2024 04:00 - 48 minutesCenturies ahead of those “Brits Abroad” tabloid headlines that make us hang our heads in shame, the British were still managing to cause chaos on the continent. The Grand Tour was a chance for upper class boys to kick up their heels and party across Europe under the auspices of an educational expedition, before getting married off and settling down in a massive country pile. A sort of Georgian Gap Year. We look at where they went, what they got up to and what they brought back with them in a...
The French Revolution
March 19, 2024 04:00 - 1 hourIn 18th Century France the Ancien Regime comes up against the Enlightenment and Age of Reason and, spoiler alert, it doesn’t end well for the monarchy. In this episode that serves as a sort of French revolution for dummies we look at what happened, from the storming of the Bastille on, well, Bastille Day to the rise of Napoleon Reading List: Vive La Revolution: A Stand-up History of the French Revolution by Mark Steel Buy books through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund We Are Histor...
The Story of Live Aid
March 12, 2024 04:00 - 44 minutesHow one scruffy Irish popstar saw a terrible famine being reported on his television and decided to do a bit more than just send a cheque to Oxfam. (John spent so long researching this podcast on Live Aid that he thought he might as well do a West End Musical about it at the same time). Reading List: The Eighties, One Day, One Decade by Dylan Jones; Is That It by Bob Geldof Buy books through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund We Are History by earning us a small commission for ever...
International Women’s Day
March 05, 2024 04:00 - 39 minutesJust in time for International Women’s Day on March 8, we dig into the surprising history of this worldwide celebration of patriarchy-pummeling. Angela Barnes and feminism “expert” John O’Farrell trace IWD’s roots from its beginnings in Communist countries in the early 20th century via a brazen American attempt to cover up its origins… and never once says “yeah, but when is it International Men’s Day?” Support We Are History on Patreon and get exclusive benefits including bonus episodes, mu...
The Glorious Revolution of 1688
February 27, 2024 04:00 - 34 minutesJohn O’Farrell and Angela Barnes return for a new season of We Are History! In this first episode they explore how the British had a very polite revolution without anyone getting hurt, and then pretended they’d actually wanted to be invaded by a big foreign army. Support We Are History on Patreon and get exclusive benefits including bonus episodes, mugs and more! https://patreon.com/WeAreHistory Reading List: Happy and Glorious: The Revolution of 1688 - Michael Wilson We Are History is writte...
The Golden Age of Smuggling
November 14, 2023 04:00 - 35 minutesFor the final episode in this series, the ever-so-honest John O’Farrell and Angela Barnes find out how and why smuggling in Britain became a crime epidemic that benefited everyone except the tax man. Source: Smuggling in the British Isles by Richard Platt Support We Are History on Patreon and get exclusive benefits including bonus episodes, mugs and more! https://patreon.com/WeAreHistory Angela Barnes is on tour with her critically acclaimed, sold out Edinburgh Fringe show ‘Hot Mess’. Tic...
The Green Belt: Contentious countryside
November 07, 2023 04:00 - 55 minutesThis week on We Are History, Angela Barnes and John O'Farrell look at the origins of the Green Belt, what is it and why do we have it? Spoiler alert, it’s not for holding up your green trousers. The Green Belt is a phrase we’ve heard politicians talking about forever, so we wanted to find out whose idea it was, how it has evolved over the last 100 or so years and how it affects the relationship between town and country. Reading List: Outskirts by John Grindrod Repurposing the Green Belt in t...
The Gunpowder Plot: He didn’t start the fire
October 31, 2023 04:00 - 46 minutesThis time on We Are History; our bold and fearless non-historians Angela Barnes and John O’Farrell find out how and why Britain’s first major terrorist plot was conceived and ultimately thwarted. Expect barrels of explosive fun, gory retribution and hear why we burn the wrong person on Bonfire night. Sources: Remember Remember the Fifth of November by James Sharpe https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/six-things-you-didnt-know-about-executions-london-docklands#:~:text=Not%20many%20know...
From Bits to Bots: A History of AI
October 24, 2023 03:00 - 1 hourOur technologically-challenged hosts Angela Barnes and John O’Farrell trace the history of Artificial Intelligence from Greek Mythology, via Alan Turing and the Speak and Spell to the rapid developments we’re seeing today. Should we be afraid of our robot overlords? Will AI ever be able to deliver a lighthearted History podcast? Maybe it already has... Reading List: The Brain Makers: The History of Artificial Intelligence – Genius, Ego, And Greed In The Quest For Machines That Think - HP New...
Nudity down the centuries
October 17, 2023 03:00 - 51 minutesJohn O’Farrell and Angela Barnes take a not-so-serious look at the most captivating and bizarre moments in history. This time things get very silly as John sneaks a peek at nakedness and how our attitudes to it has changed throughout history. He insists that this is a serious sociological and historical study and not at all an excuse to giggle at bare bottoms. Main source A Brief History of Nakedness by Philip Carr-Gomm Get all episodes a week early – when you support We Are History on Patre...
The Zimmermann Telegram
October 10, 2023 03:00 - 56 minutesJohn O’Farrell and Angela Barnes take a not-so-serious look at the most captivating and bizarre moments in history. This time Angela tells John how in 1917, the German Foreign Minister, Arthur Zimmerman sent a telegram to his man in Washington. Sounds dull? It isn’t; this telegraph was probably responsible for changing the course of WW1. What could a telegram possibly say that would make peace loving US President Woodrow Wilson take his country into the bloodiest conflict? Recommended readin...
The Haitian Revolution - the slave rebellion that succeeded
October 03, 2023 03:00 - 40 minutesThis time; our eager non-historians Angela Barnes and John O’Farrell discuss the amazing story of the enslaved people of Haiti, who rose up and defeated a major world power and established the New World’s first independent black state. Episode includes violence, voodoo and a zombie. Recommended reading: Avengers of the New World by Laurent Dubois You are all free : the Haitian revolution and the abolition of slavery by Jeremy Popkin The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James Get all episodes a wee...
The Glamour Boys
September 26, 2023 03:00 - 58 minutesSeries 8 of the hit podcast continues to romp its way through history unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre events. This time: Angela Barnes tells John O’Farrell about The Glamour Boys – a group of courageous queer MPs in buttoned-up Britain of the 1930’s. They put the "party" into "party politics" and were some of the first people to warn the government they needed to stand up to that Hitler. Get all episodes a week early – when you support We Are History on Patreon: https://patreo...
The Race for the Bomb
September 19, 2023 03:00 - 53 minutesAngela Barnes and John O’Farrell are back with Series 8 of the hit podcast which romps through history unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre events. This time: how the Nazis and Allies became locked in a race for the atom bomb, keeping it a total secret from everyone except all the Russian spies. Get all episodes a week early – when you support We Are History on Patreon: https://patreon.com/WeAreHistory Reading List: Atomic: The First War of Physics and the Secret History of the At...
Bonuscast: Angela Barnes and John O'Farrell answer your questions.
September 07, 2023 03:00 - 1 hourWe put the call out, and you came, in your droves! Thank you so much to everyone who made the first ever We Are History Live Q+A. The video is available to watch back over on our Patreon page and here is a special audio mix. Angela and John answer your questions without fear or favour, but much frivolity! Find out how they select their subjects, whether John really does have a piece of the Berlin Wall and what's coming up in Series 8. We Are History is written and presented by Angela Barnes a...
The Legend of the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass
July 24, 2023 03:00 - 36 minutesAngela Barnes and John O’Farrell cavort through history and uncover the most fascinating and down-right bizarre events. This time; the day hundreds of walkers asserted the Right To Roam across the Peak District against the wishes of the landed gentry who wanted the hills kept private so they could shoot grouse. John and Angela really struggle to take sides on this one. The protest is seen as an important catalyst to securing access to the countryside, but has the simple story of one dramat...
The Story of Nancy Wake: The Mouse that ran rings around the Nazis
July 18, 2023 03:00 - 53 minutesAngela Barnes and John O’Farrell romp through history, unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre events. This time we meet the New Zealand born journalist turned French society housewife Nancy Wake, who became one of Churchill’s most decorated agents and one of the Gestapo’s most wanted. Whether she was flirting with Nazis to get out of trouble or parachuting into the heart of the French Resistance, Nancy Wake was right in the thick of the action and the woman the Germans called “White...
The 1904 St Louis Olympics: A Marathon Event
July 11, 2023 03:00 - 47 minutesAngela Barnes and John O’Farrell romp through history, unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre events. This time; the five month-long 1904 Olympic Games which was a catalogue of failures and unbelievably poor decisions. This included restricting liquids during the marathon, one of the runners stopping to practise his english and wild dogs chasing the athletes. It’s an incredible story so make sure those shoelaces are tied and your nipples are Vaselined. “Every four years, as a nation,...
St Patrick and the Patriarchy: Women’s rights in Ireland
July 04, 2023 03:00 - 51 minutesAngela Barnes and John O’Farrell present the not-so-serious podcast unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre historical events. New Episode! For much of the 20th century the Catholic establishment had a stranglehold over Ireland’s morality and used it to deny Irish women basic rights such as contraception, divorce and abortion. When a series of scandals stripped away the hypocrisy of the church, the women of the country took their chance to stand up against the patriarchy and were fina...
Saucy Seaside Postcards - A Celebration of Great British Smut
June 27, 2023 03:00 - 55 minutesAngela Barnes and John O’Farrell present the not-so-serious podcast unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre historical events. This week; you ordered an innuendo, so we’re giving you one. Yes, it’s that stalwart of smut, the saucy seaside postcard. Join us as we enter a cartoon world of buxom ladies and henpecked men. But enough about us here’s a podcast about the history of this great British institution. Get all episodes a week early – when you support We Are History on Patreon: ht...
Great Fire of London: Burning down the house
June 20, 2023 03:00 - 36 minutesAngela Barnes and John O'Farrell dust off more delightful and unbelievable details from the pages of history. This time: How most of London was destroyed after a baker ignored his wife’s advice to check if the fire had gone out, saying ‘Oh, what’s the worst that could happen?’ Get all episodes a week early – when you support We Are History on Patreon: https://patreon.com/WeAreHistory “Does one tip the man with the corpse cart? It’s one of those embarrassing social dilemmas.” – John O’Farrel...
Navajo Code Talkers – America's secret WWII weapon
June 13, 2023 03:00 - 1 hourAngela Barnes and John O’Farrell present the not-so-serious podcast unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre historical events. This week; our history enthusiasts discuss how the US military used an indigenous American language to outfox the Nazis. By taking a gamble that there weren’t many natural Navajo speakers in Berlin, the Americans kept their secret messages unbreakable by the enemy. Get all episodes a week early – when you support We Are History on Patreon: https://patreon.com/...
Albania: Communism, capitalism, chaos
June 06, 2023 03:00 - 40 minutesAngela Barnes and John O’Farrell bring us more ridiculous history facts and a less-than serious romp through an event from the past. This time: How one small country in Europe lurched suddenly from hardline Stalinism to Disaster Capitalism, and then gave everyone guns and said ‘Oh sort it out yourselves’. Albania has suffered a stormy history of dictatorships, a king called Zog and being economically choked by the iron grip of mass pyramids schemes which provided false hope to millions. Get ...
The 1968 US Presidential Election: Rotting from the head down
May 30, 2023 03:00 - 46 minutesAngela Barnes and John O’Farrell present the not-so-serious podcast unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre historical events. This time: They dive deep into the year American politics took a dark turn towards lies, divisiveness and criminality. As is said so often on this podcast; 'it could never happen now'. This is the bitterly fought American Election that set the modern tone with its controversy and dishonesty - and heralded the rise of the new right in America. Spoiler alert - Ri...
Radium: A toxic love affair
May 23, 2023 03:00 - 1 hourNEW SERIES! The not-so-serious podcast unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre historical events. Angela Barnes and John O’Farrell celebrate the return of We Are History by plunging into the luminous but lethal history of Radium. They reveal how its discovery led to a craze for radio-active health and beauty treatments, which had the slight drawback of eventually killing you. Angela and John share our predecessors ill-advised fascination with radium; its myriad ‘miracle’ uses includ...
Christmas Number Ones
December 12, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourNever mind world wars or revolutions, it's time to do the really important history - how did Christmas singles become a thing in the UK, and when was the golden age of of the festive hit. Warning; includes John doing dad singing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mussolini - the rubbish war leader
December 05, 2022 05:00 - 44 minutesIt is compulsory or a man of John's age to do one episode on the Second World War. But fascists being useless is always worth revisiting - and the farcical and disastrous leadership of Benito Mussolini between 1940-45 is that rare thing in modern history - a bit of World War 2 that hasn't been done to death. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Domestication of Dogs
November 28, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourHow a few hungry wolves hanging around outside the caves led to Paris Hilton's embarrassed chihuahua wearing a tiara and sitting in a chintzy handbag. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Birth of the BBC
November 21, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourWith the BBC celebrating it's centenary, we explore how the corporation came into existence, out of a chaotic broadcasting free-for-all. (This podcast was originally submitted as a programme idea to the Home Service in 1927, but we gave up waiting for a response) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Stasi Poetry Circle - the East Germans secret police advancing socialism through verse
November 14, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourAngela has read yet another book about East Germany (this one by Philip Oltermann) and explains how it was believed that loyalty to the Communist regime could be secured, not just by suppressing dissent and spying on your neighbours, but also with encouraging pro-government poetry . (Includes a hastily-penned socialist limerick written by John.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Fascist Who Switched Sides and Spied on the British Far Right
November 07, 2022 06:00 - 47 minutesThe incredible story of Ray Hill who in the 1970s underwent a massive change of heart and switched from fascist rabble-rouser to secret informant undermining the British Far Right and preventing a racist terrorist attack. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The 60s Satire Boom
October 31, 2022 06:00 - 56 minutesHow are group of clever young graduates working in a shed in Cambridge discovered a powerful new weapon that became known as 'satire'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The slow death of John Major’s government 1992-97
October 24, 2022 05:00 - 59 minutesHow self-inflicted economic disasters and endless sleazy scandals made a Conservative government massively unpopular. Imagine it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Little Apology From We Are History
June 01, 2022 09:46 - 1 minute - 4.06 MBSadly, due to reasons, we've had to end this series of We Are History an episode early. But don't fret - WE WILL BE BACK! SOON! (Have I made that sound like a threat?) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp
March 28, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourThe women-only peace camp that became the focus of the anti-nuclear movement of the 1980s and inspired a whole new generation of feminists. (Contains walk on parts for both of John's parents.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Agent Sonya
March 21, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourIn a life that began in the Weimar Republic and outlived the Berlin Wall, Ursula Kuczynski spied for Communism all around the world, and not even her own children suspect anything. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Richard III and the Princes in the Tower
March 14, 2022 06:00 - 52 minutesWho murdered the young Princes in the Tower in 1483? We apply modern analysis and scientific rigour to question whether it really was Richard III (and conclude that he's obviously guilty - just look at the hump). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Maud West, the unlikely private investigator
March 05, 2022 17:11 - 1 hourMaud West was a master of disguise and legendary private detective in 1930s London and many of her adventures sound unbelievable today. (Although that might be because she made a lot of them up). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Victorian Anti-vaxxers
February 28, 2022 06:00 - 53 minutesHow Victorian governments made the cow-pox vaccination compulsory, and faced a huge backlash from people who didn't trust the authorities or worried they might grow horns and udders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Great Exhibition 1851
February 21, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourHow the confident Victorians organised massive showcase of their greatest achievements, tactfully leaving out all the rampant exploitation, the new urban poverty and the brutal wars of conquest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Scottish Witch Panic
February 14, 2022 06:00 - 49 minutesWhy was the persecution of witches in the 17th century so much more severe than in other parts of the British Isles? How did the accusations and trials play out? How was it used to suppress so-called 'difficult' or 'argumentative' women. And would Angela have been burned as a witch? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bill Clinton & Monica Lewinsky
December 13, 2021 06:00 - 1 hourHow an American President was impeached for perjury but remained in office, while his young intern was publicly shamed for telling the truth. A complex political and moral narrative (with blow jobs). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The American Indian Occupation of Alcatraz, 1969-71
December 06, 2021 11:00 - 49 minutesHow a group of American Indian activists occupied the former prison island in San Francisco Bay, and then sarcastically offered to buy it from the American government for a handful of beads. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
MI9 - the secret agency helping British POWs
November 29, 2021 11:00 - 51 minutesIn the Second World War, one branch of the security services was established to help British Prisoners escape from German camps and make their way back home. Inventing secret hidden gadgets, they were the inspiration for 'Q' in the James Bond stories. (This podcast comes with a hidden map and compass.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Christopher Columbus, the man who didn't discover America
November 22, 2021 11:01 - 35 minutesThe world-changing voyage of Columbus that opened up a whole new continent, even though he could never accept that. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices