Today In History with The Retrospectors

United Artists, a new company formed by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith - four of the most powerful figures in early cinema - was announced on 5th February 1919. The movie trade press quickly labelled it a ‘rebellion’ against the mainstream studios. Declaring their new enterprise would exist to “protect the industry from itself”, the Hollywood quartet took aim at an industry that depended on long contracts, vertical integration and strict talent control. They hoped to see a greater degree of creative autonomy and financial reward, but perhaps underestimated the difficulty of running a distribution company and the risks the studio system itself had absorbed. Existing contracts delayed releases, investors were wary, and the promise of artistic freedom collided with the realities of inconsistent output, experimental failure and changing technology, including the arrival of sound. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider UA’s eerily prescient ambition to counter ‘machine-made entertainment’; discover how an experience selling war bonds helped inspire  the idea for the studio; and explain why, despite their success, the studio still missed out on ‘Gone With The Wind’...  Further Reading: • ‘United Artists: The studio that challenged and revolutionised Hollywood’ (Far Out, 2021):  https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/united-artists-studio-revolutionised-hollywood/ • ‘Artists Unite Against the Studios’ (Celebrate California): https://celebratecalifornia.library.ca.gov/february-5-1919-artists-unite-against-the-studios-2/ • ‘Chaplin, Fairbanks, Pickford & Griffith Signing United Artists Contract’ (1919): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEBZU_KHSM0 #Hollywood #1910s #Business #Film Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Disguised variously as a baseball umpire, NFL referee, pro golfer, and even Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Barry Bremen earned his reputation as America’s greatest pitch invader - a career that kicked off on 4th February, 1979. Dressed as a player for the Kansas City Kings, the 32 year-old insurance salesman crashed the court of an NBA All-Star basketball game - much to the delight of fellow players and spectators. Hey, it was the Seventies! In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask why top sportsmen of the day were so keen to support him; reveal how the media encouraged his efforts to become a sporting celebrity; and explain why his behaviour pushed the broadcasters of the 1985 Emmys to cut quickly to a puzzled David Hasselhoff… Further Reading: • ‘From Ali Dia to Karl Power: the greatest impostors in sporting history’ (The Guardian, 2016): https://www.theguardian.com/sport/shortcuts/2016/oct/18/from-ali-dia-barry-bremen-greatest-fakers-in-sporting-history • ’When Barry Bremen Tried to Infiltrate the Dallas Cowgirls, the Team Found It a Drag’ (People, 1980): https://people.com/archive/when-barry-bremen-tried-to-infiltrate-the-dallas-cowgirls-the-team-found-it-a-drag-vol-13-no-2/ • ‘The Great Imposter Barry Bremen’ (NBC, 1979): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNjZni1yQ90 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With a cast of over 800, and a budget equivalent to £3 million, James Shirley’s extravagant masque ‘The Triumph of Peace’ was performed on 3rd February, 1634. Unusually, it was such a popular show that, despite the enormous cost of staging it, King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria requested that it be repeated. Though replete with all the arse-kissing allegorical tableaux that typified these celebrations of the monarchy - and requisite set designs by Inigo Jones - this spectacular was also markedly different from its predecessors in that it was especially designed to appease Henrietta, who had been slurred by polemicist William Prynne.    In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly come to terms with the ‘17th century immersive theatre’ experience; explain why legendary playwright Ben Jonson WASN’T involved in this one; and reveal how a masque was once responsible for the destruction of Shakespeare’s Globe…  Further Reading: • ‘Masque and music at the Stuart court’ (Royal Museums Greenwich): https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/masque-music-stuart-court • ‘Inigo Jones designs for masque costumes’ (The British Library): https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/inigo-jones-designs-for-masque-costumes •  ‘The History of the British Masque’ (Heidi Kobara, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G22UED2yJ_Q Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. #1600s #Theatre #Royals Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leonarde Keeler, inventor of the modern polygraph, first showcased his device in a courtroom on 2nd February, 1935. The wooden box, which measured physiological responses like blood pressure and respiration, took the stand alongside him, and, while Keeler emphasized the machine wasn’t infallible, he later told journalists assembled outside the venue that his invention would soon revolutionise criminal justice. Keeler’s innovations built upon earlier work by others, including Scottish cardiologist James McKenzie, who created a device to detect heart arrhythmias, and Dr. William Moulton Marston, who later linked blood pressure changes to emotional responses - and, inspired by his "truth-telling" research, would go on to create Wonder Woman. But Keeler’s talent for self-promotion, using dramatic applications of his polygraph, made his name, and cemented the device’s reputation as a “lie detector” (a term he never actually used). In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how the polygraph - now discredited as evidence in US courts - once put a Death Row inmate to the electric chair; reveal how Keeler’s mentors gradually drifted away from the ‘monster’ they had created; and explain how the men who invented the ‘truth machines’ of the 20th century had an uncanny talent for meeting their wives at work… Further Reading: • ’Will Lie Detectors Ever Get Their Day in Court Again?’ (Center for Law, Brain & Behavior, Harvard University, 2015): https://clbb.mgh.harvard.edu/will-lie-detectors-ever-get-their-day-in-court-again/ • ‘He Met His Wife Over a Lie Detector. Then Things Got Interesting’ (PBS American Experience, 2022): https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lie-detector-1000-words/ • ‘Neurologist Trashes "Lie Detector" Tests’ (Dr. Brandon Beaber, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_08b7Y7DgI Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Revolutionary leader Oliver Cromwell was executed on 30th January, 1661 - despite having been dead for more than two years. His body was exhumed from its tomb in Westminster Abbey on the instruction of King Charles II, who sought retribution for those involved in the trial and execution of his father, Charles I. Along with other Regicides, Cromwell’s corpse was disinterred and subjected to public abuse. On the anniversary of Charles I’s beheading, Cromwell’s head was mounted on a spike and stuck on the roof of Westminster Hall - where it remained for thirty years. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly track the illustrious history of Cromwell’s head from that date forth; consider whether the crowd in attendance at the ‘execution’ really hated their former Lord Protector as much as their jeering suggests; and explain how the intervention of a future Prime Minister prevented Cromwell’s relic being put on public display as recently as the 19th Century… Further Reading: • ‘Oliver Cromwell: Hero or Villain?’ (HistoryExtra, 2014) : https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/oliver-cromwell-hero-or-villain/ • ‘The Strange Saga of Oliver Cromwell's Head’ (Mental Floss, 2019): https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/585591/oliver-cromwells-head-history • ‘Opening The Coffin Of Oliver Cromwell’ (The Fortress, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR0_DE2zQgU We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The BBC broadcast the first ever edition of Roy Plomley’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ - the world’s longest-running interview programme - on 29th January, 1942.  Opening, as the show still does, with Eric Coates’s theme music ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’, the episode welcomed comedian Vic Oliver as the series’ first ‘castaway’. Plomely would go on to present a further 1,785 editions of the show until his death in 1985. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the metaphor of an abundant and sunlit desert island in the context of the horrors of the Blitz; discover how BBC censors ensured early episodes lacked the free-wheeling quality modern listeners expect; and reveal the most-chosen artists across the show’s incredible archive…  Further Reading: • ‘The History of Desert Island Discs’ (BBC): https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/59YrnYM0Tw8J7WJ0MGKVfh7/the-history-of-desert-island-discs • ‘Seven Decades of Desert Island Discs’ (The New Yorker, 2012)’ https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/seven-decades-of-desert-island-discs • ‘Kirsty Young introduces Desert Island Discs: 70 Years of Castaways’ (Waterstones, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD7NwCAAAgM #40s #Celebrity #Arts Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stud-and-tube bricks, which paved the way for Lego to become one of the most successful companies in Denmark, were patented on 28th January, 1958. But this family business had already been in existence for 26 years, mostly making wooden toys. It later emerged, however, that the plastic self-locking bricks that brought them so much success had in fact already been invented - and patented - by British toymaker Hillary Page in 1940. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Lego’s lawyers stay one step ahead of their imitators; unconvincingly demonstrate how to pronounce ‘Skoda’; and reveal how branded toys - a controversial pivot for the company in the ‘90s - helped save the business… Further Reading: • ‘LEGO Brick Timeline: 50 Years of Building Frenzy and Curiosities’ (Gizmodo, 2008): https://gizmodo.com/lego-brick-timeline-50-years-of-building-frenzy-and-cu-349509 • ‘Self-Locking Building Bricks, Lego precursor, Kiddicraft (1944-)’: https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Self-Locking_Building_Bricks_(Kiddicraft) • ‘60 years of LEGO: capturing the world's imagination’ (5 News, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZTiAarAOqw Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. #50s #Games #Inventions #UK #Denmark This episode originally aired in 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The corpse of Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union, was placed on display in Moscow's Red Square on 27th January, 1924 - where, astonishingly, he remains viewable to this day.  He’d wanted to be buried next to his mother in Saint Petersburg, but after he suffered a series of strokes, the Soviet government instead secretly planned to build a mausoleum for his body, in part to deify him as a quasi-religious figure. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how pioneering embalming techniques were created by ‘The Lenin Lab’ to look after the cadaver; ponder how mausoleum architect Alexey Shchusev contented with the January freeze; and consider whether an embalmed Queen Victoria would be just as popular a tourist attraction… Further Reading: • ‘Death of Lenin’ (The Guardian, 1924): ⁠https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/23/death-of-lenin-archive-1924⁠ • ‘Lenin's Body Improves with Age’ (Scientific American, 2015): ⁠https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lenin-s-body-improves-with-age1/⁠ • ‘Russia: 100 Years on from Revolution’ (BBC News, 2017): ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPmlX4kWgjs⁠ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The U.S. Postal Service permitted parcel delivery for packages under 11 pounds in 1913 - parameters which were pushed to their limits on 26th January, 1913, when Ohio couple Jesse and Matilda Beagle set a bizarre precedent by mailing their baby, James, a mile up the road to his grandmother. As Parcel Fever swept the nation, other parents began to use the Postal Service as an affordable alternative to train tickets. Most famously 4-year-old Charlotte May Pierstoff was mailed 73 miles to her grandparents for 55 cents, inspiring a popular children’s book. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly investigate the “self-mailing” antics of various adult eccentrics; reveal how the Postal Service had to intervene to terminate this troublesome trend; and highlight the demand and enthusiasm that initially greeted the great revolution of a rural postal service… Further Reading: • ‘When People Used the Postal Service to 'Mail' Their Children’ (HISTORY, 2018): https://www.history.com/news/mailing-children-post-office • The strangest things sent in the post (BBC News, 2017): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42272052 • ‘How the Post Office Made America’ (Wendover Productions, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu2WOxXxsHw Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elephants have played a surprisingly important role on the battlefield, even before the birth of Christ; notably in 5th Century BCE India, and during the Punic Wars in Africa.  But on 23rd January, 971, the Southern Han division of the Chinese military retired their famous elephant corps forever - after facing a massive aerial assault from crossbowmen from the Song Dynasty, who had defeated them in battle. War elephants were not just formidable attackers, but also served as platforms for archers, vantage points, and even provided cover for advancing troops. Despite their effectiveness, the inherent volatility of the animals - susceptible to spooking and turning on their own side -  led to their eventual decline. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how some elephants continued to serve in the military, even after the development of gunpowder; consider the awesome psychological impact of being attacked by a troupe of elephants; and reveal how the Romans learned to defend themselves from elephants - with the aid of some squealing pigs… Content Warning: animal cruelty. #China #Animals #War #Medieval #BC Further Reading: • ‘Elephants, kingship and warfare in Southeast Asia’ (British Library, 2017): https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2017/05/elephants-kingship-and-warfare-in-southeast-asia.html • ‘In Ancient Rome flaming war pigs were used to counter elephants’ (The Vintage News, 2016: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/09/15/ancient-rome-flaming-war-pigs-used-counter-elephants/ ‘War Elephants’ (Royal Armouries, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI3-f8ebLlk This episode first aired in 2024 FRIDAY - MEGAPHONE COPYWe'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie PeartCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Metesky’s campaign of terror as ‘the Mad Bomber of New York’ ended abruptly on 22nd January, 1957. Between 1940 and 1956, he had planted at least 32 bombs in public places, including theatres, railway stations, libraries, and landmarks such as Grand Central Terminal.  Police arrived just before midnight at his modest home in Waterbury, Connecticut, which he shared with his two sisters, and asked him for a handwriting sample. A search of his garage revealed bomb components matching those used in attacks across the city, along with a partially-assembled device larger than any found before. His arrest brought relief to a city that had lived with an intermittent but persistent threat for over a generation. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain Metesky’s long-simmering grievance against his former employer, the Consolidated Edison Company; discover how the  breakthrough in the case came only when police consulted psychiatrist James Brussel; and reveal how Metesky underwent a surprising recovery in institutional care…  Further Reading: • ‘Unmasking the Mad Bomber’ (Smithsonian, 2017): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/unmasking-the-mad-bomber-180962469/ • ‘Decades before Cesar Sayoc, Mad Bomber George Metesky terrorized New York City’ (The Washington Post, 2018): https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2018/10/27/unhinged-unrelenting-mad-bomber-who-terrorized-new-york/ • ‘How New York’s First Terrorist Led to the Birth of Criminal Profiling’ (The New Yorker, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdLNbsoPD5c #NewYork #Crime #50s #Strange Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Henri Littière and his adulterous wife Suzanne thought they’d come up with a novel way to combat her philandering - by commissioning a custom-made chastity belt. But on 21st January, 1934, Littière was sentenced to three months in prison for cruelty to his spouse. It’s a strange story, but not half as weird as how the myth of chastity belts gained traction in the first place - not from medieval days, but in fact thanks to Victorian prudishness. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pick holes in 1934 Parisian court reporting; discover the trend for 21st century chastity belts; and explain how widespread belief in the belts can be traced back to a wacky German author’s offbeat sense of humour…  Further Reading: • ‘FRANCE: Infibulation’ (TIME, 1934): http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,787768,00.html • ‘Are They Real? The Dubious History Of Chastity Belts’ (Ripleys, 2019): https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/dubious-history-chastity-belts/ • ‘10 Myths You Still Believe About Medieval Life’ (Alltime 10s, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoRqiTlGfGs Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

According to Finnish legend, a peasant farmer named Lalli murdered the Christian missionary Bishop Henry on the ice of lake Köyliönjärvi on January 20, 1156, dispatching him with an axe blow to the head. It is fair to say things didn’t go terribly well for Lalli after that. He met a gruesome fate that takes various forms depending on the tale you read, but in general Lalli takes the bishop's mitre to wear and when he tries to remove it, it tears his scalp off. The bishop, meanwhile, fared rather better posthumously, going on to become Saint Henry. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss which bits of the tale are true; explain why the real villain of the story is Lalli’s wife; and discover that the 11th greatest Finn was a four-time Olympic gold medalist, who is also known for his later ill-advised careers as a singer and stripper.   Further Reading: • ‘The axe of Lalli and the cap of St. Henry – a view from Finland’ (Routledge, 2020): https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429053726-3_26/axe-lalli-cap-st-henry-view-finland-miikka-tamminen • ‘The Murder of Saint Henry, Crusader Bishop of Finland’ (Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2016): https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/33154?lang=en#:~:text=The%20so%2Dcalled%20'First%20Finnish,and%20its%20motive%20was%20revenge • ‘Murdering Bishop Henry – Finland's First Martyr’ (Finnish Mythology with Antti Palosaari, 2022):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDJrsEvwmHI #Medieval #Strange #Finland   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Celebrated medium Helen Duncan was arrested on 19th January, 1944, when, midway through one of her séances, an undercover policeman dramatically revealed her "spirit" to be nothing more than… herself draped in white fabric.  Initially charged with minor fraud, her case took a wild turn when she became the last woman imprisoned under the 1735 Witchcraft Act. Duncan’s trial, steeped in wartime paranoia and media frenzy, spotlighted her peculiar career, from her regurgitated "ectoplasm" performances to an unfortunate séance where she revealed the sinking of a British warship, inadvertently ruffling governmental feathers. Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how Duncan’s "physical manifestations" worked (it’s not for the faint-hearted); consider why public sentiment was on her side, even from Winston Churchill himself; and explain what happened to a controversial bronze bust of Duncan, initially donated to her hometown of Callander… Further Reading: • ‘The Strange, Freakish Story of Britain's 'Last Convicted Witch'’ (Vice, 2017): https://www.vice.com/en/article/helen-duncan-the-strange-freakish-story-of-britains-last-convicted-witch/ • ’The truth about the UK's last witch Helen Duncan’ (The National, 2018): https://www.thenational.scot/news/16209915.truth-uks-last-witch-helen-duncan/ • ‘Alan Crossley talks about his experiences of materialisation seances with Helen Duncan and Alec Harris’ (The Psychic Times, 2007): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuEBASIrDGk Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It had a budget of just $1 million, a lead actor wearing a toupee, and the baddie in the first draft of the script was a monkey. But the first James Bond film, ‘Dr. No’, which began shooting in Jamaica on 16th January, 1962, kicked off a phenomenally successful franchise that’s still a staple of cinema today. Its star, Sean Connery, had been picked out by producers after his appearance in a Disney production, but was marketed as a former lorry driver with little acting experience. Concerned that Connery lacked the sophistication of Bond’s background, director Terence Young took him on a tour of swish casinos, posh members clubs and his Savile Row tailors. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Connery came to improvise one of the movie’s most iconic moments; explain why Ian Fleming was first dismissive, then delighted by his casting; and trace the origins of the 007 formula that endures through all of Cubby Broccoli’s subsequent productions… Further Reading: • The Bond bunch: the failed contenders for coveted role (The Independent, 2006): https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/the-bond-bunch-the-failed-contenders-for-coveted-role-423454.html • ‘The Making of DR. NO: A 60th Anniversary Retrospective’ (Cinema Scholars, 2022): https://cinemascholars.com/the-making-of-dr-no-a-james-bond-60th-anniversary-retrospective/ • ‘Bond, James Bond’ (Eon Productions, 1962): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b15-P12gIf0 We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A roaring wave of syrup swept through the North End of Boston on 15th January, 1919, in an event that claimed 21 lives, including 2 children, and came to be known as the “Great Molasses Flood”.  At the heart of the disaster was a rushed, badly built industrial tank: the steel was too thin, the materials were faulty, leaks were ignored (and literally painted over), and warning signs were dismissed. The explosion hurled molasses at around 35 miles an hour, piling up in waves as high as eight meters. People were knocked off their feet, buildings were crushed, and one man famously woke up on the top floor of his house submerged in syrup. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the tragedy led to a raft of health and safety laws, and America’s first class action lawsuit; reveal how emergency workers finally found a way to clean up after the destruction; and consider how Bostonians felt the aftermath of the explosion for decades to come…  Further Reading: • ‘What Was the Great Molasses Flood?’ (Food and Wine, 2025): https://www.foodandwine.com/great-molasses-flood-boston-8773840 • ‘Boston's Great Molasses Flood Resurfaces’ (Italian Sons and Daughters of America, 2024): https://orderisda.org/culture/stories/a-most-unusual-disaster-bostons-great-molasses-flood-resurfaces/ • ‘Great Molasses Flood: animated retelling of Boston’s molasses tank catastrophe of 1919’ (TomoNews, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLXPD6OlwzI #Macabre #1910s #US #Mistakes #Business Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Disney’s long-awaited feature ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ was rapturously received at Radio City, New York, inspiring three-hour queues for tickets. The reviews that America woke up to on 14th January 1938 were euphoric: a masterpiece had landed. “It is a classic as important cinematically as The Birth Of A Nation”, Frank Nugent wrote in The New York Times.  “You’ll not, most of the time, realise you are watching animated cartoons”, he continued. “And if you do, it will only be with a sense of amazement”. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the technical feat of creating the world’s first feature-length animation (nicknamed ‘Disney’s Folly’) was all the more remarkable considering the inexperienced cartoonists on the crew; reveal why the UK censors very nearly classified it as unsuitable viewing for children; and challenge the notion that the Disney version of the Grimm tale is any less morbid than its literary forebears…  Further Reading: • ‘THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; The Music Hall Presents Walt Disney's Delightful Fantasy, 'Snow hite and the Seven Dwarfs'-Other New Films at Capitol and Criterion’ (The New York Times, 1938): https://www.nytimes.com/1938/01/14/archives/the-screen-in-review-the-music-hall-presents-walt-disneys.html • ‘The Making of Snow White’ (Disney, 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7X8u-EjADw&t=4s • ‘Disney's Folly: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ (Neatorama, 2012): https://www.neatorama.com/2012/06/13/disneys-folly-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs/ This episode first aired in 2022 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was today in history in 1404 that Henry IV issued the Act Against Multipliers, a ban on the mysterious art of creating or duplicating gold, more commonly known as alchemy. It came at an odd time for European science because the widespread efforts to transform so-called base metals, such as lead or copper, into noble metals, such as silver or gold, while futile, actually aided the discovery of things like combustion and gunpowder. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss the connection between the science of multiplying metals and religion; explain why the Ancient Greek notion of the four elements – fire, earth, air, and water – was so resilient; and reveal why plenty of people before Harry Potter were interested in the Philosopher’s Stone… Further Reading: • ‘When Chemistry Was Outlawed’ (Vice, 2015): https://www.vice.com/en/article/3dk7mj/when-chemistry-was-outlawed • ‘The Day England Outlawed Alchemy’ (Forbes, 2018): https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2018/01/13/the-day-england-outlawed-alchemy/?sh=11c1170539bd • ‘How Alchemy Led to Modern-Day Chemistry & Medicine’ (SciShow, 2022):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maQ_Gd7TapI #1400s #UK #Science This episode first aired in 2023 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Octavia Hill, Hardwicke Rawnsley, and Sir Robert Hunter founded The National Trust on January 12, 1895, with an intention to preserve Britain’s natural beauty and historic treasures for the public and future generations. The founders’ efforts reflected the late Victorian spirit of social and environmental reform, championed by figures like John Ruskin and William Morris. Rawnsley led early efforts by opposing a Lake District construction project, rallying support to protect its pristine landscapes. This campaign highlighted the growing realization that industrial progress could irreparably harm Britain’s natural treasures. Over the decades, the National Trust evolved into the cultural powerhouse it is today, with over 5.5 million members and 65,000 volunteers. Arion, Rebecca and Olly sniff a whiff of benevolent paternalism; consider whether the Trust offered a form of socialism by the back-door; and discover how shockingly long it took before the Trust started shilling its own merch… Further Reading: • ’100 years on, Octavia Hill’s battles are not won’ (The Times, 2012): https://www.thetimes.com/article/eb932ff9-3810-4598-9bdd-e9a17feefa5d • ‘Cream teas and home truths: the National Trust at 125’ (Financial Times, 2020): https://www.ft.com/content/24fee86a-3818-4769-929a-41b604010917 • ‘National Trust in the Lake District’ (National Trust NW, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7588bsTQq8 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naval commander Horatio Nelson became the first non-Royal to receive a full British state funeral on 9th January, 1806, when tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of London to pay tribute to their fallen hero - including, surprisingly, his defeated counterpart, French admiral Pierre-Charles de Villeneuve.  The anticipation for the burial was fuelled by the nationalistic fervour that developed during the two months it took from news of Nelson’s death at the Battle of Trafalgar to his body arriving back in Britain. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pick apart ‘Kiss Me Hardy’; explain how it was his earlier success at the Battle of the Nile that cemented his reputation as a household name; and pore over his commemorative funeral merch, from Union flags to anchor earrings… Further Reading: • ‘Nelson's funeral’ (Royal Museums Greenwich): https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/nelsons-funeral • ’Horatio Nelson: Britain’s Famous Admiral’ (The Collector, 2021): https://www.thecollector.com/horatio-nelson-britain-famous-admiral/ • ‘1805: The Battle That Shattered Napoleon's Invasion Plans’ (Timeline, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-po6WQ-wDd0 This episode first aired in 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices