Short History Of...

Over the course of Queen Victoria’s reign, Britain transformed into the world's foremost industrial and imperial power. The Victorians built railways that spanned continents, invented life-changing technologies, and expanded a vast realm that stretched from the Caribbean to India. Yet, for all their achievements, they grappled with social unrest, stark inequalities between the rich and poor, and the dark side of imperialism.    So how did the Victorians justify their colonial project, while they tolerated such inequality at home? How did their moral values shape the way they treated those at the fringes of their rigid society? And how do the Victorians’ struggles with industrialisation, governance, and poverty echo in the modern world?  This is A Short History Of The Victorians, Part One A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Dr Amy Milne-Smith, Professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, and Dr Onyeka Nubia, a British historian, writer and presenter. Written by Sean Coleman | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During World War II, a country house in Buckinghamshire hosted some of the UK’s top minds as they worked to crack enemy communications, most famously the German Enigma cipher. It is estimated that breakthroughs at Bletchley Park shortened the conflict by at least two years, saving over 14 million lives. But why was Bletchley Park chosen, and what was life like there during the war? Who were the brilliant scientists working tirelessly behind its walls? And when did the veil finally lift on the shadowy world of wartime intelligence? This is a Short History Of Bletchley Park. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Tessa Dunlop, author of The Bletchley Girls. Written by Nicola Rayner | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check by Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Best known for his books Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell earned a reputation as chronicler and prophet of modern society. Plagued by illness, he exposed poverty and injustice, satirised the powerful, and took up arms against fascism. Today, his name has become an adjective - ‘Orwellian’ - to express fears about totalitarian control. So, what turned this one-time servant of the British Empire into a critic of poverty and oppression? How did he almost lose his life before he’d written his most enduring works? And did this man of the left become a hero to those on the right? This is a Short History Of George Orwell.  A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Nathan Waddell, Professor of Twentieth-Century Literature at the University of Birmingham, and author of ‘A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell’.  Written by Edward White | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check by Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the Norman Conquest at the Battle of Hastings, Norman culture transformed the country, as William I governed through force and bureaucracy. One of his lasting legacies - the Domesday Book - was the result of a complex and extensive survey to find out who owned what, and how much tax they should pay. It provided a snapshot of medieval life and has survived almost 1,000 years of turmoil, war and politics.  The Domesday Book can still be consulted in modern legal disputes today, but how did William’s bureaucrats create such an in-depth document about an entire kingdom? What does the book reveal about the king’s ruthless methods of conquering? And what light does it shine on the so-called Dark Ages? This is a Short History Of The Domesday Book.  A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Dr Chris Lewis, a fellow at the Institute of Historical Research in the University of London, and co-author of the book, Making Domesday.  Written by Jo Furniss | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check by Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rarely out of the papers during their lifetimes, and still figures of fascination in modern media, the six Mitford sisters have become notorious. From a shared, if eccentric childhood, the sisters grew into very different women. As adults, they inhabited diverse worlds, from the literary to the agricultural, and rubbed shoulders with both the aristocratic leaders of English society and Europe's fascist elite.   But how did one family produce such a disparate group of women? What role did they play in the political and cultural life of interwar Britain? And why do they continue to fascinate us?  This is a Short History Of The Mitford Sisters.  A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Mary Lovell, bestselling author of The Mitford Girls: The Biography of an Extraordinary Family.  Written by Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check by Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pre-order our new book: Short History of Ancient Rome Revered as a heroine, and mythologised as ‘the Lady with the Lamp’, Florence Nightingale has gone down in history as the founder of modern nursing. She battled ill-health and the prejudices of her age to leave an indelible mark on the world, and yet her memory is laden with misconception and half-truths. So, how did Florence Nightingale, the superintendent of a hellish incubator of disease in the Crimean War, become synonymous with kindness and compassion? Why was she one of the most celebrated figures of her age? And what did she achieve after illness cut short her nursing career? This is a Short History Of Florence Nightingale. A Noiser Production, hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Hannah Amos, the Collections Manager at the Florence Nightingale Museum in London.  Written by Edward White | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check by Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In May 1945, the Second World War ended in Europe, but Japan refused to surrender - despite seemingly facing inevitable defeat. So, confronted by the prospect of drawn-out and costly fighting, Washington sought to bring the conflict in the East to an end as quickly as possible. Many nations had long entertained the idea of developing a nuclear weapon, but it was the Americans who achieved it first.  But what were the circumstances that led to the attacks on two Japanese cities? How did the US leadership conclude that using the bomb was their best option? And how did it alter the course of the war, and beyond that, the fate of the world? This is a Short History Of The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings A Noiser Production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Andrew Rotter, Emeritus Professor of History at Colgate University, and author of Hiroshima: The World’s Bomb.    Written by Dan Smith | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Ralph Tittley | Fact check by Sean Coleman   Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The last Queen of France before the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette is best known today for her extravagant lifestyle and controversial legacy. Initially admired for her grace and charm, as revolutionary fervour gripped her adopted homeland, she became a symbol of royal excess, and a lightning rod for public resentment.   But did she truly deserve her reputation of vain indifference? To what extent did misogyny and xenophobia shape her downfall? And did she ever utter those infamous words, ‘Let them eat cake’?    This is a Short History Of Marie Antoinette.   A Nosier Production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Laura O’Brien, Associate Professor at Northumbria University, and author of The Republican Line: Caricature and French Republican Identity, 1830-52.    Written by Nicola Rayner | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Ralph Tittley | Fact check by Sean Coleman   Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Stone Age is the foundational period of human history, stretching from roughly 3 million to 5,000 years ago, and accounting for over 99% of humanity’s time on earth. It’s the era when modern humans evolved and migrated out of Africa to populate the globe, developed language and the ability to make tools, and learned to farm crops and domesticate animals.   But what do we really know about the way our Stone Age relatives lived? What role did the shifting climate play in their evolution? And how are our ancestors reflected in our bodies, lifestyles and communities today?   This is a Short History Of The Stone Age.    A Noiser Production, written by Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow. With thanks to Dr James Dilley, founder of AncientCraft, an organisation teaching prehistoric skills and techniques at universities and museums across the world.     Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Through his voyages in the eighteenth century, Captain Cook’s work as an explorer contributed to startling advances in scientific knowledge, and mapped swathes of unplotted territory in both hemispheres.   To many, he was regarded as one of the greatest explorers in human history, while for others, his achievements were overshadowed by the violence and oppression that accompanied his voyages.   So, how did a farm-worker’s son rise to become one of the most celebrated explorers in history? Why did his voyages become so legendary? And at what price - to Cook personally, and those whose lands he charted?   This is a Short History Of Captain Cook.   A Noiser Production. Written by Dan Smith. With thanks to Katherine Gazzard, Curator of Art at Royal Museums Greenwich.   Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over 400 years ago, a bold commercial venture was established to allow an ambitious group of English merchants to send ships halfway around the world in search of spices, skills, and profit. It was known as The East India Company. Over the next 250 years, the Company grew into one of the most powerful and controversial enterprises in history. At its height, it had the powers of a sovereign state - fighting wars, extracting wealth, and changing the fate of nations.  But how could a private company be allowed to wield so much control? What are the consequences when capital rules without conscience? And what does its rise and fall reveal about the economic and political empires that shape our world today? This is a Short History Of The East India Company. A Noiser Production, written by Sean Coleman. With thanks to Dr Mark Williams, a Reader in Early Modern History at Cardiff University, who has published widely on the English East India Company.  Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Shroud of Turin is a length of linen, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. Its most famous feature is the blurry imprint of a man’s face, which resembles the pictures of Jesus that have passed down to us over the centuries.  Revered by millions, the Shroud is the most scientifically studied object in the world, but why does its recorded history only reach back to the 1350s? Where did it go in the intervening centuries? And will we ever be able to prove whether it’s a real relic, or medieval forgery? This is a Short History Of The Shroud of Turin. A Noiser Production. Written by Nicola Rayner. With thanks to Nora Creech, a Shroud educator and the leader of Othonia in North America, a church-affiliated organisation dedicated to sharing knowledge about the Shroud of Turin.    Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Arthur Conan Doyle, a doctor, war volunteer, campaigner for justice, politician, and believer in the spirit world, created one of literature’s most famous characters. In his lifetime, he wrote ghost stories, political pamphlets, historical novels, and fantastical adventures. But how did a young medical student from Edinburgh end up transforming crime fiction forever? What drove him to kill off - and then resurrect - the character who made him famous? And why did a man of science and reason spend so many years pursuing the supernatural?  This is a Short History Of Arthur Conan Doyle. A Noiser Production. Written by Sean Coleman. With thanks to Richard Pooley, the step-great-grandson of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a taster episode of the Fidel Castro story. To hear episodes 2-10, head over to Real Dictators and hit follow. Fidel Castro - a revolutionary turned strongman dictator, beloved by his supporters and loathed by his enemies. The bête noire of the United States who pushed the world to the brink of annihilation. The ultimate political survivor who evaded hundreds of barely believable assassination attempts. We scroll back to the early years of the one they would call El Loco. It all begins on a farm in the east of Cuba - an island paradise with dark undercurrents swirling beneath the surface… Real Dictators is a Noiser podcast production, narrated by Paul McGann. Find the rest of the Fidel Castro story on the Real Dictators feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The influenza pandemic of 1918-20 infected about one-third of the world’s population at the time, killing at least 50 million people. Occurring during the First World War, what became known as the Spanish Flu spread rapidly as soldiers moved across continents. It overwhelmed hospitals, led to mass graves, and disrupted societies worldwide. But what made the disease so deadly? Was it really Spanish? And what lessons had been learned by the time Covid-19 emerged, a century later? This is a Short History Of The Spanish Flu. A Noiser Production. Written by Nicola Rayner. With thanks to Mark Honigsbaum, a medical historian, and author of The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris.  Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to ⁠noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Manhattan Project was the codename for the US government’s top secret programme to develop the first atomic bomb. At the height of World War Two, America’s top scientists - such as Dr Robert Oppenheimer - raced against Nazi Germany to harness the power of nuclear fission, and ultimately end the war. But what is the story of the other scientists, soldiers and civilians who brought about the birth of the A-bomb? What role did Albert Einstein play in the project? And what were the consequences when the bomb was finally used? This is a Short History Of The Manhattan Project. A Noiser Production, written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Dr Cameron Reed, a physicist, and the author of ‘Manhattan Project, The Story Of The Century.’ Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to ⁠noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the third century BC, China was a land fractured by war - a patchwork of rival kingdoms struggling for dominance. Out of this chaos rose a single, extraordinary figure who would reshape the course of history: Chin Shrr Hwong, the First Emperor of China. His achievements were monumental, but his reign was marked by ruthlessness, so how did this teenage king rise to power? What drove him to undertake colossal projects like the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army? And how might his obsession with immortality have led to his mysterious death? This is a Short History Of The First Emperor of China. A Noiser Production, written by Sean Coleman. With thanks to John Man, author of The Terracotta Army: China’s First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation.  Get every episode of Short History Of... a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to ⁠noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anne Frank is one of the world’s most famous writers, yet she didn’t live long enough to see her work published. At the age of thirteen, Anne was a normal teenager, who poured her heart into a diary. But what made her diary different, was that she created within its pages a snapshot of the darkest events of World War Two, detailing the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands that forced her family to hide in a secret annex. But what do we know about the real life of this bubbly young girl? How did her precious diary survive the war? And what about the people who protected - and betrayed her? This is a Short History Of Anne Frank.  A Noiser Production, written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Karen Bartlett, a journalist and author of The Diary That Changed the World. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alfred Hitchcock was one of the most celebrated film directors of all time. In a career that spanned six decades, he produced more than 50 films, including Britain’s first successful talking picture. His countless awards and accolades earned him a reputation as the ‘Master of Suspense’, but how did an introverted working class boy come to dominate Hollywood? What was the truth behind the rumours of obsessive ruthless behaviour? And what makes his films so revered still to this day? This is a Short History Of Alfred Hitchcock.  A Nosier Production. Written by Olivia Jordan. With thanks to Tony Lee Moral, author of numerous books on Hitchcock, including ‘Alfred Hitchcock: Storyboards’.  Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a long life, spanning the late 19th and early 20th century, Antoni Gaudi created some of history’s best-loved architecture. From his early lamppost designs, through to his great unfinished masterpiece, his unmistakable works are world renowned, inimitable, and iconic to this day. But how did a man who began life as a sickly child become one of history’s best loved architects? What drove him to reject marriage and dedicate his life to serving God through art? And why does his most famous building remain unfinished? This is a Short History Of... Antoni Gaudi. A Noiser Production, written by Angus Gavan McHarg.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices