Not What You Thought You Knew
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Not What You Thought You Knew
Think you know your history? Think again.From the stories of the former slave that taught Charles Darwin to the first female playwright who was a spy for the English King... Historian, author and broadcaster Dr Fern Riddell is exploring some little-known characters from history to reveal not just th...
Neueste Episoden
14 EpisodenThe Sacred Band of Thebes
An army of lovers seems like something from ancient myth but the story of the Sacred Band of Thebes is based on reality. This elite fighting force of...
Olaudah Equiano and the British Abolitionist Movement
Olaudah Equiano's autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was one of the very first slave narratives that spawned a pop...
A Tribute to Olaudah Equiano
While Dr Fern Riddell takes a week off before we bring the final two episodes of the series, we have a special teaser for our penultimate episode.
Allan Noel Minns the WW1 Officer and Son of Britain's First Black Mayor
Allan Noel Minns, son of Dr Allan Glaisyer Minns, Britain's first Black mayor when elected mayor of Thetford in 1904, served in the British Army as a...
The Ivory Bangle Lady and Roman Britain
What does the archaeological evidence tell us about the Ivory Bangle Lady, a wealthy woman who died in 4th Century York, and what do her grave goods t...
The First Black British Football Heroes
Uncovering the story of our pioneering Black British footballers, finding out what we can learn from their experiences, and their long history in The...
The Night Witches and the Fighting Women of the Soviet Union
The Night Witches were the feared, all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment. Yet the Night Witches weren't the only Soviet wome...
The Chevalier d'Éon and Gender Nonconformity
Soldier, diplomat, spy and fencing champion: the Chevalier d'Éon lived an extraordinary life. But on top of that they are also an important figure for...
Inghen Ruaidh, the Birka Grave and Viking Warrior Women
We touch on the mythology behind Viking shield-maidens, what we do know about Viking warrior women and how we need to address bias in archaeology.
John Edmonstone the Former Slave who Taught Darwin
John Edmonstone was born into slavery in the former Dutch colony of Demerara in the late 1700s but died a free man in Scotland having taught one of th...
Mary Anning the Pioneering Fossil Hunter
A well-known celebrity in her day, we have somewhat struggled to appreciate the incredible weight of what Mary Anning's discoveries of ancient marine...
Aphra Behn and Female Espionage
Aphra Behn, one of the first women in England to make her living as a writer, also just so happened to be one of the country's first female spies.
The Mary Rose and the People of Tudor England
Earlier this year, analysis on the remains of eight sailors who drowned on the Mary Rose yielded some astonishing results for our perception of the pe...
Dr Fern Riddell's #NotWhatYouThought
Hosted by historian, author and broadcaster Dr Fern Riddell, Not What You Thought You Knew explores some under-celebrated characters from history and...