Sophie (age 9) and Ellie (age 7) tell the story of how the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. 2000 years ago Rome was in chaos. The great Roman general Julius Caesar had been murdered. He was stabbed to death by nobles, including his friend, Brutus. They had believed he wanted to make himself King. They did not want to be ruled by a King. The murderers of Caesar were delighted with themselves. They thought they had saved Rome. However, Julius Caesar’s friends were furious. One of his friends ...
Jul 25, 2022•8 min•Ep. 120
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the Fall of the Roman Republic up to the death of Julius Caesar.----more---- 2000 years ago Rome was a mighty empire. It used to have Kings. However, the people of Rome decided that the Kings were cruel so they got rid them. After that they chose their rulers by elections. They promised to never have a King again. Rome got more powerful. Her mighty armies conquered other countries because they were very disciplined. At first the Roman farmers wo...
Apr 25, 2022•10 min•Ep. 119
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the siege of Vienna from 1683. This was one of the most important battles and sieges in history. ----more----The mighty Ottoman Empire had conquered the old Eastern Roman Empire and the great city of Constantinople. It ruled a massive area in the middle east, Turkey and the Balkans. In Europe it faced the Holy Roman Empire whose capital was in Vienna. 350 years ago the Ottomans decided to attack Vienna. They assembled a mighty army. Vienna was p...
Apr 11, 2022•10 min•Ep. 118
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the inspirational life of Harriet Tubman. She was an enslaved person in America who escaped to freedom and then helped others escape too. She later fought to free other enslaved people in America.----more---- Harriet was born in the South of the United States 150 years ago. Her parents were enslaved so she too was enslaved. She was forced to work for a white family and help raise their children. When she made a mistake she was beaten. She was ev...
Mar 28, 2022•9 min•Ep. 117
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) have been following the news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They decide to tell the story of the History of Ukraine going back over a 1000 years. ----more---- Their story starts with the Vikings. A thousand years ago Viking explorers left Scandinavia. Many of them went West and attacked England and France. Some even found America. Others went East and began exploring the huge rivers in what is now Russia. Eventually they found a town on a hill by a river....
Mar 07, 2022•10 min•Ep. 116
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the Wars of the Roses. This was the civil war between the House of York and the House of Lancaster that was fought in the time of knights and castles to see who would rule England.----more---- 600 years ago two families had a claim to the throne of England: the Lancastrians and the Yorkists. They were powerful noble families. They each had a banner with a Rose on it. The Lancastrians had a red rose; the Yorkists had a white rose. At first the La...
Feb 14, 2022•10 min•Ep. 115
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of Genghis Khan.----more---- Genghis Khan was born 800 years ago in Mongolia. Except he was not called Genghis Khan then. His name was Temujin. He was the son of a chief of a small tribe. His father was poisoned and Temujin and his tribe had to flee. Life was hard growing up. Already though, Temujin was proving to be a fierce fighter. When he brother stole some food, Temujin killed him. Then Temujin married a wife from another tribe called Borte. T...
Jan 24, 2022•9 min•Ep. 114
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the great explorer Captain Cook who was the first European to discover Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.----more---- Before we even start our episode Sophie and Ellie point out that there were already people living there who did not need to be discovered as they had their own cultures, languages and homes. However, we decide to tell the story anyway as Captain Cook was still a great explorer . James Cook was born 300 years ago in Britain. Brita...
Jan 10, 2022•10 min•Ep. 113
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the history of the Christmas Carol. Songs used to be sung by pagans thousands of years ago to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Christmas was at the same time as the Winter Solstice so the Church carried on with the singing but instead made the songs about Christmas. The first Christmas Carol we know of was from 2000 years ago and was called the Angels Hymn. All the early carols were in Latin and over time people stopped speaking Latin – and they stopped singin...
Dec 20, 2021•7 min•Ep. 112
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of Blitzkrieg – how the Germans used tanks to conquer much of Europe at the start of World War Two. In World War One Britain invented the tank. America, Russia and Britain used tanks to defeat Germany. However, after the war people in those countries did not want to fight any more wars. They made their armies small. They also decided to defend in the future not to attack. The French built a line of forts for defence. They did not have many tanks an...
Dec 06, 2021•10 min•Ep. 111
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the invention of the Tank.----more---- At the outbreak of World War One, armies had infantry, artillery and cavalry. Many of the general had been in the cavalry themselves. However, once war started everyone realized that cavalry was not going to be very useful in this war. Machine guns fired bullets so fast that the cavalry were shot dead before they could finish their charge. The war soon became trench warfare as soldiers dug trenches to keep ...
Nov 29, 2021•9 min•Ep. 110
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) have been learning about Climate Change at school as part of the COP conference. They have made a podcast about the history of pollution and saving the planet.----more---- Our story starts 800 years ago. Edward I was King of England. Coal was discovered in Newcastle and many London homes started using it to keep their houses warm. However, it made the city very smokey. The King’s mother thought it was so smokey that she left the town. The King decided to act. He ...
Nov 22, 2021•9 min•Ep. 109
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Constantinople was all that was left of the once mighty Roman Empire. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, 1500 years ago, the Eastern Roman Empire survived. Its capital was Constantinople. Over time though it became known as the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople was a might city. It had 500,000 people living there and huge walls to protect it. Then came Islam. People who follow Islam are called Muslims....
Nov 15, 2021•10 min•Ep. 108
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in the week of Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.----more---- World War One had been a terrible war. Millions had been killed by machine guns and explosions. The fighting was so terrible that many of the bodies were never found. Back in Britain that meant is was difficult for people to properly grieve. It was decided to bury one unknown soldier in Britain to represent everyone who had died. That way everyone wo...
Nov 08, 2021•10 min•Ep. 107
Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the mighty Aztec Empire.----more---- The Aztecs ruled central America for hundreds of years. They conquered it from other countries. They were fierce warriors. Their capital was called Tenochtitlan. This is now the capital of Mexico. Back then it was an island on a lake. It had gleaming white palaces and Pyramids with temples on the tops of them. Religion was very important to the Aztecs. They practiced human sacrifice. This is where they would ...
Nov 01, 2021•9 min•Ep. 106
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) celebrate Hallowe’en by telling Ghost stories from history.----more---- They start with stories from ancient times. They tell how Odysseus went down to the underworld after winning the siege of Troy and met with ghosts. Aeneas, a Trojan prince, was fleeing Troy. He also visited the underworld and met with ghosts. The Romans loved ghost stories and lots of their stories have survived, including a spooky one about a haunted house with a ghost wrapped in chains. The...
Oct 25, 2021•9 min•Ep. 105
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of the History of the Police.----more---- The first police were in Ancient Egypt. They were used to guard markets and temples. They had sticks to beat criminals with. They also used animals to help. They had trained monkeys and dogs who helped them catch baddies. In Ancient Greece they also had police. Every city was different. In Athens they used special slaves as police to keep order during meetings. We get the word Police from the Greek word “Po...
Oct 18, 2021•9 min•Ep. 104
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of the Cold War.----more---- At the end of World War Two the Soviet Union (the old name for Russia) and the United States of America were suspicious of each other. The Soviet Union would not let their newly conquered lands in Eastern Europe be free. They also would not disband their armies. This worried the capitalist and democratic countries of what we call the West. They agreed to protect each other. The Americans had nuclear weapons which the So...
Oct 11, 2021•10 min•Ep. 103
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of Napoleon’s disastrous march on Moscow in 1812. ----more---- Napoleon was the Emperor of the French and at the height of his powers. He controlled almost all of Europe. Only Britain, Spain and Portugal defied him. Napoleon was obsessed with Britain. He decided that he could make her poor by stopping other countries from buying things from Britain. He forced everyone in Europe to stop buying from Britain. Except Russia. Russia was a huge and power...
Oct 04, 2021•10 min•Ep. 102
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of gruesome executions from history – feeding Christians to the lions, the punishment of the sack, decimation of soldiers and more. We start with the punishment of the sack. Romans kept this punishment for people who killed their father. They would put the person inside a large sack. Then they would put a live monkey, a snake, a dog and a rooster in the sack too. The sack was tied up with everyone inside. They it was thrown into the river so that e...
Sep 27, 2021•8 min•Ep. 101
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of the Eastern Front in World War Two between Germany and the Soviet Union. Hitler and his Nazis rule Germany. Stalin and his Communists rule the Soviet Union. They hate each other. Hitler decides to invade the Soviet Union and conquer it. The Soviet Union is huge and has many people in it. However, it is poor and its army is old fashioned. The Germans have invented a new way of fighting battles with tanks and airplanes. It called Blitzkrieg which ...
Sep 20, 2021•10 min•Ep. 100
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. ----more----It is a troubled time for England. The Black Death has devastated Europe. There are not enough people to work the fields. The poor people, who are called the peasants, want more money from the rich people as there are not enough workers. The rich people say no. England is at war with France and is running out of money. The government decide to raise taxes. Instead of just taxing rich people, the governme...
Sep 13, 2021•8 min•Ep. 99
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of Marie Antoinette.----more---- Marie Antoinette was an Austrian Princess. She grew up in Austria in a palace. She met the famous composer Mozart when they were both children. She learned to play the piano, the flute and the Harp. She loved to dance and to sing. When she was 15 it was decided that she should marry the next King of France. He was called Louis – almost all French Kings are called Louis. Traditionally, Austria and France were enemies...
Sep 06, 2021•10 min•Ep. 98
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of why and how World War Two started.----more---- Germany was divided into many different countries by slowly one country called Prussia either conquered the other countries or persuaded the little Germany countries to join them. Germany had been created through fighting and this made some Germans think that conquering other countries was normal. However, while Germany was becoming one country, other countries were also getting bigger. Britain and ...
Aug 30, 2021•9 min•Ep. 97
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell of the First Afghan War of 1839, where the British invaded Afghanistan and were forced into a disastrous retreat from Kabul. ----more----In 1839 the British controlled India. They had built a mighty Empire. However, the Russians were also building a mighty Empire in Asia. The British worried that a Russian army might invade India. In between Russia and India was Afghanistan. Then the Afghans got a new king called Dost Mohammed. The British were worried he wo...
Aug 23, 2021•10 min•Ep. 96
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France.----more---- This is a time of knights and castles. William the Conqueror had come from France to conquer England. This meant that English Kings now owned land in France. The lost some in battle, but gained other parts through marriage – especially the lands of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Often English Kings would be married to French princesses to help keep the peace between the two lands. However, wh...
Aug 16, 2021•10 min•Ep. 95
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) decide to tell the history of flight. ----more---- We start off with legendary tales of flight like the story of Icarus. Icarus and his father need to escape a castle. They build some wings out of feathers and wax and flap them to escape the castle. They start flying but then Icarus flies too high. As he gets close to the sun his wax melts and his wings fall off. He falls to the ground with a splat. This story actually tells us a lot about what people thought you...
Aug 09, 2021•8 min•Ep. 94
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the history of the modern Olympic Games. After last weeks episode on the Ancient Olympic games the girls want to bring the story up to date.----more---- Greece was conquered and the Olympics seemed forgotten for 1,500 years. However, after Greece fought and won her freedom again, people wanted to remember all the amazing things that the Greeks had done. This was science and maths, myths and legends. It was also the Olympic games. A Frenchman called Pierre Co...
Aug 02, 2021•9 min•Ep. 93
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of the Ancient Olympic Games.----more---- With the modern Olympic games starting this week. Sophie and Ellie decide to tell the story of how 3000 years ago the Greeks invented the first Olympic Games. Next week they will tell the story of the modern Olympic games 3000 years ago Greece was not one country. The Greeks lived in different cities which all ruled themselves. However, they all worshipped the same Gods, spoke the same language and competed...
Jul 26, 2021•9 min•Ep. 92
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the history of the Vikings' discovery of the Americas – hundreds of years before Columbus.----more---- A thousand years ago the Vikings were fierce fighters and brave explorers. They had already discovered and settled in Iceland. One of them was called Erik the Red. After his enslaved people cause a landslide a neighbour kills them out of revenge. In revenge Erik kills his neighbours. He is forced to leave Iceland for three years as a punishment. He decided ...
Jul 19, 2021•9 min•Ep. 91
