How did a storm in November 1703 turn into one of the deadliest natural disasters in England’s history? Why is Daniel Defoe, ‘father of the British novel’ and author of Robinson Crusoe, at the centre of this story? With 10,000 people dead, why has this storm been forgotten? Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they tell the story of the Great Storm of 1703. To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com ...
Jul 09, 2025•51 min•Ep. 18
Why did the audience of Macbeth begin hurling theatre seats and food then cobble stones and bricks? What caused the militia, drafted in by New York’s mayor, to fire on the crowd? How did this riot change theatre and Shakespeare forever? Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as the Astor Place Riots unfold, leaving many innocent New Yorkers dead. To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com X: @ThroughTimeP...
Jul 02, 2025•55 min•Ep. 17
How did a fight about Shakespeare descend into America’s bloodiest riot during peace time? Why were tensions so high in New York City in May 1849? Who were Edwin Forrest and William McCready, the actors whose personal rivalry was at the centre of all this? Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they explore the lead up to the Astor Place riots, the deadliest use of military force against civilians since the American Revolutionary War. To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.fi...
Jun 25, 2025•50 min•Ep. 16
What piratical crimes did ‘good girl’ Anne Bonny and ‘bad girl’ Mary Reed commit on the high seas? Who were the bounty hunters chasing Calico Jack’s crew? How did the swash buckling, gender bending pair finally get captured and find themselves languishing in a Jamaican jail? Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they dive into all this and more in the story of the notorious female pirates. To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time Email: jo...
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 15
How did ‘good girl’ Anne Bonny and ‘bad girl’ Mary Reed end up sailing with Pirates of the Caribbean? Who was ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham, the infamous Pirate Captain and ladies man? Did our notorious female pirates have a scandalous love affair with each other? To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com X: @ThroughTimePod Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod Instagram: @ThroughTimePod Assistant Producer: Alice Horrell Pro...
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 14
Eleanor Rathbone was instrumental to the implementation of child benefit and the welfare state, why have we forgotten her? Who were the two million “superfluous women” recorded in the 1921 census? How did Eleanor campaign for over three decades for caregiving to be recognised as “real work”? Joining David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they explore the fascinating story of the campaigner and politician Eleanor Rathbone. Start uncovering stories in your family like this one today, in collections...
Jun 04, 2025•59 min•Ep. 13
17 murders in, what finally brought serial killers Burke and Hare to justice? How did the notorious partners in crime turn against each other? Which of the pair met a grisly end and who got off totally scot-free? Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they retell the capture and gruesome fate of Burke and Hare. To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com X: @ThroughTimePod Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod Inst...
May 28, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 12
How did Burke and Hare get into the lucrative business of murder? Why was there such a demand for fresh corpses in 1820s Edinburgh? What gruesome methods did the pair use to kill their victims? Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they delve into the gothic story of Burke and Hare, the mass murderers who scandalised the nation. To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com X: @ThroughTimePod Blue Sky: @...
May 21, 2025•57 min•Ep. 11
Why did a military training exercise seem like an imminent threat of nuclear attack? Despite being minutes away from launching Nuclear missiles, what made the Soviets back down? Why does no one know how close we came to total annihilation? Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga on Journey Through Time as they discuss the days where we narrowly escaped full scale nuclear war. To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time Email: journeythroughtime@go...
May 14, 2025•54 min•Ep. 10
Why was the world so close to the brink of nuclear war in November 1983? What tactics were the Americans employing to play high stakes mind games with the Soviets? And, what made the Soviets so exceptionally paranoid? Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell on Journey Through Time as they discuss how a routine military training exercise in November 1983 nearly had cataclysmic effects. To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time Email: journeythrou...
May 07, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 9
Why did Iva Toguri get branded America’s first female traitor, despite there being no evidence to convict her? How did her case become important to President Harry Truman’s re-election campaign? And, after decades, how did Iva and her supporters finally clear her name? Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga on Journey Through Time as they delve into the sad story behind the scandalous myth of Tokyo Rose. To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-tim...
Apr 30, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 8
How did Tokyo Rose, a woman who never existed, become one of WWII’s most well known Japanese figures? Who was Iva Toguri, the American citizen caught up in the myth? How did sensationalist journalists weaponise the story of Tokyo Rose to create a vicious narrative about post war Japan? To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com X: @ThroughTimePod Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod Instagram: @ThroughTimePod Assista...
Apr 23, 2025•53 min•Ep. 7
Paranoid predictions of crime fill the newspapers - so how will the well-to-do react to the incoming crowds of the working-class? From Harrods to the Eiffel Tower, what iconic attractions do we have The Great Exhibition to thank for? Did this 'Peace Festival' unite a nation or expose the deep-seated class divisions of Victorian society? Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga on Journey Through Time as they delve into the surprising reality of the Great Exhibition's success. To find out more abo...
Apr 16, 2025•57 min
The Great Exhibition is to open in May 1851 and millions of people will descend on the capital to marvel at exhibitions of culture and industry. Victorian engineering and determination will transform one million square feet of glass into the Crystal Palace in London’s Hyde Park in just five months, ready to house the wares of the world. However, this celebration of progress also exposed the stark inequalities of Victorian society, as the wealthy of West London contemplated the arrival of vast cr...
Apr 09, 2025•50 min
From the trading floor of Wall Street to the campaign trail, Victoria Woodhull was a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, her scandalous presidential campaign ends in disaster, and she spends election night in a cell. She’s been arrested for trying to expose the hypocrisy of one of America's most revered figures, the preacher Henry Ward Beecher, and his secret affair. Victoria Woodhull’s explosive confrontation with societal hypocrisy caused her downfall and eventual departure for England. Discover...
Apr 02, 2025•1 hr 8 min
The American public is outraged by the announcement of a woman running for president. The year is 1872 and the candidate is Victoria Woodhull. Victoria Woodhull’s fascinating life started in a rural frontier town in Ohio. By age twelve she had become her family’s main breadwinner, working as a travelling spiritual medium and faith healer. Her eccentric yet poor beginnings provided no clues that she would end up the first woman to run for president of the United States. After a marriage breakdown...
Mar 27, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 3
New York harbour erupts with an explosion as Black Tom island is ripped apart. The shock waves ripple out around Manhattan and New Jersey, shattering windows miles away and even registering on the Richter scale. However, despite the widespread destruction, the attack was downplayed as an accident by the US authorities and it was only years later that the truth of the event came to light. Despite its absence from public knowledge, the explosion at Black Tom island has a seismic legacy. It played ...
Mar 21, 2025•49 min•Ep. 2
New York, 1916. America is supposedly neutral in the war but they are shipping huge quantities of supplies to the allies. However, it being a nation of immigrants means loyalties across the United States are divided and members of the German-American community are causing trouble. Led by Franz von Papen and funded from Berlin, a ring of spies and saboteurs are trying to disrupt these arms shipments any way they can. Soon their eyes will turn to Black Tom Island, America’s largest arms depot, whi...
Mar 20, 2025•50 min•Ep. 1
Join historians Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga on Journey Through Time, as they expose forgotten history, and bring to light extraordinary events you should have heard of. Journey through Time, a new show from Goalhanger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 13, 2025•1 min
