x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

Curious, funny, surprising daily history - with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll. From the invention of the Game Boy to the Mancunian beer-poisoning of 1900, from Julius Caesar"s invasion of Britain to America"s Nazi summer schools... each day we uncover an unexpected story for the ages. In just ten minutes! Best Daily Podcast (British Podcast Awards 2023 nominee). Get early access and ad-free listening at Patreon.com/Retrospectors or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

history film history

All Episodes

10:34

Let's Build The Burj

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/01/04

The world’s tallest tower - Dubai’s Burj Khalifa - had its grand opening ceremony on 4th January, 2010, heralded with the launch of 10,000 fireworks. Previously known as ‘Dubai Tower’, it was re-named at the last minute in tribute to the Sheik of Abu Dhabi, who’d bailed out the neighbouring Emirate with a $10billion loan.Despite being built on sand, the 160-storey structure is over half a mile tall - but that includes 244 metres of unusable space in the spire. It’s so high up that Ramadan begins two

en

10:31

Hanging Lord Haw Haw

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/01/03

Nazi propagandist William Joyce, best known to British radio listeners as ‘Lord Haw Haw’, was hanged by Albert Pierrepoint at Wandsworth Prison on 3rd January, 1946.At the peak of his powers, his anti-Allied broadcasts from Hamburg reached up to 50% of the UK listening public, who tuned in to hear the German perspective on the looming confrontations, correspondence from British prisoners of War, and Joyce’s compelling, menacing, yet gossipy delivery of Hitler’s aims and accomplishments. And a bit of

en

33:13

Captain Blood, Colonel Sanders and the Cyclonic...

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/01/01

Compilation. Happy New Year, Retrospectors!Before the show returns on January 3rd, Arion, Rebecca and Olly are taking one last look back at their favourite episodes from 2022.In ‘Eva Tanguay, Cyclonic Comedienne’, the team recall the events of 1st March, 1910, when the vaudeville megastar was arrested in Kentucky after stabbing a stagehand three times with a hat pin. Her edgy charisma, style and sexuality gave her a stellar career, coupled with suggestive lyrics and wild gossip calculated to keep

en

16:43

The Retrospectors Quiz Of The Year 2022

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/23

Happy Holidays! Arion, Rebecca and Olly will be back with more cracking ‘Today in History’ content from January 3rd 2023… but in the meantime, it’s time to wrap the year with the Pub Quiz that ONLY makes sense if you’ve doggedly revised everything we’ve discussed for the past 51 weeks.It’s Arion vs Rebecca as Olly tests their knowledge on subjects as diverse as Ozzy Osbourne, blade-stropping and Milton Hershey’s middle name. Can Rebecca keep her crown from 2021? Does Arion’s attempt to get his

en

10:17

Edison’s Christmas Lights

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/22

Rerun. The first string of lights festooned upon a tree dazzled visitors to the New York home of Edward Johnson, Vice President of the Edison Electric Light Company, on 22nd December, 1882.Lit patriotic red, white and blue, the tree also revolved; wowing a reporter from The Detroit Post and Tribune. “At the rear of the beautiful parlors, was a large Christmas tree presenting a most picturesque and uncanny aspect,” he wrote. “It was brilliantly lighted with… eighty lights in all encased in these

en

10:30

Mud’s Christmas Hit

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/21

Melancholic Elvis pastiche ‘Lonely This Christmas’, by glam rockers Mud, became the UK’s Christmas No. 1 hit on 21st December, 1974, beating off festive competition from top 70s popsters Gilbert O’ Sullivan, The Goodies, and The Wombles.Despite its continuing popularity in Britain, there remains a widespread misconception that the track was actually sung by Elvis Presley, rather than Les Gray doing an impersonation of him. Even though Elvis himself had a song in the Top 10 at the same time.In this

en

10:07

The Carnival on the Water

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/20

The ‘Frost Fair’, held on the frozen River Thames, caused a sensation on 20th December, 1683, when all London society, from Charles II down, came out to enjoy a bacchanalian Christmas on the ice. The festivities were a great relief for a nation riddled with smallpox, and enduring what was possibly Britain’s coldest ever Winter.Among the entertainments on offer were fox-hunting, cock-fighting, sledding, coach-racing, pop-up barbers, barbecues and public houses, and, um, a lot of sex workers. Plus

en

10:30

Meet Ebenezer Scrooge

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/19

Charles Dickens’ novella ‘A Christmas Carol’ was written in just six weeks, and published on 19th December, 1843. The timeless story, which introduced the world to Ebeneezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, was conceived in part to get its author out of a sticky financial situation.Dickens’ other motive was to put into an accessible fable the political ideas that had formed the core of his proposed pamphlet, ‘An Appeal to the People of England on behalf of the

en

10:28

Dior's New Look

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/16

30 Avenue Montaigne, Christian Dior’s atelier in Paris, opened its doors on 16th December 1946. His staff had just six weeks to get it ready for their first show on February 12th, 1947 - the landmark post-war collection that became known as ‘the New Look’.Bettina Ballard, fashion editor of Vogue, wrote: “Never has there been a moment more climatically right for a Napoleon, an Alexander the Great, a Caesar of the couture. Paris fashion was waiting to be seized and shaken and given direction. There

en

9:53

Napoleon’s Second Funeral

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/15

Rerun. Napoleon was buried in an unmarked grave in St. Helena. But, 19 years later, on 15th December, 1840, he got buried again: this time at Les Invalides, Paris.It was an ornate state occasion, involving multiple caskets, 500 sailors, 14 semi-naked female statues... and a lot of lardy cakes.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal what Napoleon’s cadaver looked like; explain why a previous petition to relocate his remains had failed; and discover an unexpectedly culinary description of the

en

10:29

Broadway's Biggest Flop

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/14

Lionel Bart’s musical ‘La Strada’, based on the hit Fellini film, suffered the ignominy of closing after its opening night in New York on 14th December, 1969, losing $650,000.Heroin addict Bart never made it over to the States for the previews, during which time his songs were chopped and changed to such an extent that on opening night a Playbill could not be produced, because it would have been full of inaccuracies.In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca reflect on what went wrong; revisit Bart’s

en

10:42

The Resigning Pope

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/13

Celestine V rocked the Catholic world on 13th December, 1294, when he stood up, gave a short speech, stripped himself of his Papal insignia and resigned the Pontificate. He was 79 years old, and had been Pope for just 15 weeks.Previously a well-regarded hermit who’d lived a humble life in the mountains, he got the gig after writing a letter to the conclave, urging them to choose a new Pope soon, lest they incur God’s wrath. He had never considered that the Cardinals would respond by offering the job

en

10:39

Winona's Shoplifting Scandal

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/12

Winona Ryder was arrested for shoplifting from Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills on 12th December, 2001. Amongst the products she had stuffed into her hat was a Marc Jacobs sweater worth $760, and Frederic Fekkai hair adornments listed at $600.At first, the Oscar nominated actress claimed she had been under the impression that her assistant would pay for the items later. Then, she said she had stolen them as research for a forthcoming role. But in court, the security guards said they’d seen Ryder

en

10:23

Here Comes Corrie

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/09

Coronation Street, the world’s longest-running soap opera, first aired on 9th December, 1960. But only 13 episodes had been commissioned by Granada, following a torturous development process. Boss Sidney Bernstein remained far from convinced that the show would attract either audiences or advertisers for ITV.Created by 24 year-old Tony Warren, the new serial aimed to portray real lives on a suburban street in Salford. In his quest for authenticity, Warren intended to cast only Northern actors, and

en

10:25

There’s Something About Mary

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/08

The Pope finally defined the dogma of The Immaculate Conception on 8th December, 1854; confirming that, in the view of the Catholic Church, Christ’s mother Mary had not only been ‘full of grace’, but was completely absent of sin even at her own conception.Even though this had been an unofficial concept for centuries prior, it still proved controversial, with 10% of Bishops believing it should not be adopted as doctrine.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly marvel at just how recently this

en

10:34

Capturing The Blue Marble

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/07

The most famous photograph of Earth - the ‘Blue Marble’ shot captured by NASA astronauts on Apollo 17 - was taken on 7th December, 1972.The deep blues of the ocean, the green continent of Africa, the yellow edges of the Arabian Peninsula, and the vast empty blackness all around our planet are memorably captured within it. But what can’t be said with certainty is who actually took it - as all three members of the crew have claimed they snapped the iconic image.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly

en

10:14

Disaster at the West Coast Woodstock

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/06

The Rolling Stones topped the bill at Altamont Speedway in Livermore, California on 6th December, 1969 - a free festival intended to rival the recent Woodstock in New York. But it was an organisational shambles, and turned deadly when an audience member was murdered.Notorious gang Hell’s Angels had been hired (allegedly in return for free beer) to provide ‘security’ for the event. They sat on a tiny stage, badly positioned in the pit of the racetrack, and attacked the crowds with billiard cues

en

10:32

Christie's First Auction

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/05

James Christie held his first auction on 5th December, 1766 - billed as a sale of “genuine household furniture, jewels, plate, firearms, china and a large quantity of madeira and high flavoured claret” belonging to a “Noble Personage (deceased)”.His auction-house, Christie’s, went on to become one of the world’s leading dealers of fine art. But it took Christie many years to exploit this opportunity, which he accomplished partly by leveraging well-connected friends. His milieu included Richard

en

10:15

Rebuilding St Paul's

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/02

Sir Christopher Wren was officially appointed architect for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral on 2nd December, 1697, though in truth he had been advising on it for some years already.Three decades later the celebrated British architect had produced a building that broke radically with the past, even if his original plans had to be adapted to the whims of the king, the clergy and the parliament.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider why Wren loved domes so much; reveal the true reason

en

9:27

There’s Poison In My Pint

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/12/01

Rerun. Thousands of beer barrels were emptied into the streets across Lancashire on 1st December, 1900 - when it finally dawned on people that the cheap stout they’d been drinking with years was in fact contaminated with arsenic.Over 6,000 victims were poisoned, mostly across Manchester and Salford, thanks to the practice of padding out the barley used in the brew with inexpensive glucose syrup.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the role that the class system played in the initial

en

1,259 results

Similar Podcasts

The Old Front Line

Paul Reed

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

جنود خلدهم التاريخ

ALSUMOOD PODCAST

Film History - Daily

Inception Point Ai

Madonna - Biography Flash

Inception Point Ai