⁠A Short History of Ancient Rome⁠ - the debut book from the Noiser Network is out now! Discover the epic rise and fall of Rome like never before. Pick up your copy now at your local bookstore or visit ⁠⁠noiser.com/books⁠⁠ to learn more. Charlotte, Anne and Emily Brontë were among the most famous authors of the nineteenth century. Though they wrote at a time when women were systematically discouraged from doing so at all, they managed to produce some of the most beloved, powerful and often challenging literature of the Victorian age. How did three sisters from the Yorkshire Moors become celebrated writers? Why did they use pseudonyms and live most of their lives in obscurity? And what were the tragedies that whittled their number down in their prime? This is a Short History Of The Brontës. A ⁠Noiser⁠ podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Nick Holland, author of three books on the family, including “In Search of Anne Brontë” Written by Erin Parker | Produced by Kate Simants | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: The Soundhouse Studios | Fact Check: 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

⁠A Short History of Ancient Rome⁠ - the debut book from the Noiser Network is out now! Discover the epic rise and fall of Rome like never before. Pick up your copy now at your local bookstore or visit ⁠⁠noiser.com/books⁠⁠ to learn more. The Private Eye has long been a fixture of popular culture - from Sherlock Holmes, to Philip Marlowe, to Jessica Fletcher. But behind the fictional detectives lies a real figure whose influence shaped the very idea of the private investigator: Allan Pinkerton. After fleeing Scotland for the US under murky circumstances in the mid-1800s, he reinvented himself as a crime fighter and founded America’s first detective agency. Soon, his name was everywhere. His agents guarded trains, infiltrated gangs, and uncovered a plot to kill a president.   But how did a poor Scottish immigrant build a private army more powerful than the police? How did his methodologies shape surveillance, and influence the foundations of the FBI? And what happened when his agents went head-to-head with legendary outlaws like Jesse James or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? This is a Short History Of The Pinkerton Detective Agency. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, a historian, and author of Allan Pinkerton, America’s Legendary Detective and the Birth of Private Security. Written by Sean Coleman | Produced by Kate Simants | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: The Soundhouse Studios If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like to listen to the full story of the Baltimore Plot – when the Pinkerton Agency used cunning, guile, and disguise to foil an attempt on Abraham Lincoln’s life as he travelled to his presidential inauguration. You’ll find it as part of the Detectives Don’t Sleep series from the Noiser Network. Follow this link to listen right away: https://www.noiser.com/detectives-dont-sleep/the-baltimore-plot 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

Exciting news, the Noiser Podcast Network has released a new book. It's called A Short History of Ancient Rome. The book is everything you love about the podcast, but a deeper dive. 18 chapters - each one following the story of a remarkable person or event that changed Rome's history. Today, as a special bonus, we're bringing you a sample chapter from the audiobook, narrated by John Hopkins. This sample chapter follows Hannibal, the legendary Carthaginian military leader. We'll follow him as he takes his mighty army - including a contingent of war elephants- over the snow-capped Alps. His mission? To attack Rome. If you enjoy this sample chapter, grab a copy of A Short History of Ancient Rome, written by Noiser founder Pascal Hughes – in your local book shop. A great Christmas gift for family or friends. Or, you can buy the audiobook – narrated by John Hopkins. Head to www.noiser.com/books to find out more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

⁠A Short History of Ancient Rome⁠ - the debut book from the Noiser Network is out now! Discover the epic rise and fall of Rome like never before. Pick up your copy now at your local bookstore or visit ⁠⁠noiser.com/books⁠⁠ to learn more. Oscar Wilde is remembered as one of the greatest Victorian writers, with diverse works including comedies, morality tales for children, biblical dramas and even a gothic novel. Wilde was also the originator of any number of witty quotes that can still be found adorning everything from posters, to mugs, to t-shirts. Alongside his literary renown, Wilde is revered as a martyr for LGBTQ+ rights. How did a young man from Dublin become such a famous author in England and beyond? What inspired Wilde's plays and poems? And how did he fall foul of Victorian moral sensibilities – and yet still come to enjoy the legacy he does today? This is a Short History Of Oscar Wilde. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Sos Eltis, Professor of English and Theatre Studies at Oxford University, and a fellow at Brasenose College. 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 Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check: 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

Enclosed within the city of Rome and spanning just 0.2 square miles, Vatican City is the world’s smallest independent state. Yet within its fortified walls lies a history of immense power - a city that became the beating heart of Catholicism, where popes crowned emperors, defied kings, and shaped the course of world events. How did this unassuming patch of land rise to become the centre of global faith and authority? What scandals, schisms, and sacrifices threatened to tear it apart? And why, even today, does this ancient enclave still hold sway over more than a billion lives? This is a Short History Of The Vatican. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Father Michael Collins, author of multiple books on the Vatican and Christianity, including The Vatican – Secrets and Treasures of the Holy City. Written by Olivia Jordan | 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: 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

For five days in early December 1952, a smog descended upon London that brought chaos to the city. By its end, it had claimed the lives of thousands, and seriously impacted the health of many more. But though what became known as the Great Smog was just the latest in a long succession of such phenomena, it also proved to be a tipping point, forcing Britain’s reluctant government to take action. So what were the circumstances that made such a dreadful event possible? How did Londoners cope, and what actions were taken by the authorities? And in a world where poor air quality continues to take the lives of millions across the globe, what lessons does the Great Smog continue to have for us today? This is a Short History Of The Great Smog of London. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Kate Winkler Dawson, a journalism professor at the University of Texas in Austin, podcaster and the author of several books including Death in the Air. 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: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check: 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

For decades after the Second World War, the Soviet Union and the United States of America were locked in a conflict of ideology that took the planet to the brink of catastrophe. Known as the Cold War, it was an era of paranoia, fear and mutual suspicion, where the contest for supremacy spread across the globe in proxy wars that cost millions of lives.    How did allies who came together to defeat the Nazis become sworn enemies for the next half-century? What was life like for the tens of millions of people living through the animosity? And how close did we really come to nuclear apocalypse? A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Fredrik Logevall, a Swedish-American educator at Harvard University and a Pulitzer Prize winning historian and author. Written by Martin McNamara | 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: 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 London Underground – often known simply as the Tube – is central to the city’s global identity. A pioneering feat of engineering at the time of its construction in the 19th century, on a typical weekday, the network now carries 5 million passengers between 272 stations, on 11 different lines, over a total of 250 miles of track. It’s an emblem of entrepreneurial ambition, cutting-edge technology, and genius design – but has also seen heartbreaking tragedy. Who were the audacious visionaries who built the London Underground from scratch more than 160 years ago? How did it go from being a marvel of transportation to a marketing phenomenon, and one of the most recognisable brands on earth? And, how did the Tube reinvent itself once again as the face of twenty-first century London? A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Christian Wolmar, author of ‘The Subterranean Railway,’ and host of the ‘Calling All Stations’ podcast. 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: 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 White House, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., is perhaps the most recognisable home in the world. Built soon after the Americans won their independence from Britain at the end of the 18th century, it has been the stage upon which various seismic moments in the history of America and across the globe have played out.   So how did this iconic building come to exist? What monumental events have occurred within its walls? And how does the White House itself reflect America’s ever-changing role in the world? This is a Short History Of The White House A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Kate Andersen Brower, author of The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House. 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: 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

This is a preview of a brand-new audiobook from the Noiser Podcast Network. Join Dame Julie Andrews as she reads Jane Austen’s most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice. Step into a world of humour, heartbreak, scandal and romance - all set in the rural landscapes of 19th-century England. You’ll meet Elizabeth Bennet, the quick-witted heroine of the story, described by Austen herself to be “as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.” Elizabeth will butt heads with Mr Darcy - a rich, handsome but prickly bachelor, with a mysterious past… Search ‘Jane Austen Stories’ in your podcast app and hit follow for more episodes - available now. Or listen at noiser.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Victorian era transformed Britain into the world’s foremost industrial and imperial power. The rise of factories saw the expansion of sprawling cities, inhabited by a working class trapped in grinding poverty. But while the ever-growing ranks of impoverished residents were dogged by dangerous conditions, slums and the perpetual fear of the workhouse, industrialists became rich on the back of their labour.   As Britain continued its march forward, advancements in science, technology, and machinery began to expose the dark underbelly of the empire. Victorians grappled with the consequences of their own progress, as moral and religious ideals collided with a rapidly changing world. But in what way did these new ideologies of gender, power, and class challenge society? And how would this epic, nation-defining era finally come to an end?   This is A Short History Of The Victorians, Part Two. 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

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

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