Oh What A Time... – Details, episodes & analysis

We’re taking a summer break for 3 weeks, so while we’re off sunning ourselves, please enjoy our second ever ‘Best of’ episode. This week you’ll be treated to the following: From #26 Blunders we’ve got: the demise of Frederick Barbarossa From #28 Nightlife: Boza (a lovely drink which isn’t custard) And from #39 Survival: the nightmarish story of Alexander Selkirk If you'd like to drop us an email while we're away, you can do so at: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you fancy a bunch of OWAT content you’ve never heard before, why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed from yesterday! This week we’re dwelling in the podcasting pits of utter humiliation. We’ll be finally looking at the specifics of the infamous stocks and pillory, shaved heads as a punishment, the dunces cap and the humiliating act of ‘white shirting’. Humiliation is of course the specialist subject of Tom Craine who once lost a kebab stained shirt to the roof of a cab. Do you have any humiliating stories to share? And also, what can you offer to the museum of failure? Let us know here: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the show this week we’re discussing some of the most absolutely disastrous ideas that history has to offer; we’ve got airships, the infamous Sinclair C5 and various attempts at creating ’smell-o-vision’ (which sometimes involved a ‘smell-brain’). Plus, we’re still struggling to get over the concept of trifle, especially with the possible inclusion of veal. If you’ve got any more of trifle, savoury trifle or anything on the worst excesses of Victorian cuisine, you know what to do: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed from yesterday! On the show this week we’re going mad for health and safety. We’ll be discussing what health and safety looked like in Ancient Rome, the various procedures in place in medieval monasteries and also, we’ll be talking about Peter Duncan cleaning the clockface of Big Ben in 1980 armed with only a mop, a plank and a rope. Lots to discuss elsewhere this week too: does buying a single toilet seat mean you’ll be buying toilet seats constantly forever? Was landfill the golden age of rubbish? And what animals could a human theoretically breed with? If you want to contribute to the conversation on this, one of Britain’s most popular history podcasts, you know what to do: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the show this week we’re going mad for health and safety. We’ll be discussing what health and safety looked like in Ancient Rome, the various procedures in place in medieval monasteries and also, we’ll be talking about Peter Duncan cleaning the clockface of Big Ben in 1980 armed with only a mop, a plank and a rope. Lots to discuss elsewhere this week too: does buying a single toilet seat mean you’ll be buying toilet seats constantly forever? Was landfill the golden age of rubbish? And what animals could a human theoretically breed with? If you want to contribute to the conversation on this, one of Britain’s most popular history podcasts, you know what to do: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed from yesterday! This week we’re off the leash and talking about some of history’s most noteworthy animals. We’ll have Joséphine Bonaparte’s vertically challenged pet dog Fortune, Britain’s first zebra of note and the incredible story of the mayor of Texan town Lajitas (who just happens to be a goat called Clay Henry). Following on from our music episode, there’s lots of chat about our favourite non-lyrical aspects of songs. And in an OWAT first, Elis takes his place in the inaugural Plaudits Corner. If you want to send anyone else there, you can email us at: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we’re off the leash and talking about some of history’s most noteworthy animals. We’ll have Joséphine Bonaparte’s vertically challenged pet dog Fortune, Britain’s first zebra of note and the incredible story of the mayor of Texan town Lajitas (who just happens to be a goat called Clay Henry). Following on from our music episode, there’s lots of chat about our favourite non-lyrical aspects of songs. And in an OWAT first, Elis takes his place in the inaugural Plaudits Corner. If you want to send anyone else there, you can email us at: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed from yesterday! Fire up the orchestra because this week you’ll be listening to us talk about: Music. We’ve got for you the ancient music of Antiquity, Richard the Lionheart and his banging tunes and the history of songs being sung on the terraces. Lots and lots of chat this week about what it would be like to be trapped in a prison made of trifle. If you’ve got anything to add to the conversation, you can email us at: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fire up the orchestra because this week you’ll be listening to us talk about: Music. We’ve got for you the ancient music of Antiquity, Richard the Lionheart and his banging tunes and the history of songs being sung on the terraces. Lots and lots of chat this week about what it would be like to be trapped in a prison made of trifle. If you’ve got anything to add to the conversation, you can email us at: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed from yesterday! Cut a couple of holes in your newspaper and have a butchers at this week’s episode which is: Spies. We’ll be checking out how sophisticated spies were in Britain during the 1600s, we’ll be peeping on the secret police in Ancient Rome and we’ll be trying to spy on the spies of the BBC. And we’ve got more listener blunders this week to make Tom feel better. Have you done something as silly as accidentally packing a duffel coat thinking it was a sleeping bag? If yes, you can email us at: hello@ohwhatatime.com If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices