Today In History with The Retrospectors – Details, episodes & analysis

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Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

History

Tv & Film

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/1d. Total Eps: 1383

BEST DAILY SHOW (British Podcast Awards Nominee, 2026). Curious, funny, surprising daily history - with Olly Mann (Answer Me This!), Rebecca Messina (The Week Unwrapped) and Arion McNicoll (The Chaser). 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! Get early access and ad-free listening at Patreon.com/Retrospectors or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

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Creating Opus Dei

Episode 1496

Friday, October 2, 2026 • Duration 11:30

Secretive Catholic sect Opus Dei was founded on 2nd October, 1928 by the young, energetic priest Jose Maria Escriva, who believed his divine mission was to inject religious fervour into everyday life, with holiness achieved not via clergy, but from the daily work of laypeople. The faith grew rapidly in Spain, especially during the Franco era, eventually spreading internationally. But its ties to right-wing governments, including those of Franco and Pinochet, sparked criticism; and its propagation of corporal mortification - where members engage in practices such as wearing uncomfortable garments and self-flagellation - have been controversial. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the organisation’s presence in the halls of power; investigate how the sect continues to attract followers, years after Escriva’s death (and Sainthood); and ask just how (in)accurate Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code really was… Further Reading: • ‘What is Opus Dei, and why is it so controversial — both in and out of the Catholic Church?’ (ABC News, 2023): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-30/what-is-opus-dei-secretive-catholic-church-group-prelature/101905802 • ‘Letter: A former member recalls Opus Dei’s methods’ (Financial Times, 2024): https://www.ft.com/content/5e053d88-4b12-4cd9-95d9-fbfee2eecfa4 • ’St. Josemaria Escriva's impact’ (Catholic News Service, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHFNuo5cefQ We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Screening The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Episode 1495

Thursday, October 1, 2026 • Duration 13:13

Tobe Hooper’s legendary low-budget horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, first screened in Austin on 1st October, 1974. The movie was an international sensation - making £21.9 million from its £100,000 budget in its first year - although not in the UK, where it was not screened nationally for 25 years, due to the BBFC’s concerns about its portrayal of suffering and violence against women. In this episode, The Retrospectors unpick the picture’s gruesome reputation, given that much of the violence is suggested rather than explicitly shown; pore over the extreme conditions faced by the hitherto unknown cast during filming, including scorching Texas heat and foul-smelling props like rotting animal bones; and consider whether the piece can be considered a (very black) comedy… Further Reading: • ‘Tobe Hooper: the director who took a chainsaw to wholesome family life’ (The Guardian, 2017): https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/aug/27/tobe-hooper-appreciation-texas-chainsaw-massacre-american-family • ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (BBFC Education): https://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre • ‘ The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Original Trailer (Tobe Hooper, 1974): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKn9QIaMgtQ Love the show? Support us! Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Thunderbirds Are Go!

Episode 1494

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 • Duration 11:34

The first ever episode of Thunderbirds, the revolutionary British TV show starring puppets, aired on September 30th, 1965. It was instantly a hit in Britain, and elsewhere in the world, but its failure to captivate a US audience led to its untimely demise after just two seasons. The show used a system, coined by its creators as “Supermarionation” which involved pre-recording the voices, which would then be played back during filming. Each marionette’s head contained filters which converted the dialogue into pulses, which in turn travelled to solenoids in the puppet’s lips. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss why each marionette needed three heads; look at how the Mercury Seven – the first batch of Nadi astronauts – were honoured by the show; and reveal which of the three of us still has Thunderbirds merch from when they were a kid. Further Reading: • ‘30 September 1965: Thunderbirds Are Go!’ (Money Week, 2020): https://moneyweek.com/409685/30-september-1965-thunderbirds-are-go • ‘Thunderbirds (Series One)’ (Fanderson, 2022): https://fanderson.org.uk/productions/thunderbirds-series-one/ • Thunderbirds - Trapped in the sky (Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, 1965) https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28x1gu Love the show? Support us! Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The Inquiry Office

Episode 1493

Tuesday, September 29, 2026 • Duration 11:40

Henry Robinson opened the Office of Addresses and Encounters on Threadneedle Street, London on 29th September, 1650. The centre provided a forward-looking, unusual mix of services ranging from job placements, money lending, and property dealings… to (shhh) match-making. Robinson's inspiration came from a broader philosophical concept of creating a place where people of all classes could access information, regardless of their status in society. He accordingly charged a minimal fee for answers to queries, and offered an array of services, from buying and selling land to language tuition and finding ‘travel companions’. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore why euphemistic wording was so often used in these very first ‘classifieds’; reveal the first documented example of a ‘Lonely Hearts’ advertisement; and consider what Robinson’s upselling model had in common with Costco… Further Reading: • ‘Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout: They Found Answers at the Office of Addresses and Encounters’ (Patrick Murfin, 2016): https://patrickmurfin.blogspot.com/2016/09/they-found-answers-at-office-of.html • ‘The Secret History of Domesticity - Public, Private, and the Division of Knowledge - By Michael McKeon’ (John Hopkins University Press, 2006): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Secret_History_of_Domesticity/8VrwIKiAefkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=henry+robinson+office+of+encounters&pg=PA28&printsec=frontcover • ‘HISTORY OF IDEAS - Dating’ (The School of Life, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob14PcHtazQ Love the show? Support us! Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. #1600s #UK #Romantic #Business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Philadelphia's Deadly Parade

Episode 1492

Monday, September 28, 2026 • Duration 10:56

The Liberty Loan Parade on 28th September, 1918 was the biggest party Philadelphia had ever seen: floats, marching bands, and miles of cheering crowds. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a deadly super-spreader event. The Spanish flu had first killed a Philadelphian just nine days earlier, and cases were already popping up in the Navy Yard. Doctors warned the city to cancel the parade, but officials waved them off. Within days, Philadelphia was a disaster zone. Hospitals overflowed, schools and bars closed, and the city morgue piled up with bodies. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly marvel at how medical students and retired doctors volunteered to care for the sick and bury the dead; consider whether the city’s health director, Dr. Wilmer Krusen, a political appointee with zero public health experience, was to blame for the pandemic that followed; and consider the merits of the resultant public health campaign, “Spit Spreads Death”... Further Reading: • ‘The flu can kill millions. In 1918, a pandemic was fueled by World War I’ (The Washington Post, 2018): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/02/03/a-killer-flu-was-raging-but-in-1918-u-s-officials-ignored-the-crisis-to-fight-a-war/ • ‘Philadelphia Threw a WWI Parade That Gave Thousands of Onlookers the Flu’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2018): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/philadelphia-threw-wwi-parade-gave-thousands-onlookers-flu-180970372/ • ‘The 1918 Spanish Flu—A Conspiracy of Silence | Part 1 of 3’ (The Great Courses Plus, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MHT5xTkL2g Love the show? Support us! Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. #Health #Philadelphia #Mistakes #WW1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Praise The Lord, It's Billy Graham

Episode 1490

Friday, September 25, 2026 • Duration 11:05

Billy Graham’s Los Angeles Crusade started modestly on 25th September, 1949. But after newspaper giant William Randolph Hearst told his editors to "puff Graham", the nightly revival meetings exploded in popularity, becoming a ‘sin-smashing sensation’, and Graham soon became America’s favourite preacher. His style was perfect for the Hollywood backdrop. At just 30 years old, Graham had a youthful, energetic presence, dashing good looks, and a flair for the dramatic. His sermons, packed with urgency and fast-paced delivery, connected worldly threats like communism with personal struggles, and always offered a strikingly simple answer: Jesus. By the end of this first eight-week crusade, 350,000 people had attended, with 3,000 recorded conversions. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the skills that set Graham apart from other evangelists; consider his global influence, including a record-breaking run at London’s Haringey Arena; and recall how a singing cowboy transformed Graham’s fortunes… Further Reading: • ‘Billy Graham's star was born at his 1949 revival in Los Angeles’ (Los Angeles Times, 2007): https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-sep-02-me-then2-story.html • ‘How Billy Graham became the most famous preacher in America’ (CNN, 2018): https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/21/us/how-billy-graham-became-famous/index.html • ‘WEMBLEY: BILLY GRAHAM IN LONDON’ (Gaumont, 1955): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGPQpQb_dDM We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Sexing Up Jane Austen

Episode 1489

Thursday, September 24, 2026 • Duration 12:08

The ‘Austenmania’ craze of the mid-90s kicked off with the BBC’s production of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, which first aired on 24th September, 1995. Now primarily remembered for Colin Firth’s ‘wet shirt’ scene, Andrew Davies’s ‘sexed up’ adaptation also starred Firth’s real-life squeeze Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, and was the first serialisation of the novel to be filmed on location, with picturesque country estates providing a ‘property porn’ backdrop to the plot’s central romance. In this episode, the Retrospectors reveal how Firth later tried to distance himself from the fetishisation of his role as Mr Darcy; explain the part rat urine played in filming the iconic bathing scene; and discover how this sensationally popular miniseries sparked interest in erotic adaptations of Austen's work… Further Reading: ‘Pride and Prejudice at 20: The scene that changed everything’ (BBC Culture, 2015): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150922-pride-and-prejudice-at-20-the-scene-that-changed-everything ‘Books, Bras and Bridget Jones: reading adaptations of Pride and Prejudice - by Olivia Murphy’ (University of Sydney): https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/229392346.pdf ‘The Lake Scene (Colin Firth Strips Off)’ (BBC, 1995): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hasKmDr1yrA Love the show? Support us! Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Here Comes Nintendo

Episode 1488

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 • Duration 12:03

Nintendo was world-famous by the 1980s but the origins of the company go back a century earlier - to September 23rd, 1889, when Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai, a maker of brightly-coloured ‘Hanafuda’ cards. The hand-painted playing cards, made of mulberry bark, were produced for decades and were a favourite of Yakuza gangsters for use in illegal gambling. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look into the bizarre businesses with which Nintendo experimented before their pivot into video games; explain how a plastic concertina hand changed the fortunes of the company’s toy division; and reveal how the inventor of the Game Boy, Gunpei Yokoi, was on a quest for love… Further Reading: • ‘23 September 1889: Nintendo starts making playing cards’ (MoneyWeek, 2020): https://moneyweek.com/349214/23-september-1889-nintendo-starts-making-playing-cards • ‘Nintendo's erotic playing cards’ (CNET, 2012): https://www.cnet.com/culture/nintendos-erotic-playing-cards/ • ‘Nintendo Hanafuda Playing Cards Deck Review - Let's open some packs’ (Diggo Decks, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI7u0_sVxTU Love the show? Support us! Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to Downing St

Episode 1487

Tuesday, September 22, 2026 • Duration 11:38

Robert Walpole, first Lord of the Treasury, moved into 10 Downing Street on 22nd September, 1735, after three years of renovations. Although initially given to him as a personal gift from the King, the house became the official residence for all future Prime Ministers. Despite its central location in London, Downing Street wasn't fashionable at the time, and the house already had a long history of structural issues due to soft ground, leading to constant repairs. Over time, the original yellow bricks designed by Sir Christopher Wren turned black because of pollution from smog and smut. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly review the negative opinions of generations of PMs towards the nation’s primary grace and favour apartment; explain why Ramsay MacDonald dispatched his daughter down to the January sales; and reveal how Margaret Thatcher's very 80s aesthetic choices resonate with international visitors to this day... Further Reading: • ‘The Surprising History of 10 Downing Street’ (HISTORY, 2016): https://www.history.com/news/the-surprising-history-of-10-downing-street • ‘Sir Robert Walpole moved into Downing Street today in 1735’ (The Oldie, 2021): https://www.theoldie.co.uk/blog/sir-robert-walpole-became-the-first-pm-300-years-ago-today-david-horspool • ‘Inside Downing Street: A brief history of No.10’ (The Times Red Box, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwfHqQqImcc Love the show? Support us! Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. #1700s #UK #Politics #Architecture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The Man Who Bought Stonehenge

Episode 1486

Monday, September 21, 2026 • Duration 11:50

Barrister Cecil Chubb attended a Salisbury auction on September 21st, 1915 intending to buy curtains or chairs, but impulsively bought… Stonehenge. Yes, that Stonehenge. Built by Neolithic and Bronze Age communities for purposes still debated today - ceremonial? religious? - for centuries the site had been treated less like a sacred monument and more like an inconvenient field ornament. Sheep grazed around it, tourists scratched their names into it, and the Aristocratic family who owned it had begun to charge entry to pay for fences and security guards to keep vandals away. But then their only heir died in the War, and Stonehenge was put up for sale. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how Chubb selflessly gave up the monument to the nation (though did effectively earn himself a knighthood in return); ask whatever happened to Chubb’s condition that ticket prices (now up to £70) would not exceed one shilling; and reveal what guests get to do in the ‘stone-circle experience’... Further Reading: • ‘The Man Who Bought Stonehenge And Gave it Away’ (Amusing Planet, 2022): https://www.amusingplanet.com/2022/08/the-man-who-bought-stonehenge-and-gave.html • ‘Stonehenge Sold for £6,600 A Hundred Years Ago Today’ (English Heritage, 2015): https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/search-news/stonehenge-sold-100-years-ago/ • ‘Stonehenge Secrets: What Lies Beneath? | Holy Marvels’ (History, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJOmC4vMuxI Love the show? Support us! Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. #1910s #BC #Strange #UK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Today In History with The Retrospectors – Details, episodes & analysis

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Today In History with The Retrospectors – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

YouTube99+

The Guardian99+

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

YouTube99+

The Guardian99+

Apple Podcasts

Spotify