Marie Antoinette - The History Chicks

I have just come across this female orientated history podcast.  One of the things that makes history interesting is thinking about what the lives of people in the past were really like.  How for example, would you cope with having to wait to be dressed by the highest ranking woman in the room?

This was one of the many weird things that Marie Antoinette had to cope with.  The History Chicks are a couple of enthusiastic history fans who are interested in the experience that she went through in her life.  They share their fascination with gusto in this podcast.  Its quite a ride.  Personally, I found I had to split listening into two sessions.  It was a bit too high energy for me to take the full hour long show in one go.  But a very interesting approach and I will certainly be back for more.  If you like your history on a human scale you will probably enjoy them too.

http://thehistorychicks.com/?p=148

Rebels Rising - New Books in History Ben Carp

Rebels Rising covers some of the intriguing minutiae of the outbreak of the American War of Independence.  It doesn't ask the key question - if the colonists had lost would America have turned out as a normal country like, say, Canada.  But it does look at the role played by bars and churches, asks why the rebels dressed up as Red Indians during the Boston Tea Party, why was Boston such a key place during the build up to the war but not very significant during the war itself, and most fascinatingly could New York have become a sort of American version of Hong Kong?


http://newbooksinhistory.com/2009/06/05/benjamin-carp-rebels-rising-cities-in-the-american-revolution/

Abraham Lincoln Museum Stories from the Vault Podcast

Abraham Lincoln is one of those figures from history that most people seem to be interested in.  The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum have a podcast based on the premise of talking about objects from their vault of Lincolnalia. It sounds like it ought to be interesting.  I listened to the first one which didn't really grab me.  But podcasting seems to be a skill that improves with practice so I'll try a few more before I make a judgement.  No link at the moment.  I don't know why, but for some reason I can't get through to their website either on the link they sent me, nor on Google nor from the iTunes store.


If you want to give it a listen, the only way that worked for me was to search for 'stories from the vault' in the iTunes store and subscribe there.  (I am not in the US so the problem may well be local to me).

Constantius - History Books Review Colin Sanders

Colin's review of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has now reached the rise of Constantius, the only one of Constantine's successors to get a decent run at being in charge of the empire.  It is a bit hard to keep up with the details, but we do get to hear about the bloodiest battle in the history of Rome.

http://historybooksreview.co.uk/constantius-gibbons-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire/

Edward II - Rex factor

The reign of Edward I was always going to be hard to follow, but even so Edward II makes rather a meal of it. His devotion to his favourites Piers Gaveston (a foppish arrogant knight) and Hugh Despenser (a brutal baron) cause resentment and rebellion among the rest of the nobility, particularly Thomas Lancaster and Roger Mortimer. Even Edward's wife, the beautiful Isabella of France, has her patience tried once too often. This dark period of English history stands in stark contrast to the legendary Scottish king Robert the Bruce, who inflicts one of the most infamous defeats on the English army in the Battle of Bannockburn. Is there anything good to say about Edward?

http://rexfactor.podbean.com/2011/04/20/26-edward-ii/

The Polish Question at the End of the First World War - LSE Anita Prazmowska

 Poland is such a well established country in Europe that it is sometimes hard to remember that as a state it is still less than a 100 years old.  Since its formation two major wars have been fought where its borders were at issue.

It is interesting to hear a bit about the formation of Poland, and how the Poland that emerged was shaped by a handful of individuals.  It has rather an academic style of presentation but the story is not at all what you would expect if, like me, you knew nothing about it.  You won't be able to hear a pianist playing Chopin the same way again. 

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/player.aspx?id=776

England in the Reign of Henry I - History of England Dave Crowther

Did the effective establishment of a feudal system under the Normans in England create the stable conditions that allowed the country to develop out of feudalism?  It is an interesting question that Dave raises early on in this episode of the History of England.  He doesn't answer it, he gets on with describing the politics, infighting and fighting methods in use at the time instead.  If you don't know your Plantagenets from your Normans, this is a great podcast series.  If you know very little about the subject it is a good starting point as it assumes very little knowledge of history.

If you want a bit more depth and already have a good idea of what went on, try http://historicalpodcasts.blogspot.com/2011/01/europe-from-its-origins-episode-19-1347.html - bearing in mind you'll have to invest a lot more time into it. 


But you if like this period, you may well enjoy both.  I do.

http://historyofengland.typepad.com/blog/2011/07/29-england-in-the-reign-of-henry-i.html