From grand pageants to war for land, from a fascinated media and public to secret dealings and marriages with Hollywood celebrities, the Royal family of the United Kingdom has held us spellbound for centuries. Today their every statement and action is monitored and reported to the masses. But it wasn’t always this way. The origins and evolution of the royal family is an amazing tale of tears and bloodshed. It is a world of high religion and low political scandal. It is a story with more intrigue and drama than any Hollywood blockbuster, and it has been told and retold. And yet, the whole royal system and history is a confusing world that most people, including the English, simply don’t understand.Listen…
The BBCs Nick Robinson continues his fascinating and absorbing Radio 4 series featuring eight famous British Prime Ministers.
After the Great War, British men and women grappled with their ignorance about sexuality and desire. Seeking advice and information from doctors, magazines, and each other, they wrote tens of thousands of letters about themselves as sexual subjects. In these letters, they disclosed their uncertainties, their behaviors, and the role of sexuality in their lives. Their fascinating narratives tell how people sought to unleash their imaginations and fashion new identities.
In France, the simple act of eating bread is an exercise in creative problem solving, and attempting to spell requires a degree of masochism. But that’s just how the French like it – and in WTF?!, Olivier Magny reveals the France only the French know. From the latest trends in baby names to the religiously observed division of church and state, prepare yourself for an insider’s look at French culture that is surprising, insightful, and chock full of bons mots.
Even more crazy and barking mad things we Brits get up to in our spare time. Want to be world champion at gravy wrestling? Or perhaps you fancy swan upping?
A nostalgic retrospective of the English pub in simpler times, including some games you may have heard of and some you may not.
We Brits get up to crazy things in our spare time. Want to be champion welly wanger? Or nettle eater, perhaps?