History Loves Company

It was whilst hunting for gold in the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains that the subject of this week's episode was uncovered. Made entirely of wood, the Shigir Idol is the oldest sculpture of its kind in the world. But exactly how old is it? What was its initial purpose? And why can't we stop talking about it? Find out in this week's episode!

We're closing out our spooky October series with one of the most notorious events in history. In the later winter of 1692, a pair of girls from the town of Salem in what was then the Massachusetts Colony were afflicted by strange cases. They screamed, contorted themselves into strange positions, and crawled under furniture, among other things. For the God-fearing Christian folk of Salem, the diagnosis was clear: they were being cursed by witches. So began a grueling fifteen-month period of accusations, in which people turned on one another, pointed fingers, and sent the town into an all-out frenzy. But was it really the work of the Devil? Or was it something a bit easier to explain? Find out this week and, remember, it's the season of the witch.

Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, Michael Crichton. What do these three authors have in common? They each wrote about places that time forgot...of prehistoric species that either survived the mass extinction events of the distant past or else brought back via genetics and/or the wonders of modern science. My reason for bringing them up here is because the subject of this week's episode is itself a creature out of time, that has somehow survived to the present day...or is all a myth, a fabrication, a local superstition? Draw your own conclusions in this week's episode!

As a reader, even I'm willing to admit that some books are difficult to get through. 'Moby Dick', 'War and Peace', 'Ulysses'...these are works that are notoriously dense in regards to subject-matter and style, though they can nonetheless be fun to tackle for those seeking a challenge. But perhaps no book is as difficult to get through as the so-named Voynich Manuscript, largely because it's written in a language no one understands or has been able to decipher. Join me this week for a look at this curious text, right here on the first of a series of spooky and mysterious episodes for October!

For nearly seven centuries, serfdom was the lay of the land in Russia. Beginning in Medieval times, by the 19th Century, it was clear that changes needed to be made. Thus, several forward-thinking reformers and even the czar himself sought to end the practice. But how had it even started to begin with? How did they go about ending this ages-old practice? And what were the repercussions of its abolition? Find out in this week's episode.

"Of two things one could be absolutely certain: death and taxes." This quote, sometimes attributed to Benjamin Franklin, continues to ring true, but it most definitely applies to the poor farmers who faced unfair taxation in the early days of the United States. Find out all about it in this week's "intoxicating" episode!

The knight has become a stock figure in Medieval dramas, embodying the ideals of chivalry, courtly manners, and Christian values. But what if I told you that the last knight in Europe existed on the eve of World War Two? Find out all about it in this week's episode!

Throughout the golden age of Hellenistic culture and thought, the Library of Alexandria was a bastion of knowledge and intellectual pursuits. But the beginning of the end was sewn when a usurper assumed command of the Ptolemaic throne, expelling all scholars. Yet even this short-sighted act pailed in comparison to what happened next. Tune in for the exciting conclusion on the Library of Alexandria, this week on the 'History Loves Company' podcast!

The library as an institution is nothing new. The first libraries came about with the world's first cities. In the land of Sumer in present-day Iraq, Uruk boasted an impressive library, where people from throughout the region could read and study texts. Assyrian king Ashurbanipal had his own personal library with clay tablets on a wide variety of subjects. But the biggest and most impressive of Antiquity's libraries was that which was housed in Alexandria, Egypt. Join me this week for a tour of this incredible institution and how it gained a reputation throughout the known world.

A place as renowned as Hollywood in Los Angeles, California is bound to have some legends attached to it. The ghost of Charlie Chaplin, for example, is said to haunt a cinema-turned-live theatre venue while the ghost of Marilyn Monroe can be seen in the mirror on one of the upper floors of a landmark hotel. Yet even these sightings and occurrences pale in comparison to the story of a despondent actress who killed herself by leaping off the Hollywood Sign. Join me this week for a look at the life of Peg Entwistle on the 'History Loves Company' podcast!