50. Harriet Tubman: The Freedom Fighter Who Escaped From Slavery (Ep 1)

What surprising tactics did Harriet use to avoid detection on her many missions to rescue enslaved people in the south? Who was John Brown, the fierce abolitionist willing to use violence to further his cause? Why was Harriet involved in the Harpers’ Ferry raid, one of the causes of the Civil War?  Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they look at how Harriet Tubman brought so many people to safety.  Social Producers: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why did Harriet Tubman risk her freedom and become the only formerly enslaved person to return to the slaveholding south? How did the secret Underground Railroad guide people north to freedom? Why did the entire country suddenly become slave-catching territory in September 1850? What did this mean for those who thought they were safe in the North?  David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell explore the famous Underground Railroad.  Social Producers: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who was Harriet Tubman? How did Harriet make the perilous journey escaping north to freedom? What was the Underground Railroad, the secret chain of people guiding enslaved people to safety? Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they explore the early years of abolitionist, spymaster, and activist Harriet Tubman.  Social Producers: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How many people were slaughtered in the street-to-street battle for Paris known as the ‘bloody week’? Why did the German Chancellor help the French government start a civil war? Who were the ‘Petroleuses’, the mythical wild-eyed working class women accused of setting the city on fire?  David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell relive the brutal final days of the Paris Commune.   Social Producer: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How many of the radical reforms that the Paris Commune implemented in their 72 day existence influence French laws to this day? Why did the communards tear down a statue of Napoleon III and outlaw morning croissants? How did an attempt to take the Archbishop of Paris hostage backfire badly on the radicals?  Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga explore what this short-lived radical government of Paris managed to achieve.  Social Producer: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did pet dogs, street rats, and the zoo’s elephants make their way onto the menu of Parisian fine dining restaurants? Why did Paris feel so slighted by the national government when they surrendered to the Germans? How did defiant Parisian children and housewives defy the national guard and spark a revolution that would lead to the Paris Commune? David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell relive the Siege of Paris and the fight for Parisian independence.  Social Producer: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What was the Paris Commune of 1871? How was the first German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, trying to radically reshape the map of Europe? How did the resulting Franco-Prussian war set the scene in Paris for one of the most radical political experiments of the nineteenth century? Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they look at the days leading up to The Paris Commune, the working class revolution that shook the world. Social Producer: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did the remaining conspirators manage to blow themselves up? Why is the defeat of the Gunpowder Plot still celebrated 400 years later? What are the parallels between this plot and the 7/7 bombings?  Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they relive how the gunpowder plotters met their grisly end.  Visit https://www.LRB.me/Journey to get six months of the London Review of Books for just twelve pounds, plus a free LRB tote bag. Social Producer: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once Parliament was blown up, how were the plotters planning on seizing power? How did the King manage to stop the plan to blow up parliament just in time? What is the Monteagle Letter and why is this one of English history’s greatest unsolved mysteries?  Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga telling the story of how Guy Fawkes was discovered minutes away from lighting the fuse to blow up Westminster.  Social Producer: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did a series of plots to depose and kill King James I ultimately fail? Who was Robert Catesby, the mastermind behind the Gunpowder Plot? Why was Guy Fawkes recruited into the secret group meeting at a pub in central London?  Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell looking at how Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators started to hatch the Gunpowder Plot.   Social Producer: Emma Jackson, Harry Balden Producer: Alice Horrell Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices