History: darkness and light

This podcast investigates episodes in history that highlight the worst and best of the human condition. History can tell us about past ideas and events, and in doing so it tells us something about the universal. When we hear voices from the past, that say what they experienced and how they understood what was happening, we also often get a sense of their character and personality. In the last three thousand years or so human beings haven’t evolved one bit. This means that as true as the old refrain of Leslie Hartley, that ‘the past is a foreign country: they do things differently there’ may be, the people you meet there usually have the same recognizable personalities and foibles we see in our friends, family, neighbours and acquaintances. Listen, learn and enjoy telling episodes, both evil and good, drawn from the richness of human history. (This podcast's artwork is based on a photo by Syed Hasan Mehdi from Pexels.com)

Podcasting since 2021 • 4 episodes

History: darkness and light

Latest Episodes

Episode 4: History repeating tself - state intolerance, the English protestant Reformation and the COVID-19 response

This episode compares past and present, exploring state sponsored intolerance and persecution from English protestant Reformation of the 1530s to The Toleration Act of 1688–89, and from the start of the the global COVID-19 pandem...

May 29, 2022 • Season 1 • Episode 4 • 56:49

Episode 3: The power of pierniki (Toruń gingerbread)

This episode tells the story of the city of Toruń, Poland, through the lense of its spicy gingerbread, or pierniki, from 1233 to 2021. Toruń gingerbread were at-first made with a top-secret recipe, and once prised by kings for their taste and b...

June 11, 2021 • Season 1 • Episode 3 • 40:28

Episode 2: What care we for these barefooted rascals? - medieval colonization and race law

This episode uses a 1327 petition to the English king from Welshman Adda ap Einion and his English wife Agnes as a jumping-off point to tell the story of the system of anti-Welsh race law that was created when England colonized Wales. Thi...

March 04, 2021 • Season 1 • Episode 2 • 52:53

Episode 1: The Mole-Catcher's Tale - black magic, conspiracy and justice in medieval England

History: Darkness and Light shares interesting stories from our past that tell us something about the best, and the worst, of the human condition. This episode reads and discusses the remarkable testimony given by mole catcher Robert Goodgroom ...

February 14, 2021 • Season 1 • Episode 1 • 29:55

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