History Extra podcast

Why should you be careful about who's first through your door on New Year's Day? What led people to believe that newts and earwigs were responsible for their ailments? And why do sticks play such a key part in children's imaginations? Ceri Houlbrook and Owen Davies, co-authors of new book Folklore: A Journey through the Past and the Present, join Matt Elton to chronicle some of the most compelling stories from British folklore – and explain why they include UFOs just as much as ghosts and goblins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘Evil genius’ is a phrase that could have been invented to describe Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Augustus butchered his way to power in the chaos that followed Julius Caesar's assassination, and then showed the political cunning to remain there for four decades. In conversation with Spencer Mizen, Ed Watts – author of The Romans: A 2,000-Year History – considers the secrets of the success of an extraordinary individual who transformed the ancient world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do we know for certain about Old Norse ideas about masculinity and femininity, and can Viking Age mythology provide any answers? In conversation with James Osborne, Dr Jackson Crawford discusses the second edition of his translation of the Poetic Edda, and explores what can still be learned from the collection of Old Norse narrative poems that forms the foundation of our understanding of Viking mythology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was at Chawton House, a cottage in rural Hampshire, that Jane Austen experienced one of the most fruitful episodes of her writing career. In this third instalment of our four-part series charting the novelist's life and work, Dr Lizzie Rogers tells Lauren Good about this creative flourishing, and explores the popular works that Austen published during the period. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Want to go further into the world of Jane Austen and her literary creations? HistoryExtra's Lauren Good rounds up some essential reading, listening and viewing from the HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine archive to deepen your understanding of Austen's life, her work and the Regency era in which she wrote: https://bit.ly/49F9oUk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Æthelstan was crowned in Kingston upon Thames 1100 years ago, in AD 925. He went on to extend his authority far beyond his initial powerbase of Wessex and Mercia to become the first king of England. David Musgrove talks to Professor David Woodman, author of The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom, to hear why we should remember Æthelstan's reign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices