Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

Warning: This episode includes strong language and some adult themes.

What comes to mind when you see the word voodoo? Most people tend to think of horror movies, zombies, dolls and witchcraft - but Vodou is a hugely misunderstood religion and spiritual practice.

Kate is joined by two experts Betwixt the Sheets on today's episode; Dr Kyrah Malika Daniels on Haitian Vodou and the part it played in the revolution of 1791, and Elizabeth James on New Orleans and Louisiana Voodoo.

Find out its long and fascinating history, and why it's become one of the most sensationalised religions in the world.

Learn more about Haitian Vodou and its history here, and here, and you can follow Dr Daniels work, here.

For more on African and Diasporic Religious Studies, please click here.

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Seyi Adaobi.

Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society. A podcast by History Hit.

This podcast includes music from Epidemic Sounds, and archive clips from White Zombie 1932.

Who had the very first boob job? Why were women injecting liquid paraffin into their chests? And, how has the procedure developed over time?

Kate is joined Betwixt the Sheets by Professor Ruth Holliday and cosmetic surgeon Professor Vikram Devaraj to find out the bumpy history of breast augmentation, involving lawsuits, pin-ups... and mattress foam.

Find out how a sixties American housewife was persuaded to have the very first silicone implants, and more about medical scandal involving boob jobs.

You can find out more about Ruth's book here, and more about Vikram's work here.

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Annie Coloe.

Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society. A podcast by History Hit.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.

This podcast includes music by Epidemic Sounds and an archive clip from the Oprah Winfrey Network.

What does it take to get the reputation as one of the least popular queens in history?

Should we remember Henrietta Maria as the wife of the King executed by his subjects, the Catholic influencer and a serial adulterer? Or as a prankster, a patron of the arts and a mother of two Kings?

Henrietta Maria became Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland aged 15. A quarter of a century and a civil war later she was widowed when her husband, Charles I, was executed. By the end of her life she was restored to court on a generous pension.

Her life, therefore, was a busy one, and in this episode of Betwixt the Sheets Kate is joined by Leanda de Lisle to bring Henrietta Maria out of the shadows. We look into her marriage, her motherhood and her life after the death of her husband.

*WARNING there are naughty words and adult themes in this episode*

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Edited by Joseph Knight.

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Ancient Egyptian rulers, incest, the Nazis and female empowerment, all in one episode! 'But how?' You say. 'What story could possibly bring all of these things together?'

This is the story of Queen Nefertiti and her bust. Kate is joined by Joyce Tyldesley and Monica Hanna to find out just who this woman was, and how a statue of her ended up in Berlin.

Joyce Tyldesley is Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology at the University of Manchester. She is the author of many books including ‘Nefertiti's Face: The Creation of an Icon’.

Monica Hanna is an Egyptologist, Associate Professor and Acting Dean of the College of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, in Aswan, Egypt. You can find out more about her work here.

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

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From Boudicca to Ukrainian snipers, battlefields have always contained a surprising number of women.

Today Kate is joined Betwixt the Sheets by Sarah Percy to get to the bottom of why women were allowed to be astronauts a full thirty years before they were allowed to fight in combat.

From women who disguised themselves as men in order to be allowed to fight, to the Soviet all-female regiments who Nazi Germany learnt to fear, they'll be discussing fearless women warriors on the frontline.

You can find out more about Sarah's book here.

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