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

In 1870, two young women were arrested after leaving a theatre in London. These women, so-called Fanny and Stella, were in fact Ernest Boulton and Frederick Park, and they were charged with ‘buggery’.

So who were Boulton and Park? What was the evidence against them? And why did this create such a stir across the front pages and the world?

Neil McKenna joins Kate Betwixt the Sheets to share Stella and Fanny’s extraordinary life stories and trial.

*WARNING: There are adult themes, explicit descriptions of sex and suicide references in this episode*

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas.

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

This episode includes music by Epidemic Sound.

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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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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Why did kings and queens have spectators on their wedding night? Who had the very first boob job? And did our ancestors have their unmentionables pierced?

Join historian, Kate Lister, Betwixt the Sheets as she unashamedly roots around the topics which seem to have been skipped in history class.

Everything from landmark LGBTQ+ court cases, to political scandal, to downright bizarre medieval cures for impotence. The etymology of swear words, gender bias in medicine, and satanic panic and cults - there’s nothing off limits.

She'll be bed-hopping around different time periods; from ancient civilisations, to the middle ages, to renaissance and early modern...right up to now.

You’ll laugh, you’ll wince, and you’ll ask yourself how much has actually changed.

So join Kate Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society - a podcast from History Hit.

*WARNING this episode includes adult themes and conversations about mental health and drug use.*

In 2020, the UK government revealed that 17% of the adult population of Britain were prescribed medication for their mental health. But when were these drugs invented? How were they tested? And how have they become, in some cases, ‘mother’s little helper’?

From antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications to stimulants and mood stabilisers - Dr David Healy takes us on a journey through the development and use of psychiatric - or psychotropic - medication, and how this development has in turn affected our diagnoses.

David is a psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist, and is a professor of Psychiatry at McMaster University in Canada.

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan.

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

This episode includes music by Epidemic Sound and archive clips from Zoloft commercial 2001.