Past Matters
By Ploy Radford
Museums, galleries and historic houses are treasure troves of items from the past. But how easy is it at these sites to unknowingly just walk straight past an object with an incredible story to tell? In this podcast series host Ploy Radford talks to the experts at different museums, galleries and historic houses about the most underrated objects in their collection, and unveils some fantastic facts.
Latest episode
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The Sword of Ommerschans - Dutch National Museum of Antiquities
Luc Amkreutz, curator of the prehistory collections at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, reveals the story behind the Sword of Ommerschans, currently on display as part of the 'Bronze Age: Fires of Change' exhibition. The g… -
The Book of the Queen - The British Library
This episode shines a light on Christine de Pizan, one of the overlooked women from history featured in the British Library's exhibition 'Medieval Women: In their own Words'. Curator Eleanor Jackson tells host Ploy Radford-Taylor about this … -
Lord Leighton's landscape paintings - Leighton House
Leighton House's new exhibition 'Leighton and Landscape: Impressions from Nature shines a new light on its famous former occupant. In this episode, senior curator Daniel Robbins shares the story behind Frederic, Lord Leighton's landscapes an… -
Assortment of Japanese souvenirs - the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
Host Ploy Radford-Taylor returns to the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum where a chat with curator Duncan Walker about some innocuous Japanese souvenirs leads to a much wider discussion about changing Japanese society, the rise of … -
Blandford Fashion Museum - a Regency spencer
While you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t deny that clothes can reveal a lot about a person, or the past, as host Ploy Radford-Taylor finds when she visits Blandford Fashion Museum. -
The 'Queen of the Blue Stockings' - Elizabeth Montagu
In this episode, historian Dr Lizzie Rogers tells the story of Elizabeth Montagu, famed salon hostess and founder of the Blue Stockings Society, literary critic and successful businesswoman. -
Costanza Piccolomini - interview with author Rachel Blackmore
In this first episode of season 4, host Ploy Radford-Taylor interviews author Rachel Blackmore about her debut novel 'Costanza', which tells the story of Costanza Piccolomini, whose affair with celebrated superstar sculptor Gianlorenzo Berni… -
Easter 2023 special - Cleopatra Selene
For this second Easter 2023 special episode, host Ploy Radford interviews Dr Jane Draycott on the life and times of Cleopatra Selene, daughter of the famous Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman general Mark Antony. While Cleopatra Selene has sli… -
Easter 2023 special - Equestrian artist Lucy Kemp-Welch
For this Easter 2023 special episode of Past Matters, host Ploy Radford interviews Dr David Haycock, curator of a new exhibition about the equestrian artist Lucy Kemp-Welch (1869-1958) at the Russell Cotes Art Gallery & Museum. The e… -
New Year special - Sophia Dorothea, the British queen who never was
In a new year special, historian and author Catherine Curzon tells podcast host Ploy Radford about the story of the British queen who never was - Sophia Dorothea, the much maligned wife of King George I.
