Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society
By History Hit
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.
Latest episode
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Cruising & Cottaging: Sex in Public Places
With privacy being a modern luxury, where did people in the past go to meet and hook up? Public toilets were (and can still be) a popular option.But what were secret signals? And what were the risks? Especially i… -
Ancient Goddesses: Rebellion, Magic & Sexual Liberation
Struggling for role models in the modern world? We've got your back, looking way back to the ancient world.Join Kate and Jasmine Elmer, author of her new book, -
Pagan Ritual Nudity
Rituals are a big part of this funny human experience, aren't they?Whether that's morning rituals like making your bed... or pagan rituals that involve stripping down to your birthday suit for certain ceremonies.… -
What The Ancient Greeks Got Wrong About The Female Body
Why did the Ancient Greeks depict a womb as an octopus in their textbooks?Their writings and (mis)understandings of the female body might seem borderline comical now, but how did these beliefs on the physical ind… -
Could You Survive Victorian Surgery?
What was it really like inside a Victorian operating theatre? Did people really smoke cigars and eat oysters while they watched high risk surgery taking place? And what were the most common procedures?In today's … -
Medieval Life During Plague & War
When so much of history is written by men, Margaret Paston's letters offer us a rare insight into the life of a woman and the world around her in 15th century England.How did she cope with waves of plague wiping … -
The Real Princess Diana
However you feel about the royal family, there's no denying, there was something about Princess Diana.From the clothes she wore to the causes she championed, she set the template for the modern royal, ruffling a … -
Life Lessons From Historical Women
When women's stories aren't being flat-out ignored from the history books, they can often be sidelined.Well not here! Joining Kate today is the comedian and author of -
Renaissance Beauty: Snails, Cat Poo & Fatal Make-Up
Why did Renaissance women say the Lord's prayer while removing pubic hair?If you're like us you definitely want to know the answer to this, and so much more about beauty culture during the Italian Renaissance bet… -
Sex Work in 18th Century Paris
Paris was a wild place in the 18th century.It was the Age of the Enlightenment, cafe culture was exploding along with the world of ballet and opera, and there's the small matter of the Revolution in 1789.
