Sam & James dig deep into the Unexpected History of Christmas. For more exclusive interviews and documentaries, signup to HistoryHit,TV, click here to subscribe.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Theme tune: Dan Morelle

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Sam Willis and James Daybell take on the UNEXPECTED history of CLOTHING! It's all about social control, death, recycling and mending, nationalism, Venice, knights and maidens, the Crown Jewels, ostriches, Thomas Wolsey, and the rediscovery of a long lost dress that once belonged to Queen Elizabeth I of England!

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It's a packed lunch of fun! James and Sam explore the extraordinary history of lunchboxes, which are all about the industrial revolution and nomads and Elizabeth I, before moving on to looking at lunchboxes in relation to WW1 and life in the trenches.

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James and Sam explore the UNEXPECTED history of the Vikings. Who knew that the Vikings are all about graffiti, break-ins, criminal profiling, colour, teeth, keys, birds, nicknames, saunas, silk, mischief, staffs and goading!

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Sam and James discuss all of the unexpected aspects of WWII, which is all about rubble, carrots, blood, pockets, suicide, gates, Zen Buddhism, furniture, cancer, Mozart, King Arthur, cows, mothers, puppets, handkerchiefs, and much, much more! It's not just all about the Nazis, Churchill and the Battle of Britain...

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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of RAINBOWS (inspired by this symbol of hope during lockdown) which is all about Elizabeth I, the German Peasants' War, the Bible, Norse mythology, political alliances, Gilbert Baker, Harvey Milk and the Pride flag, and LGBTQ History and Heritage and much, much more!

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Sam and James explore the UNEXPECTED history of the Spanish Armada. It's all about collapsed expectation, flags, spies (as always), threat, fire, people not doing the right jobs, seasickness and lies.

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In this episode James and Sam explore the Unexpected History of SOAP, which is of course all about hazing, the British Royal Navy, profanities, marketing, the Spanish Flu, popular politics, freedom of speech, Speakers' Corner, and John Major's 'Soap Box' electioneering...and a little bit about coronavirus!

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Inspired by Halloween and Bonfire Night, Sam and James discuss the unexpected history of blood and bones: it's all about prehistoric axes, mass graves, Viking armies, Tudor surgery, bear baiting, blood sports, how much it costs to make a human being, Ottomans, Italy, and eating human bone powder. So that's cannibalism too...

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Sam and James discuss the unexpected history of the Nazis. They're all about, motherhood, shame, medals, public speaking, architecture and cars....who knew?

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“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!... Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! ...” (Dr Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 1956)

It can only be the Unexpected History of Christmas!

Let us once again join the Santa of Historical Skepticism, Professor James Daybell and the Charles Dickens of Christmas Past, Dr Sam Willis as they untangle the tinsel and unravel the lights to reveal the unexpected history of Christmas. Upon Santa’s sleigh, they will dash from medieval carousing to a Dickensian Christmas, and from racing crabs on Christmas Island in the 1950s to the Puritans and Christmas riots in Canterbury, 1647.

Like Christmas Elves they’ll assemble the links between rituals and traditions, Minst pies (not a typo) and celebrations, international date lines and land shy ravens. Listen out as James plays ‘guess the day an island was discovered,’ and Sam suggests one way to get two Christmases in one day. Oh, and whoever wrote the song about the three kings following the star, well they may need to rewrite, although it may not have quite the same rhyming style! “God bless us, everyone!” (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843)

“Good tidings we bring for you and your kin

We wish you a merry Christmas

And a happy New Year”

Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook Producer - Dan Morelle

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This eighth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores STENCH and Public Health in Victorian England. The Unexpected History of STENCH is all about personal hygiene and the marketing of smelling nice in 1950s USA; the holocaust and use of napalm during the Vietnam war, stinkiness in the medieval world, and of course nineteenth-century disease and public health. James and Sam explore discuss Public Health Reforms in Victorian Britain, including Edwin Chadwick's 1842 Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population, and look out for recipes to make your own stink bombs!

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Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell whisk you through the mysterious crannies in the unexpected history of pockets! For more exclusive interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV - a new kind of history channel.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Theme tune: Dan Morelle

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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of APPLAUSE, which is all about popularity in Ancient Rome, Stalinist Russia, babies, opera-going sophisticates, crowds and paying people to clap (or boo!), Henry James's failure as a playwright, and of course gratitude to the NHS and front line medical staff across the globe during the COVID19 crisis!

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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPdcst HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook Producer - Dan Morelle

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Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of bells. For more exclusive history documentaries & interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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This episode is about HIDING, but with some serious consequences! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of HIDING, which is all about Oak Trees (and the future King of England, Charles II), it's about keeping secrets, MARY QUEEN of SCOTS, but most of all it's about how CATHOLICS were treated in Elizabethan England, via PRIEST HOLES, which were used to hide priests sent to England from Europe who were hunted down by the Tudor State. LISTEN IF YOU DARE!

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We REFUSE to tell you what this episode is about. Shan't. Won't.

Ok Ok. We will.

It's about putting your foot down, saying NO, saying NEVER AGAIN. It's the history of mutiny, sedition, forcing change, adult disobedience, childhood disobedience - it's a theme we can all relate to, and James and Sam talk about it in relation to the Russian Revolution up to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917. Why was the Duma formed in 1906? How did representatives of the people even get to set foot in the Winter Palace during the reign of a monarch who steadfastly believed in his absolute power to rule any way that he wanted? How did they put so much pressure on this all powerful monarch that he actually stepped down from the throne? Well they refused to do what they were told - and they did it again, and again, and again.

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Recorded in the aftermath of George Floyd's tragic death, with the Black Lives Matter movement in full flight, James and Sam turn their attention to the fascinating history of...STATUES! Currently the site of social conflict, who knew that statues had such an unexpected past. The history of clouds is all about Ancient Rome and the erasure of the past, ninth and tenth century Byzantium, relics in China, the Reformation throughout Europe, and much much more.....

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An episode we can all identify with! It's about the history of being able to control your temper - it's about feet kicking, shouting, waving, stamping, WILD anger. James and Sam explore the various ways you can think about the history of anger before looking in particular at the rage of Henry II and how it impacted on his relationship with Thomas Beckett - once his close friend but who came to be murdered by knights in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.

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In this glorious summer of endless blue skies Sam and James turn their attention to the sky, and the fascinating history of...CLOUDS! Who knew they were so interesting? The history of clouds is all about Captain Cook and cannibalism, the devil, urine, nuclear war, invisible gases and cholera. Oh, and beetles and spiders.

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James and Sam get to grips with the history of BIG HEADS...it's all about a touch of arrogance, wanting to be seen to be in charge, securing your place in history...it allows us to think about all sorts of fascinating characters...Caesar, Napoleon, Robespierre, Cromwell and, of course, the Biggest Biggy McBighead of them all, Henry VIII.

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James and Sam come to grips with the elusive history of SHADOWS! And it's fascinating; It's all to do with the very structure of history itself, telling the time, Chinese Emperors, entertainment, advertising in 1950s America, messages from God, the soul, oh...and Aborigines.

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James and Sam tackle the history of things being SO NOT FAIR! From the French Revolution to the massacres of Aborigines and the theft of land from Native Americans to the Suffragettes Sam and James rampage around historical unfairness before settling on the Great Reform Act of 1832 and the subsequent People's Charter of 1838.

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Sam and James continue their fascinating history of BEARDS! They're all about the reformation, horror stories, health, surrealism, preachers and their stentorian tones....Who Knew?

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Inspired by the beard-growing that was taken up by so many of us all in Coronavirus lockdown, Sam and James tackle the unexpected history of BEARDS...which is all about the Crimean War, Ottoman pirates and 'Turning Turk, Peter the Great, gas masks, and modernity in the seventeenth century! WHO KNEW!!!!

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It's a packed lunch of fun! James and Sam explore the extraordinary history of lunchboxes, which are all about the industrial revolution and nomads and Elizabeth I, before moving on to looking at lunchboxes in relation to WW1 and life in the trenches.

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This special HOMESCHOOLING episode is about PLAYING CHICKEN! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of PLAYING CHICKEN, which is all Henry VIII's Great Matter, Appeasement prior to WWII, and the Crusades! Most of all though it's about THE CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS OF 1962 which saw a standoff between Khrushchev and Kennedy over stationing of nuclear weapons on the island of Cuba - just 160 kilometres off the coast of Florida!

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This special HOMESCHOOLING episode is about SHARING! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of SHARING, which is all the Great Depression, the EU, the League of Nations, early modern marriage and working-class communities in Victorian London. Most of all though it's about KARL MARX and the COMMUNIST MANIFESTO and the abolition of private property and the redistribution of political power! "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!"

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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of VE Day, which is all about children, parties, memory, pens, disagreement, balconies and much, much more!

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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of RAINBOWS (inspired by this symbol of hope during lockdown) which is all about Elizabeth I, the German Peasants' War, the Bible, Norse mythology, political alliances, Gilbert Baker, Harvey Milk and the Pride flag, and LGBTQ History and Heritage and much, much more!

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This episode is about DRESSING UP! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of DRESSING UP, which is all Count Leo Tolstoy, Carnival in Venice, the Maldon Grain Riots of 1629, and the Lord of Misrule. Most of all though it's about THE REBECCA RIOTS and TURNPIKE ROADS during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which greatly improved the quality of roads in Britain, but with social consequences!

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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of INSULTS, which is all about duelling, 3500 BCE Babylonia, poison pen letters, and of course gloves! It's also all about Shakespeare, slander and name-calling in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Devon, and much, much more!

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This episode is about HIDING, but with some serious consequences! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of HIDING, which is all about Oak Trees (and the future King of England, Charles II), it's about keeping secrets, MARY QUEEN of SCOTS, but most of all it's about how CATHOLICS were treated in Elizabethan England, via PRIEST HOLES, which were used to hide priests sent to England from Europe who were hunted down by the Tudor State. LISTEN IF YOU DARE!

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The Unexpected History of PRESENTS is all about power and politics at the TUDOR COURT, diplomacy and showing off, and getting people to do exactly what you want. It's especially about FEUDALISM in Norman England, and the transfer of land to Barons and Knights in return for military service!

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Who kew that BULLIES have a history! Well they do and it's FASCINATING. James and Sam explore the history of bullies across time and then focus on the Nazi Brownshirts and how they used their muscle to propel Hitler to power in the 1930s. The story is followed up to the Night of the Long Knives in 1934 when Hitler used his ultra-loyal personal bodyguard, the SS, to turn against the Brownshirts, ending their reign of terror.

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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of BREATH, which is all about halitosis, free diving, humanity and the soul, Harry Houdini, advertising and consumerism in 1950s America, mouth to mouth resuscitation and the Royal Humane Society and much, much more!

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