Past Matters Ploy Radford

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 slipped under the radar in history compared to her mother, she led an eventful life that saw her move from Egyptian princess, to Roman captive, to African queen.

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 episode explores Kemp-Welch's life, extraordinary art, and how she helped defy conventions at the time about female artists.

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. 

In this final episode of season 3, podcast host Ploy Radford and zooarchaeologists Dr Rob Symmons and Professor Naomi Sykes discuss the importance of animal bones to unveiling the past, and how the ones discovered at Fishbourne Roman Palace suggest there was once an exotic zoo there. 

Stonehenge is without doubt one of the most iconic historic monuments in Britain. It turns out though it wasn't just people in prehistoric Britain building stone circles of cultural significance though - it was also happening on the other side of the world in prehistoric Japan. To delve into this phenomenon more, English Heritage has put on an exhibition ‘Circles of Stone: Stonehenge and Prehistoric Japan’ in the exhibition centre at Stonehenge. Podcast host Ploy Radford speaks to Interpretation Manager Melanie Coussens about a few of the underrated objects in the collection that have stories worth your attention.

Find out more about the founder of the Arts and Crafts movement in England, William Morris, from the story of a sword and helmet he had made for one of his first artistic projects. On display at the William Morris Gallery, these items reveal lots about Morris' early life, his influences and are even linked to his love story with his wife.