You're Dead to Me BBC Podcasts

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined in Bronze Age Crete by Dr Stephen Kershaw and comedian Josie Long to learn all about the ancient Minoan civilisation. Many of us know the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur: King Minos of Crete feeds young men and women to the half-human beast in the labyrinth under his palace until the brave Theseus kills the monster. At the end of the 19th Century, a Cretan archaeologist discovered a palace that many believed had belonged to Minos himself. Not only that, but experts soon found traces of an entire Bronze Age civilisation on the island. But what was this Minoan society really like? From the palaces of the mighty, through the daily lives of ordinary people and their religious beliefs, this episode explores the Minoans and the archaeological work that has uncovered the truth behind the myths.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Anna McCully Stewart
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: James Cook

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined in twentieth-century Germany by Dr Bodie Ashton and comedian Jordan Gray to learn all about LGBTQ life and culture during the Weimar Republic. After the failure of the First World War and the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II, German politics underwent something of a revolution. With the end of the old imperial order came the questioning of its conservative social values, and feminist and socialist campaigners sought to rethink old assumptions about gender roles, family life and sexuality. Part of this included a flourishing of LGBTQ life and culture in the 1920s and early 1930s. In this episode, Greg and his guests explore the political and economic circumstances of Weimar Germany, queer club culture, magazines and filmmaking; alongside research into sexuality and campaigns for transgender and gay liberation, to discover why Weimar Germany was such a focal point for LGBTQ life in this period.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Jon Norman Mason
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: James Cook

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined in nineteenth-century England by Dr Michael Taylor and comedian Sara Pascoe to learn all about pioneering palaeontologist Mary Anning. Born to a cabinet-maker father who collected and sold fossils to make extra money, Anning went fossil hunting from a young age. Over the course of her life, she discovered complete ichthyosaur, plesiosaur and pterosaur skeletons, and made great contributions to the emerging discipline of palaeontology. But she was also shut out by the largely male scientific establishment. This episode charts her extraordinary life story, exploring the significance of her discoveries against the background of nineteenth-century debates about religion and science and controversies around the age of the earth.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Annabel Storr
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: James Cook

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined in 15th-Century England by Dr Lydia Zeldenrust and comedian Robin Ince to learn all about the early history of book printing. 2024 marks the 550th anniversary of the first book printed in English: a history of Troy, produced in 1474 by William Caxton. In the decades that followed, numerous printing shops would be set up across the country, and a huge variety of texts printed, including those that carried potentially dangerous ideas. Starting with the origins of printing in East Asia, this episode explores the first century of printing in England, looking at how books were produced and by whom, what sorts of texts were being printed, who was reading them, and how the state reacted to this new industry.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Jon Norman Mason
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: James Cook

We’re back! Greg Jenner previews the topics and guest coming up in the new series of You're Dead To Me which starts on Friday 5 July, 2024.

Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Elizabeth Tyler and comedian Jen Brister in early medieval England to learn all about Queen Emma of Normandy. Emma was wife to two English kings – Aethelred and Cnut – and mother to two more, Harthacnut and Edward the Confessor. She was a key player in the complex politics of 11th-Century England, and symbolised the overlapping English, Norman and Scandinavian identities at play in England even before the Norman conquest of 1066. This episode traces Emma’s life from her childhood in Normandy, through her marriages to the English Aethelred and Danish Cnut, and into her final years as mother to the king. Along the way, it explores Emma’s political savvy, and the messy family relationships that shaped early medieval English history.
This is a radio edit of the original podcast episode. For the full-length version, please look further back in the feed.
Research by: Josh Rice
Written by: Josh Rice, Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse