255 episodes

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.

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society History Hit

    • History
    • 4.8 • 738 Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

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.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    History of Grief: Sky Burials & Victorian Death Photos

    History of Grief: Sky Burials & Victorian Death Photos

    Why did the Victorians dress up their dead relatives for photo shoots?
    What are the origins of embalming? And why do most of us have such a separated relationship with death?
    Helping Kate get to the bottom of all of this is the wonderful Brandy Schillace, author of Death's Summer Coat: What the History of Death and Dying Teaches Us About Life and Living.
    This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.
    Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/voting
    Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXT.
    You can take part in our listener survey here.
    Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

    • 43 min
    Flagellation Brothels: Georgian Spanking Houses

    Flagellation Brothels: Georgian Spanking Houses

    18th century London was a haven for kinky connoisseurs, and flagellation houses were at the heart of it.
    Whatever your preference to be spanked by - birches, whips, paddles - they had you covered.
    What went on behind closed doors? Who was being spanked, and why was it all the range for upper class men?
    Taking Kate into this naughty underworld today is Julie Peakman, author of Lascivious Bodies: A Sexual History of the Eighteenth Century.
    This episode was edited by Tom Delargy, the producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.
    Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/voting
    Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXT.
    You can take part in our listener survey here.
    Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

    • 39 min
    Incest & Royalty: House of the Dragon & Beyond

    Incest & Royalty: House of the Dragon & Beyond

    With the House of the Dragon featuring *that* incest scene, we thought we'd look into the real history of sexual relations within families.
    Has it always been taboo? How have the necessary degrees of separation between partners grown and shrunk over the years? And why were so many royal families keen on familial relations in the past...Hapsburg chin anyone?
    Kate is Betwixt the Sheets with Brian Connolly to discuss the history of incest, an episode suggested to us by a listener. You can read more of Brian's work here.
    WARNING: There is adult content and explicit words in this episode.
    Senior producer: Charlotte Long. Producer: Sophie Gee & Stuart Beckwith. Mixed by Siobhan Dale.
    Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/voting
    Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXT.
    You can take part in our listener survey here.
    Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

    • 47 min
    Gaslighting to Woke: Origins of Modern Buzzwords

    Gaslighting to Woke: Origins of Modern Buzzwords

    What does it mean to be 'woke'? What did the bluesman Leadbelly mean when he coined the phrase? And what does a story set in Victorian London have to do with the term gaslighting?
    Joining Kate today is Robbie Morgan, Lecturer and Consultant in Applied Ethics at Leeds University, to chat about the buzzwords we use and how their meanings have changed for better and worse since they were first coined.
    This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.
    Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/voting
    Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXT.
    You can take part in our listener survey here.
    Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

    • 40 min
    Surprising History of Redheads: From Prehistoric Gingers to Ed Sheeran

    Surprising History of Redheads: From Prehistoric Gingers to Ed Sheeran

    Boudica. Elizabeth I. Ed Sheeran. The history of the redhead goes back thousands of years, and it fluctuates from prejudice in medieval Europe, to the height of fashion in Protestant England.
    2% of the global population are redheads, so if you are one, you're one of a special few.
    Jacky Colliss Harvey, author of Red: A History of the Redhead, joins Kate Betwixt the Sheets to explore red hair throughout the ages, debunking myths and analysing its place in society.
    This episode was edited by Tom Delargy, the producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.
    Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/voting
    Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXT.
    You can take part in our listener survey here.
    Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

    • 36 min
    Queer London & The Post-War Moral Panic

    Queer London & The Post-War Moral Panic

    In the wake of the Second World War, a moral panic swept through Britain around a rise in homosexuality.
    London was the heart of this scare because of how thriving and vibrant the gay scene was.
    How did lawmakers react during time? What affect did class have on the gay experience? And amongst the darkness of the period, what joy could be found?
    Joining Kate today to explore this time is Peter Parker, author of Some Men In London: Queer Life, 1945-1959.
    This episode was edited by Tom Delargy. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.
    Voting is open for the Listener's Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards, so if you enjoy what we're doing, we'd love it if you took a quick follow this link and click on Betwixt the Sheets: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/voting
    Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXT.
    You can take part in our listener survey here.
    Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast

    • 40 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
738 Ratings

738 Ratings

Hill DL ,

This pod has it ALL 🔥

This podcast is simply fantastic - witty, informative, and oh so scandalous. Dr. Kate Lister is a rare gem of a host - expert knowledge, she’s super gracious, and utterly amusing. Kate’s "fair dues warning" before each show is something you don't want to miss. Listen and become obsessed!

ScareCrowA7X ,

Extremely Interesting

One of the funniest and well researched, not to mention the many various topics of discussion make Betwixt one of the great History podcasts that are out there that are both informative and easy and a joy to listen too.

Nessa.DeLane ,

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Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal

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