For your listening pleasure....

I have been listening to a selection of podcasts for a while now and still thoroughly enjoy doing so.

 

I thought today I would spotlight a couple of new-to-me historically based podcasts that are currently on and that are really fascinating.

 

The first is Shakespeare's Restless World which is available from BBC Radio 4 and has been produced in conjunction with the British Museum. Last year I listened to the History of the World in a Hundred Objects and loved it, so when I heard that there was going to be a new, similar podcast I knew I had to listen. The premise of this podcast is to again take objects, but this time the objects are specifically related to the life, times and/or work of Shakespeare.

 

There are going to be twenty items looked at during the whole series. So far I have listened to four episodes and the items that have been discussed are :

 

• A medal commemorating Sir Francis Drake's voyages and what that represented in terms of the expansion of the British empire;  
• A fork found in the archaeological dig at The Globe that led to a conversation about the food that would have been consumed during the performances held there 
• A communion cup that was used to discuss the religious issues during Shakespeare's times  
• An painting of the Tudors which prompts a discussion about one of the big Elizabethan issues - the succession to the throne, and how this was discussed in the plays of the time.

 

Fascinating, enlightening listening!

 

The second series I wanted to mention comes from another British museum, this time the Imperial War Museum. Leading up to the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the museum is releasing a number of podcasts where they have taken voice recordings, previously held in their archives, of people who were actually there and have put together themed podcasts. So far there have been 13 episodes and some of the themes have included The Christmas Truce of 1914, the first Gas Attacks at Ypres, Zeppelins and so much more.

 

There is also a lot of other information available on the website at http://www.1914.org/, including images and news and so much more!

 

Again, both fascinating and enlightening listening!