Today In History with The Retrospectors
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The Birth of Mexican Wrestling
21 september 2022 · 12 min
El Santo, masks, spandex suits... all were yet to be conceived when Salvador Lutteroth González launched Mexico's first ever national pro wrestling promotion, on 21st September 1933.
‘Lucha Libre’ - basically translated as ‘freestyle wrestling’ - has its roots in folklore, carnival sideshows and Greco-Roman traditions; but it was only after matches began to be televised in the 1950s that the events truly took flight.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the authenticity of this scripted sport; reveal the surprising source of production finances that enabled the expansion of the promotion; and discuss the luchador who doesn’t even fight, except in union disputes…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Marvel of Mexican Wrestling: A Brief History’ (The Daily Iowan, 2021): https://dailyiowan.com/2021/07/27/the-marvel-of-mexican-wrestling-a-brief-history/
• ‘Lucha libre – an introduction to Mexican wrestling’ (Lonely Planet, 2015): https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/lucha-libre-an-introduction-to-mexican-wrestling
• ‘El Santo vs. las Mujeres Vampiro’ (1962): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bS7VDneMcM&t=60s
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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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First Cannes Film Festival
20 september 2022 · 12 min
There was no red carpet, no Palme d’Or, and no Palais des Festivals - but Hollywood nonetheless descended on the French Riviera for the opening of the first Cannes Film Festival on 20th September, 1946.
It was actually the second time the event had been attempted - the first, in September 1939, was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the competition was conceived as a rebuke to fascist propaganda scooping top prizes at the world’s first film festival, Venice;
reveal why Hitchcock’s ‘Notorious’ never stood a chance after its disastrous debut screening; and consider the ‘Raoul!’ meme that has persisted at Cannes festivals for more than fifty years…
Further Reading:
• ‘Cannes Film Festival: See Vintage Photos of the First-Ever Fest’ (Time, 2015): https://time.com/3843724/first-cannes-history/
• ‘The first Cannes Film Festival : September 1946’ (Numero, 2020): https://www.numero.com/en/cinema/cannes-film-festival-second-world-war-september-1946-michelle-morgan-alfred-hitchcock-the-battle-of-the-rails
• ‘Cannes Film Festival’ (British Movietone, 1946): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ceQplqpBkg
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Let’s Illuminate Blackpool
19 september 2022 · 12 min
Powered by steam engines, and positioned on 60ft poles along the seafront, the Blackpool illuminations were first shown to adoring public on 19th September, 1879.
70,000 people came to see eight arc lamps, positioned 320 yards apart. Between them they provided illumination equal to 48,000 candles: an incredible spectacle considering it would still be another year before Thomas Edison patented the modern commercial lightbulb.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly recall some of the weirder celebrities who have been roped into performing the iconic switching-on ceremony in the Lancashire town; reveal the connection between the Walt Disney Company and this Northern institution; and explain how the resort initially developed its three piers to segregate the middle-classes from the ‘Kiss Me Quick’ day-trippers…
Further Reading:
• ‘Blackpool Illuminations celebrates its centenary’ (The Guardian, 2012): https://www.theguardian.com/travel/gallery/2012/aug/31/blackpool-illuminations-centenary-100-years-lights
• ‘Cities of Light: Two Centuries of Urban Illumination - Eds. Dietrich Neumann, Margaret Maile Petty, Sandy Isenstadt’ (Taylor & Francis, 2014):
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Cities_of_Light/iHLfBQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=blackpool+illuminations&pg=PA58&printsec=frontcover
• ‘Vintage Blackpool Illuminations’ (AshBlackpoolFan, 2020):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X5wkeF34pQ
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Dubbing Gerry Adams
16 september 2022 · 12 min
The ‘broadcasting ban’ on 11 Northern Irish organizations including Sinn Fein was finally lifted by Prime Minister John Major on 16th September, 1994, one fortnight after an IRA ceasefire had been achieved.
The regulations, implemented six years earlier by Margaret Thatcher and her Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, prevented British TV networks from broadcasting interviews with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, lest they drum up sympathy for Republicanist terrorism. So the broadcasters found a workaround: they employed voice actors to dub over the interviews.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly re-examine some of the absurd circumstances in which the ban was implemented and avoided; consider the pushback to the policy from the Labour party and miffed BBC staffers; and explain how the ban played into Cuba’s hands…
Further Reading:
• ‘Northern Ireland, the BBC, and Censorship in Thatcher's Britain By Robert J. Savage’ (Oxford University Press, 2022): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Northern_Ireland_the_BBC_and_Censorship/UJtjEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%27sinn+fein%27+and+%27broadcast+ban%27&printsec=frontcover
• ‘The 'broadcast ban' on Sinn Fein’ (BBC News, 2005): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4409447.stm
• ‘Sinn Fein Leader Gerry Adams Voiced By An Actor’ (BBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdf4xOdas1g
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Rebirth of the MINI
15 september 2022 · 12 min
Rerun. BMW unveiled its redesigned MINI for the first time, on 15th September, 1997; the eve of the Frankfurt Motor Show. Its predecessor had been in production for 41 years.
Reborn as a ‘city’ car, rather than a micro compact, and with Union flags painted on its roof, this was the moment the iconic brand became seen as cheeky, sporty and British - but not, actually, especially small.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the MINI has its roots in the Suez Crisis; ask why the similar VW Beetle reboot was discontinued in 2019; and reveal how many people can officially squeeze into a ‘new’ Mini...
Further Reading:
• ‘ROVER SHOWS NEW MINI; LAUNCH IS 2000’ (Automotive News Europe, 1997): https://europe.autonews.com/article/19970915/ANE/709150811/rover-shows-new-mini-launch-is-2000
• ‘The history of the Mini in pictures’ (Daily Telegraph, 2013): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/picturegalleries/10457166/The-history-of-the-Mini-in-pictures.html?frame=2737732
• How the BBC covered the launch (1997): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is-9aI7utFQ&t=112s
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Moscow Shoots For The Moon
14 september 2022 · 12 min
The USSR pulled ahead in the Space Race on 14th September, 1959 - when they became the first nation to successfully crash a man-made object into the Moon.
Luna II was carrying a metal sphere bearing Soviet symbols, a replica of which was pettily presented to President Eisenhower by a jubilant Nikita Khrushchev.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how Nixon and Kennedy then went on to frame - and win - the ‘Space Race’; examine the ‘love-hate’ relationship British astronomer Bernard Lovell had with the Luna project; and uncover the ultimate punishment the Americans administered to Khrushchev on his Stateside tour…
Further Reading:
• ‘The sixtieth anniversary of the first human created object to land on the Moon, Luna 2’ (British Library, 2019): https://blogs.bl.uk/science/2019/09/the-sixtieth-anniversary-of-the-first-human-created-object-to-land-on-the-moon-luna-2.html
• ‘The Other First Moon Landing’ (Vice, 2016): https://www.vice.com/en/article/pgkq59/the-other-first-moon-landing-luna-two-anniversary]
• ‘Luna 2 (USSR)’ (International Astronautical Federation): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osfs3AnH-ZA&t=58s
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The Man With The Hole In His Head
13 september 2022 · 12 min
Phineas Gage, a foreman on the New England railroads, was pierced through the head with a 13-pound tamping iron on 13th September, 1848. The rod went straight through his skull and landed several yards away.
Despite this, Gage was able to present himself at a physician, and anticipated being back at work in a couple of days. In reality, his convalescence was long and difficult, and Dr John Martyn Harlow claimed Gage’s personality had undergone permanent change - an observation which made him perhaps the most notorious case study in neuroscience. Lees meerIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly question Dr Harlow’s account; discuss the surgery that saved Gage’s life; and explain how the 2007 discovery of a photograph portraying him holding a ‘harpoon’ has changed how he is perceived forever…
Content Warning: injury, gore.
Further Reading:
• ‘Phineas Gage and the effect of an iron bar through the head on personality’ (The Guardian, 2010): https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2010/nov/05/phineas-gage-head-personality
• ‘Phineas Gage: Neuroscience's Most Famous Patient’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2010): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/phineas-gage-neurosciences-most-famous-patient-11390067/
• ‘Lessons Of The Brain: The Phineas Gage Case’ (Harvard University, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXbAMHzYGJ0
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Meet The Monkees
12 september 2022 · 12 min
NBC premiered ‘Royal Flush’ - the pilot episode of iconic Sixties pop-comedy show The Monkees - on 12th September, 1966. And the Daydream Believers quickly found their way into America’s heart…
The Beatles-a-like actors had never met or worked with each other ever before answering an ad seeking ‘four insane boys, aged 18-21’, placed by‘Five Easy Pieces’ producer Bob Rafelson.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why each episode of the sitcom ended with a fourth wall-breaking discussion between the boys; explore how credible songwriters like Carole King and Neil Diamond ended up working on their singles; and discover why, despite the boyband’s enormous success, the series was cancelled in its second season…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Untold Truth Of The Monkees’ (Grunge, 2019): https://www.grunge.com/146172/the-untold-truth-of-the-monkees/
• ‘Why 'The Monkees' Was a Perfect Meld of Television and Music (That Will Never Happen Again)’ (Huffington Post, 2016): https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-the-monkees-was-a-per_b_10368468
• ‘The Monkees: Royal Flush’ (NBC, 1966): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JESo3dcRuo
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Let's Crash Some Trains
9 september 2022 · 12 min
High-speed collisions between locomotives became mainstream entertainment on 9th September, 1896, when Joe Connolly - AKA “Head-On Joe” - staged the first of the 70 deliberate trainwrecks with which he entered the record books.
The trend lasted until the 1930s and attracted tens of thousands of spectators to state fairs across the United States. The events were responsible for maiming and even killing some witnesses - but this did nothing to affect their popularity.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pore over the wreck of Texas’s notorious ‘Crash at Crush’; explain how the Depression ultimately killed off the spectacle forever; and tot up Head-On Joe’s Iowan Box Office receipts…
Further Reading:
• ‘For 40 Years, Crashing Trains Was One of America’s Favorite Pastimes’ (Atlas Obscura, 2019): https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/staged-train-wrecks
• ‘Iowa State Fair attractions: Spectacles like train crashes, elephants used to entertain’ (Des Moines Register, 2019):
https://eu.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/columnists/courtney-crowder/2019/08/16/iowa-state-fair-attractions-train-crashes-elephants-plane-crashes-war-shrapnel-cannonball-spectacle/2019050001/
• ‘1932 Iowa State Fair: Roosevelt/Hoover Train Collision’ (Kinolibrary, 1932): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci5l0ljjVBw\
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The First Miss America
8 september 2022 · 12 min
Margaret Gorman, a schoolgirl from Washington DC, was crowned ‘Miss Intercity Beauty’ at the “Fall Frolic” in Atlantic City on 8th September, 1921 - an event that would eventually become known as Miss America, and watched by 75% of American households.
She and her fellow competitors took part in an early incarnation of the swimsuit round (complete with woollen leggings), making their grand entrance on a barge, headed up by ‘Neptune’ (played by the octogenarian inventor of smokeless gun powder. Of course.)
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the controversy that saw early favourite Virginia Lee kicked out on day one; consider the appeal of the ‘rolling chair parade’; and address the intrinsic Madonna/Whore complex at the heart of this iconic beauty pageant…
Further Reading:
• ‘Margaret Gorman won first Miss America pageant amid scandal’ (The Washington Post, 2021): https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/12/16/first-miss-america-margaret-gorman/
• ‘Live from Atlantic City: The History of the Miss America Pageant Before, After and in Spite of Television By Armando Riverol’ (Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1992):
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Live_from_Atlantic_City/sf1dR1iEC78C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22miss+america%22&printsec=frontcover
• ‘Miss America and Atlantic City Become Forever United [1921-2006]’ (The Spectacular History of the New Jersey Shore): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7VJBnDkkgA
Enjoy this? There’s FIVE MINUTES MORE available to our show’s top supporters, in which you can discover what Margaret Gorman did next; how the competition came to be called ‘Miss America’; and what the consolation prizes on offer were for the less-than-beautiful beauties. Unlock it - and a bonus bit like it, every single week - by supporting our show on Apple Podcasts, or at https://patreon.com/Retrospectors
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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecc… Lees meer -
The Umbrella Assassin
7 september 2022 · 11 min
Rerun. Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov was shot by a poisoned pellet whilst walking on Waterloo Bridge on 7th September, 1978. Four days later, he was dead.
He believed the bullet - believed to be filled with ricin - had emanated from the umbrella of a Soviet secret agent. The British press labelled his assasination the ‘Poison Brolly Riddle’.
In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion explain how Markov was initially disbelieved by doctors; reveal the mysterious involvement of a pig in the Porton Down investigation; and ask whether poisoning is really as efficient a method of murder as it seems...
Further Reading:
‘The poison-tipped umbrella: the death of Georgi Markov in 1978’ (The Guardian, 2020): https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2020/sep/09/georgi-markov-killed-poisoned-umbrella-london-1978
‘The umbrella murder mystery’ (The Oldie): https://www.theoldie.co.uk/article/the-umbrella-murder-mystery
Umbrella fired fatal ricin dart (CNN, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZO5Lf8wD_c
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Up The Royal Oak
6 september 2022 · 12 min
Charles II, the 21 year-old King of Scotland, sought refuge up an oak tree at Boscobel House on 6th September, 1651. Having been chased out of Worcester by Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads, he feared for his life, and was disguised as a working class woodsman.
The escape was much re-told upon his restoration to the throne, and highly romanticised; being committed to poetry by Cowley, prose by Peyps - and inspiring hundreds of English pubs to name themselves ‘The Royal Oak’.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal that Charles was NOT alone up that tree all day; consider the culinary difference between 17th century posset and British Airways posset; and explore the ways English Heritage have managed to monetise this iconic moment of the English Civil War…
Further Reading:
• ‘Charles II Hides in the Boscobel Oak’ (History Today, 2001): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/charles-ii-hides-boscobel-oak
• Oak grove that saved Charles II is reborn (The Times, 2020): https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/oak-grove-that-saved-charles-ii-is-reborn-p00hcl8sm
• ‘Tales From English Folklore #4: Charles II and the Oak Tree’ (English Heritage, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxFCZcss8d8
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Bring On The Beard Tax
5 september 2022 · 12 min
Peter The Great levied a tax on facial hair on 5th September, 1698, requiring every man in Moscow to shave or stump up some cash - although there were exemptions for the Orthodox Church.
The hare-brained scheme occurred to the eccentric Peter on his expeditions through Europe, where he came to see clean chins as symbolic of progress and sophistication.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover Peter’s other ‘European rules of comportment’; convert the costs of Peter’s taxes into the highly-relatable metric of ‘sturgeon from North’; and reveal how a similar tax was proposed in New Jersey as recently as 1907…
Further Reading:
• ‘Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present’ (Mauricio Borrero, 2009):
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Russia/dhm0cGdrTOIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=beard+tax+1698&pg=PA83&printsec=frontcover
• ‘10 terrible taxes in history’ (HistoryExtra, 2018): https://www.historyextra.com/period/general-history/10-terrible-taxes/
• ‘Ten Minute History - Peter the Great and the Russian Empire’ (History Matters, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tBNr2gjAA0
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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EXTRA: Can nuclear power overcome its image problem?
3 september 2022 · 25 min
Our friends at The Week (where, fun fact, The Retrospectors met) have a great podcast we'd like to share with you for your Saturday listening pleasure.
It's called The Overview, and it's the perfect accompaniment to our shows this week on the SOLAR APOCALYPSE and NUCLEAR DIPLOMACY - because it's about the future of nuclear power.
As the world races to decarbonise, nuclear power is being touted as an essential energy source. But safety fears remain, along with claims that nuclear reactors are too expensive and too slow to build. So just what would it take to win over the nuclear sceptics?
Presented by Julia O'Driscoll, with guests Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, and Douglas Parr, chief scientist and policy director at Greenpeace UK. Thanks to The Week's Kari Wilkin. Music and Sound Design by Rich Jarman. Produced by Rich Jarman for Rethink Audio.
Follow The Overview to discover all episodes and get new ones as they drop: https://podfollow.com/the-overview-1
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Solar Explosion!
2 september 2022 · 12 min
The Carrington Event - the largest solar storm in recorded history - occurred on 2nd September, 1859. Although its effects would later be felt by millions around the world, it had initially only been spotted by one amateur, British astronomer: Richard Carrington.
What he’d witnessed was a giant Coronal Mass Ejection - a significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. If repeated today, it could bring down satellites and cause city-wide blackouts across the globe.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly investigate the melting of telegraph lines; predict a cataclysmic future caused by CMEs; and pause to look at how beautiful it all is and how insignificant we all are…
Further Reading:
• ‘A Perfect Solar Superstorm: The 1859 Carrington Event’ (HISTORY, 2012): https://www.history.com/news/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event
• ‘The Sun Kings - The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and the Tale of How Modern Astronomy Began’ by Stuart Clark (Princeton University Press, 2009): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Sun_Kings/EhG_DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=carrington+event+end+of+the+world&printsec=frontcover
• ‘Solar storms: more dangerous than you think. Can we survive another Carrington Event?’ (The Why Files, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftrbdFGTQO4
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Nokia’s Beloved Brick
1 september 2022 · 11 min
Rerun. The Nokia 3310 - featuring Snake II, pop-on/off covers, and a discreetly concealed antenna - was launched on 1st September, 2000 at a boardsports event in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Nicknamed ‘the brick’, the handset went on to shift 126 million units— more than 20 times as many as the first-generation iPhone.
In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion marvel at a time when only 50% of people in the US had a phone in their pockets; rack their brains to recall the OTHER games that were bundled on the handset alongside Snake II; and wonder if the nostalgia for this phone says more about the gadget itself, or the era it represents…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Indestructible Phone’ (LGR, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xNVmmJ0nZY
• Nokia’s press release for the launch (2000). Which doesn’t mention the phone at all: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2000/08/16/1845367/0/en/Don-t-be-bored-Be-totally-board.html
• ‘The Nokia 3310 just turned 20 years old – here's what made it special’ (TechRadar, 2020): https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/the-nokia-3310-just-turned-20-years-old-heres-what-made-it-special
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Gorilla Marketing
31 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Cadbury’s Dairy Milk re-energised its flagging brand in the UK on 31st August, 2007, when its iconic ‘Gorilla’ ad premiered in the Big Brother final on Channel 4.
The 90-second commercial, which featured a gorilla drumming along to Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’, was an instant hit on YouTube (a novelty back in 2007), and turned around sales for the chocolate company after a series of PR misfires and a salmonella scare.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the ad’s concept was reverse-engineered into a Cadbury’s marketing brief; reveal how the gorilla suit was recycled from the costume cupboard of a famous Hollywood thriller; and unpick how the spot’s phenomenal success became something of an albatross for the team behind it…
Further Reading:
• ‘How Cadbury's advertising stepped out of the shadow of Gorilla’ (Contagious, 2020):
https://www.contagious.com/news-and-views/how-cadbury-brand-advertising-went-from-gorilla-to-generosity
• ‘Why Cadbury’s ‘Gorilla’ ad nearly didn’t get made’ (Marketing Week, 2018): https://www.marketingweek.com/cadbury-gorilla/
• ‘Gorilla’ (Fallon campaign for Cadbury’s, 2007): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo
But wait, there’s more! We are the glass-and-a-half podcast of joy and we have an additional SIX MINUTES of chat about Cadbury’s iconic ad available to hear now, exclusively to our supporters. To unlock it - and other bonus bits, every single week - visit https://patreon.com/Retrospectors or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts and support the show. Thanks!
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The Moscow-Washington Hotline
30 augustus 2022 · 12 min
After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviets and Americans agreed to install a ‘hot line’ between their Presidents. On 30th August, 1963, a 10,000 mile transatlantic Washington-Moscow cable went live from the Pentagon to Red Square.
In the public imagination (in part thanks to Kubrik’s ‘Dr Strangelove’), it remains a red telephone - but it is, in fact, a pair of beige teletype machines that each required ten staff to operate.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why, prior to this, diplomacy was often being skipped altogether in favour of inflammatory radio broadcasts; consider what the messages the two nations send each other can tell us about their cultural differences; and marvel at just how much geopolitics hinges on whether two particular world leaders like each other…
Further Reading:
• 'Hot line' between Washington and Moscow to be opened’ (The Guardian, 1963): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/31/hot-line-between-washington-and-moscow-1963-archive
• ‘There Never Was Such a Thing as a Red Phone in the White House’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2013):
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/there-never-was-such-a-thing-as-a-red-phone-in-the-white-house-1129598/?no-ist
• ‘History Of The Moscow-Washington ‘Red Phone’’ (NBC News, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR5Z8jYRyFo
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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When Caesar Invaded Britain
26 augustus 2022 · 12 min
When Julius Caesar showed up in the Channel with thousands of men on 26th August 55 BC, he doubtless intended to get a bit further than the coast of Kent. Unfortunately for him, he had moored his ships where they could be pelted from the cliffs, and the Gaulish chief he sent in advance had been imprisoned.
Nonetheless, he reported back to Rome that his British adventure had been enormously worthwhile - as he had traveled to the very edges of the known world - and had another, marginally more successful, pop at it just one year later.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly dig into Caesar's own confessions of ignorance about the British people and lands; consider how we Brits were already more familiar with Roman culture than vice-versa; and explain how Caesar’s adventures, though ultimately unsuccessful, may well have inspired the later Roman takeovers…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Roman Invasions of Britain’ (University of Warwick): https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/warwickclassicsnetwork/romancoventry/resources/interactions/invasion/
• ‘Julius Caesar's Invasions Of Britain’ (HistoryExtra, 2018):
https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/caesars-british-gamble/
• ‘Caesar on Britain // Roman Primary Source (58-49 BC)’ (Voices of the Past, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYnLzXK4o7c
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The Beatles’ Giggling Guru
25 augustus 2022 · 11 min
Rerun. John, Paul, George and Ringo travelled to a transcendental meditation workshop in Bangor, Wales on 25th August, 1967 - at the invitation of ‘giggling guru’, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
The event changed everything for The Fab Four - influencing their music, their philosophy, and ultimately contributing to the end of the band.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly question whether the retreat lead them to give up LSD; reveal how Ringo, frankly, never really seemed to be in to it; and uncover the Maharishi’s later plans for a Yogic amusement park...
Further Reading:
• ‘Lennon was right. The Giggling Guru was a shameless old fraud’ (Daily Mail, 2008): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-512747/Lennon-right-The-Giggling-Guru-shameless-old-fraud.html#:~:text=The%20Giggling%20Guru%20was%20a%20shameless%20old%20fraud,teach%20them%20to%20defy%20gravity%20by%20%22yogic%20flying%22.
• Doug Henning’s theme park plans: https://doughenningproject.com/tag/theme-park/
• The Beatles in Bangor – silent news footage (1967): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuyE3bSnfVo&t=6s
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The Last Hieroglyph
24 augustus 2022 · 12 min
In the temple at Philae, an Egyptian Priest called Nesmeterakhem created the last ever known hieroglyphic inscription on 24th August, 394. Although ostensibly praising the God Mandulis, the scribe spent just as long commemorating his own presence - and the names of his Mum and Dad.
For centuries, Western academics assumed his words might be more mysterious and spiritual than the somewhat prosaic reality - because, until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799, there was no accurate way to read them.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why hieroglyphs were written for centuries, even as ever-diminishing numbers of people could understand them; reveal ‘how to entertain a bored Pharoah’; and track down the earliest known example of dick graffiti… Lees meerFurther Reading:
• ‘The Great Pyramid Was Not Built by Slave (+ 9 Other Surprising Facts About Ancient Egypt)’ (HistoryExtra, 2016): https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-egypt/facts-ancient-egypt-mummification-cleopatra-pharaohs-tutankhamun-life-death/
• ‘2,500-year-old erotic graffiti found in unlikely setting on Aegean island’ (The Guardian, 2014): https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/06/worlds-earliest-erotic-graffiti-astypalaia-classical-greece#start-of-comments
• ‘Decoding the Secrets of Egyptian Hieroglyphs’ (Wondrium, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIjREbbFjNE
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ Robbery
23 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Stockholm Syndrome - the condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors during captivity - was named after a bank robbery that began on 23rd August, 1973. It lasted for five days, with 73% of the Swedish public tuning in to watch it.
The robber was Jan-Erik Olsson, who pulled a loaded submachine gun, fired at the ceiling and, disguising his voice to sound like an American, cried out in English, “The party has just begun!”.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick how Olsson endeared himself to his hostages; consider what criminologists detected that inspired them to create a new ‘syndrome’; and explain how the story ended in a Thai supermarket…
Further Reading: Lees meer‘The Real Bank Robbery That Gave the World Stockholm Syndrome’ (Time, 2020): https://time.com/5874808/stockholm-syndrome-history/
‘The Strange Origin Of Stockholm Syndrome’ (Grunge, 2020): https://www.grunge.com/243202/the-strange-origin-of-stockholm-syndrome/
‘SWEDISH BANK GUNMAN HOLDING HOSTAGES IN STOCKHOLM’ (Associated Press, 1973): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9kueGkjva4
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Balloons With Bombs On
22 augustus 2022 · 11 min
The world’s first notable air raid occurred on 22nd August, 1849, when the Austrian Army attacked Venice using a fleet of 200 miniature hot air balloons, each delivering a 33lb pound bomb.
Following a disastrous first attempt - when the balloons blew back on to their own men - this time the Austrians equipped each balloon with a long copper wire to trigger the detonation.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly weigh up if the event had a decisive effect on their recapture of the Italian city; consider the psychological impact of attacking from the skies; and reveal why a ‘drone’ is called a drone…
Further Reading:
• ‘Bombs over Venice’ (History Today, 1958): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/bombs-over-venice
• ‘Drones in Society’ by Ron Bartsch, James Coyne and Katherine Gray (Taylor & Francis, 2016) : https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Drones_in_Society/7CglDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=1849+austrian+venice+balloon&pg=PA20&printsec=frontcover
• ‘Planehook Stories: The Siege of Venice’ (Droneport Texas): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQQhrd7_32w
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The Whole Truth
19 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Court witnesses have promised to tell ‘the whole truth’ since the 13th century; but, on 19th August, 1992, the U.S. Appeals Court permitted Wallace Ward to stand trial under his own oath - pledging not ‘truth’, but ‘fully integrated honesty’.
Ward, the president of a Nevada-based mail order company, had coined the phrase himself when he devised Neothink, a cultish belief system structured around charging hundreds of dollars for self-help advice.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly weigh up whether Ward’s bizarre convictions really were equivalent to religious faith; trace back the origins of oath-taking in English-speaking courtrooms; and uncover the surprising history of raising your hand when swearing to tell the truth…
Further Reading:
• ‘United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Wallace Ward, Defendant-appellant, 973 F.2d 730 (9th Cir. 1992)’ (Justia): https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/973/730/386559/
• ‘How the courtroom got its oath’ (Slate, 2004): https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/04/how-the-courtroom-got-its-oath.html
• ‘Secret society mailing mysterious invitations’ (Good Morning Maryland, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZvdfabaIOo
… And, if you enjoyed this episode, there’s an additional three-and-a-half minutes of material about oath-taking available to our supporters, in which the Retrospectors discuss the strangest books that have been used as a prop, and reveal the times when it wasn't a book at all, but a saucer, a candle, a dog, or a chicken! To unlock this content - and a bonus bit like it each week - subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts, or support our Patreon: https://patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Reth… Lees meer -
The First TV Weather Report
18 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Rerun. A weather map was first broadcast on TV on 18th August, 1926 - but there were no fancy graphics, no on-screen forecaster, and only one intended recipient: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, DC.
In the UK, the Met Office had been producing weather forecasts since 1861, but the BBC didn’t bring a ‘weatherman’ to British screens until 1954.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain Charles Darwin’s connection to weather-forecasting; review the first weather forecast on NBC’s Today programme, and reveal exactly how much time the Brits spend discussing the weather…
Further Reading:
• ‘Weather forecast facts: the first forecast in Britain, the birth of the Met Office and the first TV weatherman’ (HistoryExtra, 2018): https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/facts-history-weather-forecast-weatherman-tv/
• ‘BBC Television Weather at 60 - A Celebration’ (BBC, 2014): https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/television-weather
• ‘TODAY's First Weather Forecast: Jan. 14, 1952’ (NBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiAyWYCcAI0
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Party at the Palace
17 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Louis XIV was among the V.I.P. guests at Nicolas Fouquet’s lavish houseparty on 17th August, 1661 - and was supposedly so consumed with jealousy that he had Fouquet arrested for treason.
Although not entirely true, the story adds to the mystique of Vaux-le-Vicomte, the opulent chateau Fouquet created with the design team who later went on to reimagine Versailles.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Molière, d'Artagnan, and even the Man in the Iron Mask became tied up in this iconic event; consider how Fouquet constructed his extraordinary castle in just three years; and reveal the impressive contents of his guests’ Party Bags…
Further Reading:
• ‘Vaux-le-Vicomte Book: Inside The Lavish Home That Inspired Versailles’ (Bloomberg, 2021): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-10-08/vaux-le-vicomte-book-inside-the-lavish-home-that-inspired-versailles
• ‘Party Like It's 1661’ (People Newspapers, 2020): https://www.peoplenewspapers.com/2020/01/09/party-like-its-1661/
• ‘Treasures from Vaux-le-Vicomte – Episode One: Fouquet’s Legacy’ (Sotheby’s, 2018):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKGBCxuchLw Lees meerFor bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The Deadly Air Race
16 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Aviation in the 1920s could be a lethal business, as proven on 16th August 1927, when only 2 of the 15 planes that entered The Dole Derby - a $35,000 contest to fly from California to Hawaii - successfully reached their destination.
The brainchild of pineapple magnate James D. Dole, the competition inspired the public imagination - and a crowd of 100,000 people - but claimed the lives of TEN participants.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the inefficient and dangerous aeronautics of the time; explain how winning team Woolaroc were able to distinguish themselves ahead of the pack; and reveal how the modern-day Dole company have distanced themselves from such provocative promotions…
Further Reading:
• ‘Fifteen Planes Enter, Two Planes Leave - The Deadly Dole Air Race’ (Atlas Obscura, 2011): https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/morbid-monday-deadly-dole-air-race
• ‘Dole Air Race: The Daring and Pioneering Conquest Across the Pacific’ (STSTW, 2018): https://www.ststworld.com/dole-air-race/
• ‘Army Officers Hop Off For Hawaii’ (1927): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW1brsdc_fM
Image courtesy of San Diego Air & Space Museum
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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America's Nazi Summer Camps
15 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Camp Siegfried hosted a ‘Nazi Camp Fete’ for 40,000 attendees on 15th August, 1938. The Summer resort, on Yaphank, Long Island, was the epicentre of the German-American Bund: an organisation devoted to establishing a Nazi stronghold across the United States.
Alongside campfire building and swimming lessons, young attendees were taught to emulate the Hitler Youth and host mini Nuremberg-style rallies.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how delegates were trained to anticipate a Nazi coup of the USA; consider why all the key players in the movement escaped serious criminal prosecution, even after the Second World War; and why events such as these were so casually reported, even in the New York Times…
Further Reading:
• ‘New York's 1930s Nazi Summer Camp’ (Ripley’s, 2016): https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/nazi-summer-camp/
• ‘A New York Town in the 1930s Embraced Hitler and Nazi Germany’ (History Collection, 2017): https://historycollection.com/welcome-hitler-street-usa-pending/
• ‘Nazis on Long Island: The Story of Camp Siegfried’ (Museum of Jewish Heritage, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJW1VQo1Ts
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The Bodies Buried at Bedlam
12 augustus 2022 · 12 min
When 42 bodies buried near Liverpool Street Station in London were dug up as part of the works on Crossrail on 12th August, 2015, they were thought to be victims of the Great Plague of 1665. The incident shone a light on the cemetery in which they were buried - a pauper’s grave at Bethlem Hospital; the institution more commonly known as ‘Bedlam’.
From its establishment in 1247, Bedlam ‘lunatic asylum’ quickly gained a reputation as a place that was pioneering - it was the only mental health facility in Britain - and fearsome, a place of stigma and spectacle. The public could pay to tour the facility and have pisspots thrown at them.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how the abuses perpetrated at Bedlam still have echoes in modern-day surgery; look back at the first formal inspection of the premises; and consider why ‘Bedlam’ has become so resonant in literature from Shakespeare to Dickens…
CONTENT WARNING: description of unsanitary conditions and patient abuse; reference to out-dated and pejorative language about mental health
Further Reading:
• ‘London Crossrail Dig At Bedlam Reveals 'Great Plague Victims' Were Buried In Thin Wooden Coffins’ (HuffPost UK, 2015): https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08/12/london-crossrail-excavators-skeletons-great-plague_n_7976488.html
• ‘How Bethlem Royal Hospital Became The Notorious Bedlam Asylum’ (All Thats Interesting, 2021): https://allthatsinteresting.com/bedlam
• ‘Skeletons from Bedlam Hospital site uncovered by Crossrail’ (Daily Mail, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obXO60iOyLM
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See … Lees meer -
The Long Count
11 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Rerun. The 7,885 year-long calendar that the Mayan people used to measure long stretches of time, ‘The Long Count’, began on 11th August, 3114 B.C.
The combination of a Haabʼ and a Tzolkʼin date identifies a day in a combination which does not occur again for 18,980 days (52 Haabʼ cycles of 365 days equals 73 Tzolkʼin cycles of 260 days, approximately 52 years), a period known as the Calendar Round. ARE YOU KEEPING UP.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover the rules of ‘Mayan Space Jam’; explain why people thought the world might end in 2012; and call into question the whole diary system on which their beloved podcast depends…
Further Reading:
• ‘Danger on the Court: The Deadly Ancient Mesoamerican Ball Game’ (Ancient Origins, 2020): https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history/ulama-mesoamerican-ball-game-deadly-sport-ancient-americas-003156
• ‘9 Interesting Facts About The Mayans’ (yocover, 2021): https://yocover.com/facts-about-the-mayans/
• ‘Maya Cosmology & the Real 2012’ (Mary Lou Ridinger, TEDxSanMigueldeAllende, 2013 ): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN6E5AFEb9M
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Hollywood’s Favourite Dog
10 augustus 2022 · 11 min
Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepherd who starred in more than 27 Hollywood films, died on 10th August, 1932 at the age of 13. Radio stations around the country interrupted programming to announce his death and then broadcast an hour long tribute to him.
Discovered in war-torn France by American corporal Lee Duncan, he was taken back to the USA and trained to be a stunt dog, but it was his emotional close-up work which wowed the critics. “Perhaps Rin Tin Tin belongs to that modern school of acting, which expresses everything in the face”, raved the LA Times.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal why Rin Tin Tin was named in Duncan’s wife’s divorce filing; explain how he followed in the footsteps of previous canine movie star, Strongheart; and consider the logistics of exactly how he performed in the Rin Tin Tin radio show…
Further Reading:
• ‘Excerpt: Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean’ (The New York Times, 2011): https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/books/review/rin-tin-tin.html
• ‘The Dogs Who Saved Hollywood: Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin’ (Rutgers University Press, 2014): https://arcade.stanford.edu/content/dogs-who-saved-hollywood-strongheart-and-rin-tin-tin-0
• ‘Susan Orlean on the original Rin Tin Tin’ (The New Yorker, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFOA4og8To8
But… what’s that, boy? Five minutes more of Rin Tin Tin chat, just for supporters of the show? WOOF! To unlock it, and a bonus bit like it every single week, visit patreon.com/Retrospectors or click Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. WOOF!
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The Not-Yet Leaning Tower of Pisa
9 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Construction began on a white marble bell tower for Pisa’s new Cathedral complex on 9th August, 1173. Little did the engineers working on the project know that their building would become famous all over the world, because of its principal flaw: it wasn’t straight.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is now one of Europe’s biggest tourist attractions, and perhaps the most monitored building in the world. Millions have been spent PRESERVING its famous lean, but for well over a century it was something that Pisans worked hard (and fruitlessly) to straighten.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the warning signs were always there, in the city’s history and other architecture; reveal how Mussolini very nearly ruined one of the world’s most perfectly imperfect landmarks; and ask if it’s really so surprising that the original architect’s name has been lost to history…
Further Reading:
• ‘Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean?’ (HISTORY, 2015): https://www.history.com/news/why-does-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa-lean
• ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa's architect is revealed as Bonanno Pisano’ (Mail Online, 2019): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7809335/Leaning-Tower-Pisas-architect-revealed-Bonanno-Pisano.html
• ‘LEANING TOWER OF PISA-Climbing to the Top and Why the Tower Leans’ (Andy’s Awesome Adventures, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNbpbn9E2dc
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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When The Beatles Crossed The Road
8 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Abbey Road was a street known only to North Londoners until The Beatles posed on the zebra crossing outside EMI Studios on 8th August, 1969. Photographer Iain MacMillan took just six snaps, one of which graced the front cover of their penultimate album, ‘Abbey Road’.
The image became instantly iconic, partly due to the decision not to name the band or the album on the front of LP. It even spurred a conspiracy theory that claimed that Paul McCartney was dead, and being played by a lookalike, attested to his by bare feet and the number plate on the vehicle behind him.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the picture nearly didn’t happen in St John’s Wood at all, but in NEPAL; dive into the ‘Paul Is Dead’ conspiracy; and check out the live feed of hapless tourists approximating the picture…
Further Reading:
• ‘Obituary: Iain MacMillan’ (The Independent, 2006): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/iain-macmillan-364645.html
• ‘Revisiting London's iconic album cover images’ (BBC News, 2008): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-43318498
• ‘Beatles fans flock to Abbey Road for 44th anniversary’ (Telegraph, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoVvSW-Qqmk
Thanks so much for supporting the show! We're your Octopus's Garden
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer: Sophie King
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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The Girl in the Comic Strip
5 augustus 2022 · 11 min
Little Orphan Annie, Harold Gray’s plucky heroine, made her newspaper debut on 5th August, 1924. The iconic comic strip then ran for an astonishing 86 years.
Although now most associated with the saccharine musical it inspired, ‘Annie’ was MUCH edgier in comic form - gangsters and Nazis made an appearance, and Daddy Warbucks was so disappointed by the election of FDR that he DIED (briefly. Before being brought back to life).
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how, for millions of readers, comic strips once filled the role of soap operas; reveal how Gray plagiarized a popular poem for the name of his heroine; and tell how Ovaltine had a disproportionate influence on the plot-lines of Annie’s titular radio show…
Further Reading:
• ‘Little Orphan Annie and Little Orphan Annie in Cosmic City by Harold Gray’ (Chicago Herald Tribune, 1926, 1933): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Little_Orphan_Annie_and_Little_Orphan_An/pUOpAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=little+orphan+annie&printsec=frontcover
• ‘The Politics of “Annie”’ (The New Yorker, 2012): https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-politics-of-annie
• ‘Why "Little Orphan Annie" is Important in Comics’ (Comic Book Historians, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIYRSlMHUEQ
If you enjoyed this episode, there's FIVE MINUTES more from the cutting room floor about how Little Orphan Annie showcased Harold Gray's libertarianism, and ended on an ominous note with the 'Butcher of the Balkans'.
To unlock it - and a bonus bit like it every single week - subscribe via Apple Podcasts, or support the show via patreon.com/retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo… Lees meer -
Dom Perignon Tastes the Stars
4 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Rerun. Benedictine monk Dom Perignon is said to have discovered champagne on 4th August, 1693. 200 million bottles are now produced and sold every year.
The sparkliness was originally considered a defect - because carbonated wine caused the fragile bottles of the era to burst. Until stronger glass was developed in the mid-19th century, mass-produced champagne was impossible to manufacture, so it gained a reputation as a high society tipple.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly examine the boredom of wine-tastings; explain how to make fake champagne; and reveal how the bombing of French vineyards, ironically, helped to save the industry...
Further Reading:
• ‘Dom Pérignon 'Drinks the Stars' (WIRED, 2009): https://www.wired.com/2009/08/dayintech-0804/
• ‘6 things you can carbonate with your SodaStream’ (CNet, 2016):
https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/things-you-can-carbonate-with-your-sodastream/
• ‘How Dom Perignon Became The King Of Champagne’ (Alux, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaUB8bFV0lM
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Lees meerHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Storming the Sacred City
3 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Sir Francis Younghusband’s band of British troops reached Lhasa on 3rd August, 1904. Along the way, they’d massacred thousands of bewildered Tibetans - but justified their incursion with the (false) claim that Russia had been manipulating Tibet to gain ground in British India.
Despite the disastrous violence wrought by his men, Younghusband was considered by many back home as an explorer and adventurer - and, later, as a man of peace and friend of Gandhi.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pore through Younghusband’s private letters to his father; try and explain the 18 pairs of boots and shoes he brought to the Himalayas; and consider his conversion to ‘mysticism’ following the flawed invasion he lead…
Further Reading:
• ‘Sir Francis Younghusband's 1903 Invasion Of Tibet’ (HistoryExtra, 2017):
https://www.historyextra.com/period/edwardian/francis-younghusband-1903-invasion-tibet-expedition/
• ‘Parshotam Mehra: Beginnings of the Lhasa Expedition: Younghusband's Own Words’ (Cambridge Univesity Press, 2009): http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/bot/pdf/bot_04_03_02.pdf
• ‘With the Younghusband Tibet Expedition 1903-4: the diary of Lt Harvey Kelly - Christoph Baumer’ (Royal Society for Asian Affairs, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCi4h1DGh2Y
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Don't Mess With Jeanne
2 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Olivier Clisson III was beheaded for treason on 2nd August, 1343 - an event which triggered his wife Jeanne to violently avenge his death for years: a brutal killing spree that earned her the nickname ‘The Lioness of Brittany’.
Despite being a fortysomething mother of two, she fitted out three warships with black paint and red sails, and targeted defenseless French merchant ships with her fearsome ‘Black Fleet’.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how to storm a French castle - via the front door; tell how Jeanne changed gear for her last chapter, with an English husband and a chateau; and consider whether taking two young kids to see the beheaded corpse of their father is, um, questionable parenting…
Further Reading:
• ‘1343: Olivier III de Clisson, husband of the Lioness of Brittany’ (Executed Today, 2008): https://www.executedtoday.com/2008/08/02/1343-olivier-iii-de-clisson-husband-of-the-lioness-of-brittany/
• ‘Vengeful Facts About Jeanne De Clisson, "The Lioness Of Brittany"’ (Factinate): https://www.factinate.com/people/34-vengeful-facts-about-jeanne-de-clisson-the-lioness-of-brittany/
• ‘These Were The Most Notorious Female Pirates In History’ (Grunge): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t74QGCvM02Q
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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Let's Do The Twist
1 augustus 2022 · 12 min
Chubby Checker's "The Twist", the most popular single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, was released on 1st August, 1960.
It was just a cover version of a B-side which had already been released by its writer, Hank Ballard - but after it appeared on The Dick Clark Show, the world slowly became obsessed with the catchy tune and simple lyrics, and the suggestive dance that inspired it.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly tell the bizarre story of how Checker was selected to perform the version that sold millions of copies; revisit other 60’s dance crazes the turkey trot, bunny hug, and the grizzly bear; and explain how the song reached No.1 again two years later, thanks to a completely different audience getting hold of the trend…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Twist: A Worldwide Dance Craze in the 1960s’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/the-twist-dance-craze-1779369
• ‘‘The Twist’ top song of Billboard Hot 100 era’ (NBC Today, 2008): https://www.today.com/popculture/twist-top-song-billboard-hot-100-era-1C9421254
• ‘Chubby Checker performs ‘The Twist’ & ‘Let's Twist Again’ on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’’ (CBS, 1961):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDGprGUreOc
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Cult of Olaf
29 juli 2022 · 12 min
Viking King Olaf II Haraldsson was killed on 29th July, 1030, kicking off a campaign, led by an English clergyman, to declare him a Saint.
The cult of Olaf continues in Norway still, with festivals, pilgrimages and prayers given in his honour - even though Olaf used extreme violence and suppression to force parts of the country to convert to Christianity.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the inner-workings of the medieval church’s PR machine; explain why ‘extreme violence’ and ‘missionary work’ are ever muttered in the same breath; and consider whether ‘Saint’ Olaf would in fact be best remembered by his contemporary suffices: Olaf ‘the Fat’ or Olaf ‘the law-breaker’...
Further Reading:
• ‘St. Olaf’ (V&A Museum of Childhood, 2014): https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/sanctus-ignotum/st-olaf
• ‘Today is Norway's Day of St. Olaf, celebrated for over 900 years’ (Norway Today, 2021): https://norwaytoday.info/culture/today-is-norways-day-of-st-olaf-celebrated-for-over-900-years/
• ‘Olaf Haraldsson: King of Norway 1015-1028’ (History Time, 2018):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XvE1EKxUHc
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Fingerprints Go Legit
28 juli 2022 · 11 min
#throwbackthursday William James Herschel, a British colonial magistrate in India, first used fingerprints as a means of identification on 28th July, 1858 - not to catch a criminal, but to implement two-step verification on a contract.
In Britain, the technology was first used to solve the theft of some billiard balls in 1902. These days, it’s been largely usurped by DNA, but remains a staple of the policing repertoire.
In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly consider whether ears might be better criminal identifiers than fingers; reveal the history of the mugshot; and explain why koalas are our secret hand doubles...
Further Reading:
• ‘Press Down Firmly, You're in Our Files Now’ (WIRED, 2011): https://www.wired.com/2011/07/0728india-fingerprint-identification/
• ‘The Blackburn child killer and rapist who changed criminal forensics forever’ (LancsLive, 2019): https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/blackburn-child-killer-rapist-who-17118836
• The Bertillon System of Criminal Identification in use by the Police in the 1910s (Kinolibrary Archive Film collections): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Myc8LZSME
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Let's Go To Berni Inn
27 juli 2022 · 12 min
Famous for steaks, maroon banquettes, schooners of sherry and sexist advertising, family restaurant chain and ‘70s date night favourite Berni Inn first opened its doors at the historic Bristol pub The Rummer on 27th July, 1956.
Founded by Frank and Aldo Berni, the American-inspired concept had a staggeringly simple menu, so that customers wouldn’t be intimidated and, more importantly, so that the kitchen could be operated by virtually anyone who could use a grill and a deep-fat fryer.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the Berni brothers whipped up excitement for each new restaurant opening; reveal how their much-mocked menu actually introduced millions of patrons to some international staples; and highlight how the modern-day Beefeater pub chain still pays tribute to its Berni beginnings…
Further Reading:
• ‘Berni Inn Menu, 1973’ (RetroWow, 2022): https://www.retrowow.co.uk/food_and_drink/eating_out/berni_inn_menu.html
• ‘Obituary: Frank Berni’ (The Guardian, 2000): https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/aug/01/guardianobituaries1
• ‘You’re Better Off At A Berni Inn’ (Advert, 1982): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVAGsOryJJA
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Eccentric Outlaw
26 juli 2022 · 12 min
Charles E. Boles, otherwise known as ‘Black Bart’, was one of the Wild West’s most unlikely stagecoach robbers; being as he was a spiffy and quietly-spoken former teacher from Norfolk. But on 26th July, 1875 he made his name by robbing his first coach - without a gun.
He targeted only Wells Fargo coaches, and never killed a passenger. As his crime career progressed, he made a habit of leaving behind little poems, signed ‘PO8’.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick the private investigation that led to his downfall; explain why he always *walked* away from the scene of the crime; and reveal why Boles was ‘the Forrest Gump of the 1800s’...
Further Reading:
• ‘The Poetic Tale of Literary Outlaw Black Bart’ (Smithsonian Magazine): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/poetic-tale-literary-outlaw-black-bart-180965356/
• ‘Norfolk origins of US outlaw Black Bart 'revealed'’ (BBC News, 2018):
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-45786271
• ‘Stories of the Century - BLACK BART (Republic Pictures, 1954): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMwaX3hjQFU
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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When Mao Went Swimming
25 juli 2022 · 12 min
Chairman Mao Zedong swam in the Yangtze River on 25th July, 1966. Despite being in his Seventies, the leader was said by party propagandists (and hence every newspaper in China) to have set a world-record pace of nearly 15 km in 65 min.
This piece of political theatre showed the world that the public face of the Chinese Communist party was in robust physical shape (despite reports in the West to the contrary), and reset Mao’s image in China after his disastrous ‘Great Leap Forward’ had claimed the lives of millions of people. Lees meerIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick the symbolism of this iconic event; explain how Mao leveraged the publicity to reconsolidate his power; and reveal what Mao got VERY wrong about sparrows…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Chairman's Historic Swim’ (TIME, 1999): http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054250,00.html
• ‘Power of symbolism: The swim that changed Chinese history’ (SupChina, 2021): https://supchina.com/2021/07/14/power-of-symbolism-the-swim-that-changed-chinese-history/
• ‘This photo triggered China’s Cultural Revolution’ (Vox, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXByOrRrO7c&feature=emb_ti
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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When Longbows Defeated Scotland
22 juli 2022 · 12 min
William ‘Braveheart’ Wallace was defeated by fearsome English archers at the Battle of Falkirk on 22nd July, 1298; when Edward I’s army first used longbows against their Scottish adversaries, with devastating effect.
Despite Wallace’s men deploying their famous ‘schiltron’ formation - whereby foot soldiers packed together to form a bristly spear-wall - the arrows the English volleyed back rained down at an awesome rate of ten per minute, per bow.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why even the clergy of the era were keen on longbow-training; consider the advantage of bows over guns for hunting purposes; and reveal why, despite this victory, it took 200 years for the English to fall back in love with archery again…
Further Reading:
• ‘Bowmen of England by Donald Featherstone’ (Pen and Sword Books, 2011): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Bowmen_of_England/y8OIDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=welsh+longbows&printsec=frontcover
• ‘The Battle of Falkirk, 1298’ (BBC Bitesize): https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z8g86sg/articles/zjwdbdm
• ’How to shoot a medieval longbow’ (The History Squad, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbINsn5EVg4
… And there’s FOUR MINUTES MORE of this discussion, cut-for-time from today’s show, exclusively available to our podcast’s supporters. How did William Wallace lose the Battle of Falkirk so spectacularly - was it really all about longbows? Arion, Rebecca and Olly investigate further in this week’s extra bit: support the show via Apple Podcasts or Patreon to hear it now.
https://patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Outing of Milli Vanilli
21 juli 2022 · 12 min
German pop duo Milli Vanilli sold 33 million singles, including three US number ones, but harboured a shameful secret: their vocals were sung by someone else. At a promotional gig in Connecticut on 21st July, 1989, their backing track crashed - and speculation began to mount.
“I knew right then and there, it was the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli,” ‘singer’ Rob Pilatus admitted to the Los Angeles Times in November 1990. “When my voice got stuck in the computer and it just kept repeating and repeating, I panicked. I just ran off the stage.″
In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion reveal how impresario Frank Farian created the band from his Boney M template; ask whether the young men fronting the project took a disproportionate amount of the flack from the public; and consider if ‘Girl You Know It’s True’ might just be the most popular pop song ever to have a spoken word intro…
Further Reading:
• ‘30 Years Ago, Milli Vanilli Returned Their Best New Artist Grammy; Should They Get the Award Back Now?’ (Variety, 2020): https://variety.com/2020/music/news/milli-vanilli-grammy-scandal-fab-morvan-1234865697/
• Frank Farian turns 75 (DW, 2016): https://www.dw.com/en/boney-m-producer-frank-farian-turns-75/a-19406061
• The moment the record skipped (VH1 Behind The Music): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiB3GTW-j2o
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.
We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Lees meerHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Gymnast with the Shattered Kneecap
20 juli 2022 · 12 min
Shun Fujimoto scored 9.5 on the pommel horse and 9.7 on the rings at the Montreal Olympics on 20th August, 1976 - despite having a badly damaged kneecap, having landed catastrophically during a tumbling run.
That should, by rights, have ended his and his team's medal hopes - but he decided not to tell his coach or fellow competitors about the injury, and carried on with his routines. As a result of his endurance and persistence, Japan won Gold.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask whether Fujimoto’s remarkable resilience had any cultural antecedent in Japanese traditions of self-sacrifice; explain how his regrets may still be influencing contemporary Olympians; and consider whether gymnastic judging criteria should take more account of grimacing…
Further Reading:
• ‘FUJIMOTO Shun: The price of gold’ (Olympics.com): https://olympics.com/en/news/fujimoto-shun-the-price-of-gold
• ‘The Joy of Six: great Olympians’ (The Guardian, 2008): https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/aug/07/olympics20082
• ‘The Olympic Show: Shun Fujimoto’ (NBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq-C5-vIim8
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
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When Paris Went Underground
19 juli 2022 · 12 min
The Paris Metro, engineered by Fulgence Bienvenüe and inaugurated on 19th July, 1900, was far from a world first: London, Budapest and Vienna had all beaten France in the race to create the next generation of subterranean trains.
However, this didn’t stop Parisian anxiety about their new subway. Would the electric lines kill innocent travellers? Would being so close to sewers expose commuters to disease? Would the Metropolitan become a ‘Necropolitan’ - a DEATH LINE?
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the rival proposals for aerial rail systems that could have been built instead; explain why it is that you can get phone signal on the Metro, but not the Underground; and explain why classic calligraphy of the station signs was not widely appreciated at the time…
Further Reading:
• ‘Secrets of The Paris Metro’ (The New York Times, 2000): https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/19/travel/secrets-of-the-paris-metro.html
• ‘Trains, Culture, and Mobility By Benjamin Fraser, Steven D. Spalding’ (Lexington Books, 2012): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Trains_Culture_and_Mobility/fUOY8941RjMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=necropolitan+paris+metro&pg=PA122&printsec=frontcover
• ‘How Has This Century Old Metro Stood The Test of Time? - Extreme Constructions’ (Spark, 2022):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-gpSw5fVP0
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Making Voting Secret
18 juli 2022 · 12 min
Before the Ballot Act of 18th July, 1872, the British electorate were expected to declare their preferred candidate publicly at hustings, often under pressure from their employers and landlords, and plied with alcohol supplied by the politicians standing for election, in a process known as ‘soaking’.
Over the years, alternatives had been put forward - including Jeremy Bentham’s concept of 1818, which involved a multitude of secret boxes with viewing windows - before the modern idea of private booths and a ballot box came to the fore.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and OIly explain why many voters saw secret ballots as sneaky and cowardly; explain how Australia beat Britain when it came to instituting voting in secret; and discover the teething problems experienced when Pontefract became the first town to test out the new process…
Further Reading:
• ‘Britain's first secret ballot’ (BBC News, 2015): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-31630588
• ‘Rhodri Marsden's Interesting Objects: Pontefract's secret ballot box’ (The Independent, 2015): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rhodri-marsden-s-interesting-objects-pontefract-s-secret-ballot-box-a114506.html
• ‘What was the Secret Ballot? | The Ballot Act 1872’ (Royal Holloway University London, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M8Lix4FgUM
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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RetroRecommends: We Didn't Start The Fire
16 juli 2022 · 44 min
Happy Saturday to you. We have another brilliant show to share with you for some relaxed, longer, weekend listening. Lees meer
It’s another history podcast - it’s called We Didn’t Start The Fire, it’s high concept which we LOVE. And yes it’s based on the Billy Joel song.
Billy is the guide through the most original, fascinating and random way to explore the history of the post-war world. Just like us, they jump from subject to subject: one week they’re talking about Eisenhower, the next week it’s the polio vaccine - all explored and explained by eyewitnesses, mega-fans and experts. They’ve even had Billy Joel himself on.
And we'll see you on Monday!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Gaddafi's Favourite Redneck
15 juli 2022 · 12 min
Billy Carter, the beer-guzzling brother of President Jimmy Carter, became a serious headache for the White House when he was required to register as a foreign agent on 15th July, 1980, due to his dealings in Libya.
Taking two large ‘loans’ from Gadaffi’s regime, viewed by the USA as a terrorist state, was perhaps Billy’s most controversial moment while his brother was in office - but not necessarily the most embarrassing…
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly investigate the ‘wit and wisdom’ Billy published for his fanbase; reveal the hard alcoholism that lurked behind much of his behaviour; and recall the appalling advertising campaign with which he attempted to turn around this very bad publicity…
Further Reading:
• ‘Billy Carter Files as Foreign Agent’ (The Washington Post, 1980): https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/07/15/billy-carter-files-as-foreign-agent/3c9afef6-10cc-4832-881a-94117d111533/
• ‘Embarrassing Relatives Plague Presidents’ (ABC News, 2003):
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WolfFiles/story?id=90138&page=1w
• ‘Mo Rocca on why Jimmy Carter's brother Billy Carter was misunderstood’ (Salon, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzoGPJNRa1E
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Lees meer