From the most powerful Italian families comes a tale of promiscuity, mistresses, bribery, rackets and murder. No,no, not the mafia, but the Vatican of course! Join Jess and Philippa??? Rosie, the backup ginger exploring the wild sex parties and crimes of this mob boss pope and his equally terrible children. Everyone run, he comes the popo....pe.  Support the show ..read more

The countryside is underrated. Lush fields, picturesque cows, spring in bloom, and middle class sex (maybe?) cults. Join Jess and Philippa in the Abode of Love as they discuss the Agapemonites, led by Henry Prince, and their involvement in the lives of the Nottidge family. Cults, abductions, madhouses, and scandal: it's all topsy turvey in the Abode of Love. Support the show ..read more

 How do you piss off a pirate? Take away the ‘P’! We'd apologise for the the terribly pirate humour and non-stop "aaaarghs", but we don't think we'll ever be sorry.  Join Jess and Philippa as they teach their parrots to swear, adjust their eyepatches, and learn about the pirate code (it's more of a guideline, really).  Support the show ..read more

Content warning for brief mention of sexual assault in the episode. As we look away from the awful world of current events, it's a good time to remind ourselves that things could always be more...interesting. Join Jess and Philippa this week as we talk about rulers who thought that they might be blamed for the weather, held court martials (and executions) for rats, or just tied their guests to water wheels to watch them drown. Support the show ..read more

Everything is awful forever both in life, and podcast. An update about our hiatusi and our future Support the show ..read more

Join Jess and Philippa as they explore the importance of context in a sweeping history of 1500 years, in which empires rose and fell, towers were buttered, battles were fought, and people were excessively tortured - all in the name of some Middle Eastern Jewish guy. Also, it's about art, maybe? Support the show ..read more

Join Jess and Fauxlippa (Rosie Cowling) as she tell us about the wheelings and dealings of the the biggest fence in the U.S. The criminal, exciting kind, not the keeps-your-chickens-in kind. A massive criminal enterprise, a school to teach kids how to pick pocket. She was the best.  Support the show ..read more

It's our final episode on Bedlam and we're all out of episode titles. Join us this week as Bedlam is dragged kicking and screaming to its new home in St. George's Fields and the 19th century.  Support the show ..read more

Royal assassination attempts, criminal lunacy and...Quakers? When we last looked at Bedlam, it was wobbling uneasily on its shaky masonry. But who's going to be the one to push it over the edge? This week, Jess and Philippa take a look at the dual waves of prison and asylum reform that would soon sweep Bedlam out of its chains and into the modern age. Support the show ..read more

This week, join two rum runnin' baby vamps as we speak easy about 1920s prohibition and the G-man's attempts to give America the screaming meemies. It's not all banana oil, so let's get boiled as an owl and jive to the toils of the roaring 20s. Support the show ..read more