Unruly History

Are you hungry like the wolf? In the last of our Halloween triple bill, Gillian tells Emma all about the centuries long history of the werewolf, tracing the development of this supernatural creature from ancient origins to the silver screen. They discuss the various ways that werewolves have been thought to change their shape (curses, spells, magic belts, the moon), the werewolf trials of the early modern period, whether all werewolves are bad, and where tropes like the silver bullet come from. And they consider whether werewolves reflect our fear of the other – or of ourselves. So what was th...

Do you believe in miracles, you sexy thing? In the second of three Halloween specials, Emma tells Gillian all about scandalous seventeenth-century Italian nun Benedetta Carlini, the wild visions she claimed to experience, and the lesbian acts that led to her downfall. They explore Benedetta's religious upbringing against the backdrop of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, her ambitious rise through the ranks of the convent where she lived, and the escalating series of religious experiences she claimed to have had – including an angel bestie and a mystical marriage to Jesus Christ Himself. But how can you tell whether a vision is di...

Have you ever heard the chilling cry of the banshee? In the first of three Halloween specials, Gillian tells Emma all about Ireland's maligned and misunderstood death messenger. They discuss when and where the banshee cries, who gets to hear her, and which deaths she's interested in foretelling, before diving into the deep roots of this supernatural woman, both folkloric and historical. How did tales of a sovereign goddess and a death messenger combine with the real-life practice of keening to create the Irish banshee? Is she a fairy – or something else entirely? And why in a country of sh...

A Geordie, an Irishwoman and a lesbian walk into a podcast booth sounds like the start of a joke, but it’s an accurate description of UNRULY HISTORY – a brand-new podcast about the stories, lives and beliefs that refuse tidy narratives.

Award-winning podcaster and historian Dr Emma Nagouse (You’re Dead to Me, Homeschool History and MUSES with grammy-nominated Bastille) and medieval historian Dr Gillian Kenny (University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin) have teamed up with You’re Dead to Me producer Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow to launch Unruly History.

History...