Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Shakespeare was talking about a different Henry, but our favourite Tudor would have had a few reasons to keep up at night. After all, his servants needed time to throughly kiss his bed before his head could hit the pillow. Join Jess and Philippa as they look at poison prevention in the Renaissance period. Even if you have a few unicorn horns or bezoars, you'd better hope you have a strong stomach!

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?

Strap in and hold onto your bottoms because this week we're going monster hunting. Join Jess and Philippa as they chat about the Whipping Toms and the London Monster: criminals with an unhealthy fixation on the female derrière.

If you've ever gotten stuck with a nickname that made you want to burn down an entire kingdom just to abolish it from the face of the earth, then this episode may be for you. Join Jess the Incorrigible and Philippa the Long-Suffering as they look at some of history's rulers whose names reflected - or altered - the course of their rule.

CW: Graphic medical descriptions

Philippa's back from her time abroad in the land of disease and she's got syphilis...facts. Join her and Jess for a sexy discussion about disease, eugenics, medical experiments, and blaming foreigners and minority groups for your problems.

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.

Is your current desk job getting you down? Is the capitalist system leeching off your hard labour? Console yourself with the fact that some Victorian jobs involved actual leeches. Join Jess and Philippa as they search for new jobs among the Sin Eaters, Mudlarks, and Funeral Mutes of the Victorian underbelly.

We've looked at the inventive methods of execution that were designed to get attention (and at least a few chuckles), but who was it that had to ensure that the death sentence was carried out to the letter? Join Jess and Philippa for a game of hangman and look into the complicated, stigmatised existences (and fashions) of those who ruled the noose.

This week, we are so lucky to have Moxie LaBouche, the host of Your Brain On Facts, pay our podcast a visit! Join Jess, Philippa, and Moxie as they cling to the wood-and-canvas wings of the outdated, ramshackle planes flown by the Russian Night Witches during WWII and look into the lives of those who are often lost to history and the impact of those whom we choose as a culture to memorialise.