History Unzipped

Historian and journalist Tony Perrottet unearths sexual stories from throughout the ages. The series is modeled on the "secret cabinets" in Victorian museums, where medieval chastity belts, Renaissance pornography and perverse novels by the Marquis de Sade were hidden. Each episode will answer a burning question: How did Napoleon's penis end up in suburban New Jersey? Are champagne glasses modeled on Marie-Antoinette's breasts? How did you behave at one of Caligula's orgies? And what were Casanova's best pick-up lines?

Musical Interlude: The Nazi Dictator's Other Ball 08/13/2020

Musical Interlude: The Nazi Dictator's Other Ball Did Hitler only have one testicle? This juicy anatomical detail was included in the Nazi dictator's autopsy when it was finally revealed by the Soviets in 1968. Was the Fuehrer born that way? Did he suffer a nasty WW1 wound? Or does the secret lie with the famous British war anthem, "The Colonel Bogey March"? /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/15594611

Footnote: Scent of a Führer 08/01/2020

Footnote: Scent of a Führer Eva Braun put up with more than we think to be a Nazi dictator's consort. Hitler suffered from uncontrollable flatulence -- an ailment that poisoned the atmosphere at the Berghof and may have hastened the end of the war. /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/15440522

THE FASCINATING FASCIST WIFE: Interview with Nina Burleigh 07/26/2020

THE FASCINATING FASCIST WIFE: Interview with Nina Burleigh What does America's current First Lady, Melania Trump, have in common with the consorts of history's great dictators -- Mussolini's mistress Clara Petacci, Eva Braun, Evita Peron. Imelda Marcos? Nina Burleigh, author of "The Trump Women: Part of the Deal" reveals all! A fascinating insight into everything that is screwed-up with US politics today. /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/15357374

Musical Interlude: Why Castrati Made Better Lovers 07/18/2020

Musical Interlude: Why Castrati Made Better Lovers In the 18th century, castrated Italian singers were sex symbols sought out by women across the courts of Europe. The most famous, Farinelli, lived like a rock start and has even had his own modern biopic. Learn why castrati were the bedroom idols of the era -- and listen to the only known recording of a castrato, made in the Vatican in 1902. /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/15258950

Footnote: Columbus Discovers the Clitoris 07/14/2020

Footnote: Columbus Discovers the Clitoris A survey of the forgotten milestones of modern love -- from the 1556 "discovery" of "the seat of a woman's delight" by Renaldo Columbus (no relation to Christopher) to the 18th century birth of "sex as we know it," the invention of pornography (1864), the first use of the word "homosexual" (1892), Virginia Woolf's vision that that the sexual revolution was nigh (1908)... and more! /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/15198671

THE SCIENCE OF LUST: Interview with Wednesday Martin 07/06/2020

THE SCIENCE OF LUST: Interview with Wednesday Martin Female desire has been a battleground for thousands of years. Men have downplayed it since the ancient Greeks, demonized it in Puritan witchcraft trials and misinterpreted in the studies of Sigmund Freud. Wednesday Martin -- author of Primates of Park Avenue, Untrue and The Button, a history of women's most sensitive part, unravels the saga from the Agricultural Revolution to the Renaissance and the "clitoracy" movement today. /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/15102587

Footnote: Celebrity body parts 06/27/2020

Footnote: Celebrity body parts Jesus' foreskin isn't the only phallic relic -- the organs of Napoleon Bonaparte, Rasputin, Tutankhamun and John Dillinger have been on the market over the years. A rundown of celebrity body parts, including Galileo's finger, Einstein's brain, Beethoven's ear bones and Abe Lincoln's skull fragments -- as well as famous frauds like Joan of Arc's heart. Sic transit gloria mundi. /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/14984738

WHO STOLE JESUS' FORESKIN? Interview with David Farley 06/20/2020

WHO STOLE JESUS' FORESKIN? Interview with David Farley Celebrity memorabilia is big business these days, but nothing quite compares to the Holy Foreskin, a portion of Jesus' most intimate anatomy revered by Christians since the Middle Ages. David Farley, author of "An Irreverent Curiosity" and star of a National Geographic TV special, "The Quest for the Holy Foreskin," is the world's leading expert on the sacred prepuce and its mysterious fate. The relic was stolen from a church in an Italian hill town in 1983. Was it by Satanists, neo-Nazis... or the Vatican? /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/14901833

Footnote: the Curse of Self-Abuse 06/15/2020

Footnote: the Curse of Self-Abuse How an obscure 1712 pamphlet called Onania began the war on masturbation in Georgian London. Over the next 200 years, the campaign against self-pleasure became an international phenomenon, and led to such oddities as the creation of Corn Flakes and Graham crackers in the US. /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/14832779

SEX AT DAWN: Interview with Chris Ryan 06/12/2020

SEX AT DAWN: Interview with Chris Ryan Was Charles Darwin a player? Christopher Ryan, author of the New York Times bestseller 'Sex At Dawn,' discusses the Victorian triumph of views on sexual evolution and what they mean for us today. Discussed: Can new research on prehistory help explain modern scandals? What do we know about Darwin's erotic life? Who invented "key parties"? What is an "anaphrodisiac"? And -- are Republicans stuck in the Agricultural Revolution? /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/14800892

Footnote: the Pages of Sin 06/05/2020

Footnote: the Pages of Sin Prostitute guidebooks flourished in Renaissance Venice, Georgian London, belle époque Paris -- and early 1900s Kansas City. What can historians learn from studying their well-thumbed pages? /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/14705105

AMERICAN VICE: Interview with Karen Abbott 06/03/2020

AMERICAN VICE: Interview with Karen Abbott Who invented the term, "to get laid"? New York Times bestselling author Karen Abbott reveals this and other lurid secrets of US history -- including the most luxurious brothel of the Gilded Age, the birth of burlesque in Depression-era New York and the sordid Prohibition sex-murder scandal that inspired "The Great Gatsby." /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/14620844

Erotic Archaeology 06/01/2020

Erotic Archaeology Journalist and historian Tony Perrottet unearths sexual secrets from history. The series is modeled on the "secret cabinets" of Victorian museums, where medieval chastity belts, Renaissance pornography and obscene novels by the Marquis de Sade were kept. Each episode answers a burning question: Who stole Napoleon's penis (and how did it end up in suburban New Jersey?) Are champagne glasses modeled on Marie Antoinette's breasts? How did you behave at a Roman orgy? And what were Casanova's best pick-up lines? /episode/index/show/historyunzipped/id/14622821

History Unzipped

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