Podcasting is so much fun that I have been rather breeding them, so here is a brief guide. You may select the series you want from the drop down, or see them all after this message.

Members: There are over 22 hours of Shedcasts. They cover all sorts of things usually in English history which fire my enthusiasm. There are topics like Nationalism and its growth in medieval England; lots of biographies, some historiography, and then from time to time we have something a bit less worthy; such as how Henry VIII started a fashion for beards.
Then there’s The History of Scotland 18 hours of listening so far, the history of Scotland from the dawn of time to 1900. And then Britain and the Sea,  an occasional series which add depth and stories to accompany the History of England podcast. And of course new episodes join all the series all the time!

Free podcasts: There is the History of England of course. But why not also try History in Technicolor where Wolf and I talk about history films, or the Things that made England – where Roifield and I talk about the cultural and historical habits and history that male England as she is.

    364 Before the English Came

    The 1630’s saw an acceleration of English colonisation in the Americas. What cultures and peoples will they meet when they get there? A horribly brief survey of cultures north of the Rio Grande before the English came.

    363 Laud Unleashed

    With Parliament banished, there was little restraint on Laud and Charles to implement the reforms they felt were needed to improve the quality of religious observations and the spiritual wealth of all English. Not everyone would approve their efforts.

    362 Free Men not Villeins

    In 1637 Charles sought an example to squash opposition to Ship Money, and chose a minor country squire. John Hampden refused to back down.

    The Favourite

    This 2018 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos is a glorious tragi-comedy about the lives of three women – Queen Anne, Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hill.  It travels the full spectrum from barking mad to genuinely moving. It is a blast.

    Henry Stuart

    Henry Stuart’s death as eldest so and heir of James I & VI Henry gives us one of those great ‘what if?’ moments in history, like the death of ArthurRead More

    361 Charles in Charge

    Charles had done the right thing of we wanted to avoid parliaments – reducing costs by making peace. But, how was he to raise money to clear that £2m debt? Well, two words came in to play – many, and various.

    The Great Escape

    Released in 1963 The Great Escape has got to be one of the definitive tales of derring-do, the ultimate escapism, in the ‘film is fun’ genre. What role would you have had if you had been there?

    360 Charles Abroad

    Relationships with the other kingdoms was definitely the royal preserve. But policy options might vary, from favouring the desires of his protestant subjects, to the Spanish faction on the privy Council. But his clout was always hampered by the poor state of the Royal Navy

    HiT Chariots of Fire

    I remember back in 1981 this film was a sensation; we were all running around on beaches in slo-mo. Has it stood the test of time, though, and is it any more than a bit of fluff?

    359 Charles is At Home

    Charles was determined to run his court completely differently to his father. Controlled, regulated, ordered; an example of a warm, loving and enlightened household that would prove an example of the majesty and stability of his reign.

    HiT Bright Star

    Jane Campion’s Bright Star was released in 2009 and featured on the lives of Fanny Browne and John Keats in the last years of Keat’s life. Abbie Cornish and Ben Wishaw do a brilliant job of recreating their lives

    358 New Counsels

    Was it an ‘Eleven years tyranny’ or ‘Halcyon Days’ that followed 1629? Either way, foreign ambassadors were not hopeful of England’s future. But Charles first priority was to reduce the Vipers of parliament to submission.

    357 Vipers

    Dramatic events in 1628 – a horrible murder, and one of the great set pieces of the English Revolution. Mayhem! Treason!  Murder!

    HiT Gladiator

    Ridley Scott’s classic – is it, and were you entertained or did it unleash hell? Has it stood the test of time? And how well does the revenge format work? This and much more – and a discussion of the ubiquitous agricultural yield ratios.

    356 Petition of Right

    As so often, war demands money, and in England, money meant parliament. So the outcome of ‘The Favourites’ War’, Buckingham’s attempt to relieve La Rochelle in 1627, would be  critical.

    The Lost King

    The Lost King follows the remarkable story of Ricardian Phillipa Langley,  whose steely determination and persistence led to the discovery of the body of Richard III and paints the academic community as determined to write out of the story.

    355 The Hearts of our People

    The battle of Lutter in 1626 convinced Charles of the tearing need to intervene in the Thirty Years War in defence of hos sister Elizabeth’s rights and in the cause of Protestantism. But the cupboard was bare – how to raise money? Without calling that pesky parliament!

    HiT Lagaan

    The evil British oppressor Captain Russell – twiddly ‘tache and all – forces the poor hapless (and stonkingly rich) Raja to impose the traditional tax, Lagaan threefold on the villagers unless they beat the English overlord at their weird game – Cricket (pre IPL days, obs). Find out what happens.

    354 Parlement a sa Mode

    The 1626 parliament was opened by William Laud – not a good sign for the resolutely Calvinist parliament. Despite a remarkably positive response to the call for subsidies – their linkage to resolutions of grievances did not go down well with Charles

    HiT In Cold Blood

    The 1967 film noir adaptation of Truman Capote’s famous book, In Cold Blood tells of the gruesome story of the murders of the Clutter family. It used a quasi document style, and is not only strikingly filmed, but makes you ask why these people died. It won multiple nominations for Academy Awards.

    Hawkwood Omnibus 6 EPs 16-18 - Members Only

    The late 70s and 80s saw Hawkwood move his home from the Romagna to Tuscany, within the orbit of Florence; and despite fighting on a number of campaigns, the relationship with Florence deepened.

    Hawkwood 18 Castagnaro - Members Only

    In 1387 Hawkwood was approached by Giovanni Ubaldini, Padua's military commander, to come and fight against Verona. He agreed, and by March was in the field, facing his enemy by the River Adige near the village of Castagnaro.

    353 Lawyers Vs Clerics

    As the 1626 parliament opens, full of hope once more, we take a while to introduce William Laud, and discuss the idea that a theme of the English civil wars is an ideological struggle between lawyers and Arminian clerics

    352 A Beard UnSinged

    The reconvened parliament in Oxford went poor, and after a month Charles closed it down, and concentrated instead on the Spanish war.  Surely, the recapturing the glory of Drake & Hawkins would relight Parliament’s fire for war!

    351 Bred in Parliaments

    For Charles I, April to June 1625 was his like the honeymoon  period given to new football managers – enthusiastic full of hope – and depressingly brief. The honeymoon period with his newly arrived wife Henrietta Maria, was similarly brief.

    HiT Rob Roy

    Rob Roy is a 1995 film telling a story of a Highland clan chief Rob Roy McGregor played by Liam Neeson; Jessica :Lange, John Hurt, Tim Roth, Brian Cox are superb. The best film about scotland in 1995 for sure.

    350 Charles’ Inheritance

    In March 1625 Charles came into his inheritance on the death of his father. Was it a poison chalice or the holy grail? What sort of man accepted the chalice and duty and would place his hands on the tillers of the Three Kingdoms?

    HiT Cromwell

    Cromwell was a 1970 film starring Richard Harris as the eponymous, and Alec Guiness as Charles I. Massive in scale and ambition, in its attempt to present Oliver as a democratic hero of the people. Does it manage it?

    349 The Country House

    The Elizabeth and Jacobean age was a time of social mores and the way England was ruled – and the great medieval household withered away. To leave something smaller, more symmetrical – and of extraordinary beauty. And then there’s also Little Moreton Hall, a gentry interpretation of the Great Rebuilding.

    Hawkwood 13 Eight Saints - Members Only

      Libertas! Cried the citizens of Florence, and Libertas! Replied many of the Pope’s ‘loyal’ cities – Urbino, Gibbio, Orvieto and many more. Ruggerio Cane and the Florentine diplomats wereRead More

    348 The Great Rebuilding

    Somewhere in the 16th and 17th centuries, ordinary people started building differently – private buildings, public buildings. They used brick, glass, decoration and portraiture; and it wasn’t just the aristocracy; Yeomen, merchants, towns, husbandmen. The historian W G Hoskins gave it a name – the Great Rebuilding

    347 The English Revolution

    Well this is exciting! The English Revolution. A title which is controversial, and a historiography which is bigger than the eponymous crocodile.