Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

Marlene Dietrich was unapologetic in her love of sex, and she had a lot of it.She took Hollywood by storm in the 1930s and slept with some of tinsel town's most famous men and women.What made her so unique and create such a legacy? As a sexually liberated German woman what did the Nazis make of her? And did she really sleep with JFK and his father?!This is the final instalment of our mini-series, Supersluts of History, where we're exploring and celebrating women whose sexuality was used to define them. Have we saved the best til last?Joining Kate for this episode is author and journalist Mick LaSalle.This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Why on earth would anyone make a perilous journey across wilderness and snow covered mountains, all because of a bit of gold?This isn't Lord of the Rings, it's the Klondike Gold Rush, when an estimated hundred thousand people made the journey across Alaska to goldfields in the Klondike region, Canada. Among them, women.But why did women make this journey? How much of their work was sex work?Kate is joined by Brian Castner for this episode about life in the Alaskan Gold Rush. Brian is the author of ‘Stampede: Gold Fever and Disaster in the Klondike’.This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Mata Hari was a dancer and courtesan who was executed in 1917 for being a spy during the First World War.How did she get involved in such dangerous business? Was she really a mastermind spy who used her sexuality to gain intelligence? Or a scapegoat whose sexuality was used against her?In our new mini-series, Supersluts of History, we're exploring and celebrating women whose sexuality was used to define them.Joining Kate today is Professor Julie Wheelwright, author of The Fatal Lover: Mata Hari and the Myth of Women in Espionage. Find out about her upcoming talk about Mata Hari here.This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.Around 18 minutes says "letters published in 1917" which is wrong, it's 2017.https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WtevPqsQ9ecjK2BrXnbFsudhYHzJU6hBI’ll be speaking about Mata Hari at the Society for Intelligence History conference at King's College, London, in October.And about Martha McKenna, the Spy Who Fooled Churchill at Bletchley Park in October. https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/nihc/Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Has Burlesque always meant the same thing? Where did it come from? And how has it changed?Kate is joined by Dr Marissa Vigneault, Associate Professor of Art History at Utah State University, to find out more about how burlesque has become the art form it is today.This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Madam du Barry's life was remarkable: from rags, to riches, to... revolution. And she pi**ed off Marie Antoinette along the way, too.How did this courtesan from a poor background make it to be royal mistress in Versailles? How did the French Revolution impact her? And what her 'special talents' that attracted King Louis XV?In our new mini-series, we're exploring and celebrating women whose sexuality was used to define them.Joining Kate today is historian and author Professor Christine Adams, to take us back to 18th century France to find out more about this remarkable woman.This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

What really went down in the Garden of Eden? Was there an apple? Was there a snake? Was the 'original sin' all that bad?To answer these questions and more, Kate is joined by Dr Dylan Johnson, biblical scholar and historian of the Ancient Near East at Cardiff University. His most recent publication is 'Lawgiving in the ancient Near East'.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

In this new mini-series, we're exploring and celebrating women whose sexuality was used to define them.First up is Roman Empress Theodora. How did "Theodora from the brothels", as she was known, rise to be the most powerful woman across the Roman Empire?Joining Kate today is author Stella Duffy, to take us back to the 6th century and help us get to know Theodora's incredible story.This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Sex in the distant past is often thought about with all the fun taken out of it.Pleasure must have been a part of the sex lives of women and men in the past, so what evidence do we have to back this up? What evidence of queer sex and attraction is there? And how did the Victorians try to cover up sex and pleasure in Ancient Greece and Rome?Joining Kate today is the wonderful historian and author Jean Menzies, whose new book explores all of this and more.*TW: sexual violence discussed at the start of the episode*Edited by Hannah Feodorov. Producer by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

How do you not only lose your own reputation and career, but also tank the reputation and freedoms of your entire industry?Today we’re exploring the first real Hollywood scandal, when actor Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle was accused of assault and manslaughter.Though he was acquitted in court, Arbuckle nearly lost everything. In recent years it has been argued that this was unfair, but we aren't so sure.Kate finds out more in this episode with author and film critic Mick LaSalle.This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stewart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.