Today In History with The Retrospectors

38

Curious, funny, surprising daily history - with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll.From the invention of the Game Boy to the Mancunian beer-poisoning of 1900, from Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain to America's Nazi summer schools... each day we uncover an unexpected story for the ages. In just ten minutes!Best Daily Podcast (British Podcast Awards 2023 nominee).Get early access and ad-free listening at Patreon.com/Retrospectors or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Recent Episodes
  • It's Superman!
    Apr 18, 2025 – 11:49
  • Let's Buy London Bridge
    Apr 17, 2025 – 12:03
  • Ancient Egypt's Napoleon
    Apr 16, 2025 – 12:53
  • The First Casino Royale
    Apr 15, 2025 – 12:03
  • When Presidents Play Ball ⚾
    Apr 14, 2025 – 12:06
  • Stealing The Stone of Destiny
    Apr 11, 2025 – 11:52
  • The Birth of Copyright
    Apr 10, 2025 – 11:43
  • The Speeding President
    Apr 9, 2025 – 11:34
  • Venus, Reborn
    Apr 8, 2025 – 11:55
  • When Wham! Went To China
    Apr 7, 2025 – 11:51
  • Give Peace A Brand
    Apr 4, 2025 – 12:01
  • Here Comes The Pony Express
    Apr 3, 2025 – 11:35
  • Fleetwood Mac’s Breakup Masterpiece
    Apr 2, 2025 – 11:26
  • Unearthing Pompeii
    Apr 1, 2025 – 11:48
  • Meet The Teletubbies
    Mar 31, 2025 – 11:53
  • Ed Sullivan Bows Out
    Mar 28, 2025 – 11:55
  • Sacheen Littlefeather's Oscars Controversy
    Mar 27, 2025 – 11:56
  • Italy's Deadly Roadrace
    Mar 26, 2025 – 12:44
  • The Tunnel Under The Thames
    Mar 25, 2025 – 12:02
  • Kidnapping Ronnie Biggs
    Mar 24, 2025 – 12:10
  • The Most Expensive Divorce Ever
    Mar 21, 2025 – 11:41
  • Stealing the World Cup
    Mar 20, 2025 – 12:03
  • Welcome To Las Vegas
    Mar 19, 2025 – 11:01
  • The Birth of Fast Fashion
    Mar 18, 2025 – 11:18
  • Marie Stopes' "Mother's Clinic"
    Mar 17, 2025 – 12:15
  • Making The Mikado
    Mar 14, 2025 – 11:28
  • Mata Hari: Showgirl, Seductress, Spy
    Mar 13, 2025 – 11:55
  • When The Dixie Chicks Got Cancelled
    Mar 12, 2025 – 12:05
  • COPS Hits TV
    Mar 11, 2025 – 12:05
  • Birth of the Book Club
    Mar 10, 2025 – 11:15
  • Abducting Ellen Turner
    Mar 7, 2025 – 11:13
  • The Real Captain Birdseye
    Mar 6, 2025 – 12:05
  • Vietnam's Singing Soldier
    Mar 5, 2025 – 11:53
  • Trashing The White House
    Mar 4, 2025 – 11:44
  • Serfdom's Up!
    Mar 3, 2025 – 12:12
  • The Double Helix Quartet
    Feb 28, 2025 – 11:59
  • Pokémon Hegemon
    Feb 27, 2025 – 12:08
  • The Shoe That Made Nike
    Feb 26, 2025 – 11:54
  • Britain's Backyard Bunkers
    Feb 25, 2025 – 12:33
  • How Not To Invade Britain
    Feb 23, 2025 – 12:05
  • The First Hijack
    Feb 21, 2025 – 11:44
  • How Orkney Became Scottish
    Feb 20, 2025 – 11:39
  • Mexico's 45 Minute President
    Feb 19, 2025 – 12:08
  • I Discovered Pluto
    Feb 18, 2025 – 12:26
  • Britain Goes To School
    Feb 17, 2025 – 11:52
  • The Night of 206 Stars
    Feb 14, 2025 – 11:42
  • The 500,000 Year-Old Spark Plug
    Feb 13, 2025 – 12:13
  • The Forbidden City's Final Emperor
    Feb 12, 2025 – 13:07
  • The Monstrous Gerrymander
    Feb 11, 2025 – 11:41
  • Trouble at the Tavern
    Feb 10, 2025 – 11:37
Recent Reviews
  • corgirulz
    So good!
    I can’t wait until may 6. It’s my birth day and nothing interesting happens then really that I know of. On June 14, my younger sisters birthday, it says a bunch of cattle gathered around a meteorite. Why does she get that? Lucky. Also someday, when I grow up, I’m gonna have my own podcast. Maybe. 77%. Ok 25% sure but still. Ok let’s be real it like 15%
  • Xbound24
    Surprised to see some of the poor reviews
    I love this quick, fast-paced history blip every morning. I get to learn something new and it fits in great for my short commute. I like the lightheartedness of it and the broad variety of topics. There’s clearly a good bit of effort gone in to such a short little podcast which I appreciate as well. Even the topics that make my eyes glaze over (British history…I’m SORRY) are bright and fun and, barring all that, only ten minutes! Consistently fun, definitely one of my favorite podcasts. Surprised it doesn’t have more reviews!
  • pop1pee
    false information
    What bothers me most is when someone comes to talk about history without full knowledge and distorts it with his wrong words. Christians have designated Sunday as a holy day since the first century because it is the day on which Christ rose from the dead, not the Emperor Constantine, who designated it for Christians.
  • iampatmann
    Such a great show
    The show is fun and informative. One of my favorite podcasts. Rebecca and Arion do a great job of researching every day’s topics. Olly also usually has a fact or two as well, but he clearly is there for his entertainment skills, not his research or analytic skills. A helpful hint for listeners is if Olly starts a statement with, “Obviously…” or, “Of course…” the rest of what comes next is likely going to be based on a misunderstanding of the topic, a misunderstanding of the context surrounding the topic, or a failure to listen to what his cohosts have already said.
  • His Story Nut
    Great Today in History Podcast
    if you like History you will love this podcast. I find the content interesting even though it it produced in the U.K. and I am not produced in the U.K. ;-)
  • Coachlacrosse
    not what I expected
    I thought this was going to be as good as History Daily. With in the span of 10 minutes on the Last Queen of Hawaii I knew i was going to have to unsubscribe. Listening to 3 British acents tell me how bad America was not enjoyable. Also the Rip on Fox news is pretty ridicoulous considering all the other cable "news" supports socialism communism. Hearing their political views would really make me question their "truth" of the history they are reporting.
  • Unkle Bubba
    Better check your continuity
    I was looking forward to an August 30, 2022 show and it was some thing from 2007? Somebody’s not doing their job.
  • lexiloolove
    Funny, fast & informative!
    Great podcast to start the day with, highly recommend!
  • KateMutch
    Love this show!
    The trio create a show full of historical facts that are often obscure and always interesting. They have great chemistry. I always look forward to this and five days a week start my day with it. Am an American listener. Highly recommend it.
  • jim from Guam
    Olly Mann keeping us informed!
    As a devoted lister of Answer Me This (which will always be missed!) and The Modern Mann (of which I am an official Mannbassidor!), I was definitely going to try Olly’s latest endeavor; but after not having it in my daily pod-feed for a week now at the end of the year, I realize just how much I enjoy the show and look forward to hearing it! With interesting topics chosen to discuss “on this day in history” and witty banter of the hosts, this is a daily dose of fun!
  • Nmgg754
    Great new show!
    Love this! I came as a long time listener of Answer me This, and am really enjoying it. Give it a listen! **Request in case they read their reviews— can you put out a weekly episode of all that week’s episodes in one download? Even if you have to increase the ads, it would be so nice.
  • pfm
    Love the show, but…
    I love everything about this show BUT they use the word ‘theory’ when they are talking about an hypothesis.
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