How did the pub become so central to British culture?

Ben Henderson and Alice Loxton reveal how women ran medieval alehouses, how the Reformation led to a golden age of boozers, and how competition from gin produced the iconic Victorian pub.

Key Sources:

Dr Paul Jennings - The Local: A History of the English Pub. Dr James Wright. Dr Peter Clark. Dr Mark Hailwood - Alehouses and Good Fellowship in Early Modern England.

Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson delve into the history of the Union Jack - the flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

It’s one of the most recognisable British icons, but just why does it look the way it does? What’s the story behind the pattern?

We’ll get into the saintly foundations, the Stuarts, and of course the age old question - where on the flag is Wales?

Key Sources:

The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag - Professor Nick Groom

Modern buildings are ugly - that’s what opinion polls suggest - but if it’s true, what’s the story behind it?

Ben Henderson and Alice Loxton see how a Swiss architect turned the British establishment against traditional architecture, and how his followers rebuilt British cities in the hope of improving society.

For some, modern architecture is a crime against the public realm. For others, it’s iconic. Alice and Ben explore the debate over the decades.

Subscribe to the podcast on BBC Sounds and on Here For The History’s YouTube channel.

Key Sources:

A Short History of British Architecture: From Stonehenge to The Shard, Simon Jenkins The Modern British City 1945-2000, Otto Saumarez-Smith

Have you ever wondered why we get Saturday and Sundays off each week? Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson try to figure out who invented the weekend. We got Sunday, then Saturday afternoon.. Then finally the full two days - but how? We’ll be taking a look at the Medieval period, we’ll introduce you to an important clerk from the Industrial Revolution, and finally a few familiar names will round out the story. Key Sources Professor Nicholas Orme Dr Ilaria Bultrighini Brad Beaven BBC Who Do You Think You Are?: Series 13: Sir Ian McKellen

From royal coronations to criminal trials, the suit is men’s go-to uniform. But why?

Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson reveal the suit’s origins in the court of Charles II, how the original dandy Beau Brummell shaped men’s style to this day, and how sporty Victorians forged the modern suit.

But with the rise of working from home, are the suit’s days numbered?

Key sources: The Suit: Form, Function and Style, Christopher Breward Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s Men of Fashion, BBC Radio 4 A Stitch in Time, BBC FOUR This 19th-century London dandy caused a style revolution, National Geographic, 2019 Suitably Dressed, The Economist, 2010

For decades Brits have enjoyed package holidays in sunnier climes of Spain, in resort towns like Benidorm. But why is that? Where did the package holiday itself come from? Was it one person who invented it?

Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson unpack the stories which have all contributed to the success of the package holiday.

We’ll start our journey off in Victorian Britain, with a layover to visit a North London entrepreneur, before reaching our final destination of Franco-era Spain.

Subscribe to the podcast on BBC Sounds and on Here For The History’s YouTube channel.

Key Sources:

Thomas Cook: The Holiday-maker by Jill Hamilton A World Away: The British Package Holiday Boom, 1950-1974 by Michael John Law The New Elizabethans: Vladimir Raitz Witness History: The beginning of Benidorm

There’s a well known stereotype that Brits don’t show their emotions. George Gershwin even composed a song about the famous ‘Stiff Upper Lip’.

This week Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson delve into the history of emotions and ask where the British stiff upper lip came from.

We’ll hear how the French Revolution turned Brits against emotion, how the Victorians made repression a virtue, and why everything changed after World War II.

Key Sources Ian Hislop’s Stiff Upper Lip: An Emotional History of Britain, BBC Two Weeping Britannia: Portrait of a Nation in Tears, Prof Thomas Dixon History of Emotions Blog, Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions Prof Julie-Marie Strange

To the frustration of many, a lot of women’s clothes don’t have pockets. But why on Earth is that the case? Especially when men’s clothing seems to be full of pockets.

Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson track the tumultuous and muddy history of women’s pockets. From capacious beginnings, through many fashion changes, to suffragette campaigning and societal expectations.

Alice and Ben unpick the surprising moments of pocket history that have contributed to the inconsistency of these sewn-in marvels today.

KEY SOURCES: Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close by Hannah Carlson The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women's Lives by Arianne Fennetaux and Barbara Burman