Half-Arsed History

Paper has spent the last two thousand years becoming more and more popular and important to us as a civilisation - and the "paperless" world they say we're heading into is, in fact, anything but.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the podcast's first-ever Ask Me Anything episode, featuring answers to questions sent in by alert listeners about everything from how the podcast is produced to embarrassing anecdotes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, meet Niccolo Machiavelli, the father of political science, and learn how his writing helped to shape today's global political landscape.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Arch was a crucially important architectural innovation that unlocked all new buildings and forms, allowing buildings to be built larger and taller than ever before.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the story of Victor Lustig, a conman who managed to scam someone into buying the Eiffel Tower - potentially more than once. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, get across a crisis that posed a potentially existential threat to official international cricket in the 1970s, when media mogul Kerry Packer established a private, unofficial cricketing competition known as World Series Cricket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coinage has supported local, regional, and global economies for millennia, ever since we figured out that having a convenient way to store and transfer value was actually a pretty good idea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: a brief (and woefully inadequate) overview of humanity's maritime history - from prehistoric wooden canoes to mighty oceangoing container ships. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, get to know Xerxes I of the Achaemenid Empire, and think about why his historical legacy is perceived in the way that it is today.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Concrete is, unbelivably, the second-most-used substance in the world - second only to water - and has a truly fascinating history, its secrets lost to time for a millennia or so before re-emerging in the modern era. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the story of how humanity mastered fire, and the many ways in which this changed us as a species - technologically, culturally, and even biologically. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, meet Harriet Tubman, the US activist and abolitionist who aided countless enslaved people in securing their freedom before she went on to take part in the American Civil War.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rubber has a history that is a lot longer than you might expect - it dates back over 3,500 years, to ancient Mesopotamia, and has had a long and interesting journey to become the commonplace material it is today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: a brief history of stone tools, one of if not the oldest pieces of technology in history - so old, in fact, they predate humanity itself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, become familiar with 4,500 years of Greenlandic history, from the settlement of pre-Inuit, Norse, and Inuit peoples, through to the current importance it has in global affairs.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Glass, technically, may be a naturally-occuring material, but the way that humans have learn to create, shape, and change it over the millennia has had a strong influence on the way we live our lives - an influence that we take for granted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: a brief account of how a relatively minor colonial spat between Britain and Spain became known by one of the silliest names in history - the War of Jenkins' Ear. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, hear the tale of the mutiny on the Wager, when a group of sailors stranded off the South American coast rose up against their stubborn captain, leaving him for dead.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Soap has been used by humans for thousands and thousands of years to keep our things clean, and for hundreds and hundreds of years to keep our bodies clean. By most people, anyway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the biggest cop-out episode in this podcast's entire history, one that involves Riley just reading out a week of entries from Samuel Pepys' diary. More like Eighth-Arsed History tbh Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, learn all about the Great Fire of London, which ripped through the city in 1666, turning it into a smoking ruin.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writing is a transformative invention, enabling human development and advancement by offering language persistence and durability, creating a collective memory for humankind and transmitting meaning across time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the supposed tale behind the creation of the poem Kubla Khan, one of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's most famous works.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, meet Marco Polo, the famous Italian explorer, and learn all about his travels to the Far East.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The plough is a humble and ancient invention that revolutionised agriculture around the world, helping to generate food surpluses that in turn enabled human development and technological advancement.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the tale of Ubre Blanca, a cow that rose to become a national icon in Cuba, a favourite of the Cuban leader at the time, Fidel Castro. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, continue to learn the history of cricket, from its rise as an international sporting competition across the late 19th century to the popular, professional sport it is today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The wheel was and still is a revolutionary invention, transforming transportation, agriculture, and industry, while laying a technological foundation for countless other immensely significant innovations.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the story of Australia's first-ever international sporting tour, when in 1868 a group of indigenous Australians travelled all the way to England to play cricket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, learn about the early origins of cricket, and its development from an informal childrens' game to a major sport played across the world, throughout the British Empire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here is a brief retrospective on the Monuments series, including the reasoning behind the exclusion of some monuments, what went into making the series, and the biggest challenges in putting episodes together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's monument is the Sydney Opera House, one of the most famous and instantly-recognisable Australian landmarks, one that has graced the Sydney skyline since 1973. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: a brief history of Santa Claus, and how he has emerged and developed as a central part of modern Christmas celebrations, with a multifaceted origin story that goes back centuries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, get across the history of Christmas, from its emergence as an early Christian festival co-opting existing celebrations, to the massive, worldwide event it is today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's monument is the Berlin Wall, an enormous, 155 kilometre-long wall that once divided the city of Berlin in two before its eventual fall in 1989. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: Frank Shackleton and his potential connection with the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels - never conclusively proven, but nonetheless involving quite a few controversial and scandalous details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, meet the famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, who led the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition into the Antarctic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's monument is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the semi-ruined remains of the only building to survive in the immediate vicinity of the atomic bomb that was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in August 1945. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: a brief history of Pigeon Post, how humans have used homing pigeons to facilitate speedy, long-distance communication for thousands and thousands of years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, meet five famous animals who have all served in the military: Cher Ami the pigeon, Wojtek the bear, Simon the cat, Reckless the pony, and William the goat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's monument is Mount Rushmore, also known as Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe - a mountainside in the US state of South Dakota that features colossal sculptures of four notable US presidents.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the tale of Sir Hubert Wilkins, a photographer, pilot, war hero, explorer, and ornithologist who led a truly remarkable life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We did it - they gave this man a book deal! "History's Strangest Deaths" will be published by Allen & Unwin next year, with more information coming in a few months. Thank you so much to everyone for all the encouragement and support - it is so exciting to think that the first Half-Arsed History book is coming in 2025! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, get to know the US civil rights activise Rosa Parks, who made a stand for justice when she refused to give up her seat on a racially-segregated bus.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's monument is the Golden Gate Bridge, an (allegedly) orange suspension bridge that spans the entrance to the San Francisco Bay in the US.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the reign of Caracalla and Geta, two murderous brothers who served - very briefly - as co-emperors of the Roman Empire.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, learn all about the history of ancient Roman gladiators: who they were, how they trained and fought, and what happened to them when they won or lost.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's monument is the Sydney Harbour Bridge, an icon not just of Sydney but of Australia more broadly - as painful as that may be for a Victorian to admit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the 1981 Underarm Bowling Scandal, when the Australian ODI cricket team scored a controversial victory over the Kiwis with the use of a disgracefully unsporting bowling technique.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, meet Sir Donald Bradman, who was undoubtedly the best cricketer in history and might just be the best sportsperson to have lived.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.