Today In History with The Retrospectors

O.J. Simpson, wanted for questioning over the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, was followed by both the LAPD and the world’s news cameras on 17th June, 1994, as he sat creeping along the motorway, holding a gun to his head, in a white Ford Bronco driven by his former teammate Al Cowlings. As the SUV rolled steadily towards Los Angeles, fans gathered on bridges and roadside verges, waving and shouting to the former sports star and actor. The chase lasted about two hours, and TV networks seized on the story with unprecedented intensity, interrupting normal programming across the United States, including the 1994 NBA Finals, with millions watching both events simultaneously. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how Simpson’s history of spousal abuse was already known by the public; discover how this moment pre-echoed the racial division and lax treatment that would later form part of the commentary around Simpson’s infamous court case; and reveal why the event was a bumper day for Domino’s Pizza… Further Reading: • ‘Revisiting O.J. Simpson's 1994 Bronco Chase — Revisit Shocking, Slow-Moving Car Chase’ (People, 2024): https://people.com/oj-simpson-1994-bronco-car-chase-details-8630083 • ‘Al Cowlings - OJ Simpson's best friend who infamously drove a white Bronco as the accused killer held a gun to his own head during iconic police chase - breaks cover after NFL star's death (and STILL remains loyal to the Ford brand)’ (Mail Online, 2024):  https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-13299503/oj-simpson-death-police-chase-ford-bronco.html • ‘The O.J. Simpson car chase lasted 45 minutes. Watch it unfold’ (CNN, 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuRD3TQEoeY&rco=1 #Crime #Strange #90s #Celebrity #Black  Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

17/06/2026 • 13:51

The world’s first animal charity, the RSPCA, was set up on June 16th, 1824, by a small group of men who met in Old Slaughter’s Coffee House in St. Martin’s Lane, London. They had been brought together by Arthur Broome, a vicar and animal-welfare campaigner, but the main member of the group was Irish MP Richard Martin, widely known as “Humanity Dick” who had recently passed the first legislation of its kind against the mistreatment of horses and cattle.   In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look into why in the 19th century people who were interested in animal rights were seen as faintly ludicrous cranks; explain how one of the driving forces behind the RSPCA ended up in an unmarked grave; and discuss why cloven animals need to have duels fought on their behalf… Further Reading: • ‘16 June 1824: The world's oldest animal charity, the RSPCA, is founded’ (Money Week, 2015): https://moneyweek.com/396015/16-june-1824-the-worlds-oldest-animal-charity-the-rspca-is-founded  • ‘The History of the RSPCA’ (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2017): https://www.animallaw.info/article/history-rspca  • ‘Draw my life - History of the RSPCA’ (RSPCA, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7yhxxKuSUM  Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. #1800s #Victorian #Animals #UK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

16/06/2026 • 11:58

Future poetic powerhouse Dante Alighieri was enshrined as one of Florence’s six priors on 15th June, 1300: a top political gig in the city’s complex guild-based government. But his beloved hometown was a powder keg, split between rival factions: the Guelphs and the Ghibellines; and the Guelphs themselves were split into “white” and “black” camps. Dante, a White Guelph, soon found himself deep in the messy middle of this feud, helping to exile leaders from both factions after street fights broke out. He was then tried in absentia, on trumped-up charges, and sentenced to death by fire - beginning a long road of exile. In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca consider how Dante turned his rage and wisdom into one of the greatest literary works of all time, The Divine Comedy; explain what a poet was doing in the Physicians Guild in the first place; and reveal how it wasn’t until 700+ years later that Florence officially pardoned him… Further Reading: • ‘Dante Alighieri: his Life, The Divine Comedy & Other Books’: https://www.museocasadidante.it/en/dante-alighieri/biography/ • ‘Return of Dante: the Guelphs and the Ghibellines’ (The Independent, 2008): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/return-of-dante-the-guelphs-and-the-ghibellines-850012.html • ‘Why should you read Dante’s “Divine Comedy”? - Sheila Marie Orfano’ (Ted-Ed, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbCEWSip9pQ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15/06/2026 • 12:45

Before McDonalds, there was the Horn & Hardart Automat - a chain restaurant featuring  coin-operated glass windows, which opened its first branch in Philadelphia on 12th June, 1902. The business would grow to serve 800,000 people per day. Customers exchanged nickels for dishes including meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and cherry pie. Beautifully designed with marble counters, stained glass, and chrome fixtures, the venues had an upscale ambiance, but catered mainly to working people, with a notable cult following among struggling artists. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how union pickets and fast food formats eventually caught up with the enterprise; consider the intense nostalgia still strongly felt by the chain’s former customers; and reveal how the whole concept was inspired by a visit to Berlin Zoo… Further Reading: • ‘Meet Me at the Automat’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2001): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/meet-me-at-the-automat-47804151/ • ‘The Automat: Birth of a Fast Food Nation’ (HISTORY, 2012): https://www.history.com/news/the-automat-birth-of-a-fast-food-nation • ‘Hitchcock's Monologue - The Problem With Automat Diners’ (CBS, 1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE9euHvuhYU We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12/06/2026 • 12:41

It was the THIRD time behind bars for legendary rock n’ roller Chuck Berry when he was found to have dodged $110,000 in income tax on 11th June, 1979. He insisted on being paid cash-in-hand for his sometimes shambolic personal appearances, and his propensity for stashing it was so well-known that in Australia the authorities introduced limits on the amount of cash that could be transited across their border, specifically in response to him once stuffing $50,000 in his guitar case. In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly dig deeper into some of Chuck Berry’s former convictions; take a disturbing peek into his home video library; and reveal the true origins of the ‘duck walk’... Content Warning: detail of underage, exploitative and non-consensual sexual acts Further Reading: • The New York Post on Berry’s scandalous sex life (2017): https://nypost.com/2017/03/21/the-dark-past-of-chuck-berrys-scandal-filled-sex-life/ • Inc. on why Berry’s ‘musical genius was also his financial undoing’ (2017): https://www.inc.com/jay-jay-french/how-chuck-berrys-musical-genius-was-also-his-financial-undoing.html • Chuck Berry’s duck walk - a compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwZcLpYPKoI Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

11/06/2026 • 11:46

Benjamin Franklin’s legendary ‘kite experiment’ supposedly took place on 10th June, 1752, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the traditional account, the future Founding Father flew a kite fitted with a metal key into a storm cloud to prove that it contained electricity, leading to the creation of the lightning rod ⚡ Historians, however, point out there is no detailed contemporary record proving that events unfolded exactly as later retellings claimed, and, in fact, Franklin never explicitly stated in print that he had personally carried out the dramatic version of the experiment. Perhaps the iconic image survives partly because, like Newton’s falling apple, it captures a complicated scientific idea in a single memorable scene. Regardless, lightning rods soon spread across Europe and North America, and the kite story is just one chapter in Franklin’s remarkably varied life. Alongside his scientific investigations, he worked as a printer, helped establish one of America’s first volunteer fire brigades, invented bifocal spectacles, and created the glass armonica, a bizarre musical instrument whose sound fascinated composers including Mozart and Beethoven.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover eighteenth century circus-style electricity sideshows; explain how Franklin helped popularise the "positive" and "negative" terms for electrical charge; and reveal why King George III’s preference for blunt lightning rods ignited a UK/US rod rivalry… Further Reading: • ‘Benjamin Franklin and the Kite Experiment’ (The Franklin Institute): https://fi.edu/en/science-and-education/benjamin-franklin/kite-key-experiment • ‘Founding Father of Invention’ (The Washington Post, 2012): https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2012/03/21/founding-father-of-invention/ • ‘Did Lightning Strike Benjamin Franklin's Kite? | MythBusters’ (Discovery, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISRl3WEuU-s #Discoveries #1700s #US #Science Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

10/06/2026 • 13:12

Nero, the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, killed himself on 9th June AD 68. Having fled Rome to a suburban villa after being declared a ‘public enemy’ by the Senate, he stabbed himself through the throat. Probably. Within months of his death, rumours began that Nero still lived and would return in glory to reclaim his empire. Instead, the historians of the era - albeit never averse to embellishment to make an artistic point - documented the horrors of his reign, including his forced marriage to a  slave boy and turning Christians into wax candles. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look back on the more enlightened early days of Nero’s emperorship; consider his incestuous rise to the throne; and explain why his story, perhaps more than anything, is a warning about working with a frustrated actor…  Content Warning: suicide, incest, torture, religious persecution. Further Reading: • ‘Emperor Nero: Facts, Life and Biography’ (History Extra, 2020): https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/emperor-nero-facts-biography-tyrant-crimes-accomplishments/ • ‘On this day in AD 68: The death of the tyrannical Emperor Nero’ (Telegraph, 2017): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/09/day-ad-68-death-tyrannical-emperor-nero/ • ‘The Downfall of Nero's Scandalous Reign’ (Smithsonian, 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJvQa_cnr5Q Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

09/06/2026 • 12:32

‘Ghostbusters’ opened in US cinemas on 8th June, 1984, quickly becoming the highest-grossing comedy of all time.  The brainchild of SNL’s Dan Aykroyd - whose great-grandfather was a 19th-century psychic investigator - the film was pitched and delivered within 13 months. Drawing inspiration from 1930s ghost comedies, the wisecracking ensemble comedy smashed the Hollywood wisdom that big-budget comedies don’t recoup their investment. In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca survey some original alternative titles for the film; revisit Akroyd’s unworkable first draft (set in the future, with intergalactic travel); and reveal why the production necessitated building a whole effects studio from scratch… Further Reading: • 'Ghostbusters' director Ivan Reitman on the making of the 1984 comedy: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/ghostbusters-director-ivan-reitman-making-911408/ • Ghostbusters at 30: EW looks back at the making of a comedy classic | Longform - EW.com: https://microsites.ew.com/microsite/longform/ghostbusters/ • ‘Ghostbusters Trailer’ (Columbia Pictures, 1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hDkhw5Wkas Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

08/06/2026 • 11:08

When Lord Byron’s 17 year-old daughter, Ada Lovelace, attended a soirée at the home of academic Charles Babbage on 5th June, 1833, the pair hit it off immediately. He invited her to see his ‘Difference Engine’ - an early mechanical calculator - kicking off a correspondence that lasted throughout her life. Their lively, intellectual correspondence, and Ada's deep understanding of mathematics and science, lead to her championing of Babbage’s ‘Analytical Engine’, a groundbreaking proto personal computer for which Ada even wrote an algorithm. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly debate whether Ada deserves her 21st century acclaim as the godmother of computer programming; expose her extramarital affairs and gambling habit; and consider whether Babbage himself even fully understood the applications for what he had invented… Further Reading: • ‘Charles Babbage’s Difference Engines and the Science Museum’ (Science Museum, 2023): https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-difference-engines-and-science-museum • ‘How Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage Invented the World’s First Computer: An Illustrated Adventure in Footnotes and Friendship’ (The Marginalian, 2015): https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/06/15/the-thrilling-adventures-of-lovelace-and-babbage-sydney-padua/ • ‘Ada Lovelace in “Victoria” (ITV, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOoCOUDdoeA We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

05/06/2026 • 12:33

‘The Annoying Thing’ is how the begenitaled amphibian animated by Erik Wernquist was first described; but by the time he released his first single ‘Axel F’ he was universally known as The Crazy Frog, and beat Coldplay’s ‘Speed of Sound’ to UK #1 on 4th June, 2005. The tale of how this possibly could have happened is unique to the early days of the internet - a teenager messing about imitating motorbike noises emailed the sound to some friends, Wernquist stumbled across it and put it in his portfolio, and then it was adopted for sale by mobile ringtone company Jamster. In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca consider the value of Crazy Frog’s musical legacy, reveal that he’s not even a frog, and applaud the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority for standing up to protest, and permitting us to witness his visible scrotum…  Further Reading: • Crazy Frog - Axel F (2005): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k85mRPqvMbE • ‘Find out how the world’s most annoying noise came about’ - The Sun commemorates Crazy Frog’s 20th birthday (2017): https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2974489/crazy-frog-just-turned-20-relive-his-hellish-magic-here/ • Not So Crazy Frog (Documentary, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8vVz1KoU2s There is SEVEN MINUTES of bonus material from our discussion about Crazy Frog. We had a lot to discuss. To hear it, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors and support the show. Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

04/06/2026 • 11:41

Los Angeles erupted in racist violence on 3rd June, 1943 in a week of riots that exposed deep tensions in wartime America. California’s Mexican-American “Pachuco” youth had adopted the zoot suit style from African-American jazz culture. But to many white Americans the fashion appeared rebellious, unpatriotic and even threatening at a time when wartime rationing had placed strict controls on fabric use. Groups of sailors started targeting zoot suit-wearing youths in downtown Los Angeles, and mob violence - egged on by the LAPD and the state’s newspapers - ensued. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the photographs of bruised and half-dressed Mexican American youths, published under approving headlines; discover how the disorder quickly became an international embarrassment for Roosevelt’s administration; and reveal how the event became a turning point for many young Latinos who went on to reclaim the zoot suit as a symbol of cultural pride… CONTENT WARNING: racist violence. Further Reading: • ‘History of The Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots’ (Latinitas Magazine, 2023): https://latinitasmagazine.org/history-of-the-los-angeles-zoot-suit-riots/ • ‘A Brief History of the Zoot Suit’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2016): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/brief-history-zoot-suit-180958507/ • ‘How did the Zoot Suit Riots begin? | American Experience’ (PBS, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SisGQx5loKk&list=PLmh4YIWteoGiaCpzImPBkosURu6yBN03f #Latino #Fashion #WW2 #Racism #US Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

03/06/2026 • 13:34

Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson made an important discovery, by accident, on June 2, 1875. While working on their ‘harmonic telegraph’. Watson inadvertently plucked a reed that had been tightly wound around the pole of its electromagnet, producing a twang that Bell heard on a second device next door. Meanwhile, Elisha Gray, co-founder of Western Electric Company, was working on, as his patent put it, “Transmitting Vocal Sounds Telegraphically.” Gray had been using liquid transmitters in his telephone experiments for more than two years; an innovation which mysteriously turned up in Bell’s technology after Gray filed his patent... In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover how Bell’s deaf wife and mother inspired his interest in the human voice; reveal Queen Victoria’s thoughts on being presented with the new technology; and declare which of the two men was the ‘Tesla’ of the race to invent the telephone… Further Reading: • ‘Ahoy! Alexander Graham Bell and the first telephone call’ (Science Museum): https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/ahoy-alexander-graham-bell-and-first-telephone-call • The Invention and Evolution of the Telephone (ThoughtCo, 2021): https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-telephone-alexander-graham-bell-1991380 • ‘The life and work of Alexander Graham Bell (dramatisation)’ (BBC Teach, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n_5jG_9fAE Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. #Victorian #Inventions #Technology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

02/06/2026 • 12:08

Crown Prince Dipendra opened fire on his whole family at a family dinner at Kathmandu’s Narayanhiti Palace on 1st June, 2001. He killed nine royals, including his father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen Aishwarya, and his siblings; then reportedly turned the gun on himself. In a bizarre twist of constitutional formality, Dipendra — though in a coma — was then declared King of Nepal for three days. When he died on June 4th, his uncle Gyanendra, who hadn’t been at the dinner, was crowned king. This convenient absence — and his immediate ascension — instantly fuelled public suspicion and conspiracy theories. In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca explore the commonly-accepted motive for the massacre: Dipendra’s forbidden romance with Devyani Rana, from a rival aristocratic family; ask how Dipendra was able to sneak in multiple weapons into a palace laden with security; and consider how Nepal moved on — politically fractured and spiritually shaken… Content warning: mass murder, suicide Further Reading: • ‘Mystery of a love divided’ (The Irish Times, 2002): https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/mystery-of-a-love-divided-1.1057937 • ‘A royal massacre: 20 years ago, a lovesick Nepalese prince murdered his family’ (ABC News, 2021): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-01/how-a-lovesick-prince-wiped-out-nepals-royal-family/100056562 • ‘Crown Prince Dipendra’ (BBC, 2002): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E93ijn7h2s0 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

01/06/2026 • 12:00

Bing Crosby recorded the biggest-selling single of all time, ‘White Christmas’, on 29th May, 1942. The session took just 18 minutes, and the song was not considered the standout from the album: everyone thought the Valentine’s-themed ballad ‘Be Careful, It's My Heart’ had a better chance of chart success. The songwriter, Irving Berlin, was perhaps not an obvious person to pen the quintessential American Christmas song, given that he was a Russian-born Jew, who had never celebrated the holiday until his arrival in the United States. But the record’s airplay on US Army overseas radio stations during World War II struck a chord with homesick soldiers, and helped embed the tune deeply into the American psyche. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal why the version you’re almost certainly thinking of is NOT the version with which Bing initally topped the charts; unpick the confusing Russian Doll stack of genres into which the song has been repurposed; and explain why Berlin’s Oscar win became a pivotal moment in the Academy Awards ceremony…  Further Reading: • ‘'White Christmas' at 75: A Snapshot of the Most Successful Song In Music History’ (Billboard, 2017): https://www.billboard.com/culture/lifestyle/white-christmas-bing-crosby-history-8071111/#! • ‘Is White Christmas the Best Popular Song Ever Written?’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2012): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/is-white-christmas-the-best-popular-song-ever-written-165989545/ • ‘Holiday Inn | Bing Crosby Sings "White Christmas"’ (Universal Pictures, 1942): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ36gbGlm8Y We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

29/05/2026 • 11:58

Before ‘Tomb Raider’, before ‘Mortal Kombat’, before ‘Street Fighter’, there was something even WORSE. ‘Super Mario Bros’ - which opened in the United States on 28th May, 1993 - was such a critical and commercial failure that for years afterwards Nintendo kept their franchises out of Hollywood hands. Relocating the action to ‘Dinohattan’, the film inexplicably disregarded most of what had made the videogame such a smash-hit and replaced these elements with allusions to Blade Runner and Tim Burton’s Batman. In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca reveal Bob Hoskins’ drinking and accident-prone habits on-set, consider the relative strength of today’s spinoffs such as The Lego Movie, and analyse the secret sauce that keeps the Mario brand strong in the face of such adversity…  Further Reading: • CinemaSins presents: ‘Everything Wrong with Super Mario Bros in 21 Minutes or Less’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYQHnPOYc5Q • ‘The Stench of it Stays With Everybody’, The Guardian (2018):  https://www.theguardian.com/games/2018/mar/22/super-mario-bros-movie-killing-fields-chariots-fire-video-game • ‘Plumbing a Videogame To Its Depths’ - the New York Times reviews the film in 1993:  https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/29/movies/review-film-plumbing-a-video-game-to-its-depths.html Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2021. #90s #Film #Games #Inventions #US Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

28/05/2026 • 12:00

William Pitt the Younger was Prime Minister when he and opposition MP George Tierney fought a duel on Sunday, 27th May 1798 on London’s Putney Heath.  Standing twelve paces apart, the two politicians prepared to exchange gunfire. Both men missed with their first shots. On the second round, Pitt deliberately fired away from his opponent, signalling that he considered honour satisfied without bloodshed. The seconds intervened, and the duel ended peacefully. The fight had escalated from an argument in the House of Commons during a debate over naval recruitment. Tierney had questioned Pitt’s rush to expand the Royal Navy, while Pitt accused him of obstructing the defence of the country - a serious slight at a time when fears of French sympathies ran high. When Pitt refused to withdraw the remark, Tierney challenged him to a duel. Even by the standards of the late eighteenth century, the affair felt faintly antiquated. Duelling still lingered among aristocrats and politicians as a ritual of honour, yet many Britons increasingly regarded it as incompatible with parliamentary government and the rule of law. Critics were appalled that the head of government would risk his life over a Commons dispute, particularly during wartime. Pitt’s ally William Wilberforce was horrified, while King George III reportedly reprimanded Pitt for putting personal honour ahead of duty to the country. Satirists, meanwhile, had a marvellous time portraying the pair as awkward amateurs more likely to wound their dignity than each other. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly attempt to unpick impenetrable eighteenth century cartoons of the incident; compare British duelling etiquette with the more theatrical “walk ten paces and turn” style popular on the Continent; and discover how, incredibly, Parliamentary duelling did not end with Pitt and Tierney… Further Reading: • ‘History of William Pitt 'The Younger' (GOV.UK): https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/william-pitt • ‘William Pitt and the Great War - J. Holland Rose’ (DigiCat, 2022): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/William_Pitt_and_the_Great_War/IcmIEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=pitt+tierney+duel&pg=PT205&printsec=frontcover • ‘A Brief Introduction to the Rules of Historical Pistol Duels’ (Skallagrim, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Toi3JY3LLUM #UK #Politics #Strange #1700s Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

27/05/2026 • 13:19

A coalition of Australian community groups came together on May 26th, 1998 for the country’s first “National Sorry Day”, an annual day of atonement for the social-engineering policy that ripped an estimated 50,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families between 1910 and the 1970s. The first Sorry Day was marked with 300 events around the nation, and more than 1,000 people attended a ceremony in Parliament House, Canberra, but it took Australia’s government another decade to utter an official apology. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how in the Year 2000, skywriters turned the heavens into the biggest billboard of apology ever; speculate on whether Australia Day will be abolished due to its colonial associations; and discover that there is in fact one word that is harder to say than “sorry”…  Content warning: This episode contains discussion of the Stolen Generations, which may be distressing to some listeners. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that the episode also contains mentions of deceased people. Further Reading: • ‘From the Archives, 1998: Thousands say sorry, but not PM’ (The Age, 1998): https://www.theage.com.au/national/from-the-archives-1998-thousands-say-sorry-but-not-pm-20210521-p57tyr.html  • ‘Peter Dutton says it was a 'mistake' walking out on the apology to the Stolen Generations’ (The Daily Mail, 2022): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10866871/Peter-Dutton-admits-mistake-boycotted-national-apology-Stolen-Generations.html  • ‘This Is Why Australia Has “National Sorry Day”’ (Time, 2015): https://time.com/3890518/national-sorry-day/  • ‘Australia's first “Sorry Day” (1998)’ (ABC Australia, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OKsoqqXttE  Thanks so much for supporting the show! We massively appreciate it. The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer: Ollie Peart. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

26/05/2026 • 12:28

Hands Across America, a human chain from New York to California was formed on 25th May, 1986, in an attempt to raise awareness and funds for domestic poverty. The brainchild of advertising executive Jeffrey Nightingale and We Are the World producer Ken Kragen, the kooky concept gained traction once corporate sponsors Coca-Cola and Citibank jumped on board, McDonald’s turned placemats into promotion tools, and popstar Prince sponsored a mile of the chain. The event got a Super Bowl promo starring Lily Tomlin and Bill Cosby, but, in the end, raised less money than expected. In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca sample the official Hands Across America anthem (but can’t bear to endure it all); consider the Regan’s involvement in the chain from the White House lawn; and explain why the event wasn’t truly as original as many people were led to believe… Further Reading: • ‘Hands Across America might have been the most Eighties thing to happen in the 1980s’ (The Washington Post, 2016): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/05/25/hands-across-america-might-have-been-the-most-eighties-thing-to-happen-in-the-1980s/ • ’Us: What Was Hands Across America, the Creepy Event That Inspired Jordan Peele?’ (Vanity Fair, 2019): https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/03/us-movie-hands-across-america • ‘Bill Cosby for Hands Across America’ (1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-llI2voCn2Y Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

25/05/2026 • 13:01

When Jerry Lee Lewis landed at Heathrow Airport for his first UK tour on 22nd May, 1958, he was met with a flurry of journalists eager for a scoop. Yet just one question brought everything to a halt: "Who are you?".  A wide-eyed girl in Lewis's entourage answered: Myra Gale Brown, his wife. But she was only 13 years old. As if this wasn’t scandal enough… she was also his cousin, and their marriage was bigamous. The press exploded with these revelations, turning what was meant to be a triumphant tour into a public relations disaster. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pore over the disturbing details of Lewis’s tumultuous private life; consider whether he was on the path to equalling Elvis’s stardom in the UK, had this matter not come to light; and fruitlessly search the singer’s interviews for a later sense of contrition…  Further Reading: • ‘Myra Williams talks about marriage at age 13 to Jerry Lee Lewis’ (Los Angeles Times, 2022): https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-10-29/jerry-lee-lewis-myra-brown-williams-marriage-13-cousin • ‘Inside The Disturbing Marriage Of Jerry Lee Lewis To His 13-Year-Old Cousin’ (All That’s Interesting, 2022): https://allthatsinteresting.com/myra-gale-brown-jerry-lee-lewis • ’Jerry Lee Lewis Interview with 13 year old wife’ (1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwbty1kRCG0 CONTENT WARNING: domestic abuse, violence, child sexual abuse. We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

22/05/2026 • 13:03

When Carl Wickman started America’s first bus company on 21st May, 1914, they weren’t a bus company, and they weren’t called Greyhound - they were a commuter service for miners in Hibbing, Minnesota. But, despite their ‘dirty dog’ reputation (and the fact they’re now owned by a British conglomerate), the company is still seen as a cornerstone of American culture, and undoubtedly the most famous bus company in the world. In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca consider the role of Hollywood in enshrining Greyhound’s exalted status in the popular imagination, speculate as to whether the development of highways killed the romance of inter-city travel, and reveal why, after the longest coach journey in the world, Father Christmas made Rebecca cry... Further Reading: • The ‘bus scene’ from It Happened One Night (1934): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvzgCo-As6A • Mental Floss celebrate 100 years of Greyhound:  https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/54273/100-years-dirty-dog-history-greyhound • ‘Facts and Figures’ from Greyhound’s official website: https://news.greyhound.com/facts-figures Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2021. #1910s #Inventions #US Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

21/05/2026 • 11:31

Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a US patent for reinforcing work trousers with copper rivets on 20th May 1873; an innovation that would eventually create the global market for blue jeans. Davis, a Jewish tailor in Nevada, had already been using metal fasteners to strengthen horse blankets and other hard-wearing goods. When a labourer’s wife asked him to make trousers sturdy enough to survive her husband’s punishing work, Davis realised that the weak points were the seams and pockets, and used copper rivets to transform them from fragile clothing into industrial equipment. So he wrote to Strauss, from whom he regularly bought cloth, proposing a partnership…  Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant who had arrived during the California Gold Rush and built a thriving wholesale business supplying miners, railway workers and frontier towns with practical goods, agreed to finance the patent and mass production. It proved a remarkable pairing of talents. Davis understood the practical needs of labourers; Strauss understood supply chains, branding and expansion. Together they turned reinforced work trousers into a product that could spread across the American West more profitably than panning for gold itself. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace the origin of Levi’s enduring Two Horse logo of 1886; explain how the Second World War accelerated the adoption of the style; and reveal just how much money a pair of nineteenth-century Levi’s are worth today…  Further Reading: • ‘A Riveting Story’ (Levi’s, 2023): https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/blog/article/lvc-a-riveting-story?msockid=23c525cc0876634208c637a40951628f • ‘Cache of 19th-Century Blue Jeans Discovered in Abandoned Arizona Mineshaft’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2022):  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/cache-of-19th-century-blue-jeans-discovered-in-abandoned-arizona-mineshaft-180981014/ • ‘150 years of Levi's 501 blue jeans’ (CBS Sunday Morning, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAxKoChwN8 #Fashion #Inventions #Jewish #1800s Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

20/05/2026 • 13:09

Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s musical comedy-drama ‘Glee’ was first screened on Fox on May 19th, 2009. In a strategy to whip up excitement before the season premiere in the Autumn, the network showed the pilot in a plum post-‘American Idol’ slot, and then besieged websites and social networks with advertisements over the Summer. The strategy worked - justifying ‘Glee’s enormous budget, relatively unknown cast, and complex musical rights negotiations - and by the end of 2009 the show had generated 25 Billboard Hot 100 hits from its soundtrack. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how this tightly-structured pilot cunningly conceals its Broadway roots whilst introducing its cast of characters; consider how the success of the series launched Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ onto an unsuspecting UK; and consider whether the show’s happy vibes had the good fortune to launch in the midst of the financial crisis… Further Reading: • ‘Glee Pilot Oral History, Part 4: The Premiere’ (Out Magazine, 2015): https://www.out.com/television/2015/3/19/glee-pilot-oral-history-part-4-premiere • ‘How Ryan Murphy Became the Most Powerful Man in TV’ (The New Yorker, 2018): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/14/how-ryan-murphy-became-the-most-powerful-man-in-tv • ‘Glee Pilot Promo - May 19th, 2009’ (Fox, 2009): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5O28G7TgOw Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

19/05/2026 • 12:12

Dreamworks’ irreverent animated comedy Shrek opened in 3,500 U.S. theaters on 18th May, 2001 - dethroning The Mummy Returns with a $42 million opening weekend, and eventually raking in nearly $500 million worldwide. But the journey to swampy superstardom was anything but smooth. The project bounced around for a decade, surviving the death of Chris Farley, the original voice of Shrek, and burning through so many scriptwriters (whose work never saw the light of day) that the animation department became known as the ‘gulag’. In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca reveal how Jeffrey Katzenberg modelled Lord Farquaad after Disney CEO Michael Eisner; recall a time when computer animation needed to be seen to be believed; and consider how the film’s innovative use of pop music, celebrity voices and adult humour changed animated filmmaking forever… Further Reading: • ‘Shrek at 20: How a Chaotic Project Became a Beloved Hit’ (The New York Times, 2021): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/movies/shrek-20th-anniversary.html • ’How 'Shrek' was created as a skewed criticism of Disney’ (Far Out Magazine, 2024): https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/shrek-criticism-disney/ • ‘Shrek (2001) Trailer #1’ (Dreamworks, 2001): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwXOrWvPBPk Thanks so much for supporting the show! We massively appreciate it. The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.  Edit producer: Ollie Peart. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

18/05/2026 • 12:24

George III narrowly dodged a bullet for the SECOND time in one day on 15th May, 1800, as he attended a performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.   The assassination attempt came from James Hadfield, a clinically insane former soldier, who rose from the pit and fired a pistol at the King, causing uproar in the audience. Despite the danger, George remained composed, even using his opera glasses to survey the disarray. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how the leading playwright of the era swiftly calmed nerves with some poetic ingenuity; explain why George III remained popular in this era, despite the repeated attempts on his life; and marvel at how, amidst apparent danger everywhere, the Show really did Go On… Further Reading: • ‘The Theatre Royal and The Case of Two Mad King Georges’ (The National Archives, 2013): https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/the-theatre-royal-and-the-case-of-two-mad-king-georges/ • ‘James Hadfield: His Attempt on King George III’s Life’ (Geri Walton, 2021): https://www.geriwalton.com/james-hadfield-his-attempt-on-king-george-iiis-life/#_ftn1 • ‘The Madness of King George’ (Channel Four Films, 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8lJ8XzX_GM We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15/05/2026 • 10:42

Can ‘mesmeric’ mental powers harm you from afar? Well, no. But that didn’t stop Lucretia L. S. Brown accusing fellow Christian Scientist Daniel H. Spofford of ‘malicious animal magnetism’ in court; a case that concluded on 14th May, 1878. No doubt bolstered by the fact it took place in Salem, Massachusetts - home of the historic American witchcraft trials, in the 1690s - the case aroused public interest with its judgements on mind control and spiritualism.   In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion consider the gender politics of witchcraft trials, examine the enduring popularity of folk magic in rural communities, and uncover the surprising rise of witchcraft in the 21st century... Further reading: • ‘The Other Salem Witchtrials’ - a blog-post from the Oxford University Press: https://blog.oup.com/2013/04/the-other-salem-witch-trials/ • Brian A. Pavlac investigates the ‘original’ Salem witch trials for TED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVd8kuufBhM • ‘The Long Lost Friend’ by John George Hohman (1820):  https://archive.org/details/0223252.nlm.nih.gov/page/n5/mode/2up Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2021. #1800s #US Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

14/05/2026 • 11:11

Pope John Paul II was shot in St. Peter’s Square on 13th May 1981, in front of thousands of pilgrims attending his weekly general audience. Struck multiple times at close range, he collapsed in his Fiat Popemobile, as panic swept through the square. The gunman was Mehmet Ali Ağca, a 23-year-old Turkish national with a history of political violence (an accomplice was reportedly meant to have triggered an explosion to aid his escape, but this plan failed). Ağca was immediately overpowered by bystanders, including security personnel and a nun, while the Pope was rushed to hospital, where he underwent hours of emergency surgery after life-threatening internal injuries and massive blood loss. Prior to the attack, Ağca had escaped from prison in Turkey, where he had been convicted of murdering journalist Abdi İpekçi. He left behind threats explicitly targeting the Pope, yet after his arrest offered shifting and often conflicting explanations for his actions - variously blaming Western imperialism, the Soviet Union, or other global actors.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the likelihood the attack was ordered by an extremist group such as the Grey Wolves; marvel at the Pope’s response, including  visiting Ağca in prison and persuading the Italian President to pardon him; and explain how the date of the attempted assasination coinciding with the earlier Our Lady of Fátima apparitions added a divine dimension to the story…  Further Reading: • ‘May 13, 1981: Pope John Paul II shot in St. Peter's square’ (CBS News, 2016): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-this-day-may-13-1981-pope-john-paul-ii-shot-in-st-peters-square/ • ‘Mehmet Ali Ağca, The Man Who Tried To Kill Pope John Paul II’ (All That’s Interesting, 2026): https://allthatsinteresting.com/mehmet-ali-agca • ‘On this day: Pope John Paul II shot outside the Vatican’ (CBS News, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26JPN4Qh7gs #Catholic #80s #Shocking #ColdWar We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13/05/2026 • 13:50

Richard the Lionheart was a bachelor into his thirties, but finally got hitched on May 12th, 1191, at the Chapel of St. George at Limassol, Cyprus. His Bride? Berengaria of Navarre, daughter of King Sancho VI - a key ally in extending his Kingdom across Europe.  Sure, he may have already slept with her brother, but hey, that’s less awkward than marrying his original betrothed princess, his father’s mistress. The marriage was indifferent and potentially unconsummated; Berengaria becoming the only English Queen in history never to set foot in England. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the happy couple came to be wed in Cyprus in the first place; investigate whether it really is sacrilegious to get married over Lent; and consider historians’ claims that Richard’s proclivity for sharing a bed with the King of France was purely symbolic... Further Reading: • 8 Surprising Facts About Medieval King Richard the Lionheart (HistoryExtra, 2020): https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/8-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-richard-the-lionheart/ • ‘Berengaria of Navarre: Queen Consort to Richard I’ (ThoughtCo, 2020): https://www.thoughtco.com/berengaria-of-navarre-3529619 • ‘LGBTQ Kings & Queen of England’ (History Tea Time with Lindsay Holiday, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eeJqrJ84Xs Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. #Royals #1100s #Cyprus #LGBT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12/05/2026 • 11:08

With big hair, big drama, and even bigger shoulder pads, Aaron Spelling’s primetime soap-opera ‘Dynasty’ defined the 1980s. But, by May 11th, 1989, the show’s popularity was waning - and, even though the showrunners didn’t know it, ABC broadcast what was to be its final episode. The nine-season saga chronicled the jaw-dropping lives of the fabulously wealthy Carringtons. Known for its ludicrously dramatic storylines — from amnesia to surprise murders — the show wrapped up in spectacularly unresolved fashion, with gunshots, people falling off balconies, and characters locked in bank vaults. Created as a glitzy response to Dallas, Dynasty began modestly, but all that changed with the arrival of Joan Collins as the delightfully vicious Alexis Carrington. Her catfights with her rival Krystle — often conducted in designer gowns and usually ending in ponds or fountains — became the stuff of television legend. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover the show’s weekly wardrobe budget; revisit a shocking terrorist storyline; and reveal which famous executive was responsible for the series’ demise… Further Reading: • ‘End of the reign for ''Dynasty'’ (Entertainment Weekly, 1997): https://ew.com/article/1997/05/09/end-reign-dynasty/ • ‘Return to 'Dynasty' : Those Loose Ends? They're Tying Them Up Now’ (Los Angeles Times, 1991): https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-16-ca-2527-story.html • ’Dynasty’ (ABC, 1989): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK1f4KtCwzk Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

11/05/2026 • 12:35

John Pemberton launched Coca-Cola from a pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on 8th May, 1886. Legend has it that a serendipitous mishap had led to the addition of carbonated water, transforming the medicinal tonic into a fizzy beverage that would capture the public's imagination. But in fact, Pemberton's original formula - Pemberton's French Wine Coca - had already been attracting a following; but it had to be relaunched to the market in a non-alcoholic formula, because it boasted wine among its ingredients, at the onset of temperance legislation in Atlanta. Nobody seemed bothered that it contained cocaine, however... In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Coke’s origins lay in curing morphine addiction; consider how strategic marketing, aggressive advertising, and a stroke of luck in a bottling deal pushed Coca-Cola’s proliferation across the globe; and reveal why their iconic logo is written in handwritten script…  Further Reading: • ‘Vin Mariani: The Cocaine Wine Beloved by Popes and Presidents’ (Mental Floss, 2021): ⁠https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/644226/vin-mariani-cocaine-wine-history⁠ • ’John Pemberton And The Quiet Tragedy Behind Coca-Cola's Invention’ (All That’s Interesting, 2017): ⁠https://allthatsinteresting.com/john-pemberton⁠ • ‘John Pemberton and the invention of Coca-Cola (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017): ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxrIgUGfJ8c⁠ We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ or ⁠Patreon⁠. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

08/05/2026 • 12:26

The theft of Edvard Munch’s iconic painting ‘The Scream’ sullied the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer - but, on 7th May, 1994, the iconic work was recovered. The painting, which has been stolen multiple times, was returned on this occasion thanks to the involvement of Britain’s Metropolitan Police - and the comic ineptitude of the thieves. In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion explore the bizarre career of professional footballer turned art thief Pal Enger; consider what Munch had in common with modern-day artists like Damien Hirst; and reveal whether Macaulay Culkin’s ‘scream’ on the poster for Home Alone was a deliberate tribute... Further reading: • When ‘The Scream’ was stolen AGAIN - in 2005: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/jun/13/art.arttheft • Conservator Gry Landro talks about what happened to the painting after the robbery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm45OPVxoCc • The Athletic profiles Pal Enger: https://theathletic.co.uk/2445693/2021/03/16/the-footballer-turned-art-thief-who-stole-the-scream/ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2021. #90s #Arts #Crime #UK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

07/05/2026 • 11:19