Roman Empire Super Special: Elagabalus (with Kit Heyam)

Thinking about the Roman Empire? If you weren’t before, you are now! Friend of the podcast Dr. Kit Heyam is back to discuss the fascinating life of ancient Roman emperor Elagabalus (aka Heliogabalus). Elagabalus’s reign was short, and odd, and the way it was written about (by haters) leaves many questions about their queer and trans identity. Kit is here to compassionately explore Elagabalus’s life and story.

Learn more about Kit and their work at kitheyam.com and follow them on Instagram @kitheyamwriter

Buy Kit’s book Before We Were Trans from bookshop.org and support Vulgar History with this link: https://bookshop.org/a/1419/9781541603080

—

Tune into Vulgar History Live!! On October 21st 2023 at 5:30 Central Time (or watch the livestream later on) at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_089jR4GZw8

—

Get Vulgar History merch at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shipping) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shipping)

—

Support Vulgar History on Patreon 

—

Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Interview: Rosie Harte (author of The Royal Wardrobe: A Very Fashionable History of the Monarchy)

This week, author Rosie Harte joins us to talk about her new book The Royal Wardrobe: A Very Fashionable History of the Monarchy. In this book, she discusses iconic fashion moments of the British royals from the Tudor era to present day, answering questions like: how tits out was Anne of Denmark? Whither James VI/I’s padded doublets? And, what’s the deal with Charles II’s pubic hair wig??? Plus: FRANCES HOWARD!! 

Learn more about Rosie and her work at rosieharte.com and follow her on TikTok @theroyalwardrobe and Instagram @rosiehharte

—

Buy The Royal Wardrobe from bookshop.org and support Vulgar History with this link: https://bookshop.org/a/1419/9781472297464

—

Get merch at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shipping) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shipping)

—

Support Vulgar History on Patreon 

—

Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Four Marys

As a grand finale to the Mary, Queen of Scots series, we’re taking a look at her girl squad: The Four Marys. Who were Mary Beaton, Seton, Fleming, and Livingston? If they were Golden Girls, who is the Dorothy? If they were in Blackpink, who is the main visual (and who is the lead dancer)? How do they match up with Reign’s Aylee, Greer, Kenna, and Lola? Where did Mary Seton learn to do perms? Which of them has a sister who was legit a witch?

References:

Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser

Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots by Jennifer Morag Henderson

Embroidering Her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the Language of Power by Clare Hunter

Mary Queen of Scots Secretary: William Maitland: Politician, Reformer, and Conspirator by Robert Stedell

—

Get Vulgar History merch at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shipping) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shipping)

—

Support Vulgar History on Patreon 

—

Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Interview: Jenni Nuttall (Author of Mother Tongue: The Surprising History of Women’s Words)

Continuing on in our academic/linguistics era, I’m joined today by Dr. Jenni Nuttall to talk about her new book Mother Tongue: The Surprising History of Women’s Words.

So many of the words that we use to chronicle women’s lives feel awkward or alien. Medical terms are scrupulously accurate but antiseptic. Slang and obscenities have shock value, yet they perpetuate taboos. Where are the plain, honest words for women’s daily lives? Jenni is here to explain all!

Learn more about Jenni and her work at stylisticienne.com

—

Buy Mother Tongue from bookshop.org and support Vulgar History with this link: https://bookshop.org/a/1419/9780593299579

—

Get merch at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shipping) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shipping)

—

Support Vulgar History on Patreon 

—

Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Interview: Yunte Huang (Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History)

This week, we’re talking with Yunte Huang about his new biography of movie star Anna May Wong, Daughter of the Dragon.

A trenchant reclamation of the Chinese American movie star, whose battles against cinematic exploitation and endemic racism are set against the currents of twentieth-century history.

Learn more about Yunte Huang and his books at yuntehuang.com.

—

Buy Daughter of the Dragon from bookshop.org and support Vulgar History with this link: https://bookshop.org/a/1419/9781631495809

—

Get merch at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shipping) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shipping)

—

Support Vulgar History on Patreon 

—

Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Interview: Rachel Cantor (Half-Life of a Stolen Sister)

This week, I’m joined by author Rachel Cantor to talk about her new book, Half-Life of a Stolen Sister, a retelling of the story of the Brontë siblings.

Chapter by chapter, the novel brings together diaries, letters, home movies, television and radio interviews, deathbed monologues, and fragments from the sprawling invented worlds of the siblings’ childhood. As it does so, a kaleidoscopic portrait emerges, giving us with startling intensity and invention new ways of seeing—and reading—the sisters who would create some of the supreme works of literature of all time.

Learn more about Rachel and her books at rachelcantor.com

—

Buy Half-Life of a Stolen Sister from bookshop.org and support Vulgar History with this link: https://bookshop.org/a/1419/9781641294645

—

Support Vulgar History on Patreon 

Vulgar History merch available at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shoppers) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shoppers)

—

Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Interview: Craig Shreve (The African Samurai)

This week, we’re talking with author Craig Shreve about his new novel, The African Samurai.

Set in late 16th-century Africa, India, Portugal, and Japan, The African Samurai is a powerful historical novel based on the true story of Yasuke, Japan’s first foreign-born samurai and the only samurai of African descent.

Learn more about Craig Shreve and his books at craigshreve.com and follow him on social media @ cgshreve

—

Buy The African Samurai from bookshop.org and support Vulgar History with this link: https://bookshop.org/a/1419/9781668002865

—

Get merch at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shipping) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shipping)

—

Support Vulgar History on Patreon 

—

Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Interview: Jamila Ahmed (Every Rising Sun)

Today we’re talking with debut novelist Jamila Ahmed about her book Every Rising Sun. Every Rising Sun is a retelling of the tale of Scheherazade, set amid the real-life events of twelfth-century Persia and the third crusade.

—

Buy Every Rising Sun from bookshop.org and support Vulgar History with this link: https://bookshop.org/a/1419/9781250887078

—

Support Vulgar History on Patreon 

Vulgar History merch available at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shoppers) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shoppers)

—

Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices