Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

STOLEN! Jesus' foreskin!

Well, maybe not. But 2000 years after his birth, where might Jesus' foreskin be? And why does it matter to people?

Kate is joined by Dr James White for this episode to find out how the Holy Prepuce has supposedly survived the last two centuries, and what it has meant to the people devoted to it.

James is a historian...

Why were the Nazis so fixated on birth rates? How did they encourage larger families? And what was their surprising angle on extramarital pregnancies?

In essence, what was the Lebensborn policy?

Taking us through Nazi family policy today is Lisa Pine. Lisa is Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London...

Was Rasputin really Russia’s greatest love machine? Did he have any healing powers? And why might his penis be pickling in a jar?

We're in the middle of some willy related episodes at the moment, and it would be wrong not to include the man, the myth, the 'mad monk'. In this episode from the early days of Betwixt, we are drawing Rasputin out of his cloud of green ...

To many she's known as Lady Jane Grey, but history should remember her as Queen Jane I.

She was only queen for 9 days in 1553, but this made her the first ever queen of England when she was just 16.

What happened in her short life that made her suddenly the most powerful woman in England? How did 'Bloody Mary' Tudor react? And how did it all go so wron...

Small. Shrivelled. Separated from its owner. What has been said about Napoleon Bonaparte's penis? And how much of it is true?

Dr Zack White joins Kate for this episode to discuss these rumours, and what kind of lover and partner Napoleon really was (hint: not great).

Zack is a research fellow at the University of Portsmouth, Chair of the Napoleonic &am...