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Silphium was a plant much loved by the ancient Greeks due to its reported contraceptive, aphrodisiac, and abortive properties. It only grew in Cyrenica, now Libya, and was a valuable resource to the ancient Greeks who had settled in the area. It's thought that Silphium went extinct in the 1st or 2nd century CE, probably due to overharvesting and changes in the local climate. However in 2021 researchers working in Turkey thought they may have found the long lost plant. Happy Valentines Day! Cover image: A silver Attic drachm 510–470 BC. Found in the excavation of the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Cyrene. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cyrenecoin.jpg#mw-jump-to-license See the show notes on the website⁠ ⁠amoroushistories.co.uk⁠⁠ Find me on social media; TikTok, ⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠Twitter ⁠⁠and⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠⁠. Drop me an email on [email protected] UK Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠ https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/amoroushistories USA Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/shop/amoroushistories Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

Please note this episode was recorded in August 2023. Today I’m joined by Alexandra Collinson, a third year PhD student at Newcastle University studying eighteenth-century literature. We’ll be talking about her project, The Sex Workers’ Revolution: Prostitution and Feminism in Women’s writing, 1787-1801, and more broadly about women, sex work, virtue and motherhood in eighteeth century England and Ireland.  Alex’s PhD project asserts that revolutionary feminists such as Marie-Madeleine Jodin and Mary Wollstonecraft, were not the only female writers to intervene in the patriarchal domain of late eighteenth-century politics. Her research shows that sex workers like Margaret Leeson and Ann Sheldon also made important contributions to feminist discourses on women’s nature and social roles in memoirs and legal testimonies published throughout the period. Alex’s other research interests include women’s life writing, and representations of sexuality, maternity, and prostitution in eighteenth-century literature. Her PhD project is funded by a Arts and Humanities Research Council Northern Bridge Studentship. Alex's twitter: https://x.com/AlexCollinson7?t=68q4W_AWb6zzH3BzegysNA&s=09 Alex's Newcastle Uni profile: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/research/literature/literature-pgr-students/current-students/alex-collinson/ See the show notes on the website⁠ ⁠amoroushistories.co.uk⁠⁠ Find me on social media;⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠Twitter ⁠⁠and⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠⁠. Drop me an email on ⁠[email protected]⁠ ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠ UK⁠ | ⁠Bookshop.org USA⁠ Shop:⁠ ⁠amoroushistories.bigcartel.com⁠⁠ Donate: ⁠buymeacoffee.com/amoroushistpod⁠ Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

Content warning: rape discussed at 14-16mins In today's episode I have the absolute honour of talking to Dr Kathleen Lubey about her new book What Pornography Knows: Sex and Social Protest since the Eighteenth Century. Kathleen is a lecturer at St John’s University in Queen’s, New York, USA. She specilises in the literature and culture of eighteenth-century Britain, sexuality and gender studies, the history of pornography, and literature of the British slave trade. Her current book, What Pornography Knows: Sex and Social Protest since the Eighteenth Century, examines archival texts to trace currents of feminism and social justice in British pornography from the 1740s to the present. Buy What Pornography Knows: Sex and Social Protest since the Eighteenth Century. Use the code “Lubey20” to get 20% off the paperback: https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=31053 See the show notes on the website ⁠amoroushistories.co.uk⁠ Find me on social media; ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠Twitter ⁠and ⁠YouTube⁠. Drop me an email on [email protected] ⁠Bookshop.org⁠ UK | Bookshop.org USA Shop: ⁠amoroushistories.bigcartel.com⁠ Donate: buymeacoffee.com/amoroushistpod Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

Content warning: Rape and sexual assault will be discussed throughout. Today is a special episode as I have Dr Julie Taddeo and Dr Katherine Byrne joining me to talk about their 2022 book Rape in Period Drama Television: Consent, Myth, and Fantasy. We will be discussing representations of rape in TV shows such as Outlander, Poldark, Harlots, Bridgerton, Banished and more. Dr Julie Taddeo is a Research Professor of British History at the University of Maryland in the USA. She has published multiple books and articles on topics including the Bloomsbury Group and British modernism; the British novelists Catherine Cookson and Anne Perry; Steampunk; and British period drama TV. Dr Katherine Byrne teaches English at Ulster University in Northern Ireland, and has published many books and articles about period drama, Victorian literature and medicine, women’s writing, and the Gothic. Thanks again to both of them for joining me! Apologies for the poor audio quality from my mic, I clearly sat in an area of the house with poor wifi, baby podcaster lesson learned! Buy Rape in Period Drama Television: Consent, Myth, and Fantasy: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793625854/Rape-in-Period-Drama-Television-Consent-Myth-and-Fantasy See the show notes on the website ⁠amoroushistories.co.uk⁠ Find me on social media; ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠Twitter ⁠and ⁠YouTube⁠. Drop me an email on [email protected] ⁠Bookshop.org⁠ UK | Bookshop.org USA Shop: ⁠amoroushistories.bigcartel.com⁠ Donate: buymeacoffee.com/amoroushistpod Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

We’re in 1730s London with gentleman’s servant and OG drag queen John Cooper, also known as Princess Seraphina. Rictor Norton introduces Seraphina on his website as quote “the first recognizable drag queen in English history, that is the first gay man for whom dragging it up was an integral part of his identity”. See the show notes on the website ⁠amoroushistories.co.uk⁠ Find me on social media; ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠Twitter ⁠and ⁠YouTube⁠. Drop me an email on [email protected] ⁠Bookshop.org⁠ Shop: ⁠amoroushistories.bigcartel.com⁠ Donate: buymeacoffee.com/amoroushistpod Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

WWE wrestlers are famous worldwide for their skills in the ring, but do their costumes say more about the characters then the writers room are aware of? Join me to read the queer-coding of The Judgement Day; Rhea Ripley, Finn Balor, Damien Preist and Dominic Mysterio. See the show notes on the website amoroushistories.co.uk Find me on social media; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Drop me an email on [email protected] UK Bookshop.org USA Bookshop.org Shop: amoroushistories.bigcartel.com Donate: buymeacoffee.com/amoroushistpod Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

Hello! I thought I should post a quick update as my anchor app told me the other day that I had over 600 followers on Spotify who I had cruelly abandoned after 9 episodes. So, sorry about that! I am currently working on a new season of the podcast, it's taken me a lot longer to get going on it because ME/Chronic Fatigue Sydrome is an unruly beast and I'm learning to live with it's unpredictable whims. Fingers crossed as time goes on I'll get better at managing it. Anyway thank you for hanging in there, I've got some super interesting episodes planned and some lovely guests joining me! You can keep up to date with the podcast by following my socials @AmorousHistories on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, and @AmorousHistPod on Twitter. As ever transcripts and sources are on my website amoroushistories.co.uk. I'm looking forward to continuing to share my love of sex, sexuality and gender history with you all! Until next time, stay sexy!

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Brianna Robertson-Kirkland to discuss the real and imagined scandal in 18th century music and singing lessons, as well as famous Italian castrato Venanzio Rauzzini, the subject of Brianna's recently published book Venanzio Rauzzini and the Birth of a New Style in English Singing: Scandalous Lessons. Go to Brianna's website to find out more about her work and publications/presentations: briannarobertson-kirkland.com Buy Brianna's book online. See the transcript and my sources on the website amoroushistories.co.uk   Find me on social media; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  Drop me an email on [email protected]  Shop: amoroushistories.bigcartel.com  Donate: buymeacoffee.com/amoroushistpod  Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

Inanna is the Mesopotamian goddess of love, sex, fertility, and war. Join me to talk through three of her myths and take a look at her impact on the history of sex. See the show notes on the website amoroushistories.co.uk  Find me on social media; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Drop me an email on [email protected] Shop: amoroushistories.bigcartel.com Donate: buymeacoffee.com/amoroushistpod Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

Have you heard of the secret Scottish society with penis shaped drinking glasses, or the bat-winged sex demon of Zanzibar? Join me, Annie Harrison to talk about these and much more in the Amorous Histories podcast. Each episode I'll be exploring something different from the history of sex and sexuality, learning about what weird and wonderful things people have been getting up to across the world. To listen to Amorous Histories podcast go to amoroushistories.co.uk or find me on social media.

A young lady climbs out of a window dressed in men’s clothing with a pistol and her pet dog in hand. She meets another lady also dressed in men’s clothing and they ride into the night towards the coast with plans of their new life together abroad. Today we're going to be talking about the Ladies of Llangollen, an 18th century queer couple. See the show notes on the website amoroushistories.co.uk  Find me on social media; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Drop me an email on [email protected] Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/ OMG lesbians from Billy on the Street: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pwCK2pOF0o&t=1s

Umoja is a village in the grasslands of Samburu in the north of Kenya. In 1990 15 women who had survived assault by British soldiers posted to Kenya, founded the village as a safe haven for women. Listen to their story and their impact. See the show notes on the website amoroushistories.co.uk  Find me on social media; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Drop me an email on [email protected] Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/ Photo: Kate Cummings, Umoja Uaso, Kenya. Partner: Vital Voices. 2009.

The “Most Ancient and Puissant Order of the Beggar's Benison and Merryland” was formed in 1732 in the town of Anstruther in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. It was a secret all male club dedicated to sexual freedom, with a little bit of financial fiddling on the side. The Club ran until 1836 and had off shoots in Glasgow, Edinburgh and even St Petersburg. Join me to learn more! See the show notes on the website https://amoroushistoriespodcast.wordpress.com/  Find me on social media; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Drop me an email on [email protected] Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

Did gay clubs exist in eighteenth century London? Let's talk about what men got up to in the relative safety of Molly Houses. See the show notes on the website https://amoroushistoriespodcast.wordpress.com/  Find me on social media; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Drop me an email on [email protected] Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/

Join me for this Halloween special to find out about modern and historic sex with ghosts and demons! See the show notes on the website https://amoroushistoriespodcast.wordpress.com/  Find me on social media; Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Drop me an email on [email protected] Track: No Saint, Music by: https://slip.stream/