Serious history, quick jokes, better guesses.
You're Dead to Me makes room for medieval Irish folklore, El Cid, Cixi, telephones, spices, Gilgamesh, Hypatia of Alexandria and Geoffrey Chaucer without turning the past into homework. Greg Jenner steers a comedian and an expert historian through big stories, strange details and very human misunderstandings.
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You're Dead to Me is a history podcast with the engine of a comedy panel show and the backbone of a seminar. Greg Jenner introduces a subject, brings in a comedian to ask the disarming question, then turns to an expert historian for the answer with proper weight behind it. The format is simple. The results are lively. Recent episodes range from medieval Irish folklore and the frightening world behind fairy traditions to El Cid's shifting loyalties in 11th-century Spain. Empress Dowager Cixi becomes a story of palace hierarchy, succession and political survival. The telephone episode turns invention into rivalry, yearning, practical confusion and the anticlimax of a first call to the next room. The spice-trade episode connects kitchen cupboards to empire, risk, ships, merchants and the rise of joint stock companies. Other installments take on Gilgamesh, Hypatia of Alexandria and Geoffrey Chaucer, using specialists to keep the stories anchored while comedians keep them moving. The show is not interested in dry recitation. It prefers a question, a bad guess, a correction, and then the historical complication that makes the correction worth hearing. Technical terms are usually softened by context, analogy or a quick comic aside. That matters because the subjects can be dense: medieval literature, Mesopotamian language, Chinese court politics, colonial commerce and Victorian science all pass through the same friendly machinery. The academic guests are allowed to explain, but the pace rarely becomes solemn. The comic guests are not decorative either. Their misunderstandings create useful friction, giving the expert historian a reason to clarify what the past did and did not look like. The pleasure is partly in watching modern assumptions bump into older worlds. Fairies are not just cute. Mercenaries are not easy heroes. A world-changing device may begin as something people admire without knowing what to do with it. You're Dead to Me suits listeners who want history with rigor, but not reverence for dullness. It is generous, curious and quick on its feet.
Made for: For listeners who like history explained clearly, with enough comedy to keep complex subjects moving. It especially fits people who enjoy panel chemistry, expert correction and stories that jump across eras.
What sets it apart: The show turns the comedian's wrong-footed guesses into part of the teaching method. Instead of smoothing away confusion, it uses confusion as the route into better history.
The comedy podcast that takes history seriously. In each episode of You’re Dead to Me from BBC Radio 4, Greg Jenner is joined by a comedian and an expert historian to learn and laugh about the past.History isn’t just about dates and textbooks – it’s about extraordinary characters, amazing stories, and some very questionable fashion choices. How long did it take to build an Egyptian pyramid? What does the Bayeux Tapestry reveal about medieval life? Why did it take nearly half a millennium for Joan of Arc to become a saint? And was Catherine the Great really all that gre...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Greg Jenner makes historical complexity funny by pairing expert correction with comic guesses, modern analogies and persistent questions about motive.
Greg Jenner turns historical inquiry into a brisk exchange between a historian and a comedian, using informed explanation, guesses and quick analogies to keep the past in motion.
History class gets a comedian in the next chair, and suddenly Alexander Graham Bell is yearning.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A lively El Cid episode about shifting alliances, with banter that keeps the politics easy to follow.
The episode treats El Cid as a person moving through rival camps, not a figure on a pedestal, which suits You're Dead to Me. Greg Jenner frames Rodrigo Diaz in 11th-century Spain, Toussaint Douglass asks the awkward questions, and Nora Barrand fills in the history.
A sharp, funny guide to Cixi, palace power, and the pleasure of being gently corrected.
This episode gives Empress Dowager Cixi a lively, banter-first treatment, with Sophie Duker tossing out comic guesses while Professor Yang Wen-Jung keeps the history steady and clear.
A 150th-episode history special that turns Bell's first call into a sharp joke about distance, need, and invention.
Greg Jenner anchors a 150th-episode special that uses the invention of the telephone as a tidy way into both history and comedy. With Ewan Morris in History Corner and Catherine Bohart in Comedy Corner, the episode stays centered on Alexander Graham Bell making the first…
A brisk tour from kitchen cupboard trivia to the machinery of empire.
The episode starts with spices, then keeps widening its frame until empire, money, risk, and the making of early modern trade all come into view.
A lively look at Philippe d'Orleans, court marriage, and the pressure of rank under Louis XIV.
The episode gives Philippe d'Orleans a brisk, courtly treatment, tracing the pressure around a second son who is pushed into the role of Duke of Orleans and caught in the hard logic of Louis XIV's court.
A lively rethink of Marie Antoinette that replaces easy myth with sharper, stranger history.
Marie Antoinette comes across here less as a cartoon villain than as someone shaped by myth, rumor, and court politics. Greg Jenner keeps things moving with a light touch, while Professor Catherine Asbury does the careful work of sorting image from reality, especially around…
A funny, brisk look at Hannibal's impossible march.
Hannibal's march from Spain to Italy over the Pyrenees and Alps gives the episode its shape. The more enjoyable thread is the back and forth between Darren Harriot, who keeps guessing at the details, and Josephine Quinn, who keeps steering things back to what actually happened.
Sharp Black pop culture commentary with gossip, jokes, and blunt advice.
Awards season, celebrity memoirs, and new music picked apart with host Louis Fertel and guests.
Comedian Chris Gethard takes one anonymous call a week and can't hang up first.
Isa Calderón and Lucía Lijtmaer riff on feminism and TV history from Spanish stages.
Graham Clark and Dave Shumka turn one small topic into a full episode of tangents.
Greg Jenner records You're Dead to Me live from the Hay Literary Festival in Wales with Dr Gillian Kenny and comedian Sean Burke, then starts with a joke about medieval Ireland and Irish magic.
El Cid gets messy fast.
Two empress dowagers.
Ahoy hoy, the receiver is ringing.
Greg Jenner frames You're Dead to Me around the history of spices and the spice trade, with historian Dr David Vevers and comedian Paul Sinner joining him.
This episode explores the Epic of Gilgamesh and ancient Mesopotamian history through a comedic and educational interview format with a historian and a comedian.
This comedy history podcast explores the life and legacy of Hypatia of Alexandria, a 4th-century mathematician and philosopher, featuring expert insights and humorous commentary.
This episode explores the life and work of Geoffrey Chaucer, the medieval author of the Canterbury Tales, through a humorous yet informative discussion with an Oxford literature professor and a comedian.
This episode explores the life and career of Lena Horne, focusing on her experiences with racism and resilience during Hollywood's Golden Age.
Philippe lands a royal marriage.
This comedy history podcast explores Renaissance-era medicine in 16th century England with a historian and a comedian who has a PhD in virology.
This episode explores the life and legacy of Emperor Nero, ancient Rome's most infamous ruler, through a humorous yet educational discussion with historian Mary Beard and comedian Patton Oswalt.
Marie Antoinette gets the comedy-history treatment.
Elephants change the battlefield.
This episode explores the cultural and intellectual history of the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria with expert guests, blending comedy and historical education.
Greg Jenner humorously introduces the Bronte family, focusing on the famous sisters and their brother Branwell.
Greg Jenner introduces the Byzantine Empire and its power couple Justinian and Theodora in a comedic history lesson.
Historian Greg Jenner and a comedian explore the life of Emma of Normandy, a medieval queen of England.
A comedic history episode exploring the life of King John of England and the creation of Magna Carta.
Greg Jenner introduces a comedic yet informative episode about the history of witch trials between 1450 and 1750, focusing on the Salem trials and European witch hunts.
A comedic history podcast episode about Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca, featuring a historian and a comedian.
A comedy podcast that takes history seriously, featuring a host, a comedian, and an expert historian discussing historical topics.
Greg Jenner hosts a comedic history podcast exploring 18th-century Indian political and cultural life with a historian and a comedian.
A comedic history podcast episode exploring beauty standards and practices in Renaissance Italy with an expert historian and a comedian.
A comedy podcast that teaches history with a comedian and an expert historian.
A comedy podcast that teaches history through interviews with experts and comedians.
A comedy podcast that teaches history with a comedian and an expert historian.
A comedic history podcast episode exploring Empress Matilda and the Anarchy in medieval England.
Greg Jenner hosts a comedic history podcast about Marco Polo, featuring an expert historian and a comedian.
A comedic history podcast episode exploring the history of coffee with a historian and a comedian.
A special 4th of July episode marking 250 years since the start of the American War of Independence, blending comedy and expert historical insight.
A comedic history podcast episode exploring the Northwest Passage with a historian and a comedian.
A comedic history podcast episode exploring the origins and significance of cuneiform, the first writing system, with an expert historian and a comedian.
A comedy history podcast episode exploring the relationship between conquistador Hernan Cortes and his indigenous translator Malintzin in 16th century Mexico.
A comedic history podcast episode exploring the legend of King Arthur with a historian and a comedian.