george iii

Have you ever wondered why the planets in our solar system are all named after Roman deities, except two of them? One of those exceptions is Earth. The other is Uranus.

Content note: there are mentions of Ancient Greek and Roman deities and their terrible sexual behaviours and violent vengeance. Also category B and C swears.

Find more information about this episode and a transcript at theallusionist.org/uranus.

This episode was written, performed and produced by Helen Zaltzman and Martin Austwick. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow,  youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get regular livestreams and watchalong parties - in July, Little Shop of Horrors! - AND to hang out with your fellow Allusionauts in the delightful Allusioverse Discord community. And for a limited time only, you can submit words and phrases that you would like me to record for you to use as your phone text tone or alarm or doorbell or little message of affirmation. Sign up to the Allusioverse at theallusionist.org/donate by 31 August 2023 to get your choice of me shouting you awake in the morning. 

Our ad partner is Multitude. If you want me to talk lovingly and winningly about your product or thing, sponsor an episode: contact Multitude at multitude.productions/ads. This episode is sponsored by:

• Catan, the endlessly reconfigurable social board game. Shop at catanshop.com/allusionist and get 10% off the original base game CATAN by using the promo code ALLUSIONIST at checkout.
• Kitsch, who make products to care for your hair and skin - shampoo and conditioner bars, soaps, sleep bonnets, heatless rollers, satin hoodies and pillowcases... Get a whopping 30% off your entire order at MyKitsch.com/allusionist.
• Squarespace, your one-stop shop for building and running a beautifully designed website. Go to squarespace.com/allusionist for a free 2-week trial, and get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain with the code allusionist.
• HelloFresh, America’s number 1 meal kit - pre-portioned farm-fresh ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your door. Go to HelloFresh.com/allusionist16 and use the code allusionist16 for 16 free meals PLUS free shipping.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracing Christmas celebrations through the years, from the novels of Jane Austen to Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol.

Show Notes:

Carol Ann Lloyd
www.carolannlloyd.com
@shakeuphistory
patreon.com/carolannlloyd
Creative Director: Lindsey Lindstrom

Music: History by Andy_Grey via Audio Jungle, Music Broadcast License

Let's shake up history together!
@shakeuphistory

Even though King George III had 13 living children, in 1817, he only had a single legitimate grandchild: Princess Charlotte. And then the unthinkable happened: Princess Charlotte died in childbirth and the Hanovers were left without an heir. Suddenly, all of George III's unmarried adult children were in a race to find eligible princesses and have children to carry on the family business.

Support Noble Blood:

— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon

— Merch!

— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and pre-order its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II, accession days and jubilee years have been a cause for national celebration.

Show Notes:

Carol Ann Lloyd
www.carolannlloyd.com
@shakeuphistory

Creative Director: Lindsey Lindstrom
Music: Inspiring Dramatic Pack by Smart Sounds via Audio Jungle; Music Broadcast License

Let's shake up history together!
@shakeuphistory

I do think our views shape the representation of the figures, and the representation of the figures shapes our views of them. 

Show Notes:

Carol Ann Lloyd
www.carolannlloyd.com
@shakeuphistory

Creative Director: Lindsey Lindstrom
Music: Inspiring Dramatic Pack by Smart Sounds via Audio Jungle; Music Broadcast License

Let's shake up history together!
@shakeuphistory

Rick Atkinson talks with us about his trilogy on the War for Independence, beginning wit the first volume, The British Are Coming:  Lexington to Princeton 1775-1777, a masterpiece of historical narrative.  He helps us see past the familiar history and to understand the war for Independence in a new and interesting ways.  The first volume of Rick Atkinson's World War 2 trilogy, An Army at Dawn, received the Pulitzer Prize in History.  A veteran journalist and war correspondent, Atkinson has written about the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars, and is now turning his keen eye on the War for Independence.   

What was the Regency really like? That’s a question we can answer only in parts. We can learn something from the music and literature, something from the architecture. We can know something of the elite and powerful. We can learn from reports that praise national leaders and from caricatures that poke fun of those in power. Because this time is full of people, the Regency (like today) is complicated. That’s true of the people who filled the streets and shops of London. It’s true of the people who farmed and harvested and never saw a city. We can’t know everything. If we keep an open mind and stay curious, we can learn something.

And the same is true about Queen Charlotte. With the splashy new Netflix drama Bridgerton hitting the airwaves in the last couple of weeks, the questions surrounding Queen Charlotte are bubbling to the surface once more.

The most significant thing that adding Queen Charlotte allowed the show to do was make race part of the theme. The casting is not color-blind but color-conscious, as the show’s creators explain that they wanted to make questions about race one of the defining features of the program, along with questions about gender and sexuality. Van Dusen said, “It’s something that really resonated with me, because it made me wonder what could that have really looked like. And what would have happened? What could she have done? Could the queen have elevated other people of color in society and granted them titles and lands and dukedoms?” In the world of Bridgerton, the choice to make Queen Charlotte visibly Black opened doors. “That’s really how our Simon Bassett, our Duke of Hastings, came to be. We get to explore it in a really interesting way. And it goes to the idea of what the show does—we’re marrying history and fantasy in a really exciting, fascinating way.”

So who is this Queen that Bridgerton decided to pull into the story?

The questions about Queen Charlotte’s race seem to have started with Joel Augustus Rogers in 1940 when he wrote that portraits and contemporary descriptions of Charlotte clearly show a Black strain (Sex and Race, volume 1). In 1967, Mario de Valdes y Cocom began researching the Queen’s ancestry. This is when the theory began to draw attention.

Some people disagree. Kate Williams, a current popular historian, says that the story raises “important suggestions about not only our royal family but those of most of Europe, considering that Queen Victoria’s descendants are spread across most of the royal families of Europe.” But she is skeptical about the theory, as are other historians.

History. It’s complicated. The answers aren’t easy, and they often are not clear. But we need to keep asking the questions.

Let's shake up history together!
@shakeuphistory