Biography

Jane Austen is probably the most famous female writer in history. Her novels have gone on to inspire countless films, plays, and television dramas all over the world, and have been translated into almost 50 different languages. But how did this eighteenth-century parson's daughter create stories that are still beloved today? What makes her characters so timeless? And, while we know all about her heroes and heroines, what do we know about the author herself?A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. Written by Linda Harrison. With thanks to Janine Barchas, Professor of English Literature at the University of Texas, and author of many books about Austen, including The Lost Books of Jane Austen.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions. No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joan of Arc is a historical superstar, a peasant who rose above her rank and gender to help free France from foreign occupation.Claiming to be acting under the orders of saints and angels, she became a symbol of national freedom.But how did a near-illiterate teenage girl win the hearts and minds of soldiers and citizens alike? What was behind her angelic visions?And why was she abandoned to a brutal fate at the age of just nineteen?A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Kathryn Harrison, author of Joan of Arc, A Life Transfigured.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first truly global celebrity, Charlie Chaplin was once the most famous man in the world. The king of the silent movie, over the course of 82 films his wistful slapstick saw him light up the silver screen like no one else. But how did he leave behind the extreme poverty of his London childhood? What’s the truth about his complicated love life? And how did personal and political conflict threaten to derail one of the most celebrated careers in entertainment history?This is a biography of Charlie Chaplin.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.Written by Dan Smith. With thanks to Lucy Moore, historian and author of Anything Goes: A Biography of the Roaring Twenties.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions. No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Though he ruled for just thirteen years, Alexander the Great casts a long shadow, famed as much for his hedonistic lifestyle as his military genius.But how did he become one of the best known military leaders in history? What inspired such loyalty among his troops?And what drove this young man in his endless quest to conquer the known world?This is a biography of Alexander the Great.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.Written by Linda Harrison. With thanks to author Philip Freeman, a professor of humanities at Pepperdine University, Malibu.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1509, at just seventeen years old, Henry VIII was crowned King of England. Over the next four decades, he would burn through six marriages, bankrupt the nation, and vandalise his country’s cultural heritage in his quest for supreme power.But how did England’s most eligible bachelor degenerate into a bloated despot, and one of the worst husbands in history?Was Henry simply a psychopath, or a complex man who dragged Britain from the Dark Ages into the modern era?This is a biography of Henry VIII.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by Paul McGann.Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Dr Tracy Borman, historian and author of Crown and Sceptre.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despised by the English, mistrusted by the Scottish nobles, and revered by his countrymen, William Wallace is synonymous with the battle for Scottish freedom.But scratch away at the legend, and even the most basic details are disputed. Where he was born, who he married, and what he did after his famous battle at Stirling Bridge. Thanks to the brutal nature of his death, he doesn’t even have a grave.What can we really know about the man immortalised by the poets? Was he anything like the warrior depicted in ‘Braveheart’?And what does his legacy tell us about the people of Scotland who idolize him to this day?This is a biography of William Wallace.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by Paul McGann.Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Graeme Morton, Professor of Modern History and Director of the Centre for Scottish Culture at the University of Dundee, and author of William Wallace: Man and Myth.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early eighteenth century, one man made his name as the most notorious pirate of all time.The legend of Edward Thatch, aka "Blackbeard", has spawned television shows, novels, and major motion pictures. Stories abound of his wild eyes striking fear into enemy hearts, of the six pistols strapped to his chest, and of his arrival in battle with his jet-black beard set ablaze.But how much is fact and how much fiction?This is a biography of Blackbeard.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by Paul McGann.Written by Luke Kuhns. With thanks to Colin Woodard, author of The Republic of Pirates.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.