Not What You Thought You Knew

An army of lovers seems like something from ancient myth but the story of the Sacred Band of Thebes is based on reality. This elite fighting force of the Theban army played a crucial role in ending Spartan hegemony in...

Olaudah Equiano's autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was one of the very first slave narratives that spawned a popular literary genre. However, while relatively famous in the 18th...

While Dr Fern Riddell takes a week off before we bring the final two episodes of the series, we have a special teaser for our penultimate episode. The BBC's Calypsonian-in-Residence Alexander D Great regularly works...

Allan Noel Minns, son of Dr Allan Glaisyer Minns, Britain's first Black mayor when elected mayor of Thetford in 1904, served in the British Army as a medical officer during the First World War. To find out more Dr Fern...

What does the archaeological evidence tell us about the Ivory Bangle Lady, a wealthy woman who died in 4th Century York, and what do her grave goods tell us about material culture in the African diaspora throughout...

Uncovering the story of our pioneering Black British footballers, finding out what we can learn from their experiences, and their long history in The Beautiful Game. Dr Fern Riddell speaks to The Voice and Football...

The Night Witches were the feared, all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment. Yet the Night Witches weren't the only Soviet women on the front-line during the Second World War. Women were pilots...

Soldier, diplomat, spy and fencing champion: the Chevalier d'Éon lived an extraordinary life. But on top of that they are also an important figure for the understanding of gender diversity throughout history, Dr Fern...

We touch on the mythology behind Viking shield-maidens, what we do know about Viking warrior women and how we need to address bias in archaeology. Dr Fern Riddell discusses the legend of Inghen Ruaidh with Professor...

John Edmonstone was born into slavery in the former Dutch colony of Demerara in the late 1700s but died a free man in Scotland having taught one of the greatest men in the history of science, Charles Darwin, the skill...

A well-known celebrity in her day, we have somewhat struggled to appreciate the incredible weight of what Mary Anning's discoveries of ancient marine reptiles meant at the time for a burgeoning science. We speak to Dr...

Aphra Behn, one of the first women in England to make her living as a writer, also just so happened to be one of the country's first female spies. To discover more about the world of female spies, Dr Fern Riddell speaks...

Earlier this year, analysis on the remains of eight sailors who drowned on the Mary Rose yielded some astonishing results for our perception of the people of Tudor England. In speaking to Dr Alex Hildred and Dr Onyeka...

Hosted by historian, author and broadcaster Dr Fern Riddell, Not What You Thought You Knew explores some under-celebrated characters from history and reveals not just their incredible story but also why they’re so...