It’s important to think about the past. I think about it often. Usually when I’m lying in bed and my brain decides that’s the best time to think of mistakes I’ve made, loves that have been lost, and, of course, the Roman Empire.
A lot of history is about kings, queens and battles. Which is very interesting in its own way. But is it real history? After all, most of history doesn’t involve kings or queens or battles. Most of history is just normal people going about their business, trying not to be too hungry, too cold, or too sick. That’s real history.
- Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify
- Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible
That’s why it’s important to talk to people such as Ruth Goodman, who is less interested in kings and queens and battles. She likes to learn about normal people, doing normal things, in the past and what that says about us.
She came on the Country Life Podcast to talk to us about normal people doing normal things in the past, and how she learns so much about them. The secret is to put yourself in their shoes. She cooks dinners over an open fire. She once lived according to a ‘Tudor body-cleansing regime’ for three months and apparently it wasn’t so bad. To her, the study of the people of the past is a type of anthropology; after all, to us, the Tudor is a different society altogether.
It was extremely eye opening and interesting. We also discussed her work around restoring a former ‘ragged school’ in Fulham that has been redeveloped into KYN Hurlingham. It’s an interesting focal point of how working-class people worked together to improve their own lives, in the face of indifference from the wealthy and the government.
It was a wide-ranging and interesting chat. You’ll love it. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Many thanks to the kind people at KYN for helping us organise it.
Episode credits
- Host: James Fisher
- Guest: Ruth Goodman
- Editor and producer: Toby Keel
- Music: JuliusH via Pixabay
- Special Thanks: Adam Wilbourn
From Tudors and Georgians to pet monkeys in Roman Britain: Matt Thompson of English Heritage on telling the stories of the past
Matt Thompson of English Heritage joins the Country Life Podcast.
The best beaches in Britain, by the man who's just spend seven weeks visiting 583 of them
The Chief Travel Writer from the Sunday Times joins the podcast to talk about the best beach in the country,
Buckingham Palace, Taylor Swift and how to get your house featured in Country Life, with John Goodall
Country Life’s Architectural Editor John Goodall joins host James Fisher in this episode of the Country Life Podcast.
-
Six charming homes up for sale, including one dubbed 'one of the most picturesque in Dorset', as seen in Country LifeOur look at the finest houses to come up for sale through Country Life in the past week is full of delights, from a new-Georgian mansion to a perfectly-sized Hertfordshire estate.
-
Rolls Royce Ghost Series II: The car of many colours that can do many amazing thingsThe Ghost is the classic Rolls-Royce — can it adapt to a changing automotive landscape?
