Life Lessons from History
This podcast explores how lessons from history can be applied to modern life. Each episode features a historian or archaeologist who shares insights from their study of the past, offering advice on topics like easing worries, overcoming procrastination, and adding enchantment to daily life. The show draws on examples from ancient civilizations to Tudor England to help listeners live better, happier, and more productive lives.
Episodes
Let’s talk about death more honestly
We should be better at talking about death, and maybe we could also do with being comfortable with the personal rituals that would allow that to happen. That’s what Helen Gittos suggests in this new Life Lessons from History podcast, as she explains how medieval people let rituals run throughout their lives, and how we might benefit from doing the same.
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Seek out silence, like a Tudor
Do you ever actively seek out silence? Maybe you should, suggests historian of the early modern era Professor Mark Stoyle, in this latest Life Lessons from History episode, which explores the ways in which people reacted to noise, or the lack of it, in early modern England.
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Build your own stone circle
The people who constructed Stonehenge seem to have had a very communal society, in which they came together to work as one on these great megalithic building projects. Susan Greaney’s Life Lesson from History is that we should try to adopt more communal, less individualistic lives, and harness the spirit of Stonehenge.
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Love learning like Æthelstan
The Anglo-Saxon king Æthelstan, who did much to establish the idea of England, was also a keen learner. He impressed on his people the importance of deep study, and that’s something we could do with embracing today in our world of distractions, says David Woodman in this Life Lesson from History.
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Be wary of labour-saving devices
Don’t let your life be ruled by your vacuum cleaner, says celebrated historian of the Industrial Revolution Emma Griffin in this episode of our Life Lessons from History series. She also shares some helpful observations about how we might deal with the challenges of the AI revolution.
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Hug a tree like a medieval pagan
Paganism hung on in eastern and northern Europe for a lot longer than you might expect. According to historian and folklorist Francis Young, that’s partly because people there took a very flexible and personal approach to spirituality, which often included a deep respect for trees and nature. This episode of Life Lessons from History explores how we might benefit from that today.
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Love your neighbour, like an ancient Roman
Good neighbours become good friends. If you ever watched the long-running Australian drama series Neighbours, you’ll recognise that ditty. According to Roman historian Dr Jess Venner, we could take a lesson on neighbourliness from ancient Rome – more specifically, ancient Pompeii.
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Find wonder in the world around you
The Anglo-Saxons had a deep sense of wonder – they saw magic in the mundane, and expressed it through riddles. Eleanor Parker’s Life Lesson from History is that we, too, should seek out wonder in the world around us, and that a little bit of riddle-writing might help us find it.
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Paint a pot like an ancient Etruscan
Be yourself and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s one of the lessons that archaeologist Dr Lucy Shipley says we can take from the approach to life of the ancient Etruscans. These historical inhabitants of the Italian peninsula seem to have had a very self-confident attitude – one which we could learn from today.
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Live locally, live sustainably
We know we should all be living sustainably if we can. Bestselling historian Ian Mortimer suggests that we should look back to the medieval period – an era in which people took a very local attitude to life – to seek inspiration for sustainable living.
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Don’t worry, be Babylonian
Do you wake up in the middle of the night worrying? If so, you’re definitely not alone. But if you want to manage the anxieties of modern life, Selena Wisnom argues that you could take a leaf out of the book of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians.
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Get personal with your poo, like a samurai
Are we too quick to flush? In Edo Japan, people were much more mindful of how they dealt with sewage and rubbish than we are today. Chris Harding’s Life Lesson from History is that we should think more carefully about how we deal with our waste products, in the spirit of the samurai.
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Tudor sleep lessons
In the early modern period, people considered a good night’s sleep to be fundamental to a good life – they thought about it a lot, and deployed plenty of techniques to ensure they slept well. Sasha Handley explains what we can learn from the Tudors about sleep, including why we might want to pop a chilled apple on our heads at night, in this Life Lesson from History.
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Let a little magic into your life
We live in a modern disenchanted world. That’s why, in this episode of Life Lessons from History, Ronald Hutton suggests that we might benefit from seeking out a spot of magic. Could we all do with a bit more of the thrill of the supernatural? Listen to this conversation to find out.
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Procrastinate like Elizabeth I
What can we learn about decision-making, and the art of proactive procrastination, from the Virgin Queen? Elizabeth I famously managed to keep all her courtiers wondering about what she really meant for decades, and in this episode of Life Lessons from History, Tracy Borman explains what we can take from the life of the Tudor monarch.
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Introducing Life Lessons from History
What’s this all about? It’s a simple concept. I find a great historian or archaeologist and I ask them to propose a Life Lesson from History – some learning from their study of the past that will help us today to live better, happier, healthier, or more productive lives.
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