Tony Robinson's Cunningcast
Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson is best-known for playing turnip-brained Baldrick who always had 'a cunning plan' in the iconic TV show Blackadder. He's presented countless documentaries throughout his 50-year career, including 20-years on Channel 4's Time Team, inspired by his passion for history and for digging deep into the past to understand more about the present. That's his thing!In his history podcast, Tony is delving into weird and wonderful stories that grab his attention. He’s asking: Why was Stonehenge built? What did the past smell like? Why were pies invented? Why do our dogs love us so much? When did tattoos stop being taboo? What do bones tell us about past humanity? When did Jelly become a thing? Who wrote the Bible? Who is Putin and what makes him tick? No subject is off limits, because everything has a history. Along the way, Tony is joined by experts and special guests, including Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry, Raksha Dave, John Lloyd, Alice Roberts, Ben Elton, Grace Neutral and David Mitchell.So join Tony Robinson as he hosts his cunningly curated history podcast. New episodes drop Thursdays.Tony Robinson's Cunningcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.Follow CunningcastX | Instagram | YouTube@CunningcastpodHost: Sir Tony Robinson X | Instagram@SirTonyRobinsonProducer: Melissa FitzGeraldX | @melissafitzg----X----If you enjoyed my podcast, please follow the show and leave us a rating or review.Thank you, Love Tony x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 29, 2024 • 54min
DAVID MITCHELL | Blackadder: The Lost Pilot
David Mitchell joins Tony Robinson on the podcast to discuss his comedy journey, including his work on Peep Show, Blackadder, and Upstart Crow. They reminisce about the lost Blackadder Pilot, share behind-the-scenes stories, and explore the evolution of British comedy.
Feb 22, 2024 • 50min
A Wobbly History of JELLY: From Elite Dining to Kids’ Parties and Back Again
It's all going a bit wobbly in Cunningcast Towers as we are talking about the history of jelly. Tony wants to rescue jelly from its place as a children’s party food because there was a time when making jellies was an art form and took pride of place on the tables of the wealthy. He’s invited leading food historian Annie Gray and jellymonger-in-chief Sam Bompas to help him out.Hosted by Sir Tony RobinsonX | InstagramWithSam BompasFood designer, one half of Bompas and Parr food design agency. www.bompasandparr.comX @bompasandparr IG @bompasandparr To buy jellies and kitchenalia:https://www.benhamandfroud.comAnnie GrayFood historian, Annie has worked widely across TV and radio talking about and recreating the food of the past, and has been the resident food historian on BBC Radio 4’s award-winning culinary panel show, The Kitchen Cabinet since its inception in 2012. She includes a recipe for Champagne Jelly in her ‘Downton Abbey Cookbook’. http://www.anniegray.co.uk/ X @DrAnnieGrayIG dranniegray Credits: Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville Cover Art: The Brightside A Zinc Media Group production Follow: X @cunningcastpod Instagram @cunningcastpodYoutube @Cunningcast If you enjoyed my podcast, please follow us and leave us a rating or review. Thank you, Love Tony x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 15, 2024 • 1h 10min
What Do BONES Tell Us About Past Humanity With ALICE ROBERTS
Tony catches up with Alice Roberts to talk about her new book ‘Crypt’ and what developments in the extraction of ancient DNA from bones can tell us about the humans they once belonged to. They cover the syphilitic anchoress of All Saints Church, Fishergate, York; new findings about the Black Death and the bones in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Braemore, Hampshire; damage to the bones of the Mary Rose crew; 'the cockle amongst the wheat’ and new finds relating to the St Brice’s Day Massacre via isotopic analysis of human bones at St John’s College, Oxford as well as revisiting their Time Team days. ‘We experience the world through our bodies, and our lives are written into those bodies and into our bones. And this is what the skeletons of the dead say to us when we find them: listen to us, we have stories to tell.’ (‘Crypt’ 2024, Alice Roberts)Hosted by Sir Tony RobinsonX | IGWithProfessor Alice Roberts Biological anthropologist, author and broadcaster. Alice’s new book ‘Crypt: Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond’ is available from the 29th Feb, 2024. X | IG Credits: Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville Cover Art: The Brightside A Zinc Media Group production X @cunningcastpod Instagram @cunningcastpodYoutube @Cunningcast If you enjoyed my podcast, please follow the show and leave us a rating or review. Thank you, Love Tony x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 8, 2024 • 1h 5min
The History of Painting on Skin: Where Do TATTOOS Come From?
The art of painting on the skin, it’s fashionable now, but it wasn’t always so. To kick of the second series of his cunningly curated podcast, Tony and his special guests Matt Lodder and Grace Neutral discuss where we can find the oldest tattoos, what’s the history behind them, ancient and modern tattoo techniques, tattoo inks, queer tattoo history, body modification including tattooing eyeballs and when did tattoos stop being taboo?Hosted by Sir Tony RobinsonX | InstagramWithDr Matt LodderSenior Lecturer in Art History and Theory, and Director of American Studies at the University of Essex. Matt is the UK's foremost expert on the history of tattooing. His book 'Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos' is out now.https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/LODDE23007/Matt-Lodder @mattlodder | @beneaththeskinGrace NeutralHand-poke tattoo artist, presenter and influencer. Grace runs Femme Fatale Studio, showcasing a wide range of tattoo styles from international artists.https://www.youtube.com/@graceneutral | @graceneutralhttps://www.femmefatalelondon.com/ | @femmefataletattoo Credits: Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville Cover Art: The Brightside A Zinc Media Group production Follow: X @cunningcastpod Instagram @cunningcastpodYoutube @Cunningcast If you enjoy my podcast, please follow the show and leave us a rating or review. Thank you, Love Tony x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 16, 2024 • 2min
Tony Robinson's Cunningcast Season 2 TRAILER
Sir Tony Robinson is back with another series of his cunningly curated history podcast. Series 2 of Tony Robinson's Cunningcast treats listeners to brand-new cunningly curated episodes including; · The history of painting on skin: where do TATTOOS come from?· What do BONES tell us about past humanity with PROF ALICE ROBERTS· Harry Houdini to David Blaine: conjuring up the history of stage MAGIC· Who built HADRIAN’S WALL and why?· From aristocratic dining centrepiece, to kids’ party favourite: A wobbly history of JELLY· How does the past inform the future of CAR engineering and sustainability?· Dr WHO at 60: exploring the history of Britain’s most famous time traveller with Ace, Aka Sophie Aldred.Follow us on social media and wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss an episode. X: @cunningcastpodInstagram: @cunningcastpodYoutube @Cunningcast Hosted by Sir Tony RobinsonX | Instagram Tony Robinson's Cunningcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and other popular podcast platforms. Credits: Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzgExecutive Producer: Dominic de TervilleCover Art: The Brightside If you've enjoying Cunningcast, please leave us a rating or review. Thank you, Love Tony x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 21, 2023 • 41min
Christmas with CHRISTINA ROSSETTI: Tony explores the Pre-Raphaelite's Poetry and Reads GOBLIN MARKET
A Cunningcast Christmas treat: today Tony is reading his favourite poem ‘Goblin Market’ by Christina Rossetti, an often-overlooked member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and he's discussing the context and history of Rossetti’s iconic work with Madeleine Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield.In his electrifying reading, Tony captures all the magic and strangeness of ‘Goblin Market’, which is set in a fairy-tale world where a fraught encounter takes place between the two sisters Laura and Lizzie and a band of sinister goblin merchants who tempt Laura with their ‘forbidden fruits’. Can Lizzie save her sister from the evil Goblin’s temptations?Hosted by Sir Tony RobinsonX | InstagramWithMadeleine Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield. Author of ‘Shelley’s Living Artistry: Letters, Poems, Plays’ (2017) and ‘The Poet-Hero in the Work of Byron and Shelley’ (2019) published by Anthem Press. Her latest book, ‘Eternity in British Romantic Poetry’ (Liverpool University Press), came out in June 2022.www.sheffield.ac.uk/english/people/academic-staff/madeleine-callaghanCredits: Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville Cover Art: The Brightside A Zinc Media Group production Follow: X @cunningcastpod Instagram @cunningcastpod If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review. Thank you, Love Tony x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 13, 2023 • 50sec
TRAILER: CHRISTMAS Episode and SERIES 2 announcement
Tony Robinson is pleased to announce his Christmas episode of Cunningcast is dropping on the 21st December and stay tuned for Series 2, starting in the new year.Follow us on social and hit the notification bell wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss out.X: @cunningcastpodInstagram: @cunningcastpodYouTubeHosted by Sir Tony Robinson X | InstagramCredits: Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzgExecutive Producer: Dominic de TervilleCover Art: The BrightsideIf you've enjoyed Series 1 of Cunningcast, please leave us a rating or review.Thank you, Love Tony x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 22, 2023 • 39min
Cunningcast S1 BEST BITS
Tony looks back at the best bits of Series 1 with Cunningcast’s series producer Melissa FitzGerald. If you like the these best bits but haven’t heard the full episodes, have a wander back and check them out. Or if you listened first time and liked them so much that you want to hear them all over again, give us another listen...Follow us on our socials and hit the notification bell wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss new episodes when they drop.Twitter: @cunningcastpodInstagram: @cunningcastpodYouTubeHosted by Sir Tony Robinson Twitter | InstagramCredits: Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzgExecutive Producer: Dominic de TervilleCover Art: The Brightside If you've enjoyed Series 1 of Cunningcast, please leave us a rating or review.Thank you, Love Tony x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 8, 2023 • 55min
MEN'S HEALTH WEEK: Living with PROSTATE CANCER
Professor Hash Ahmed, a leading urologist, joins Tony Robinson to discuss prostate cancer. They emphasize the importance of regular check-ups and early detection. The limitations of the digital rectal examination and the impact of MRI scans on reducing unnecessary biopsies are explored. They also discuss controversies surrounding the classification of abnormal prostate cells as cancer. The importance of support and information for those living with prostate cancer is highlighted.
May 25, 2023 • 1min
TRAILER: PROSTATE CANCER and S1 BEST BITS special episodes COMING SOON
As we reach the end of Series 1, Tony Robinson is pleased to announce a special episode on PROSTATE CANCER in partnership with Prostate Cancer UK to coincide with Men's Health Week PLUS a special episode celebrating the BEST BITS of series 1. Coming soon.Follow us on social and hit the notification bell wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss out.Twitter: @cunningcastpodInstagram: @cunningcastpodYouTubeHosted by Sir Tony Robinson Twitter | InstagramCredits: Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzgExecutive Producer: Dominic de TervilleCover Art: The Brightside A Zinc Media Group productionIf you've enjoyed series 1 of Cunningcast, please leave us a rating or review.Thank you, Love Tony x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
