Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Mikado opened on March 14, 1885 to immediate acclaim, and went on to become W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s most famous and best-loved operetta, despite its tortured genesis. Due to growing creative tensions and their previous show flopping, Gilbert and Sullivan’s partnership was on the rocks, so The Mikado’s success took both completely by surprise. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look at why the setting of The Mikado is really Japan in name only; discuss how Gilbert found inspiration in a sword hanging on his wall; and explain why Gilbert and Sullivan almost parted ways because of a magical love lozenge… Further Reading: • ‘A big day in history: Gilbert and Sullivan unveil 'The Mikado'’ (History Extra, 2012): https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/a-big-day-in-history-gilbert-and-sullivan-unveil-the-mikado/  • ‘Arthur Sullivan - A Victorian Musician’ (Taylor & Francis, 2018): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Arthur_Sullivan_A_Victorian_Musician/VXt_DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0  • ‘The Mikado’ (BBC, 1987): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SkOWxcbzn0&t=561s This episode originally aired in 2023Love the show? Support us! Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie PeartCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, better known to the world as Mata Hari, set the Paris stage ablaze on March 13, 1905, with a scandalous dance routine that turned her into an overnight success. Sporting a gold jeweled breastplate and bracelets, Mata Hari’s performance was a striptease that left little to the imagination. But even the wildest imagination couldn’t envisage what lay ahead for the exotic dancer, courtesan, traitor and spy whose name became synonymous with the femme fatale.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca, and Olly discuss how she played both sides of the First World War for fools; uncover how she met her husband through a newspaper ad; and explain why she always wore a breastplate during sex…Further Reading: • ‘Mata Hari: exotic dancer, femme fatale, traitor and spy’ (History Extra, 2019): https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/mata-hari-exotic-dancer-femme-fatale-traitor-wwi-spy/  • ‘“I am ready”: Mata Hari faced a firing squad for spying — and refused a blindfold.’ (The Washington Post, 2017): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/10/15/i-am-ready-mata-hari-faced-a-firing-squad-for-spying-and-refused-a-blindfold/  • ‘Buckwild Facts About Mata Hari, The Exotic Dancer Who Became A WWI Spy’ (Weird History, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sh-fB_qMUg This episode originally aired in 2023Love the show? Support us! Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie PeartCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Dixie Chicks’ lead singer, Natalie Maines, made an off-the-cuff remark at a London concert on 12th March, 2003, she could not have known the comments would haunt her band (now known as ‘The Chicks’) for decades. Just days before the US invasion of Iraq, and to cheers from the British crowd, she said from the stage: “We’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” A Guardian journalist jotted it down, and when those words reached the other side of the Atlantic, all hell broke loose. Dixie Chicks CDs were steamrolled in protest, country radio stations blacklisted their songs, and the band never recovered.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly talk through the Chicks’ damage control strategy; ask whether the backlash was an organic response from Conservative Country fans, or an orchestrated, sexist campaign; and reveal how Taylor Swift has taken note of their downfall…Further Reading:• ‘The Dixie Chicks | Music’ (The Guardian, 2003): https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/mar/12/artsfeatures.popandrock• ’The Chicks' 2003 George W. Bush Controversy: An Oral History’ (Billboard, 2022): https://www.billboard.com/music/country/chicks-radio-banned-george-bush-oral-history-1235087442/• ‘Inside The Chicks’ SCANDAL in 2003 and Their GRAMMYs Comeback’ (Entertainment Tonight, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0C3TrCBAOALove the show? Support us! Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie PeartCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Producer John Langley had been pitching a no-frills, fly-on-the-wall documentary series following US Police Officers for six years when, in the midst of a writer’s strike, Fox finally bit. COPS made its debut on 11th March, 1989, becoming one of the longest-running shows in TV history.Langley called it ‘video vérité’; the New York Times called it ‘tabloid TV’. From the beginning, concerns about its depiction of race relations in America led to criticism that eventually brought about its cancellation - before it was reinstated on a different TV network.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how various Police departments across the States went from being resistant to being featured in COPS to actually nominating themselves for filming; consider why participants were so keen to sign release forms when they were being depicted in such a vulnerable position; and ask if the first series still seems as ‘tabloid’ as it was considered at the time… Further Reading:• ‘Episode One: Broward County Florida - Part 2’ (Fox, 1989): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5k36VTrZcY• ‘Review/Television; 'Cops' Camera Shows the Real Thing’ (The New York Times, 1989): https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/07/arts/review-television-cops-camera-shows-the-real-thing.html• ‘John Langley: Producer who turned police work into prime reality TV’ (The Independent, 2021): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-langley-cops-reality-tv-obituary-b1875648.htmlThis episode originally aired in 2022Love the show? Support us! Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie PeartCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ‘Book of the Month Club’ was first launched, on March 10th, 1926. Its inaugural selection, ‘Lolly Willowes’ by feminist Bloomsbury author Sylvia Townsend Warner, underscores the transformative power that such clubs would go on to have (via celebrity endorsements such as Oprah and Richard & Judy): Warner leveraged her selection as a springboard for wider literary recognition in the United States.The visionary behind the Book of the Month Club, Harry Sherman, recognised the untapped potential of marketing literature to broader audiences. Leveraging his marketing acumen and passion for reading, Sherman had pioneered innovative strategies to democratise access to books, first partnering with Whitman Candy to distribute the ‘Little Leather Library’; miniature classics posted to readers alongside a box of chocolates, which became a popular gift to give soldiers during World War I.In this episode, The Retrospectors explain the importance of the Book Club’s discerning editorial panel; reveal the literary sensations first given the limelight via Sherman’s company; and consider how shifting market dynamics and the advent of digital platforms diminished the club's relevance - but then bought it back again… Further Reading:• ‘A New Reading Experience: Book of the Month Club’ (Pennsylvania Center for the Book, 2010):https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/feature-articles/new-reading-experience-book-month-club• ‘Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willowes is 'a great shout of life'’ (The Guardian, 2016): https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/dec/28/sylvia-townsend-warners-lolly-willowes-is-a-great-shout-of-life• ‘Comparing the Most Popular Book Box Subscriptions📦’ (Kailia Barbour, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFyOFVzaJogTen minute daily episodes bringing you curious moments from this day in history, with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll: The Retrospectors. New episodes Mon-Wed; reruns Thurs-Fri.The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer: Ollie PeartTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. This episode originally aired in 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kidnapped from her prestigious Liverpool boarding school on March 7, 1827, 15-year-old Ellen Turner was led to believe her family would be financially ruined if she didn’t marry her 30 year-old abductor, Edward Gibbon Wakefield.Before she was able to deduce that his story was a sham, Turner was whisked off to Gretna Green and inadvertently passed over the keys to her father’s estate, Shrigley, to her assailant - until an intervention from the House of Lords, and a trial that captured Britain’s imagination. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly divulge the loopholes to England’s marital age limits; explain how ‘impure’ marriages were a get-rich-quick habit for Wakefield; and reveal the extraordinary next chapter for this conniving scamster …  Further Reading: • ‘10 of History’s Worst Marriages’ (History Collection, 2018): https://historycollection.com/10-of-historys-worst-marriages/5/  • ‘Gretna Green: The bit of Scotland where English people go to get married’ (BBC, 2014): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28679430  • ‘Wakefield & the NZ Company’ (CBHS History, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We-VfjxHbRA Ten minute daily episodes bringing you curious moments from this day in history, with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll: The Retrospectors. New episodes Mon-Wed; reruns Thurs-Fri.The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer: Ollie PeartTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. This episode originally aired in 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Birdseye Frosted Foods launched its first range of flash-frozen foods at a ‘test kitchen’ in Springfield, Massachusetts on 6th March, 1930 - and at the helm was Clarence ‘Bob’ Birdseye, an American entrepreneur of great ambition and insight.Like Captain Birdseye, the bearded, fictional mascot of the brand dreamt up for the British market, Bob had scoured the seven seas looking for innovative approaches to food preservation - a search that led him to the Inuit people of Labrador, Canada and their methods of fast-freezing fresh fish. This discovery led to a patent which eventually netted Birdseye a cool $22million.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace Birdseye’s entrepreneurial endeavours back through his childhood; discover the extraordinary list of animal species he attempted to eat; and consider the surprising role of the humble spinach in the incredible success of frozen processed food… Further Reading:• ‘Meet Clarence Birdseye: American who cooked up frozen foods’ (New York Post, 2022): https://nypost.com/2022/09/30/meet-clarence-birdseye-american-who-cooked-up-frozen-foods/• ‘Clarence Birdseye, The Man Behind Modern Frozen Food’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2012): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/clarence-birdseye-the-man-behind-modern-frozen-food-95808503/• ‘Birds Eye Fish Fingers - Fresh From The Captains Table’ (Birds Eye, 1980s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haCuu1AhZYQTen minute daily episodes bringing you curious moments from this day in history, with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll: The Retrospectors. New episodes Mon-Wed; reruns Thurs-Fri.The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer: Ollie PeartTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. This episode originally aired in 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Barry Sadler’s "Ballad of the Green Berets" reached number one in the Billboard Hot 100 on 5th March, 1966 - the only pro-Vietnam War hit to ever top the charts.Before it even hit radio stations, Sadler had been performing the song at military bases and patriotic events, setting the stage for its massive success. RCA pushed it hard, knowing that in early ‘66, America’s support for the war was still strong. It wasn’t just a pop song—it was an anthem, played on news programmes and variety shows alike, capturing the hearts of those who wanted to stand with the troops.The song sold millions, making Sadler a household name. But unlike charity-driven tributes, the money didn’t go to war relief—it went straight into Sadler’s pocket.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider why this single is no longer associated with the Vietnam War, despite being the biggest hit of the year; discover how Sadler was injured in the field by a booby trap; and tour through the bar fights, failed country music dreams, and, in one particularly dramatic moment, deadly love triangle that made up Sadler’s final act... Further Reading:• ’War's Song’ (History Net, 2017): https://www.historynet.com/wars-song/• ‘I Served in Vietnam. Here’s My Soundtrack’ (The New York Times, 2018): https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/opinion/vietnam-war-rock-music.html?searchResultPosition=3• ‘The Ed Sullivan Show: The Ballad of the Green Berets’ (CBS, 1966): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5WJJVSE_BE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Andrew Jackson was inaugurated on 4th March, 1829, large crowds of recently emancipated, enthusiastic voters turned up to the Capitol to watch the former Army commander become President. But the event soon spiraled out of control, descending into, at best, chaos; and, at worst, a brawl. Eyewitness Margaret Bayard Smith wrote: “No arrangements had been made no police officers placed on duty and the whole house had been inundated by the rabble mob… At one time, the President who had retreated and retreated until he was pressed against the wall, could only be secured by a number of gentleman forming around him and making a kind of barrier of their own bodies.”In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider Jackson’s legacy, and the routine comparisons with President Trump; ask how reliable the eyewitnesses are, given that many were part of the political elite that Jackson despised; and reveal the novel technique deployed by White House staffers to disperse the crowds…Further Reading:• ‘Andrew Jackson, The 7th President of the United States’’ (White House Historical Association, 2006): https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/andrew-jackson/• ‘Was the White House Really Trashed at Andrew Jackson's First Inauguration?’ (HowStuffWorks, 2021):https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/andrew-jacksons-inauguration.htm• ‘Donald Trump's Hero is Andrew Jackson’ (Brut America, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD3-uFReZ3sTen minute daily episodes bringing you curious moments from this day in history, with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll: The Retrospectors. New episodes Mon-Wed; reruns Thurs-Fri.The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer: Ollie PeartTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. This episode originally aired in 2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Emancipation Statute was unveiled by Emperor Alexander II: March 3rd, 1861, liberating the serfs of Russia. The culmination of years of bureaucratic efforts and peasant uprisings, the legislation marked a decisive break from the past and aimed to align Russia with European norms - whilst The United States still relied anachronistically on slave labour.Until this day, the institution of serfdom, though distinct from slavery, was nonetheless marked by profound inequalities and limitations on personal freedom; and, while serfs enjoyed certain legal protections and familial ties to the land, they were subject to the arbitrary whims of their landlords and bore the burden of taxation without commensurate representation.In this episode, The Retrospectors pick over Alexander's reformist agenda; explain why despite the radical nature of the reforms, millions of his people were still deeply unhappy; and consider the surprising limitations of a bombproof carriage… Further Reading:• ‘Biography of Alexander II, Russia's Reformist Tsar (ThoughtCo, 2018): https://www.thoughtco.com/alexander-ii-biography-4174256• ‘The Other Emancipation Proclamation’ (The New York Times, 2011): https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/the-other-emancipation-proclamation/• ‘Understand Russia: Emancipation of Russia's Serfs’ (Modern Wall Street, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLfoJTWjgJ4This episode first premiered in 2024, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices