Half-Arsed History

Riley Knight

A Very Serious History Podcast

  • 56 minutes 26 seconds
    Episode 401: The East India Company - Part 1: Spices and Stocks

    In this week's episode, learn about the global 16th century trading conditions that ultimately led to the formation of the East India Company, an institution that would eventually grow to effectively rule as a nation in its own right.


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    1 March 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 38 minutes 13 seconds
    Week 9: The Great Fire of Meireki

    This week in history we’ve got the first Europeans in Australia, we’ve got the first Sherlock Holmes stories, we’ve got famous composers and an even famouser crook, and we’ve got the time the city that would go on to become Tokyo burnt to the ground.


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    25 February 2026, 8:00 pm
  • 1 hour 20 minutes
    Episode 400: What Half-Arsed History Could Have Been

    In this week's episode, get a taste of what this show might have sounded like if it had begun as a podcast of a different genre.


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    22 February 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 35 minutes 26 seconds
    Week 8: Three Presidents in One Hour

    This week in history we’ve got monuments, calendars, and the disastrous premiere of a popular opera, we’ve got the birthdays of astronomers and diarists and presidents, and we’ve got that time that Mexico got through three presidents in a single hour.


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    18 February 2026, 8:00 pm
  • 55 minutes 34 seconds
    Episode 399: Nicolaus Copernicus and Copernican Heliocentrism

    In this week's episode, get to know Nicolaus Copernicus, the 15th-century astronomer who brought about a historical paradigm shift with his radical proposal that the Sun, not the Earth, is at the centre of the solar system.


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    15 February 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 40 minutes 40 seconds
    Week 7: The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre

    This week in history we’ve got famous martyrdoms, global car races, and the discovery of former planets, we’ve got the birthdays of scientists and leaders and activists, and we’ve also got the story of an infamous Chicago bloodbath.


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    11 February 2026, 8:00 pm
  • 58 minutes 20 seconds
    Episode 398: The Foundation of Modern Singapore

    In this week's episode, discover how, why, and perhaps most importantly where modern Singapore was founded, back in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles.


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    8 February 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 33 minutes 32 seconds
    Week 6: The Sack of Baghdad

    This week in history we’ve got riots and treaties, we’ve got the discovery of the world’s biggest gold nugget, we’ve got the birthday of a famous Victorian author, and of course, the end of the Islamic Golden Age with the Sack of Baghdad.


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    4 February 2026, 8:00 pm
  • 1 hour 15 minutes
    Episode 397: Catherine the Great, the Enlightened Empress

    In this week's episode, meet Catherine the Great, the empress who successfully ruled Russia for almost 35 years despite usurping a throne she had no claim to.


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    1 February 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 38 minutes 58 seconds
    Week 5: The Day the Music Died

    This week in history we’ve got the execution of a famous traitor, a tale of revenge served cold, we’ve got the birthdays of conquerors and explorers and activists, and we’ve got the story behind the Day the Music Died.


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    29 January 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    Episode 396: The Horrors of Sarah Island

    In this week's episode, become acquainted with Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, known as Sarah Island, which was one of the cruellest and most brutal convict settlements in Australia's history.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    25 January 2026, 1:00 pm
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