A 335-year-long ‘war’ (in which not a single shot was fired) officially ended on 17th April, 1986, when the UK’s Dutch ambassador landed on the Isles of Scilly and declared an end to hostilities between the Netherlands and this tiny archipelago off the coast of Cornwall. 

The origins of this eccentric conflict date back to 1651, during the English Civil War, where the Dutch found themselves indirectly involved due to their support for the parliamentarians. Angered by Dutch assistance to their enemies, the Royalists (based in Scilly) began robbing Dutch shipping lanes in the English Channel, prompting a declaration of war from the Dutch side...

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how local historian Roy Duncan's curiosity led him to investigate a long-standing rumour of his homeland’s "war" with the Dutch - and unearth one of the craziest conflicts on record!

Further Reading:

• ‘World's longest and weirdest war between the Isles of Scilly and the Netherlands’ (Cornwall Live, 2021): https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/story-behind-worlds-longest-weirdest-4092887

• ‘The World's Longest War Only Ended in 1986’ (Atlas Obscura, 2016): https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-worlds-longest-war-only-ended-in-1985

• ‘The Entire History of The Isles Of Scilly’ (Pete Kelly, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8rQFcSanOU

We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!
Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!
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 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Queen Elizabeth II stood before 30,000 spectators at Clydebank to launch HMY Britannia on 16th April, 1953. The yacht’s name had been kept secret, and when the Queen finally declared it “Britannia”, the crowd responded with a surge of cheering applause. 

Commissioned shortly before the death of her father, King George VI, the ship was intended to help the Royal family maintain personal ties across the far-flung Commonwealth, but it also made for a discreet setting for diplomacy, playing host to the likes of Nelson Mandela and Boris Yeltsin. During the Cold War, it was even earmarked as a potential offshore command post in the event of nuclear conflict.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain the role of hammocks on-board, long after they had disappeared elsewhere in the Royal Navy; reveal the surprising ingredient the Queen kept stored in her third galley kitchen; and recall how the decommissioning of the boat in the 90s led a rare public tear to fall from Royal eyes…  

Further Reading: 

• ‘Royal Yacht Britannia History: When Did The Queen Retire The Royal Vessel?’ (HistoryExtra, 2022): https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/history-britannia-royal-yacht-elizabeth-ii/

• ‘Royal Yacht Britannia’ (National Historic Ships): https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/1919/royal-yacht-britannia

• ‘Queen Launches New Royal Yacht "Britannia"’ (British Pathé, 1953): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Rx7ec3bBE

#Royals #Politics #50s #UK

Love 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 Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tommy Cooper's unexpected death on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre on 15th April, 1984 remains one of the saddest and most surreal moments in UK comedy history. 

Known for his slapstick humour and botched magic tricks, family favourite Cooper collapsed mid-act due to a massive heart attack. 

The audience, initially assuming it was part of his act, roared with laughter as he lay on the stage emitting what sounded like snoring. Despite the frantic efforts of production staff and paramedics backstage, Cooper was pronounced dead on arrival at Westminster Hospital. 

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Cooper’s health concerns had been widely known within the industry before this incident; reveal how a live TV audience of millions got to grips with the news that the comedy icon had died; and take a look back at some of the other star performers who have, quite literally, died on stage… 

Further Reading:

• ‘Tommy Cooper's last act fooled us all, says Jimmy Tarbuck’ (Wales Online, 2009): https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tommy-coopers-last-act-fooled-2111280

• ‘The Show Won't Go On: The Most Shocking, Bizarre, and Historic Deaths of Performers Onstage - By Jeff Abraham, Burt Kearns’ (Chicago Review Press, 2019): 

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Show_Won_t_Go_On/6h-SDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tommy+cooper+her+majesty%27s&printsec=frontcover

• ‘The Shocking Death of Tommy Cooper: Ernie Wise Pays Tribute’ (ITN, 1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ectDT3sXBFY

Love 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 Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jamie Oliver blasted on to British screens when his first TV series, ‘The Naked Chef’ premiered on BBC Two on 14th April, 1999. 

Created by Pat Llewellyn for Optomen, the show was revolutionary for its use of jumpy, close-up camera work, and the presenter’s relaxed style and laddishness. The series and subsequent cookbook was credited with inspiring men to take to the kitchen, due to Oliver’s “blokey” approach and relatability - but also inspired a backlash against his ‘mockney’ delivery.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how fact met fiction when the TV set became Oliver’s real-life pad; reveal how the young chef was spotted in the background of another documentary entirely; and explore whether this phenomenon could have happened in any era other than Britpop Britain…  

Further Reading:

• ‘The Oral History of Jamie Oliver's 'The Naked Chef'’ (VICE, 2019): https://www.vice.com/en/article/7xgpyb/the-oral-history-of-jamie-olivers-the-naked-chef

• ‘Jamie Oliver remembers incredibly special milestone with fans’ (HELLO!, 2019): https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/2019071875453/jamie-oliver-naked-chef-throwback-20th-anniversary/

• ‘The Naked Chef - Season 1, Episode 1 - Chefs' Night Off’ (BBC/Optomen, 1999): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_gXQvmHL3I

Love 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 Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2023.

#UK #90s #TV #Food

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Project MKUltra, a CIA program aimed at mastering mind control, secretly started on 13th April, 1953, supposedly to combat Soviet brainwashing. It soon evolved into a bizarre mix of government-sponsored LSD experiments and psychological torture.

Led by Sidney Gottlieb, a chemist with a penchant for poisons, the program dosed often unwitting subjects—including CIA agents, prisoners and sex workers— with the aim of creating truth serums, erasing memories, and turning people into real-life Manchurian candidates. They even tried to spike Fidel Castro with LSD, hoping it would make him look ridiculous in public.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the tragic death of Frank Olson eventually led to the practices being exposed; reveal the origins of the term ‘brainwashing’; and discover how, despite widening public outrage, no-one ever faced legal consequences for the abuses they conducted in the name of keeping America safe…

CONTENT WARNING: torture, drugging, suicide.

Further Reading:

• ‘What We Know About the CIA's Midcentury Mind-Control Project’ (Smithsonian, 2017): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-we-know-about-cias-midcentury-mind-control-project-180962836/

• ‘MK-Ultra, The Disturbing CIA Project To Master Mind-Control’ (All Thats Interesting, 2022): https://allthatsinteresting.com/mk-ultra

• ‘MK-Ultra: The shocking Cold War experiments hidden by the CIA’ (BBC REEL, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_-ek5CsTGc

Love 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 Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

#Strange #ColdWar #50s #Mystery

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bananas, the world’s favourite fruit, were first displayed in London on 10th April, 1633, in the shop window of botanist Thomas Johnson, editor for Gerard’s Herball.

Despite societal taboos surrounding the banana's suggestive shape, its journey from obscurity to ubiquity was later propelled by Minor Cooper Keith, whose entrepreneurial endeavours in Costa Rica transformed the fruit into a global commodity - albeit one entangled in the power struggles and exploitation of Central America, earning the term "Banana Republic."

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal why banana-flavoured sweets DO taste like bananas; examine how English horticulturalists forever stamped their mark on this tropical fruit; and consider whether the fruit Eve reached for in the Garden of Eden was actually a banana…

Further Reading:

• ‘How the Banana Came To Be—And How It Could Disappear’ (Lithub, 2023): https://lithub.com/how-the-banana-came-to-be-and-how-it-could-disappear/

• ‘Mystery of the Tudor banana’ (The Guardian, 1999): https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/jun/16/maevkennedy

• ‘Who Was The Man Behind The Banana Republics Of Central America?’ (Timeline, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDH9JEuYUNA

We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!
Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!
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 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spain began to expel Moriscos - the descendants of Muslims who had converted, often under pressure, to Christianity - on 9th April, 1609. 

Although many had lived alongside Christian neighbours for generations, political suspicion lingered, and King Phillip III increasingly viewed them as a problem to be solved rather than a community to be integrated: expelling the Moriscos offered a way to assert religious conformity while also making practical use of naval resources no longer required for war. 

Longstanding fears, partly grounded in memory of Islamic rule in Iberia and partly in anxiety about the expanding Ottoman Empire, fed the idea that Moriscos might act as an internal threat, even where little concrete evidence existed. 

The human consequences were severe. Estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands were expelled, most commonly to North Africa, where they were not always welcomed. The journeys themselves were dangerous, marked by unrest, violence, and significant loss of life. 

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore the parallels with more recent events; reveal the lasting effects the expulsion had on Spain itself; and consider the authenticity of  conversions conducted during the Reconquista…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Expulsion of the Moriscos’ (Al-Andalus y la Historia, 2024): https://www.alandalusylahistoria.com/?p=4679

• ‘The Expulsion of the Moriscos, 1609-1614’ (History Today, 1978): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/expulsion-moriscos-1609-1614

• ‘In Search of My Roots’ (Al Jazeera, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sznIwFim_x0

#Spain #Muslim #1600s #Racism

Love 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 Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler’s bestseller ‘Nudge’ was released on 8th April, 2008, catapulting a new method of behavioural economics into the public psyche - and the hands of policymakers, including David Cameron and Barack Obama.

The book challenged the notion of humans as rational decision-makers, and explained how companies, governments and individuals can ‘nudge’ people towards healthier habits, responsible financial decisions, or civic engagement if ‘decisions’ are framed in the right context - a technique they called "libertarian paternalism."

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask just how effective nudge theory really is; explain how the project was inspired by a bowl of cashew nuts; and discover how Thomas Crapper was centuries ahead of his time… 

Further Reading:

• ‘Nudge theory: what 15 years of research tells us about its promises and politics’ (The Conversation, 2023): https://theconversation.com/nudge-theory-what-15-years-of-research-tells-us-about-its-promises-and-politics-210534

• ‘The nudge unit – has it worked so far?’ (The Guardian, 2013): https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/02/nudge-unit-has-it-worked

• ‘Nudge: the final edition’ (LSE, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEkfqQAp6wk

Love 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 Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former First Lady Betty Ford quietly marked what she would later call her “sobriety birthday” on 7 April 1978: a deeply personal victory following years of dependence on prescription medication and alcohol. 

Though the milestone itself was private, it came just days after a profoundly difficult family intervention at her home in Rancho Mirage, where her husband, former President Gerald Ford, and their children confronted her with the toll her addiction had taken. Initially shocked and defensive, she ultimately recognised the truth in what they said, and within a week resolved to give up the substances that had come to dominate her life.

Ford’s addiction had developed in ways that were, at the time, neither unusual nor widely questioned among affluent Americans: prescribed painkillers for a pinched nerve and managing chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis, alongside regular social drinking. Yet the cumulative effect - slurred speech, diminished public performance, and emotional distance - became impossible for her family to ignore. 

What distinguished Betty Ford, however, was the candour with which she addressed her struggles. After entering a naval rehabilitation facility in California, she publicly disclosed not only her dependence on medication but also her alcoholism; an extraordinary admission at a time when addiction carried intense stigma, particularly among public figures. This openness echoed her earlier willingness to speak frankly on controversial issues, including women’s rights, abortion, and her own breast cancer diagnosis, helping to redefine expectations of what a First Lady could say and do.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick the profound cultural impact of her decision to go public; explain how she channeled that momentum into the foundation of the Betty Ford Center in California; and discover how her surprisingly rebellious, modern image marks her out amongst Republican figures of the 70s…

Further Reading:

• ‘New Memoir Recalls How First Lady Betty Ford Found Her Calling’ (Town and Country, 2025): https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/a63236806/when-betty-ford-shared-addiction-struggles-bob-barrett-book/

• ‘The Times Obituary: Betty Ford’ (The Times, 2011):

https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/the-times-obituary-betty-ford-g3ft06076qw

• ‘Tour the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California’ (Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omvwYwYMegI

#Celebrity #Person #US #70s

Love 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 Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3M scientist Spencer Silver created the adhesive that makes Post-It Notes sticky back in 1968 - but it wasn’t until 6th April, 1980 that the stationery product we all know and love was first released to consumers, in a promotional effort the company termed ‘The Boiasie Blitz’.

The problem? His "invention" wasn’t what his company wanted. Rather than strong, industrial-grade glue, Silver had accidentally made the opposite—an adhesive that was weirdly weak but could be stuck and removed multiple times. A "solution without a problem," as he put it.

Fast forward to 1974, and fellow 3M scientist Art Fry had a eureka moment while struggling with loose bookmarks in his church hymnal…

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how a mass giveaway was the key to unlocking the viral marketing power of this ‘self-advertising’ product; discover why the notes’ now-iconic yellow colour came about; and discover an out-of-court settlement that arguably casts some doubt on the product’s remarkable origin story…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Invention of the Post-it® Note’ (National Inventors Hall of Fame): https://www.invent.org/blog/trends-stem/who-invented-post-it-notes#:~:text=At%20first%2C%20the%20reception%20was,launched%20across%20the%20United%20States.

• ‘The ‘hallelujah moment’ behind the invention of the Post-it note’ (CNN Business, 2013): https://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/04/tech/post-it-note-history/index.html

• ‘Fun With Sticky Post-It Notes’ (CBS, 2008): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYPjdfPlOjE

Love 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 Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

#Inventions #Discoveries #Business #80s

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gottlieb Daimler's patent for his high-speed petrol engine (dubbed the "Grandfather Clock") on 3rd April, 1885, wasn't just a technological breakthrough—it inadvertently birthed the motorbike. 

Teaming up with Wilhelm Maybach, the duo had crafted a compact engine featuring float-metered carburetors and mushroom intake valves, all powered by hot tube ignition. This engine found its way into their first vehicle prototype, the Petroleum Riding Car, which bore little resemblance to today's motorcycles but represented a pioneering step towards motorised transportation.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how it was not Daimler, but his son, Paul, who became the first-ever motorbiker; consider the steam-powered predecessors that could potentially lay claim to inventing the motorbike; and explain how Daimler took what he’d learned from these experiences to establish Mercedes…

Further Reading:

• ‘An Overview of the Motorcycle's History’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-motorcycle-1992151

• ‘History Channel’ (Motoring World, 2017): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Motoring_World/Pt0xDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Daimler+Reitwagen&pg=PA26&printsec=frontcover

• ‘The riding car – a Daimler patent’ (Mercedes-Benz TV, 2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Tvuya6otc

We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!
Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!
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 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices