PODCAST · business
Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets
by Audible
On the surface, the Victorian age is one of propriety, industry, prudishness and piety. But scratch the surface and you'll find scandal, sadism, sex, madness, malice and murder. Presented by Stephen Fry, this series delves deep into a period of time we think we know, to discover an altogether darker reality. The stories we're told offer a different perspective on an era which underwent massive social change. As education, trade, technology and culture blossomed, why was there an undercurrent of the 'forbidden' festering beneath Victorian society? Across 12 episodes, Stephen presents a series of true accounts of the dangerous low life and debauched high life of Victorian Britain. This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 12 episodes to your Library now.
Episodes
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Ep. 5: Afro-Victorians
This episode of Victorian Secrets recounts the lives, times and experiences of Black Victorians in Britain. Historians have for the most part kept the details of these lives secret, either by forgetting or ignoring them. We will also examine the responses of diverse British citizens to humans…
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Ep. 6: Victorians Underground
This episode will explore the famous network of pipes and ducts and drainage systems which will take us deep underground, into the Victorians’ public pride and joy, the new London sewers they built mainly in the second half of the 19th century, to serve an increasing number of Victorians. A…
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Ep. 12: Secret Sherlock
Sherlock Holmes is one of the most fully realised and enduring fictional characters ever created. His personality and the details of his intellect, his manners, his dress, his habits, his appetites, his techniques and his methods created, from the beginning, a place for him in the public...
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Ep. 1: Family Secrets
Of course, all families, high born and low have secrets. Confidential conditions of mind or body. Black sheep. Skeletons in cupboards. Unmentionable uncles. Naughty nephews... aunties who aren't... conventional. More often than not it boils down to something - sexual. This episode is about the...
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Ep. 2: The Buckingham Palace Freak Show
Step right up, step right up and don’t be shy - welcome to Victorian Secrets, and the secrets of... The Freak Show. The secrets of enormously fat men and bearded ladies, the secrets of exotic women with enticingly large buttocks, the secrets of Siamese Twins and dwarf families and, in particular,...
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Ep. 3: Pornography, Pleasure and the Press
This episode will penetrate some of the secrets of Victorian sexuality, public and private and will challenge some deeply held misconceptions. We tend to think of the Victorians as dyed in the wool prudes, and we have latched onto the idea that the Victorians felt their values of self-discipline,...
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Ep. 4: 40 Elephants and Other Dangerous Women
This episode examines how the role of women in education, marriage, divorce, sexuality, psychology and politics were all debated in the Victorian era. Some women were becoming active in society, whether men liked it or not- and some used the power of the pen to assert themselves. In particular...
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Ep. 8: On the Wilde Side
This episode takes us to Victorian secrets ‘on the Wilde Side’ – although Oscar Wilde, often seen as a central character, only has a small part to play in our look at male same sex love (don’t worry, we’ll also have an episode about female same sex love as well). The single unifying identifier of...
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Ep. 9: In and Out of the Asylum
In this episode we visit Victorian Asylums and examine how the intentions of those who built and operated these places were partly in response to the revelations of secrets of previous eras, the madwoman held in the country house attic, or the madman cruelly shackled then forgotten in a dark…
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Ep. 10: Woman to Woman
Despite the fact she died barely four years into Victoria’s reign, Anne Lister is known today as ‘The First Modern Lesbian'. In this episode we meet Anne and investigate the story that Queen Victoria herself found out about the secret practices of female same sex desire and was so outraged she...
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Ep. 11: Séance, Science and Messiahs
This episode looks at what could you or should you believe in the Victorian Era. In a time when you might see photographs of ghosts, find out your ancestors were apes, travel at terrifying speeds, believe a new messiah was coming, talk to people miles away, ask questions of the dead, send instant...
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Ep. 7: Beauty and the Beards
This episode of Victorian Secrets is all about ‘The look’. It’s about a sudden image-consciousness among men and women. And it’s about the secrets related to that image consciousness, some of which are regrettably salacious. Just as men were pondering how long it would take to grow a really...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
On the surface, the Victorian age is one of propriety, industry, prudishness and piety. But scratch the surface and you'll find scandal, sadism, sex, madness, malice and murder.
Presented by Stephen Fry, this series delves deep into a period of time we think we know, to discover an altogether darker reality. The stories we're told offer a different perspective on an era which underwent massive social change. As education, trade, technology and culture blossomed, why was there an undercurrent of the 'forbidden' festering beneath Victorian society?
Across 12 episodes, Stephen presents a series of true accounts of the dangerous low life and debauched high life of Victorian Britain.
This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 12 episodes to your Library now.
HOSTED BY
Audible
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets have?
Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets currently has 12 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets about?
On the surface, the Victorian age is one of propriety, industry, prudishness and piety. But scratch the surface and you'll find scandal, sadism, sex, madness, malice and murder. Presented by Stephen Fry, this series delves deep into a period of time we think we know, to discover an altogether...
How often does Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets release new episodes?
Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets has 12 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets?
You can listen to Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets?
Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets is created and hosted by Audible.
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