Frida Kahlo is as much a modern icon for her personal flair as she is for her paintings. But how did her style develop, and what did she intend it to communicate? What was so subversive about her work, and the subjects she chose to portray? And why is she such an enduring figurehead for feminists, women with fertility issues, the queer community, and those living with disabilities and chronic pain? This is a Short History of Frida Kahlo. Written by Lindsay Galvin. With thanks to Circe Henestrosa, co-author of Frida Khalo: Making herself up and curator of a Frida Kahlo exhibition at London’s V&A museum. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Though St Patrick is honoured by millions of revellers worldwide every year, few know more about him than the popular myths concerning shamrocks and snakes. The real story of St Patrick reads like an adventure story, involving kidnapping, enslavement, and daring escapes. But how did his commitment to spreading the word of God lead him to become the embodiment of all things Irish? This is A Short History of… St Patrick. Written by Dan Smith. With thanks to Philip Freeman, Professor of History at Pepperdine University and author of St Patrick of Ireland: A Biography. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trans-Siberian railway is the longest train line in the world, spanning 5700 miles, seven time zones, and straddling two continents. Though today’s passengers on the week-long journey can enjoy relative luxury, the route has a dark past. Who were the labourers who built it, enduring horrific conditions? How did the railroad provoke a war? And what part did the train line play in the bloody conflicts of the twentieth century?  This is a Short History of the Trans Siberian Railway. Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Christian Wolmar, author of To The Edge of the World, The Story of the Trans Siberian Railway. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since it was created 900 years ago, the Bayeux Tapestry has survived war, revolution and the ravages of time. This fragile piece of linen, almost seventy metres long, depicts the events leading up to the Norman invasion of England. But who created it, and why? What do its graphic scenes of battle and cruelty reveal about life, death and warfare in the middle ages? This is a Short History of the Bayeux Tapestry. Written by Kate Harrison. With thanks to Michael Lewis, Head of Portable Antiquities & Treasure at the British Museum. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe is one of the most widely published books in history. This story of a man stranded alone on an island is said to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. But who was Defoe’s inspiration for creating one of the best-known protagonists in literature? And what led to this real-life sailor spending years of his life cut off from human contact? This is a Short History of the Real Robinson Crusoe. Written by David Jackson. With thanks Dr Rebecca Simon, historian and the author of Why We Love Pirates. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world. 500 years old and just 77x53cm in size, it is kept behind bulletproof glass in the Louvre museum in Paris, where it draws 10 million visitors a year. But how did a small portrait find global fame? Who is the woman in the painting, and why is the world so intrigued by her smile? This is a Short History Of the Mona Lisa. Written by Nicola Rayner. With thanks to Donald Sassoon, historian and the author of Mona Lisa: The History of the World’s Most Famous Painting. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1947, the British divided up its former colony of India into two provinces. What followed was confusion, chaos, and an unprecedented wave of sectarian violence that left up to a million dead. 15 million more were forced to flee their homes. So why was the country broken up? What prompted the ferocious backlash? And how do the events of 75 years ago still haunt the region, its residents and the diaspora? This is a Short History of The Partition of India. Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Nisid Hajiri, author of Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition, and Aanchal Malhotra, author of Remnants of Partition. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At approximately 8:13 p.m. on November 24th, 1971, a hijacker exited Northwest Airlines flight 305 at an altitude of 10,000 feet, carrying just a case, a bagful of money, and a parachute. The subsequent investigation became one of the largest and strangest in the FBI’s history. But was what the true identity of the man who called himself D.B. Cooper? And could he still out there, living among us? This is a Short History of D.B. Cooper. Written by Joe Viner. With thanks to Robert Edwards, author of the book D.B. Cooper and Flight 305 and Darren Schaeffer, host of The Cooper Vortex podcast. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Retaining the title of the “Queen of Crime” to this day, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Across 66 novels, 14 short-story collections, and 20 stage plays, she depicted the evil lurking in the hearts of ordinary people. But how did this homeschooled daughter of a privileged English family learn so much about poisons, psychopaths and murder? What in her personal life informed such a suspicious view of ordinary people? And how did she trigger a real-life mystery in 1926 that saw the whole country turn amateur detective? This is a Short History Of Agatha Christie. Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to best-selling crime writer Sophie Hannah. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between 1845 and 1852, Ireland suffered an appalling famine after the repeated failure of the potato crop, its national staple. But though caused by a natural blight, a combination of ancient prejudices, simmering tensions and political short-termism turned a national emergency into a disaster for the ages. So why did the authorities in Westminster seem to wash their hands of Ireland during its time of need? How did the Irish people respond to their adversity? And how did this story of betrayal and exploitation shape Ireland’s future, right down to the present day? This is a Short History of the Irish Potato Famine. Written by Dan Smith. With thanks to Kristina Kinealy, Director of Ireland's Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University, Connecticut. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best known for its world-class casinos and lavish hotels, the desert city of Las Vegas, Nevada has a darker side, too. For decades, connections to organised crime tarnished its reputation. Now, Las Vegas attracts tens of millions of tourists every year, many of whom come to gamble. But did games of chance really drive the transformation of this small, dusty desert town? And will it ever shed its persistent nickname of Sin City? This is a Short History Of Las Vegas. Written by Emma Christie. With thanks to Dr Michael Green, associate professor of history at the University of Nevada and Las Vegas. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No single writer has shaped the way we speak and think more than William Shakespeare. Whether we’re being cruel to be kind, wearing our hearts on our sleeves, or spotting the green eye’d monster — it’s almost impossible to use the English language without quoting him. But who was Shakespeare? What vaulting ambition drove a young writer from a sleepy town to stardom in London? Was he born great or did he have greatness thrust upon him? This is a Short History of William Shakespeare. Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Dr Anjna Chouhan, Senior Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s Christmas eve, 1914. On the Western Front, a British soldier peers out across No Man’s Land. A sound catches his attention – not artillery fire, but music. The enemy are singing Silent Night. The Christmas Truce of 1914 remains a unique historical anomaly. But how did these sworn enemies set down their weapons and meet as friends? What does the truce reveal about the First World War? This is a Short History of the Christmas Truce. Written by Duncan Barrett. With thanks to Anthony Richards, Head of Documents and Sound and the Imperial War Museum, and author of The True Story of the Christmas Truce: British and German Eyewitness Accounts from World War I, and Catriona Pennell, Professor of Modern History and Memory Studies at the University of Exeter.  For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Sponsor: Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shorthistory It's risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pocahontas is probably the best known Native American in history. But the true story of her life has been eclipsed by a fictionalised version, played out as a romance between an intrepid English captain and a wild native princess. So what is known about the real Pocahontas, and her life before the arrival of the white colonisers? How did she spearhead a period of truce between her tribe and the Europeans? And did she truly have a say in her own fate, and the fate of her people?  This is a Short History of Pocahontas. Written by Lindsay Galvin. With thanks to Camilla Townsend, professor of history at Rutgers University, and author of Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma.  For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Sponsor: Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shorthistory It's risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Abraham Lincoln’s life reads like an American folk tale. The story of a boy born into poverty, whose drive and determination saw him become the most powerful man in the nation. But how did he navigate a path for a youthful country so deeply divided over slavery? What was his role in the devastating civil war? And how did one man attract such public adoration and murderous wrath all at the same time? This is a Short History of Abraham Lincoln. Written by Dan Smith. With thanks to David S Reynolds, Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York, and author of Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Sponsor: Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ https://nordvpn.com/shorthistory It's risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1799, French soldiers in Egypt unearthed what would become one of the world’s most famous artefacts. After a desperate race to decipher its symbols, the Rosetta Stone provided the key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphs, casting new light on the culture and history of this lost civilisation. But why was the Rosetta Stone made in the first place? How did it end up in the hands of the French occupiers, thousands of years after it was created? And when the battle to decode was over, what secrets did it reveal? This is a Short History of the Rosetta Stone. Written by Kate Harrison. With thanks to Richard Bruce Parkinson, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tower of London has been a symbol of the authority and power of the British crown for almost a thousand years. Established by William the Conqueror, the iconic building has served as a palace and a prison; a safe and an armory; a seat of leadership and a site of torture and execution. But why was it built in the first place? How did it evolve? What are the stories of its residents, willing or otherwise? This is a Short History of the Tower of London. Written by Thomas Bickley. With thanks to Bridget Clifford, Curator Emerita at the Royal Armouries and retired Keeper of the Tower Armouries. For more information about the Royal Armouries, head to their website www.royalarmouries.org For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First inhabited by the Rapa Nui people a thousand years ago, Easter Island is best known for its hundreds of giant stone statues. But what inspired a group of ancient Polynesian explorers to settle in such a remote spot in the South Pacific? How did they almost bring their own community to the point of collapse? And as ancient traditions meet with modern tourism, what is the future for the Rapa Nui people? This is a Short History of Easter Island. Written by Emma Christie. With thanks to Dr. Jo Anne Van Tilburg is an American archaeologist and the Director of the Easter Island Statue Project. She’s spent three decades working on Rapa Nui. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vincent van Gogh was one of the most important and influential figures in the history of art. Though he created thousands of drawings and paintings, his was a life of commercial failure, instability and unhappiness. But who was Van Gogh before he discovered his passion for art? What caused him so much suffering? And who were the people who supported him right up to his tragic death at the age of just 37? This is a Short History of Vincent van Gogh. Written by David Jackson. With thanks to Steven Naifeh, Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of Van Gogh: The Life and Jackson Pollock: An American Saga. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the end of the 15th century, the Conquistadors changed the face of the Americas. Invading first the Caribbean and Mexico, they then plunged on into the rest of the continent and plundered the Pacific seaboard. So what do we know of these Europeans and their quest to expand a burgeoning empire? And who were the indigenous people that resisted invasion, negotiated with strangers, and fought off barbarians?  This is a Short History of the Conquistadors.   Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Professor Matthew Restall, Director of Latin American Studies at Penn State University and author of Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest and When Montezuma met Cortez. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices