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For the inaugural Centuries of Sound radio podcast I’m joined by Sean Spencer (not pictured) as I delve into the first 35 years of sound recording, including lines drawn in soot with feathers, a wasp trapped in a bottle, a talking clock, three versions of “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and the first (accidentally) recorded swearword.
Centuries of Sound’s radio show on Cambridge 105 is now available for listening at your convenience. Rather than simply present a mix of sounds from the year, here I discuss their recording and the world they were made in with my co-host Sean. This is our first ever show (sort of) so thanks for your patience.
We’re very pleased to announce that the inaugural Centuries of Sound radio show will go out on Cambridge 105 Radio this evening (Saturday 15th September) at 8pm BST. In contrast to the usual mixes, which feature original sounds only, it will include discussion of the recordings and the era from James and Sean.
You can listen on 101FM, on digital radio, or online here – https://cambridge105.co.uk/listen/ – right now the show isn’t due to be uploaded to Mixcloud, but may be later (in which case I’ll update this blog post.)
The show will continue on the third Saturday of each month.
Centuries of Sound’s debut radio show on London’s Resonance FM was this Thursday night, repeated this Friday morning. The show goes through the first four mixes, spanning the years 1860 to 1889, and features my actual real-life voice, which I’m not quite ready to actually listen to myself . The whole hour is here on Mixcloud for you to hear – and for track listings please refer to the actual mixes in the sidebar.
For the final segment of general Victorian-era background, here’s Ruth Goodman’s book, which is substantially more interesting and informative than the macro-histories of the empire. Of course, most of what we’re coming to was recorded on the other side of the Atlantic, so perhaps I could’ve found something a little more relevant – but plenty of time for that later.
An alternative history podcast rundown of the second half of Victoria’s reign, if one isn’t enough.
The follow-up to Victorian Farm seemed to be quite an obscure choice at first, but pharmacies turn out to offer more of a window onto Victorian life and society than even farms do, so there you go. Also, keeping Ruth Goodman on is a winning strategy.
A long-ish lecture series, quite good on overall political themes, but a bit lacking in a certain something – obviously I was most interested in popular culture, especially music, and it wasn’t really his area. As we will continue to see, finding worldwide perspectives seems to be difficult.
The Great Courses – America in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
A large part of this project involves immersing myself in the years I’m covering. Later on this will mean I’m able to include audio from films, radio, TV and eventually the internet. For now it means I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries and reading a fair few books. In order to fill some time between main posts (and feel like my time has been spent in some way productively) I’ll be reporting on these here.
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A good source of background has been the vast variety of historical podcasts which are around. I first listened to Rex Factor all the way through when I had my second child and was spending a lot of time traveling to and from hospital. The series ranks British monarchs in a top trumps fashion, and has an enjoyable pairing of a very well-informed history buff and an interested friend who is hearing everything for the first time. This is part two of their epic 5-part episode on Queen Victoria, and gives a good rundown of what life was like at the very highest echelon of society during this era.
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Rex Factor – 55. Victoria’s Biography (Part 2/5: 1861-1901)
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A large part of this project involves immersing myself in the years I’m covering. Later on this will mean I’m able to include audio from films, radio, TV and eventually the internet. For now it means I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries and reading a fair few books. In order to fill some time between main posts (and feel like my time has been spent in some way productively) I’ll be reporting on these here.
The Victorian Farm was the first of the recent series of all-in historical re-enactments, and was a nice, entertaining way to get an idea of what life in this time was like. It also introduced Ruth Goodman, who seems to be in most of these things, and for good reason – her commitment to the concept is so total that I’m tempted to follow her example. All the episodes are on Youtube, but seem to be blocked in certain countries.
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