Here's a free trial you definitely don't want to sign up to... This week we're covering arcane laws, from trial by fire and water, to dealing with ancient arsonists.
Tom kicks us off with a look at some of the medieval ordeals - religious trials against adversity involving fire, water, or sometimes just hanging around a murder victim to see if they'd wake up. The idea was that if they were innocent, God would usually save them. Or sometimes let them die so they could enter heaven. It really was pretty much down to whoever was conducting the trial, to be honest.
Meanwhile Sam takes a look at the Nesilim law code - the laws of the ancient Hittite empire in the Middle East - which covered everything from your sex life (be that with relatives, slaves or pigs) to what to do with someone who burns down your house, and how much you should be paying for shoes. And like all good law codes, it shows that the Hittites had some very specific and slightly disgusting problems.
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This week we also gave a shout out to The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong - they are a great podcast and you can find them here or on your app of choice: https://www.constantpodcast.com/
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. A 12-hour time difference. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history but lives in New Zealand), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
That Was Genius is produced by Glorious Republic Broadcasting.
A Stephen Hawking-Shaped Adult Toy (Swearing week) - That Was Genius Episode 134
A Jacket Made of Condoms and Geese (Stock Market Week) - That Was Genius Episode 133
The Artful Todger (medical procedures and men behaving badly week) - That Was Genius Episode 131
260 Menopausal Librarians (Trains week) - That Was Genius episode 129
We‘re taking a break - but we‘ll be back!
Tom‘s Ping-Pong Canary Show (Traditions week) - That Was Genius Episode 127
Minor Lion-Based Surgery (Feats of Survival week) - That Was Genius Episode 125
The Misadventures of Florida Man (Internet week) - That Was Genius Episode 123
We‘re Bim Bam Bina Back (Italy week) - That Was Genius Episode 121
That Was Genius Episode 119 - The Many Follies of Heidi Klum (Gardening week Patron exclusive!)
The Puckered Window of a Public Toilet (Glass week) - That Was Genius Episode 118
Poop On The Desk To Get The Job (Rivalries week) - That Was Genius Episode 116
That Was Genius Episode 114 - A Rowdy Witches Hen Party (Canada week)
Yeast and Ship-Slime, PI (Medicine week) - That Was Genius Episode 112
Prick It, Twist It, Feck It (Slippery Situations week) - That Was Genius Episode 110
The Sound of Something Trapped in the Ice-Cream Truck (Farming week) - That Was Genius Episode 108
A Yurt-Juggling Sensation (Whacky Races week) - That Was Genius Episode 106
A 30-Year Genital Drawing Apprenticeship (Cartoons week) -That Was Genius Episode 104
A Little Claggy Lump of Independence (Small week) - That Was Genius Episode 102
That Was Genius EPISODE 100 - The Terrible Sperma of Terra Firma (100 week)
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