Breaking news! How stories spread in early modern Europe

If you lived in 16th-century London, would you have any idea what was happening in Paris, Venice or Frankfurt? Well, yes, according to Joad Raymond Wren – and that news could reach you quicker than you might expect. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, Joad uncovers a complex network of communication operating across Europe between the end of the Middle Ages and the rise of modern mass media, from ambassadors' news bulletins to emerging postal services. 

(Ad) Joad Raymond Wren is the author of The Great Exchange: Making the News in Early Modern Europe (Allen Lane, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Exchange-Making-Modern-Europe/dp/0241188539/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=WiNnK&content-id=amzn1.sym.6b6d4bc1-013f-4684-8a3d-174e5cf88d17&pf_rd_p=6b6d4bc1-013f-4684-8a3d-174e5cf88d17&pf_rd_r=262-1509211-7609724&pd_rd_wg=Qidud&pd_rd_r=e40330ef-009c-40ff-9312-5510cb970586&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk&tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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