You’re Dead to Me
Greg Jenner has embarked on a journey to make history humorous since the widespread success of everyone's childhood favorite show, Horrible Histories. Jenner's podcast, You're Dead to Me, combines the factual with the humorous. Expert historians and award-winning comedians join him in this episode to discuss anything from the origins of ice cream to the riches of Mansa Musa.
Jenner and his wise-cracking guests explore a wide range of issues from the start of the podcast, most of which would be unfamiliar to Jenner's target audience: a British public with only secondary school level history as a foundation. 'So, what do you know?' is a piece at the start of each episode that connects the issue at hand to pop culture that the audience can relate to, allowing them to immediately orient themselves to the concepts. This is just one example of how You're Dead to Me aims to make history more engaging and accessible to listeners by removing the barrier of intimidation that many people experience when trying to learn about it.
Jenner also puts his comedian to the test by concluding each episode with a fun quiz that reflects on the topic's primary facts and ideas. Listeners are able to experience history via the eyes of comedians such as Desiree Birch, Ed Gamble, and Rosie Jones, which encourages people to engage in history and propagate the ideas they learn. Jenner has revived public history and reinforced it as an equally significant element of historical learning through You're Dead to Me and his other works. Jenner believes that history does not need to be hidden away by academics who use too sophisticated language. It should be approachable and enjoyable, which You're Dead to Me accomplishes.
Link to listen:
- Apple Podcasts: https://cutt.ly/YGXD1qF
- Spotify: https://cutt.ly/oGXD9r8
