Today In History with The Retrospectors

When The White Ship hit a rock near Barfleur on 25th November, 1120, she sank, killing all 300 noblemen on-board. Among the dead was Henry I’s one legitimate son, William Adelin, plunging the English throne into a dynastic crisis. Like the Titanic, the vessel was considered the epitome of safety and prestige for its time, Captained by Thomas FitzSteven, whose father had piloted the boat that brought William the Conqueror to England. But, despite this pedigree, the crew and passengers’ decision to a) get drunk and b) race the King home sealed their doom. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover the plotting that unseated the next in line to the throne (because she was a GIRL); explain how a humble butcher was the sole survivor of the shipwreck; and consider why contemporaries thought it was all God’s work…  Further Reading: • ‘900 years since the White Ship disaster’ (British Library, 2020): https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2020/11/white-ship.html • ’Earl Spencer - The White Ship, the worst ever royal disaster’ (The Oldie, 2020): https://theoldie.co.uk/blog/the-900th-anniversary-of-the-worst-ever-royal-disaster • ‘The White Ship by Charles Spencer’ (Brights of Nettlebed, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVKDHDgyTXY #Medieval #Royals #Mistakes #Rowing #France Love the show? Support us!  Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) embraced and kissed on "Plato’s Stepchildren"; an episode of ‘Star Trek’ broadcast on 22nd November, 1968 - just a year after the Supreme Court declared interracial marriage to be legal. However, despite popular belief that this was TV’s first interracial kiss, it wasn’t. It wasn’t even the first interracial kiss on TV featuring William Shatner… In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly examine just how slowly attitudes to ‘mixed marriage’ were shifting in the United States; compare this iconic Trekkie moment to homoerotic frat-boy YouTube videos; and reveal how the actors concerned deliberately sabotaged ‘the wide’ so their kiss would be screened coast-to-coast… Further Reading: • Kirk and Uhura kiss on ‘Star Trek’ (Paramount Television, 1968): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lThvEsP5-9Y • ‘'Star Trek's' interracial kiss 50 years ago boldly went where none had gone before’ (NBC News, 2018): https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/star-trek-s-interracial-kiss-50-years-ago-went-boldly-n941181 • ‘Nichelle Nichols on filming the first interracial kiss on American television’ (Archive of American Television, 2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hKKkGhEDoU ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: La Ronde, the USA’s first revolving restaurant, opened on 21st November, 1961, at the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. On the menu in the 298ft-tall tower was shrimp cocktail, mahi-mahi, and ‘the Queen of beefdom’. It had a predecessor, though, in perhaps an unlikely city: post-war Dortmund, Germany.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace the origins of rotating restaurants back to Ancient Rome (of course); recall Elvis Presley’s role in furthering the popularity of high-rise revolving dining at the Space Needle; and consider the particular appeal of ‘high attractions in low rise cities’...  Further Reading: • ‘A Moveable Feast: A Brief History of the Revolving Restaurant’ (Duck Pie, 2014): https://duckpie.com/2014/05/02/a-moveable-feast-a-brief-history-of-the-revolving-restaurant/ • ‘Revolving Architecture: A History of Buildings That Rotate, Swivel, and Pivot - By Chad Randl’ (Princeton Architectural Press, 2008): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Revolving_Architecture/H8gAaZj2e-AC?q=sky+view&gbpv=1#f=false • ‘Top of Waikiki Revolving Restaurant View’ (Life Is Amazing, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYOUofNjFU4 ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Beethoven's first attempt at opera, Leonore, premiered in Vienna on 20th November, 1805. Attendance was sparse, due in part to Napoleon's recent invasion: the audience largely composed of French officers. And, unlike almost all his other work, the piece still has a reputation as ‘A Director’s Graveyard’. Why? Possibly because the setting - a jail - is drab and uninspiring. Perhaps because the archetypal characters are mostly singing about their inner life. Or… maybe because it’s all sung in German, and Beethoven didn’t know how to write for singers? In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how the great composer made an initial impact on Austria thanks to his virtuoso piano skills, not his compositions; reveal the multiple occasions on which he attempted to re-work his flop (finally debuting a revised Fidelio in 1814 to great acclaim); and explain why Leonore was the Spider-Man of its day… Further Reading: • ’Fidelio: Story, Synopsis & More’ (English National Opera):: https://www.eno.org/operas/fidelio/ • ‘Beethoven: Fidelio, By Peter Gutmann’ (Classical Notes, 2014): http://www.classicalnotes.net/opera/fidelio.html • ‘Stage@Seven: Beethoven: Fidelio (Ouverture) - Andrés Orozco-Estrada’ (Frankfurt Radio Symphony, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ8xsi42ubA Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices