Future Imperfect

What did Britain look like after the Romans left?

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 13:20:09 GMT

Alex Harvey returns to the podcast to talk to Jason about the kingdoms of the British Isles after the Romans left.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Why did we invent the Renaissance?

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 13:33:48 GMT

Jason talks to Ada Palmer about the concept of the Renaissance, and what distinguishes it from the mediaeval?

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What did medieval builders get right?

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 15:07:12 GMT

In this episode Jason talks to Andrew Ziminski, a monumental stonemason, about building in the Middle Ages.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What happened when animals got away in the Middle Ages

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 15:41:49 GMT

Jason talks to Jordan Claridge and Spike Gibbs about stray animals, the damage they could do, and what happened to them in the Middle Ages.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Who were the Carolingians?

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:39:07 GMT

Jason talks to Matt Gabriele and David Perry about who the Carolingians were. What relationship were they to Charlemagne? Where did they live? They discuss all of this, and their new book, Oathbreakers.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What did people in the Middle Ages use for money?

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 14:15:51 GMT

In this episode, Jason speaks to Dr Rory Naismith about how people in the MIddle Ages used money. Did they have money? Did they use cash? And what did they do when there was no money?

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Did people get murdered in the Middle Ages?

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 11:26:45 GMT

How violent were the Middle Ages? What was life like before there were police? In this episode, Jason talks to Annie Whitehead about murder in the age of the Anglo-Saxons.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Who are the Vikings we don't talk about?

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 15:56:51 GMT

Welcome to the third season of Future Imperfect! In this episodeJason talks to Alex Harvey about the sorts of Vikings we don't often mention nowadays.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Who were the knights of the Islamic world?

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 13:44:43 GMT

Jason Kingsley talks to Dr Rachel Schine about her new book, Black Knights.

Produced by: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What were medieval warhorses like?

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 13:55:35 GMT

Jason talks to Emma Herbert-Davies about her research into the mediaeval warhorse.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What were ordinary Vikings really like?

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 13:39:02 GMT

On this episode Jason talks to Eleanor Barraclough about her new book, Embers of the Hands, about the day-t-day lives and material culture of ordinary Vikings.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What is Jason's new book about?

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 18:44:34 GMT

In this episode, Jason talks about his new book, out now on Kickstarter with the host of Legends and Lectures, Michelle Franklin.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How to get someone to fall in love with you (in the Middle Ages)

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 12:17:20 GMT

We learn lots about of the facts of the Middle Ages, but what did the people themselves believe about the ways in which the world worked, and the intersections between religion and magic? Jason talks to Tabitha Stanmore about practical magic, cunning folk, and the ways in which magic was threaded through mediaeval life.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Can mediaeval knowledge save the world?

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 20:31:27 GMT

In a world of limited resources, people in the Middle Ages knew how to exploit the natural world in a way that was sustainable. Jason talks to Annette Kehnel about sustainability in the Middle Ages.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Who were the Anglo-Saxons?

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 09:16:14 GMT

In this episode, Jason talks to Marc Morris about his new book, Anglo Saxons.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How do you make a mediaeval book?

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 11:02:05 GMT

Sara Charles is a researched into books and manuscripts, who has learned all of the processes that went into making books in the Middle Ages. She joins Jason to talk about manuscripts books, and all thinks ink and vellum!

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Was mediaeval armour for defence or for show?

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 16:00:08 GMT

Jason Kingsley, CBE, talks to armourer Toby Capwell about their time spent jousting against each other, how you know when to give up jousting and how armour worked in the Middle Ages.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What was the best Old English word?

Sun, 29 Sep 2024 21:14:26 GMT

In this episode, Jason is joined by Dr Hana Videen, who has been collecting early mediaeval words and their meanings. She talks about what we can learn about the way people in the early mediaeval period dealt with animals from the way they wrote and talked about them.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What's the oldest pub in England?

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 08:53:17 GMT

On this episode, Jason is joined by James Wright a buildings archaeologist who specialises in mediaeval myth-busting. He talks us through the legends about a lot of England's old buildings, and what the truth actually is.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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HIGHLIGHTS EPISODE

Sat, 07 Sep 2024 12:44:34 GMT

We've had a lot of new listeners over the summer - so we thought we'd look back at some of the highlights of some of our older episodes.

Presenter: Jason Kingsley, CBE

Producer: Natt Tapley

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Did people in the Middle Ages believe in fairies?

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 09:53:42 GMT

Did people in the Middle Ages believe in fairies? Jason talks to Dr Francis Young about mediaeval beliefs in non-Christian entities and his book, Twilight of the Godlings.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How many seasons were there in the mediaeval year? (The answer may surprise you!)

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 09:57:31 GMT

In this episode, Jason talks to Eleanor Parker about her book Winters In The World: A Journey Through The Anglo-Saxon Year.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How did people in the Middle Ages think about sex?

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:28:18 GMT

Dr Eleanor Janega comes back to the podcast to talk to Jason Kingsley, CBE, about sex and gender in the Middle Ages and her new book The Once and Future Sex.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How can we live chivalrously?

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 14:36:49 GMT

In a change of format, we talk to Jason Kingsley, CBE, himself. We dig deep into what chivalry means, why Jason is fascinated with mediaeval history, and how is affects his life and the way he runs his business.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How can we fix our oceans?

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 11:11:32 GMT

Professor Guy Standing is an economist who has a radical way to fix the problems in our oceans, one from the past. He wants to see them held in common, as mediaeval resources often were. He talks to Jason about how this would work.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What does genetic engineering mean for our futures?

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 10:42:33 GMT

Gene editing therapies are just starting to be used to treat conditions. In this episode, Jason talks to Matthew Cobb, Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester about how we got here, and what it could mean for each of us in the future.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How did gift-giving work in the past?

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 13:24:15 GMT

When European settlers arrived in the Americas they found many economies based on gift-giving. Jason talks to Brian Owensby about how this worked, how it didn't work, and how this could have led to conflict between the Old World and the New.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Sound: Pete Dennis

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What is the digital mediaeval?

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 11:19:42 GMT

Jeremy Silver is the CEO of Digital Capital, and he believes that we are living in our 'digital mediaeval period'. He joins Jason today explain what he means by that, what problems it poses, and what we need to do to move to a 'digital renaissance'.

Producer - Natt Tapley

Sound - Pete Dennis

Photo by Bingqian Li: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-near-castle-and-scaffolding-16105790/

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How did they deal with pandemic disease in the 1660s?

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 23:38:31 GMT

Jason talks to Rebecca Rideal about 1666, and pandemics, great fires, and wars.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How big were mediaeval warhorses?

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 15:30:40 GMT

Jason talks to Alan Outram and Oliver Creighton who have done the most extensive study of mediaeval warhorses ever made.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Why are our trees going north?

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 21:38:02 GMT

Ben Rawlence joins Jason to explain how the tree-line is moving, what that means for us, and what we can do about it.

Produced by: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How can we bring back action comics?

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 00:01:58 GMT

Jason talks to comics legend Garth Ennis about war, computer games, history, and how to bring back comics of the past.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Can we geo-engineer our way out of climate change?

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 14:39:06 GMT

In this episode Jason talks to Gernot Wagner about the damage we're doing to our limate and whether or not it's on our power to reverse it.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Are we going to run out of soil?

Sat, 21 May 2022 13:45:17 GMT

Jason talks to Jo Handelsman, the Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at University of Wisconsin, about the role soil has played in the historical invasions of Ukraine, how fast we're running out of soil and what will happen when we do.

Presenter: Jason Kingsley

Producer: Natt Tapley

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Is the world coming to an end?

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 14:11:56 GMT

Professor Nicholas Guyatt joins Jason to talk about apocalyptic cults, beliefs in the end of the world, and what that might look like.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Audio: Pete Dennis

Image: St Jean de Montmartre 4th Horseman of Apocalypse by Peter Haas licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0

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Were the Dark Ages dark?

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 13:54:12 GMT

Jason talks to David Perry & Matt Gabriele about their new book, The Bright Ages, which tries to reassess the period after the fall of the Roman empire (if that even happened).

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Photo by Ali Khalil from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/columns-and-dome-of-hagia-sophia-7542061/

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When did we invent love?

Sun, 13 Mar 2022 10:45:35 GMT

Jason talks to Professor Suzannah Lipscomb about how we find out about mediaeval women in the past, how marriages worked, and whether or not Henry VIII was the ultimate romantic?

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

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How does bias change the world?

Sun, 06 Mar 2022 14:00:00 GMT

Jason talks to Jessica Nordell , who showed how small amounts of bias can have huge impact on large organisations.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

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Why do we have to work?

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:26:12 GMT

In this episode, Jason talks to Professor Jan Lucassen about the different roles work has played in human history. Have we always worked? Will we always work? How do we define work?

Producer: Nathaniel Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Photo by Yury Kim from Pexels

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Should we worry about World War III?

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 10:47:05 GMT

Recorded last month, Jason talks to Cold War historian Alex von Tunzelmann about tensions between Russia and the West, and whether or not we're all likely to die in a Third World War.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

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Do plants have souls?

Sun, 30 Jan 2022 13:00:17 GMT

Hildegard of Bingen was a mediaeval abbess who was famous in her own time for her thoughts about the natural world. Michael Marder talks to Jason about what her philosophy can teach us today about the way in which we interact with plants and what it could mean for our future.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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Are we entering new Fire Age?

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 12:45:11 GMT

Are we entering a new Age of Fire? Emeritus Professor Stephen Pyne believes that we have altered the geological age through our control of fire. Jason talks to him about our past manipulation of fire, and what the world is likely to look like in this new Fire Age.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Photo: Eric Chistov

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How can we beat our unconscious biases?

Mon, 17 Jan 2022 13:41:50 GMT

Jason talks to Pragya Agarwal about unconscious bias, brain structures and what we can do to combat our own unconscious biases.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Sound: Pete Dennis

Photo by Daniel Reche from Pexels

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Is there life on Mars?

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 15:19:45 GMT

One of the designers of the Mars Rover, Larry Crumpler, who has been involved in space exploration for forty years joins Jason to talk about the history of space exploration, and where it goes next.

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How can we communicate science better?

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 13:58:02 GMT

Simonyi Professor for the Understanding of Science, Marcus du Sautoy joins Jason to talk about what we need to know about science, why it's important, and how we can improve our understanding.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What can ancient Greeks teach us about resisting tyranny?

Sun, 12 Dec 2021 23:20:24 GMT

Overbearing governments have been with us throughout time. Professor Emily K. Anhalt believes that the ancient Greeks left us good advice in their poetry to tell us how to resist tyranny, and tells Jason all about it.

Producer: Nathaniel Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What does ancient Egyptian bread taste like?

Sun, 05 Dec 2021 18:13:45 GMT

Jason talks to Seamus Blackley, the father of the Xbox about gaming, technology, being fascinated with the past, and how to collect ancient Egyptian yeasts.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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How do the aristocracy hold onto political power?

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 07:22:50 GMT

This week, Jason is joined by Hannah Greig to discuss how the aristocracy have held onto their land and power for almost a millennium in England.

Produced by: Natt Tapley

Audio by: Pete Dennis

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Will artificial intelligence make us happy?

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 16:40:51 GMT

Mo Gawdat was the Chief Business Officer for Google[X], creating some of the most advanced artificial intelligences in the world. Now, he devotes himself to increasing human happiness. He talks to Jason Kingsley about algorithms, AIs and whether we can learn to live with the machines.

Produced: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can we learn from the Vikings' teeth?

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 07:30:30 GMT

What we know about the mediaeval period comes, in large part, from what people wrote down about themselves and others. How do we find out about less-literate societies, like the Vikings? Cat Jarman has spent the last few years working on the the remains of the Great Army at Repton and the material artefacts they left behind. In her new book - River Kings she talks about the huge leaps archaeology has made with new technologies and all we can now learn from their teeth, jewellery, and even the metals of the Vikings. Welcome to Future Imperfect!

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

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What can we predict and what can we not predict?

Wed, 03 Nov 2021 01:05:18 GMT

Jason talks to Margaret Heffernan about what use prediction is in an unpredictable world. What can we predict, and what can we just not know?

Produced by Natt Tapley

Sound by Pete Dennis

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Should we still have trial by combat?

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 17:00:08 GMT

Today the law can feel arcane, complicated, and forbidding. In the past - with trial by ordeal and trial by combat - it could be simpler and more direct. Today, Jason talks to Daniel Shen Smith, a barrister and expert in martial arts, about trial by combat, how it worked, and what remnants of it are left today.

Produced by Natt Tapley

Audio by Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why is race science making a comeback?

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 12:11:57 GMT

What role do theories of race play in science? For years, we thought that eugenic ideas about race had fallen out of fashion, but recently they seem to be making a comeback. In today's podcast, Angela Saini talks to me about why this is happening. She's speaking to us from New York, so excuse the sound of real Manhattan traffic or the occasional transatlantic internet wobble. Welcome to Future Imperfect!

Produced by: Natt Tapley

Sound by: Pete Dennis

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What do we get wrong about the Middle Ages?

Wed, 13 Oct 2021 05:45:10 GMT

Jason talks to Dr Eleanor Janega about how fascinating and compelling the mediaeval period is. They talk about jousting, battles, and exactly how colourful everyone's trousers were.

Produced by: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are we too late to save the bees?

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 05:55:32 GMT

It seems like we're getting bad news about the planet every day, but one of the most worrying signs is the decline in our pollinating insects. In this episode, Jason Kingsley, OBE, talks to Dave Goulson from the University of Sussex about whether or not we can save the bees, and what might happen if we don't.

To find out more visit Dave's Youtube channel or buy his new book.

Produced by: Natt Tapley for Gloaming Productions

Audio by Pete Dennis

Cover Image by Richard Bartz, licensed from Wikimedia Commons on a Creative Commons Share-Alike 2.5 licence

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What happens to your digital stuff when you die?

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 06:05:48 GMT

In this episode Elaine Kasket talks to Jason about what ownership means in the 21st century. What happens to our digital possessions after we die? Who is in charge of our data when we pass on? And does privacy end after death?

Produced by: Natt Tapley for Gloaming Productions

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can the past teach us about the future?

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 06:00:14 GMT

Dan Snow is a writer, broadcaster, and a historian who's had an incredible career of amazing experiences. In this episode, he and Jason talk about what life was really like on the battlefields of the past, why bullet points are the secret of history, and why showers are amazing.

Produced by: Natt Tapley for Gloaming Productions and Rebellion

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Future Imperfect Trailer

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 09:43:21 GMT

Jason Kingsley, OBE, talks to historians, scientists, and experts of all kinds about what is was really like in the past, and what that can tell us about what might be to come...

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