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rebeccarideal.bsky.social
Historian (early modern & true crime). TV & Podcast producer / writer. Author - 1666: PLAGUE, WAR & HELLFIRE (out now), GOD’S THRONE: THE STUARTS 1603-1714 (currently writing). Director of HistFest. Host Killing Time podcast.
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Please tell me I’m not the only one to have a word that they always get wrong. Defence or defense? (I blame years of writing for US broadcasters!)

submitted 11 hours ago • 4 comments

Wonderful to have @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social on our first episode of HISTORY’S HEROES, talking about pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies – the subject of her book THE FACEMAKER. You can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts. Link to the ep on BBC Sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

submitted 22 hours ago • 2 comments

Coming this August, a brand-new online course looking at the origins of the Tudor Dynasty. Six lectures, one live Q&A, one week of pure Tudor fun and learning. Tickets on sale now, and shifting quickly. Reserve your place: bit.ly/TudorsCourse

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

I often wonder about the many people who thought they’d gotten away with murder in the 60s, 70s & 80s, only to be faced with advances in DNA. Justice is justice, but it’s so sad that it took so long for Louisa Dunne’s family. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

Workshop of Rembrandt van Rijn, A Young Woman Resting her Hands on the Picture Frame, 1641. (Statens Museum for Kunst, Danmark)

submitted 1 day ago • 4 comments

When losing a limb made you a hero but losing a face made you a monster, Harold Gillies restored dignity to WWI's disfigured soldiers. In HISTORY'S HEROES, I speak to @alexvont.bsky.social about what courage & imagination can accomplish in the face of relentless horror. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

submitted 1 day ago • 12 comments

Delighted to announce my new podcast series History’s Heroes is launching today on BBC Sounds and wherever you get your podcasts. Also coming to BBC Radio 4 later this year! Episode 1 is Saving Face With Harold Gillies Episode 2 is Katharine Hepburn: Queen of the Screen

submitted 1 day ago • 12 comments

Well, it appears I am now staff at @ox.ac.uk dep. of continuing education. Everything still pretty much the same, but hoping to share some interesting study days in the near future!

submitted 1 day ago • 17 comments

Planning underway. The event will be hybrid and invitations will be sent out shortly. Please get in touch if interested in participating #pubs

submitted 2 days ago • 3 comments

An extract from my upcoming book, #Refuge: Stories of War (and Love) is now available to read at @refugeeweek.bsky.social blog #RefugeeWeek

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

A full day of scripting a new series ahead!

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

“Starving, then shot. There is no longer hope for us Palestinians” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

A £2.5m dud? Fresh doubt cast on authenticity of National Gallery Rubens | Painting | The Guardian www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

Looking forward to listening to this latest from @davidolusoga.bsky.social & @sarahchurchwell.bsky.social 🏴‍☠️ I’ve a huge one-sided crush on Calico Jack. Basically owing to this song by Karliene youtu.be/pkvk6g3ZDz4?...

submitted 4 days ago • 2 comments

The Kardashians of history: why are we so obsessed with the Mitford sisters? www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

When Vimeo has a global outage at precisely the moment you need it.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

A huge thanks to the brilliant Maya Goodfellow who recently interviewed me for @theguardian.com about my book, and the entangled histories of extinction and empire more broadly. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

submitted 8 days ago • 7 comments

🎧 DESTROYER OF WORLDS *New All Things History episode* @rebeccarideal.bsky.social speaks to Frank Close, Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics at Oxford University, about his new book, Destroyer of Worlds: The Deep History of the Nuclear Age. Full ep: histfest.substack.com/p/destroyer-...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

‘Ticking timebomb’: sea acidity has reached critical levels, threatening entire ecosystems – study www.theguardian.com/environment/...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

Fantastic picture! (shame that the light from the projector screen makes us look like smurfs :-)) It was lovely today - thank you! x

submitted 10 days ago • 11 comments

It's true! The Butchering Art was narrated by Ralph Lister - a distant relative of Joseph Lister, whom the book is about. And The Facemaker was narrated by the actor Daniel Gillies, who happens to be the great nephew of Sir Harold Gillies!

submitted 10 days ago • 5 comments

Wow. Well, this was absolutely f*cking incredible! I’ve said it before, and I’ll said it again, MI is leagues above Bond. The best action franchise ever. No notes. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

submitted 11 days ago • 2 comments