Do you know when Queen Njinga or Eleanor of Aquitaine lived? What was the prelude to the Stockholm bloodbath or the insane witch hunts of the 17th century? Want to know who Pocahontas really was? In the podcast P3 Historia from Swedish Radio you will learn more about the famous, unknown and infamous people of history.
| Theme | Podcast on historical events and historical figures |
| Programme manager | Cecilia Düringer |
| Started | 2017 |
| Length of section | Approximately 50-60 minutes |
| Public | Adults and older children |
Documentary history teaches you something about everything
P3 Historia is a podcast that every week releases a new short documentary about a historical person. Through the historical protagonist, you get an insight into a historical event or a longer development. Each episode is a little different but has a similar structure. Narration is mixed with read scenes and interviews with guest experts.
What distinguishes P3 History is that the characters can be really well-known, such as Saladin or Greta Garbo, or almost unknown, such as the angel maker Hilda Nilsson or the slave girl Malinche. The selection ranges from antiquity to modernism.
But which can be considered the best episode? The answer, of course, is that it depends on what you find interesting. Anyway, here’s a bold attempt at a few different themes.
The Second World War and the 20th century
The 20th century was a hugely eventful period. It is admittedly a little unfair to compare this century with previous ones, since we have so much more information about the past century. But both the First and Second World Wars, and the development of democracies and dictatorships, made it a roller-coaster ride.
There are 35 episodes about the 20th century in the podcast P3 Historia. Is it possible to rank them? Who’s that foolhardy? Yes, here’s a somewhat subjective top five list:
- Sophie Scholl – the student who defied Hitler
- Dag Hammarsköld – with the world on his shoulders
- Elsa Laula Renberg – the rebel from Sápmi
- Karin Boye – poems, ladies and depression
- Kurt Gerstein – Nazi perpetrator or witness to the truth?
Swedish Radio highlights the defiant
A recurring theme in P3 History is pioneers and people who have in some way gone their own way, sometimes against difficult odds and hard opposition. For example, class travelers like Charlie Chaplin or activists like Marsha P. Johnson. In several episodes, you’ll meet people you’ve probably never even heard of. In other episodes, you will learn more about the unknown sides of famous people.
Some examples of famous people in this category with their own story in P3:
- Nostradamus – stargazer
- Rani Lakshmibai – Warrior Queen of India
- Mary Shelley – author of Frankenstein
- Grace O’Malley – Pirate Queen of Ireland
- Olaudah Equiano – freedom fighter
- Bonnie and Clyde – gangster couple
Best sections on Antiquity and the Middle Ages
The further back you go in history, the denser the fog becomes. It takes much more for a person or event to still be known after hundreds or even thousands of years. P3 Historia likes to dig out the stories that are at the bottom of the box.
If you like the time period from the beginning of history to the Middle Ages, there are several episodes you will surely like. The five favourites are:
- The Dike Death – when terror came to Europe
- Eleanor of Aquitaine – the most powerful queen of the Middle Ages
- Kublai Khan – six sides of a world ruler
- Caligula – from golden calf to madman
- Hildegard of Bingen – medieval multigeni
Cecilia Düringer teaches more than just war
If you’re tired of war, violence and disease, you may want to escape into the fine arts for a while. In P3 History Cecilia Düringer presents several episodes about writers, singers and artists. Unfortunately, this is no guarantee that the episode is devoid of misery, because it is, after all, about tormented souls.
Some of the most popular episodes in this category are about:
- Frida Kahlo – artist
- Coco Chanel – designer
- Nina Simone – singer
- Carl Michael Bellman – skald
- Jenny Lind – opera singer
- Greta Garbo – actress
Documentaries on history never run out of stock
As I said, it is really impossible to list the best episodes of P3 History. There are also new episodes all the time. But when there’s so much to get through, it can be nice to have someone to guide you.
The best thing about this story is that it doesn’t end. You can research history endlessly, without even coming close to finding everything. You will probably find more than one person you didn’t know. You might even become a real story geek and make life unbearable for your loved ones. Just get started!
