Was he really so terrible (hint: yes!), or is it all just a translation error (well, sort of)? Greg Jenner and his guests dive into the life, times, and crimes of Russia's first Tsar, the infamous Ivan the Terrible. From his bumpy youth, early successes, and multiple wives, to his oppressive policy of oprichnina and notorious reputation for cruelty, the panel discusses the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly when it comes to one of history's most feared rulers. Featuring Professor Peter Frankopan (University of Oxford) and Russian-born comedian Olga Koch, whose BBC appearances include OK Computer, Human Error, Fight, QI, and The Now Show. The Athletic production for BBC Radio 4
My name's Joe Wilkinson and I've managed to force Patrick Bamford to come on a podcast with me and he's gonna slowly fall in love with me.
Do you go to the tip?
Believe it or not, yeah, I do.
Do you go to the supermarket?
No.
You know when all the shirts started getting tight on the players and they started selling them like that to the general public?
Yeah, yeah.
And everyone looked like sausages.
My mate's a footballer with me, Patrick Bamford and Joe Wilkinson.
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Hello and welcome to your dead to me, a BBC Radio Four comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
My name is Greg Jenner.
I'm a public historian, author, broadcaster, and I'm the chief nerd on the BBC comedy show Horrible Histories.
On this podcast, we ruthlessly smash together education and entertainment to expand your historical horizons whilst gently tickling your funny bone.
And in this episode, we're grabbing our iron staffs and pointy beards to travel all the way back to 16th century Russia to explore the life and times.
Or is that life and crimes of Ivan the terrible?
To help us navigate the terrors and treacheries, we are joined by two very special guests in history corner.
He's professor of global history at the University of Oxford, where he works on the history of Russia, the Middle East, China and beyond.
He is the author of the fascinating bestsellers the Silk Roads and the New Silk Roads.