What We Did Before | A History of Everyday Life

Epizode

• 
  Before Fire Brigades: The Strange History of Fighting Fires 14.09.2026 1h 2min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Firefighting hasn’t always meant red engines and professional crews. For centuries, fighting fires was much more chaotic. Even by the outbreak of the Second World War, Britain still had more than a thousand separate local authority fire brigades. ⚡In this episode, curator of Fireground Museum in Rochdale, Bob Bonner, takes us on a tour through the history of firefighting, explaining how it evolved into the service we know today. From insurance fire brigades, to legendary fi...
• 
  Before Online Games: How “MUD” Gave Birth to a Whole New Generation of Gaming 07.09.2026 35min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Before World of Warcraft, RuneScape or even the internet as we know it, there was MUD - the world’s first multiplayer virtual world. Created in 1978 by Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw, it would help lay the foundations for an entirely new generation of gaming. Early online games were very different from the enormous commercial worlds we know today. There were no battle passes, cash shops or daily login rewards. Instead, their creators were experimenting with what a virtual ...
• 
  Before Religious Freedom: The Tragedy of the Guernsey Martyrs 31.08.2026 10min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Visit the site of a brutal moment in Guernsey history. At Tower Hill Steps three women faced religious persecution - and were burned alive at the stake. One of the women, Perotine Massey, was pregnant and gave birth in the flames. What happened next was horrific. This dark chapter of Guernsey’s history shows the grim realities of past religious conflicts. ⚡With Guernsey tour guide Korinne Le Page, we discuss why these “Guernsey martyrs” died and how societal beliefs have sh...
• 
  Before We Had Answers: When Witches Met At This Ancient Grave 24.08.2026 31min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 At this ancient monolithic burial chamber, witches were said to convene with the devil to conduct The Black Mass. This imposing Dolmen came up time and time again in the brutal witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries. ⚡ This was a time when witchcraft was truely a force to be feared. But why did we believe so strongly that our neighbours were placing curses on us? And why were people burned for a crime that didn’t exist? In this episode we visit Le Trépied in Guernsey a...
• 
  Before Radar: How The Hearing of "Aircraft Listeners" Saved Lives 17.08.2026 19min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Long before radar, armies relied on people with enormous metal trumpets strapped to their heads to listen for approaching aircraft. Aircraft listeners had the bizarre but vital job of detecting the sound of enemy planes, working in exposed positions and often in difficult conditions to give early warning of an incoming attack. ⚡Before radar transformed air defence, these acoustic listening devices were used to track aircraft by sound. Operators would work together to determ...
• 
  Before Prisons: Local Justice & the World's Smallest Prison 10.08.2026 5min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Herm island might just be home to the world’s smallest prison. And yet it’s not the world record holder - that title belongs to a very close neighbour. So why doesn’t Herm prison hold the record - and what was such a tiny jail used for? ⚡Herm is an island in the English Channel with a population of just 65, but it has lived many different lives over the years. Take a trip to the beautiful shores of Herm to see its tiny prison up close and learn about its history with ...
• 
  Before Sewers: How Toshers Had One of Victorian Britain's Most Disgusting Jobs 27.07.2026 17min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Toshers had one of the most disgusting jobs of Victorian Britain. Searching the sewers of 19th century London, people would sieve through human sewage looking for discarded treasures. It’s a job that made them a lot of money - but came with many hazards. ⚡Before the sewage system we know today, Victorian London was a very smelly city. With the population expanding fast thanks to the industrial revolution, London became the biggest city in the world, home to more than 2 mill...
• 
  Before Cotton Left Britain: Inside Bancroft Mill Where The Weaving Looms Still Run 20.07.2026 33min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 This is the deafening noise that powered Britain's Industrial Revolution. At its peak, thousands of men and women spent their days surrounded by the relentless clatter of weaving looms - a workplace so loud that many workers gradually lost their hearing. ⚡ Yet despite the dangers, becoming a weaver was a skilled and sought-after job. Britain's cotton industry transformed Lancashire into the workshop of the world, with entire communities built around the mills. But what was ...
• 
  Before Cushioned Shoes: The 1970s Style That Changed Footwear Forever 13.07.2026 49min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Shoes got a massive makeover 50 years ago, thanks to a boom in interest for running. A style that first emerged in the 1970s quickly became the dominant one - cushioned soles, elevated heels, narrow toes. And it’s the style we still see today. But why? ⚡ Humans spent hundreds of thousands of years barefoot - and when we did make shoes, they were made of plant fibres or thin animal hides. We’ve cycled through many variations over the years, but today’s shoes are very d...
• 
  Before Weapons: Unearthing Ancient Wooden Tools and Spears | Dr Annemieke Milks 30.06.2026 44min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Archaeologists have found evidence of the oldest wooden handheld tools used by humans. Discovered in Greece, these ancient tools are around 430,000 years old. ⚡Dr Annemieke Milks is a palaeolithic archaeologist and part of the team which identified the objects. They were recovered from Marathousa, a Middle Pleistocene site which may have been inhabited by Homo heidelbergensis - one of our distant ancestors. In this episode we find out about this incredible discovery - and d...
• 
  Before Instagram: Why Rich People Built Fake Ruins 22.06.2026 8min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 There’s a ruined archway sitting among the trees of my local park - but what grand building did it once belong to? A castle? A church? A grand manor house? In this episode I take a trip to Worden Park in Leyland. Rich in history, this park was once the estate of James Nowell Farington, who set about a major programme of improvements when he inherited it in 1837. ⚡ Join me on a trip to visit an archway with a very strange backstory, a Victorian-era ice house decorated with a...
• 
  The Bleach Packer: Your Questions Answered 19.06.2026 22min

  Send us Fan Mail You had lots of questions about the Victorian job of the "Bleach Packer". So I invited Judith Wilde from Catalyst museum back for a Q&A. Together we dig deeper into the fascinating history of this gruelling job, that helped build the chemical industry. 🎧 Judith answers questions like: ➡ Why didn't their eyes burn? ➡ Did the muzzle actually work? ➡ Why were some of them drinking ten pints a day? ➡ Did this really continue into the 1950s? ➡ What is the area of Widnes like t...
• 
  Before Tax Havens: How Islands Have Reinvented Themselves For Millenia | Jason Monaghan 15.06.2026 25min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Many islands all over the world are known for their finance industries - and especially for being “tax havens”. But this is just the latest ways islands have reinvented themselves over thousands of years. As far back as the Stone Age, islands have served as stepping stones, trading hubs, military outposts and gateways between nations. ⚡ In this episode we use the island of Guernsey as a case study, showcasing just how varied - and incredible - its history has be...
• 
  The Bleach Packer: One of the Worst Jobs of Victorian Britain | WWDB Highlights 13.06.2026 10min

  Send us Fan Mail Bleach packers had one of the worst jobs of the 19th century.At Catalyst Museum in Widnes, discover the history of these workers, why they wore muzzles, and how they helped build the chemical industry. This is a highlight from a longer episode filmed at Catalyst. Scroll down in your feed if you'd like to learn more. About the podcast: What We Did Before is a podcast where we chart the history of modern inventions, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived...
• 
  The Terracotta Army & The Loch Ness Monster | A History Daily Special 12.06.2026 33min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬  One March 29th 1974, a Chinese farmer was working the field as he always did - when suddenly his shovel struck something hard. Little did he know he had just stumbled upon one of the most important archaeological finds in history. ⚡In this special episode we share two fantastic episodes from our friends over at History Daily. If you love them - subscribe to History Daily here: https://podfollow.com/history-daily The first is the discovery of China’s Terracotta Army -...
• 
  Before Tools: How Neanderthals Used Rhino Teeth, Vulture Bones and Deer Antlers 10.06.2026 22min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Neanderthals have been shown to use many incredible tools - but none quite as surprising as this. After studying rhinoceros teeth from a cave chock full of them - researchers managed to figure out why they were covered in strange markings. ⚡Alicia Sanz-Royo and her team of archaeologists examined the teeth that had remained a mystery for many years. By recreating ancient Neanderthal activities, they managed to reproduce the same markings - showing these rhino teeth were pro...
• 
  Before Social Media: How Cleopatra Turned Herself Into a Living God | Natasha Solomons 08.06.2026 44min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 Much of the myth of Cleopatra was crafted by her during her lifetime. An intentional process to shape how the citizens of Egypt - and the world - saw her. But without social media, how did great rulers of the ancient world fashion their own brand? Cleopatra was unusually good at shaping her own image - and the brand she built has endured for over 2,000 years. But who was the woman behind the myth? ⚡ That’s the Cleopatra Natasha Solomons explores in her new book, where she r...
• 
  Before We Were The Last Human Species: When We Lived With Neanderthals 01.06.2026 49min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 For a big portion of human history, we shared the planet with other human species. What was that world like to be part of? How often did we interact with prehistoric humans - and would we have recognised the differences between them and us? ⚡ Michael Marshall is a science writer and expert voice on ancient human species. In this episode he paints a picture of this ancient world, where Neanderthals, Hobbits and Denisovans and other early humans walked alongside us. Don't mis...
• 
  Before Chemicals: 'Bleach Packers' and the Birth of the Chemical Industry 25.05.2026 41min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 The birth of the chemical industry - one which has reshaped the course of human history - happened in a small town in England. In the 19th century, Widnes was transformed into a major centre of the chemical industry. This era saw the rise of the bleach packers - workers who shovelled toxic chemicals to earn a living, wearing bandages to protect themselves from burns and muzzles to avoid passing out. ⚡Catalyst is the UK’s only museum dedicated to the chemical industry....
• 
  Before Brain Science: When We Thought With Our Hearts | Matthew Cobb 18.05.2026 1h 7min

  Send us Fan Mail 💬 For thousands of years, humans believed the heart controlled the body - your thoughts, your emotions…everything. The brain was just a radiator - something to discard when preparing the dead. But why did our ancestors think this for so long? Were there no tell-tale signs? It’s only in the last few hundred years that the brain has received the attention it deserves. And even once it did, we believed a lot of strange things about how it works. ⚡In this episode Matthew Co...