4.08 Joanna of Naples (4) The new Jezebal
/Now nearly 40, Joanna had given up hope of producing a natural heir, meaning that now she had to solve a bit of a conundrum - who should succeed her as ruler of Naples?
4.07 Joanna of Naples (3) Return of the Queen
/Joanna sits in triumph back in her capital city, but her kingdom still faced three terrible foes: invaders, plague and internal foes.
4.06 Joanna of Naples (2) On trial for her life
/Following the grisly murder of her husband, Joanna ends up facing war from within and without her kingdom, all of which would end up with her on trial for her life in Avignon.
4.05 Joanna of Naples (1) Two houses both alike in dignity
/We travel to fourteenth-century Naples to hear about one of the most powerful female rulers of the whole medieval period. Joanna of Naples is one of very few queens regnant in the Middle Ages - her reign was action-packed.
4.04 Marozia: Ruling the Pornocracy
/Call it the Dark Century, Rule of the Harlots, or, as I have, the Pornocracy, the tenth century was a nadir in papal history, with powerful nobles calling the shots. And at the centre of it all its matriarch: Marozia
4.03 Pope Joan: What is myth can never die
/The legend of Pope Joan is quite possibly the most intriguing and enduring of Vatican myths. But how could the Papacy allow a story this astonishing, this embarrassing, to survive for centuries?
4.02 Pontifact's Bry Jensen on the Papacy
/The Papacy, which is going to be a hugely important factor in this series, is a two-thousand-year institution - where do you start? Well, talking to the host best papal podcast around seems like a good start. Today I talk to Bry Jensen, one half of the Pontifacts podcast, about what the Papacy is, and how it has affected European history.
4.01 Popesses: Female power and the papacy
/Introducing the topic for the fourth season of The Other Half Podcast
CHAT: Ellen Alpsten on The Tsarina's Daughter
/In what feels to me a lifetime ago, but was actually only about 12 months, I spoke to Ellen Alspten on the podcast about her book 'Tsarina.
Since then - and I can only assume because of it - the book has gone on to be tremendously successful. It has been shortlisted for the Author’s Club’s Best First Novel award, got a starred review from Booklist and has sold so well that it already has a sequel - 'The Tsarina's Daughter'.
I spoke to Ellen earlier this week about it. Enjoy!
3.21 The Samurai, the Wrestler and the Slave
/To finish off the third season of The Other Half, we cover three final women: Tomoe Gozen, Khutulun and Escrava Anastacia.
3.20 Rani of Jhansi (2) Written in blood that cannot be erased
/As rebellion sweeps India, Rani Lakshmibai fights for her nation's independence and becomes its most famous heroine.
CHAT: Claire Miles, the Hisdoryan
/Today I speak to one of my favourite history bloggers. Claire is history blogger that lives in the darkest depths of rural Mid Wales (her words). Her great belief is that it’s okay to live in the past and her blog is all about the latest history books to read and the latest period dramas to watch. You can also find the latest historical travel inspiration for when you have a spare day or two and want to travel back in time!
3.19 Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi (1) I will not give up my Jhansi
/Rani Laksmibai is one of the great heroines of modern India - a warrior queen who fought against British rule of her country.
CHAT: Elodie Harper on 'The Wolf Den'
/Elodie Harper is a reporter and presenter at ITV News Anglia. She's worked as a journalist for the past decade, including for Channel 4 News, ITN and BBC Radio with a focus on crime reporting in Norfolk, where her first two novels are set.
The Wolf Den takes her in a new direction and to a new time period in the lupanar of Ancient Pompeii.
Buy Elodie's book from Blackwells or, if you're not from the US or Canada, from your local bookstore. You can also get it from Amazon, but I reckon Jeff Bezos has enough money.
3.18 Emilia Plater: Poland is not yet lost
/After her country was stolen from her, a young countess from Lithuania took up arms to get it back.
3.17 Sacagawea (3) A tool of divine direction
/Sacagawea completes her journey to the Pacific and back again - making electoral history along the way - as well as looking at how she has been remembered by generations of Americans.
3.16 Sacagawea (2) Journey to the past
/Sacagawea saves the Corps twice and runs into her family.
3.15 Sacagawea (1) Go west young woman
/For me, there is only one woman in US history that truly fits the folk heroine bill, the one with more rivers, mountains and memorials in her honour than any other woman in American history - Sacagawea.
3.14 Njinga (3) Angolan Gloriana
/Njinga finally achieves ultimate victory and finally rules the nation whose throne she had assumed so many years before. But could she manage to safely pass the kingdom off to her chosen successor.
3.13 Njinga (2) Life on the Run
/We travel to the lands that make up modern Angola into the era of European colonialism and expansion, slavery and subjugation to tell the story of one of Africa’s greatest queens.