“Is it worth anything to you, guv’nor?”

It’s boots on the street in city centre as we pinball through time … from the 1600s, to 1912, to current day. We’ll think and wonder about how unknown treasures might exist even in the heart of an urban area.

Along the way we’ll …

• park ourselves in Cheapside, and learn of its history,
• shine a light on the work of a group of navvies, who excavated below the streets as railroads, underground trains, and construction projects transformed the cityscape,
• experience the thrill of uncovering a buried treasure, and gape in awe at its contents,
• consider the ownership of found objects,
• meet George Fabian “Stoney Jack” Lawrence, who had the right skill set for a specific period,
• explore theories about the hoard: Who hid it? Why didn’t they ever return for it?
• peek into the world of modern day detectorists

The SHOW NOTES are an absolutely must as you enjoy this episode. You’ll see photos of the hoard, links, maps, videos, links to stories, and of course, our sources. So much to discover. Treasures await.

Providing up to 5 million passenger journeys a day, the London Underground is integral to the city's infrastructure. It's impossible to imagine how the city would function without it.
But why would something built for purpose become a source of admiration and entertainment? A Transport for London style guide provides powerful evidence: "Every Underground station should include at least one moment of delight and surprise, to improve customers' journeys and the working environment for staff."
A-ha!
Let's meet some Tube superfans.
Jen tells a story about Underground trainspotters and highlights the Tube in pop culture, while Mares looks at people who attempt the citywide Tube Challenge.
We'll think about the nature of challenge, the history of tube spotting and racing challenges, and some of the unique and engaging personalities for whom the Tube (and Overground) truly is a constant delight and surprise.
See our SHOW NOTES for photos, links, sources, and more.

At Yesterday’s London Times, we are all about inquiry, questions and stories, particularly stories that are new to us or that we just want to know on a deeper level. We seek out people, places, and facets of history that are lesser known, quirkier, or even downright strange. We also like to shine a spotlight on those who really do - or have done - amazing things, but perhaps have been forgotten over time, or lost in the shuffle of a typical news cycle or history text. We especially love discovering stories about people who contribute to the collective good of humanity in some way.

Early on in our partnership, we (Jen and Mares) immediately recognized our common love and admiration for the London Underground, or Tube, for the Tube is something more than just the transportation system beneath our feet. It supplies life to the city of London, and with up to 5 million passenger journeys on any given day, it is the veins and arteries that allow all of the movement that keeps the city going and makes it such a special place.

Join us throughout the following year as we randomly choose destinations across the city to “visit”. We will virtually hop on the Tube and bring the city to your ears as we search for adventures around the stations of the iconic Underground map. We will ask ourselves:

• Who lives here now?
• Who has lived here in the past?
• What are the stories that live within the streets of this area?
• What do the people - or perhaps the ghosts of former inhabitants - of this area want to teach us?
• What are some places to visit, what might I eat?
• What is quirky or unique about this part of London? What can I learn from this area?

The journey begins today. Where do you think the Tube will take us today?

As you listen, we invite you to follow along in our show notes to enhance your experience with us.

A little romance?

What began as a fluff piece about an eccentric romance novelist turned into a snapshot of a century through the eyes of someone who lived it to the fullest.

Meet Barbara Cartland: extravagant, exaggerated, and … pink. As author of 723 books, she remains the most prolific romance novelist of all time. If you’ve ever seen her, you won’t likely forget her, dripping in jewels, layered in make up, clad in fuchsia, and riding in her classic white Rolls Royce.

We’ll follow Barbara through the Great War, to 1920’s London with the Bright Young Things, to writing, motherhood, political involvement, and World War II. And she’s just getting started, hitting the peak of her career in the 1980s, in her eighties.

Along the way, we’ll rub elbows, (well, maybe more than elbows) with movers and shakers of many decades. For example, have you ever heard of Lord Beaverbrook? Also, you won’t believe who joins the family in the 1970s!

We wrap up with a game you can join in at home. It’s called Oh, Barbara.

While we have little in common with Barbara, and share few of her opinions, we have to respect someone who called her own shots and refused to be sidelined as an octogenarian.
See our SHOW NOTES for photos, some quite rare, sources, and such.

Bears. Cute. Cuddly.

But when we looked at them through the long lens of London history, it got complicated pretty quickly.

Join us as we take the ursine plunge, and think about….

• the bears that roamed Britain 7000 years ago
• the Tower menagerie,
• blood sports such a bearbaiting, especially popular during the Elizabethan period,
• the invention of the stuffed bear and its significance in the Great War,
• Pooh and Paddington, two special bears with London ties, and share unexpected commonalities

Plus, to kick off our exploration of underground and rail stations this year, we’re going to Paddington!

Our SHOW NOTES round out your listening experience, with photos, drawings, clips, links, sources, and more.

It's a Yesterday's London Times tradition - the Boxing Day episode!
Relax along with us as we look back at some of the people and places we met on the podcast this year. Half of our episodes sent us time traveling throughout the Sixties in different centuries of British history, and the other episodes were our regular mix of quirky yet thoughtful takes on the city we love.
We present our annual YLT awards to some people who are unforgettable. And not always in a good way. The final award is always our Defender of the Collective Good Award, presented to the character(s) that most made a positive impact on their community.
Jen and Mares share some of their favorites: those pieces that make life just a bit better.
And we'll close with a look forward at our plans for 2024 at YLT. We're excited.

See our SHOW NOTES for referenced in the episode, plus links and drinks.

WELCOME TO OUR 50th EPISODE!

In the final stop of our ‘60s YLT Time Machine, we touch down in the 1560’s just in time for a Tudor Christmas. In a deeply divided nation in which religion is politicized, we’ll see how the young Queen Elizabeth finds her own path.

The Tudor Christmas was a respite from work and from unrelenting poverty. It was a time of revelry and a loosening of societal roles.

Our visit to the Tudor Christmas will ignite our senses. Along the way, we’ll …

• Share a dramatic moment with Queen Elizabeth at her first Christmas service as sovereign,
• Spruce up the place with seasonal décor,
• Experience 12 full days of partying, including games, plays, carols, wassailing, and feasts,
• Run into some unique roles: a boy bishop, a Lord of Misrule, mummers, and masque players,
• See how ancient magic influenced and remained with the holiday.

We’ll end up at Greenwich Palace and spend Twelfth Night with Good Queen Bess herself. The activities, the exotic and sometimes disturbing feasts, and the political minefield of royal gift giving.

Our SHOW NOTES are FULL of artwork, videos, links to eBooks, recipes, and much more.

In our 2021 episode, “Here is Vogue, In Spite of it All!”, we explored how the British edition of the iconic fashion magazine evolved into an outlet for groundbreakingVogue wartime journalism. As we studied the reasons behind that seemingly unlikely transformation, we met some strong, creative, and intellectually brilliant women, among them the complex and multitalented Lee Miller. In this episode, we examine her fascinating life of contrasts more deeply, and:

- consider the impact of intense childhood trauma in her art and writing

- learn of her contributions to the surrealist art movement

- celebrate her photographic inventiveness

- reflect on the importance and legacy of her career as a war correspondent during the Second World War

- marvel at the intensity and depth of creativity that characterised the many endeavors Miller pursued and subsequently mastered throughout the course of her life

She was well known for her beauty, and yes - she did bathe in Hitler’s private quarters just hours after the dictator fled his quarters, defeat finally imminent - but there is so much more to the that story and her legacy as a whole. Join us, as we examine this iconic woman on a deeper level, for Lee Miller lived an incomparable life, indeed.

Don’t forget to visit our SHOW NOTES for bonus content! You'll find:

• the photographic journey that Jen & Mares describe in the episode
• images of Miller as a Roaring 20s Vogue model
• examples of her photographs, as well as evidence of her role as a muse to the prominent surrealist artists of the time
• some of her most iconic WWII images, many of which proved the existence of the Holocaust to the world
• a list of source citations
• and the recipe for this episode's cocktail: The Ode to Lee!