Lord Byron: Mad, Bad & Dangerous To Know | Part 1

[@KarenBergan]

Tom is just so great in his ability to link together similar bits of stuff from different historical eras - like finding two errant socks, the one we know of in the sock drawer, and the other gunky one, fished out from under the fridge, and then showing us how they - in fact - are still very much a match.

[@annestephens9631]

Only K'necht! ♥️👍

[@charlotteb.9855]

i don't doubt that this is somewhat owed to his earlier literary studies

[@alexlowe4100]

My favourite podcast keeps getting better 🎉

[@sophiaphilo9727]

utterly enjoyable to listen to. Very good timing too. Since I'm going to a series of Byronic talks at the British Library tomorrow. Thank you so much. 🐻🦁

[@bananabrooks3836]

Please visit Newstead and take the guided tour.

[@bananabrooks3836]

Please visit Newstead and take the guided tour, you won't regret it.

[@richarddelconnor]

I have gone to sleep many a night, listening to the poetry of Lord Byron. He inspires my poetry and my dreams.

[@drgeorgek]

Great subject! You guys have done it again….

[@restishistorypod]

If you're enjoying the content on this channel please remember to hit the subscribe button (if you haven't already), it really helps the channel out!

[@tommyebbs9399]

You guys should do an episode on Yukio Mishima for your next literary figure.

[@susanmercurio1060]

I'm not subscribing because your guest (a typical xenophobe Englishman) doesn't know how to pronounce "Don Juan," as any American can do. Of course we have plenty of Spanish-speaking people here and apparently that's not the case in good old Blighty.

[@ExiledGypsy]

It reminds me of radio BBC 4 when I used to live in England. I didn't know about Vampire Byron but that was done by Ann Rice: An interview with a vampire, wasn't it? Sympathy with the Devil was the last song in the film too. It was a shame that the film was not made when Brad Pitt wasn''t slightly older or someone taller didn't play Lestat. None the less, despite all the Scientology none-sense, he WAS a great actor.

[@seawolf365]

Just found your channel today.Seems right up my alley. I am a poet and a lover of history.

[@rtaj247]

@@susanmercurio1060I think you’ll find that it’s deliberate. The English also pronounce ‘Don Quixote’ as Don Kwiksott. The French do the same. In fact ‘Don Juan’ in France is ‘Don Jean’.

[@sussex344]

I don't know why it took this long for KZbin to send these guys my way. I'm obsessed.

[@annmcdonough5625]

Love the idea of a pod on Mary Shelley.

[@MrInterestingthings]

Definitely

[@marcschoeters2229]

Mary Shelley was a very shallow person. I read all of her letters. And Byron did not like her - which is saying enough for me.

[@wagherbert]

Thanks

[@MrFloppyHare]

You two are like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get. 😀 To be clear: I love it! 😉

[@pfranks75]

Like a box of opened chocolate never leave these gentlemen out in the noon day sun.

[@neenaj365]

I’ve just come across this channel and I’m loving the information, in combination with the observations and dry humour. Many thanks!

[@greghill7759]

The same with me, neenaj! How have I failed to lock onto this before? What a tonic. No gimmicks, no hype, and plenty of good-humoured perspective.

[@DemetriosKongas]

For us Greeks, he is a great hero, a philhellene.

[@yts70r135]

❤

[@fabulousnewt770]

Just found your channel... love it. Looking forward to many bedtime catch ups in your catalogue.

[@stephanlandshuter5237]

Frankly I knew close to nothing about Lord Byron apart from his reputation. After I enjoyed your 4-part-podcast I have the feeling I've read hundreds of pages about his life and works. All that with a healthy pinch of dry British humour which I love. A big thanks from Germany. I'd love to listen to similar episodes about Keats, Blake, Tennyson or Yeats.

[@melindaschwenk-borrell9374]

i just discovered you guys! Love it -- make sure you discuss Ada Lovelace, his daughter!

[@lemilemi5385]

Is the name Ada short for Ellada?

[@Nannas-cp5nd]

He was and still is one and only. I adore his poetry ❤❤❤❤

[@someoneelse293]

I've lived my life in the Australian town Byron Bay... captain Cook named it after his homie foul weather jack.... many years later when the town planners came to name the streets in the town, they mistakenly supposed that the town was named for Lord Byron the poet (rather than his grand father) and went and named the streets after poets! Tennyson, keats, Shelly etc..etc..

[@Dude0000]

Sounds like a stroke of serendipity, to me at least.

[@birchlover3377]

So residents were spared Foulweather Street 😊 didn't know that, thanks

[@someoneelse293]

@@birchlover3377 i should petition for it... there's a new development

[@launiesoult3248]

That's pretty cool

[@josedacosta9847]

Interesting...

[@11buleria]

The Rest is History is my favorite podcast. I listen to some of the episodes several times. The greatest part is that you are quite funny and laugh at the absurdity of these people.I only now found out that you are live on KZbin. I listen in the evening in my bed.

[@11th_Moon]

Thanks!

[@z_inosaur2875]

Love the show! Please do a series on Giacomo Casanova

[@kazz-1959]

Only just found your channel whilst searching for info on Lord Byron, as I knew almost nothing about him. Very informative, and I love your style 😊

[@brograb898]

I read the Vision of Judgment a few days ago and was astonished by how brilliant he is. Love or hate the man, he was a genius.

[@TheMrTJWhite]

Love all the podcasts, keep it up!

[@AntelJM]

I live next to Gight (pronounced like ‘kicked’, but beginning with a G) Castle in Aberdeenshire and loved that it was mentioned as Byrons childhood home on my favourite pod. Its a lovely ruin in rolling countryside now but it must have been grim in the eighteenth century..

[@oceantree5000]

Brilliant podcast, and loving the video component. Cheers, gentlemen. Keep up the good work!

[@Yankeewally0524]

Lord Byron used to regularly visit Cefn Ila in Usk, Wales to see his friend Trelawny who bought the place. Percy Shelly visited too. Eventually it was turned into a maternity home. I know this because I was born at Cefn Ila. Sadly it burned down in the 60s. But its become a lovely woodland Trust now

[@marymitchell9331]

My favourite podcast....I'm obsessed!

[@Martin-tn5lm]

Historical without a doubt. I will be back...from Ireland. Thank you both.

[@valeriestephenson8346]

I am hooked on the rest is politics, football now history!!

[@thanksfernuthin]

Wasn't Benjamin Franklin a world wide or at least Europe wide celebrity before this? Or was that a case of lower expectations? "Benjamin Franklin was a huge celebrity... you know... for an American." He even got a surprising amount of attention from women. Which is more impressive given he looked objectively horrible at the time. Like some rock stars we wonder at in our time. Really enjoying this one. I know the name but know little else about Lord Byron. Looking forward to more of a deep dive into this interesting and unsettling historical figure.

[@sherlockgnomes8971]

American’s have to always be “number #1” 😂😂😂 the inferiority complexity is hilarious

[@emiliamartucci8291]

Strolling thru Rome one day, wondering where I was, looked up to read the street sign and etched into the old palazzo was “Via Benjamin Franklin.” Yes- they loved him too

[@j.b.3825]

Ooh this is great! Do William Blake soon please!

[@MrInterestingthings]

Indeed!OH yes!

[@ioannagerostathi708]

Thank you a million times! Love this podcast and will bingewatch obviously parts 2 and 3. It is so funny because Byron is quite famous in Greece (I'm Greek myself), but Greeks know next to nothing of his character and biography. They kind of view of him as a saint which is so ironic...Thank you, obviously I subscribed immediately.

[@katerinamakedoniaGreece]

Paul murdered Christians. But he is our Saint. The thief near Jesus that asked Sorry is Saint in paradise. The other one that didn't ask any Sorry for his crimes in.his life he isn't in paradise. Now think what Jesus wants from us. For us his personal life doesn't mean anything because he was a Free man with free spirit and..life probably. A sinner like everyone and all of us.

[@flowermeerkat6827]

Very enjoyable podcast

[@afwalker1921]

Were it not for Byron, his questionable influence, and a rainy evening on the lake, there would be no Frankenstein. 'Nuff said!

[@MrInterestingthings]

How often has any culture been lucky to have Woman start new ideas. Islam started with Mohammeds wife in a way!She is so rarely talked about.

[@afwalker1921]

@@MrInterestingthings Chicks get short shrift. It isn't fair! Women are magic...

[@CommieGobeldygook]

Wait who is Nuff?

[@afwalker1921]

@@CommieGobeldygook Nuff is a cinematographer who worked on the film "Mary Shelley". He made this remark on set, and Mary Elle shared it with me later...

[@CommieGobeldygook]

@afwalker1921 That is very interesting, I didnt know that thank you. I'll put it in my essay

[@geronimo8159]

Delightfully unsuitable lighting in one of those rooms. Love it!

[@alexanderhanksx]

This really is the best thing on the internet

[@topsyturvy1982]

Thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating!

[@Recman700]

An episode on 'Foul Weather Jack' Byron, the wreck of the Wager or Anson's voyage in general would make a great episode or two.

[@kateradcliffe5089]

so glad i stumbled across your channel Love it....need more

[@philipbrooks402]

Haven't yet seen all this podcast and so far not disappointed. But, on the point of Byron being the first international celebrity, Rick Wakeman did an interesting documentary but gave that accolade to Vivaldi if I remember.

[@ultrasignificantfootnote3378]

I was trying to imitate Lord Byron but perhaps the lack of good looks and desperation has caused me not to be so successful at it.

[@birchlover3377]

😂

[@penelopehill9710]

Perhaps money is the one ingredient you lack to perfectly emulate Byron. Byron became Lord Byron when inheriting title and estate upon death of his father. Then a fabulous coal resource was discovered on land soon making Byron fabulously wealth.

[@marknewton6984]

My problem was lack of talent...

[@stevemartindale4446]

Mine is having a club Brian.

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

@@penelopehill9710It’s interesting how many famous poets/painters/musicians throughout history only became so because they had access to money and connections, and how literally nothing has changed, and yet so many fall for the lie that only talent is required.

[@mirandakerr778]

Can you do a podcast session on Percy Shelly. Unlike Byron there are very few documentaries on Shelly”s life. So if you do a podcast on him we can get more information about his extraordinary work and his life in general. Thanks

[@ДарьяЧерникова-о9м]

Thank you so much for your work and willingness to share knowledge and interesting information with your community!🧑🏼‍🏫

[@Martin-tn5lm]

I listened to the end, who doesn't? I don't usually but this was fascinating. I had a good teacher for 2 years in the early 70s and Byron lorden over all. I hope to creep back for more, if that's ok - My mind needs to be taken off the west Irish relentless rain.

[@deevineinterventions]

“Fancy a bit of Methodism?” 🤣🤣🤣 Rewatching this series again, so fascinating.

[@howwwwwyyyyy]

This pair really pick some great subjects to discuss

[@sun-ship]

Great podcast.

[@kimmyk3640]

So glad I found your channel! Im hooked.

[@Brewmaster757]

"Why is he sleeping with his sister?" "She has lots of money"

[@lorenzo6mm]

1/2 sister

[@marcschoeters2229]

Actually his half-sister was very poor. Married to an abusing idiot.

[@marcschoeters2229]

His half-sister was very poor. Married to an aristocratic idiot. Inform yourself.

[@christineduffy3113]

​@lorenzo6mm That makes it okay then does it?

[@williamjenkins4913]

@@christineduffy3113 1/2 okay

[@stconstable]

Superb!!

[@RCSVirginia]

"Mad, Bad & Dangerous To Know" That did not stop people from wanting to know him. In fact, it only made him more attractive.

[@oc2538]

37:42 What kind of question is this? He's ten, of course it is against his will. He cannot consent. A child doesn't have the responsibility of refusing sexual activity. The nurse mais, the adult, was the one who should have kept her hands off of him.

[@tw2987]

I was eleven when my step-dad came into my room, pulled back my covers, and leaned close to me. I woke up and told him, "If you touch me, I will tell." He didn't touch me. I had learned to say, "No" two years earlier and the power of my 'no' has protected me ever since.

[@oc2538]

​@@tw2987I'm sorry that happened to you and that is very fortunate you said no and they walked away. Yet no child should be in that situation. My comment was about the question of "consent" the adults always are in the wrong when it comes to a child. Consent doesn't exist when they are a child, it's just abuse. What happened to you was a form of abuse regardless of them leaving that night because I'd imagine you then lived in fear or anxiety. Also some children do say No and still are manipulated or threatened by the person abusing them. The onus should never be on the child but on the adult.

[@ktsondru108]

Lord Byron was ME when we arrived in Venice during Carnivale in January of '93 and proceeded to drink 🍸 & deabauch our way across every sestiere & campo we could. Then, one day, I got tired of sleeping on the couch in the LR of the place I'd arranged for us from back home, and I growled at Titsworth, "I'm taking the bedroom. You're on the couch." And in that bedroom, on my first night in 2 months of not drinking for 12 hours, was a copy of Jeannette Winterson's The Passion, and we read it in one sitting, and it changed our life. Such is the way of good words, since all is either perception or opinion. *waves*

[@caseykunz7800]

"A mad rake".... Unfortunately I only have one friend who might get it, the rest would think it would be some pissed off garden tool.

[@Adam-tt8tz]

Much better thumbnail! :)

[@annmcdonough5625]

Byronmania! Like Beatlemania. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[@elainehiggins713]

Yeah yeah.

[@afwalker1921]

Screamin' Lord Byron... the Byronic Man!

[@FreudianSlipandSlide-s5g]

Yes. Byron was a phonomena.

[@sarahsnowe]

Byron's lyrics were rather better, and although the gothicity (if that isn't a word, it should be) is often over the top, at least he never promulgated obscurantist nonsense such as we see in some of the Beatles' later efforts regarding semolina pilchards, etc.

[@afwalker1921]

@@sarahsnowe But what if I am the walrus?

[@ellenfalls1330]

I would argue for Rupert Brooke as the most beloved European figure in Greece. His grave site on Skyros is a tremendously moving place. That aside, I love this profile of Byron. Well done.

[@bewareofpigeons]

Both Byron and Brooke died of illness rather than 'heroically' in combat, fighting an oppressive occupying power, but it has never detracted from their allure.

[@katerinamakedoniaGreece]

He brought guns money support and soldiers in Greece to set us free from Islamofascists Nazi turks? Yes. So he is our hero. We don't care for his personal life. Only God has the right to criticize him and everyone èlse

[@sadiesmum568]

So good!

[@robertmatch6550]

Lots of blather about what they're gonna talk about. They actually start talking history at 20:00. I guess that's where The REST is history come from. Really enjoyed a lot of the chin wagging, especially such details as distinguishing among 'cad', 'bounder', and 'rotter'! Love your language, good show!

[@charleswongesq5457]

Excellent! Been a while since someone reminded me of Lord Byron.

[@fastpublish]

GUYS, WHAT PART OF "MAD, BAD AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW" CAUSES YOU CONFUSION?

[@elainehiggins713]

Amazing. Every comment is written in perfect English. Coincidence? I think not.

[@martiwilliams4592]

Very interesting and entertaining. Thank you.

[@TheDonovanMcCormick]

I love how Byron had no money and it gave him anxiety so he decided the best way to remedy this was to go on an extended vacation around Europe.

[@SarahHillcox-lv1cq]

Heard them all and they are all ripping. Even in this current climate still utterly shocking. Still waiting to hear if you’ll do a series on the Lunar Society tho. Keep dropping hints. Darwin. Wedgewood. Watt. The list goes on I live for your podcasts!! 💥

[@BianchiLuke87]

Outraged at the suggestion Nottinghamshire/Mansfield isn't glamorous

[@daydays12]

I appreciate Dominic Sandbrook..Nearly always interesting and amusing 🙂

[@genxmum5569]

Byron was a regency rock star.

[@auntieclara1811]

I'm thinking, Jim Morrison?

[@joegreen2750]

I'm thinking, Jiimy Cricket or Jimmy Kranky.?

[@LeeJCander]

Don what? 😂 Great podcast though!

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

How about Seamus Heaney`s translation of Beowulf mate?

[@vlonjate80]

As an Albanian, i first heard about him when they used to talk about his travels to Albania.

[@katerinamakedoniaGreece]

Because most of your leaders were in the other side. With Othomans turks Mongols from Turan in Central Asia that slaughter not only midst (till now) but everyone in Ainos peninsula-that named Balkans. Of course many Albanians fought against Othomans but few of them..

[@louisetrott5532]

When I was at a C of E Girls School in Surrey 1972-1976, we used to 'pashes'. It was usual for a younger girl to have a pash for an older girl. It was a kind of hero worship, really. The older girl could be like a kind of kindly benefactor, giving the younger girl treats like biscuits, chatting to her, giving her good advice. Little girls at boarding schools lack a mother or an older sister, so the object of the pash probably played that role: the kind older female who actually listened to you.

[@valeriestephenson8346]

what a fantastic postcast

[@lundworks9901]

The lake behind my house in McLeod County Minnesota is named for him. It isn't deep and motorboats are not allowed on it.

[@ashleywebb2736]

Fun facts

[@commonwunder]

Byron highlights how the human imagination often outshines reality. Especially when an epoch approaches a supremely decadent phase. His infamous club foot meant he lurched into rooms. Some say, due to his foot... he was fat due to inactivity. Many men on first seeing him... openly laughed.

[@MichaelDowd-kz6wz]

Kudos to you both for a not only informative, but entertaining series. Byron was a fascinating character indeed! Just a thought….a piece on Gordon of Khartoum?

[@gustavderkits8433]

“Poets these days tend not to be rock stars” is a narrow English academic view with a remarkable recent falsification. The Nobel prize committee acknowledged one rock star for his poetry, loved by both continental and American academics and a whole lot of ordinary people and rock stars. In case you still don’t get it, that was Bob Dylan. If poetry is sung, as anciently it was, it might get confused with “mere lyrics.”

[@Ivannah75]

Well... perhaps it says something about the times we live in, or just about me, but I' would much rather listen to 1970s' politics than about "romantic" "heroes" such as Lord Byron. And I love poetry!

[@marcellacantoni8128]

love the episode, love you both, but Tom pronouncing “Don Juan” with the “J” sound not as “Rruán” is getting to me 😂 took me a while to understand what he was saying tbh

[@tomsmith4542]

19 Aπριλη 2024, σαν σημερα συμπληρώνονται ακριβως 200 χρονια απο το θανατο του Λορδου Βυρωνα στο Μεσολόγγι. Ο Βύρωνας εδωσε τη ζωη του για την Ελλαδα, και το ονομα του στη γειτονια του Βυρωνα, στην Αθήνα. Ο Λόρδος Βύρωνας ειναι ο καλύτερος αγγλος ποιητης του 19ου αιώνα.

[@aclark903]

That would be Keats, surely.

[@ulrikjensen6841]

Let's fight!

[@lawLess-fs1qx]

Taylor Swift dying for Ukraine. Genius Tom. . How far we have fallen since Byron.

[@m-alexandria-g]

Do you relate Swift as so far beneath Byron as to exemplify this fall? If her poetry is set to music, is her resonance with the public lesser, or is it because the subject matter of what she has to ‘work with’ in her poetry of her life is deemed so much more shallow, and if so, why, and in what ways, do you think? Is it because she wouldn’t go to Ukraine just to catch a fever before making a direct impact? (Lol)

[@LilyGazou]

@@m-alexandria-g😂 swift. 😂😂😂

[@m-alexandria-g]

@@LilyGazou …is that not her name? You lost me. Would my humor have been stronger if I called her Taytay? Lol. In that case, it would be contrasting TayTay and Georgie-Porgie, I suppose. Based on your emoji usage I’m not sure you could have handled more laughter, anyway. Hehe. She’s a 35 year old woman, so as in this instance I’m most interested in her as a cultural and historical object to be juxtaposed with the video’s subject matter in this hypothetical question, using both parties’ surnames seemed most appropriate.

[@Rafael-oi6dj]

Wikipedia have some interesting facts He was unable to dance because of his club foot which limited him heavily with his social engagements His half sister looked a lot like him He stepped on very dangerous grounds because of a lack of sexual identity, specially in his country Rich by birth, baron at 10 The lines that hit me the most were his lasts: "Seek thou lest often sought than found, the soldier's grave, for thee the best Then look around, & choose thy ground & take thy rest" Same article adds that he died due to a weakened immune system aggravated by a bloodlet, a practice used at the time A painting also appears of him in his deathbed

[@janetkolstein]

Not rich at birth. Byron's father squandered his mother's money, then died when Byron was about 3.

[@mosart7025]

Speaking of strange names, my great uncle's given name was Starless Samuel. I assumed he would have gone by Samuel but my great aunt, when asked about him, said "Oh, uncle Starless. I remember him." All the other boys were named after presidents, but there was a sister named Dakota Rose. No she wasn't a dancer in a wild west saloon.

[@shelleyscloud3651]

Rather disconcertingly wistful gaze you’re casting over Byron in the thumb nail…even in death it seems his attraction persists!

[@marknewton6984]

3 mistresses is a little excessive! Ha!😮

[@erpthompsonqueen9130]

Watching from Alaska. 🤔

[@DolanIre_blackhair]

Ohhbintersteing ive heard rumors. Excited to hear

[@sifridbassoon]

Bounder, rotter, cad.....are there Wiki definitions and rankings for these terms? 😁

[@hilaryc8648]

Do Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards.

[@kithale316]

I am related to Byron through the Gordon family my GGrandmother being Mary Gordon. I always thought that was why many of us suffer from mental illness including Manic Depression, which runs through our family. I dontr have MD but do have depressive illness and had a breakdown when my Mum died. I have been to Byron's grave in Hucknall ( if I remember correctly) and laid a white rose.

[@doreekaplan2589]

With debilitating money issues , with travel being costly, with not earning a living while doing it, how did he afford to travel as solution to major financial worries?

[@user-el1rw5mh2y]

Are floor and flaw pronounced the same way in your accents?

[@tiusernamenabalw]

Nearly every town in Greece has a street named after Byron. The Greek independence cause (and maybe even modern Greece) would not be known without him.

[@ashleywebb2736]

Was the Don Juan pronunciation deliberately anglicised?

[@jonathonjubb6626]

I will learn from this. I know next to nothing about Byron....

[@bearhustler]

I thought Tom only spoke this way about Cesar ! 😂

[@FloridaDumpling]

Are there any decent movies made about Byron? I know of one or two, concerning the Year Without a Summer and Mary Shelley, but I don’t think they good reviews…

[@sholmes-mg5hr]

This is fun - but the gay thing is totally exaggerated and overplayed - he was not skulking around London worried he was going to be put in the pillory - he was just a classic English public schoolboy

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

He was born 4 days before the founding of Australia. My country

[@lewisoxley3370]

Foul weather Jack sounds like the title of a song by The Fall