Greg McKevitt

'A gasp of wonderment escaped our lips': The dazzling discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb In a BBC archive clip, archaeologist Howard Carter describes the moment on 12 February 1924 when he and his team became the first people in 3,300 years to meet the Egyptian boy king.

If you've ever wondered what a 3,000-year-old trumpet sounds like, today is your lucky day www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe playing a Flying V guitar while Jimi Hendrix looks on, for reasons unknown

Here's an anniversary look back at the wild saga of Jeremy Thorpe www.bbc.co.uk/culture/arti...

Only Connect quiz question where the connection is things that almost sparked nuclear war

I knew writing this newly published story would come in handy some day www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

BOTD Eartha Kitt!! Remarkable woman of astonishing bravery Hounded by CIA after lecturing LBJ on VN: www.nytimes.com/1975/01/03/a...
And Welles affiliate
More:
@grzegster.bsky.social: www.bbc.com/culture/arti...
@hadleymeares.bsky.social: www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/20...

'Germany calling': How fascist 'Lord Haw-Haw' was trialled for treason With his mocking English accent, the mysterious radio host broadcast to the UK from a German station, spreading rumours and exaggeration in the early days of World War Two.

How one lie on a British passport turned Lord Haw-Haw’s Nazi propaganda into a hanging offence www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

'As long as it's in Scotland I'm happy': The 1950 heist to reclaim the ancient Stone of Destiny In a daring raid 75 years ago, four university students stole back an early symbol of the Scottish kings. It had been taken by an English monarch more than six centuries before.

'As long as it's in Scotland I'm happy': The 1950 heist to reclaim the ancient Stone of Destiny
www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

'As long as it's in Scotland I'm happy': The 1950 heist to reclaim the ancient Stone of Destiny In a daring raid 75 years ago, four university students stole back an early symbol of the Scottish kings. It had been taken by an English monarch more than six centuries before.

Inside the audacious Stone of Destiny heist: bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20251211-the-heist-to-reclaim-the-ancient-stone-of-destiny

'She was standing in the way of certain individuals': The mysterious murder of gorilla researcher Dian Fossey The pioneering primatologist destroyed the myth of gorillas as savage brutes before being killed by human hands, 40 years ago this month.

A remote jungle, a dedicated gorilla expert and a brutal murder. Who wanted Dian Fossey dead? www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

'A large amount of weirdness': The long, strange success of the Grateful Dead The band performed their first concert on 4 December 1965. In 1981, their leader Jerry Garcia talked to the BBC about how they became superstars but "never sold out".

#OnThisDay in 1965, the Grateful Dead played their first gig under that name, at an LSD event organised by the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Read more: bbc.com/culture/article/20251127-the-long-strange-success-of-the-grateful-dead

On the show today: @padraigrice.bsky.social on the census & sexuality; Are more kids better?; Pics of ourselves; @valerieflynn.bsky.social on clothes durability; @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social on making change; @drjoannafortune.bsky.social with parenting; @grzegster.bsky.social on cabbage patch kids

John Cleese said What have the BBC ever given us? , 1986

9.00 A.M.: She has breakfast in bed, followed by two hours in bed listening to the radio, reading the newspapers (‘which she invariably left scattered over the floor’) and chain-smoking. 11.00 A.M.: She gets into a bath run for her by her lady’s maid. NOON: An hour in the bath is followed by hair and make-up at her dressing table, then she puts on clean clothes – ‘as one would imagine of a Princess, she never wore any of her clothes more than once without having them cleaned’. 12.30 P.M.: She appears downstairs for a vodka pick-me-up. 1.00 P.M.: She joins the Queen Mother for a four-course lunch ‘served in an informal manner from silver dishes’, with half a bottle of wine per person plus ‘fruit and half a dozen different varieties of native and Continental cheeses’.

Sadly I couldn't work in this tremendous description of Princess Margaret's morning routine, as reported in Craig Brown's fantastic biography Ma'am Darling

'She would have been stripped of practically everything': The untold story of Princess Margaret's forbidden first love Elizabeth II's sister had to choose between ending her engagement and renouncing her title in 1955. Or did she? In 1978, the BBC talked to the war hero who almost married a princess.

Here's the story of how Princess Margaret's broken engagement 70 years this week may not have been quite so doomed after all www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

#ScholarSunday Thread 247 (10/26/25) – Black and White and Read All Over Here it is, my 247th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy,...

Here it is, my 247th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️

blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

'Mr Baird was so excited that words didn't come': The office worker who became the first person ever to appear on TV On 2 October 1925, John Logie Baird transmitted a moving image of a human face. Forty years later, the world's first television star told the BBC about that dramatic moment.

#OnThisDay in 1925, William Taynton became the first person to ever appear on television, paving the way for Noel Edmonds www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

The Hexham Heads, Nationwide and Greg McKevitt “The first I heard of the Hexham Heads was a couple of years ago, just through online chatter,” says Greg McKevitt, content producer for BBC Archive. “I saw mention of the footage existing in the a…

Hexham Heads anyone? Here's the @forteantimes.bsky.social feature I wrote about the unearthing of this notorious 1976 Nationwide report. It has Celtic mythology, poltergeists, werewolves and @bbcarchive.bsky.social's own @grzegster.bsky.social...
hauntedgeneration.co.uk/2025/05/23/t...

Chris Rea as a terminally ill man who begins murdering people who have offended him... Could it really be one of the worst movies of all time?

'It was an escape into excellence': How music saved the life of a teenage Jewish cellist in Auschwitz After being sent to the Nazi death camp in 1943, Anita Lasker survived by playing in its women's orchestra. In 1996, she spoke to the BBC about her ordeal.

How Anita Lasker, a Jewish teenager, managed to survive in Auschwitz simply because the camp orchestra needed a cello player www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

Badges Browse all products in the Badges category from Bob Fischer.

New Haunted Generation badges! Two chunky 59mm homages to the creepy Hexham Heads, as featured on Nationwide in 1976. Artwork as ever by the wonderful @jaseheeley.bsky.social - buy them seperately or as a bundle! Werewolf visitation not included. Hopefully.
bobfischer.bigcartel.com/category/bad...

YouTube video by BBC Archive 1970: Why EARTHA KITT Loves Life in YORKSHIRE | Nationwide | Classic Celebrity profile | BBC Archive

And here's a tremendous BBC Archive clip of Eartha Kitt sampling a taste of tripe and learning from some Yorkshire locals how to sing On Ilkla Moor Baht 'At.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vud...

'We had to eat whatever we could dig out of the ground': How Eartha Kitt rose from 'extreme poverty' to superstardom The sultry star of Batman and The Emperor's New Groove was given away by her mother and never knew her father.

The remarkable Eartha Kitt was born #OnThisDay in 1927. Here's a look back at the life of the entertainer who overcame a dirt-poor childhood to become a superstar.

www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

Here is that slice of 70s weirdness in most of its glory m.youtube.com/watch?v=J4WX...

'He is an introvert – a man of deeds, not words': How Vladimir Putin rose to power in Russia When he became acting president of Russia at the start of the year 2000, the former spy was an enigma to many. Who is the "man of deeds, not words"?

www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

'I have been deceiving you… I'm sorry about that': The British politician who was caught faking his own death When John Stonehouse's clothes were found on Miami Beach on 20 November 1974, many people presumed that the UK Member of Parliament had drowned – until he turned up in Australia.

#OnThisDay in 1974, British MP John Stonehouse vanished leaving just a pile of clothes on Miami Beach. This is a wild story... www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

[he chuckles]

Ahoy-hoy 👍