Social historian Ruth Goodman tells Sarah Williams why her new podcast celebrates domestic life
Fifteen years ago Victorian Farm brought Ruth Goodman to the attention of most of us. The programme was one of BBC Two’s biggest hits in 2009, and for good reason. Three presenters recreated the challenges of life on a Victorian farm based on contemporary records, and the nation was gripped.
We all silently thanked our washing machines as we watched Goodman tackling the laundry; a process of stain removal, mangling and ironing that stretched over an entire week. Goodman’s enthusiasm was enthralling and she is now a regular on ‘living history’ programmes, explaining and demonstrating how our ancestors used to live.
We caught up with Goodman shortly after the launch of her new podcast, The Curious History of Your Home. The series digs deep into the history behind items in your house that you may never have thought about, ranging from wallpaper and carpets to vacuum cleaners, forks, fridges and baths.
The stories she tells are fascinating but a long way from the history we have been taught at school, where the emphasis is usually on wars, politics, exploration and ‘great men’, rather than everyday life. Goodman thinks that it’s time for a change: “Take someone like Napoleon who was a big figure, the sort of person that we learn about in our history lessons. What do you think has had a bigger impact upon the world: Napoleon, or the British habit of drinking tea?
“In the long run, on a global scale, tea-drinking has completely changed the economies of dozens of to write history, isn’t it? It used to be written almost exclusively by men who were the minor relatives of, you know, ‘my great grandfather, General So-and-So’. And what they were really telling us was that their families were important. ‘We’re big. We’re powerful. We’re special.’ Well, history has moved on from that.
“As soon as we start looking at the rest of the world and the whole impact, we get a very different picture. Many of these people who seemed like big cheeses at the time, well, they come and they go and we forget them. And often their impact is ultimately pretty small.
countries across the world. It’s changed trade routes. It’s changed prosperity. It’s changed attitudes.”
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Can Goodman explain why the traditional view of history still prevails? “I think we’ve been told that kings and queens and generals are important by their rela
