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What We Did Before | Human Survival and Ancient Inventions

OG Podcasts - Pre Modern Life and Human History
Migration
Neanderthals
Showers
Smartphones
Agriculture
Guernsey Deportees
Bronze Age Mortuary Practices
Cleopatra
Homo Sapiens
World War II
Telegraph
Borders
Hunter-Gatherers
Biberach
Brain
Pigeons
Letters
Central Europe
Dawson (internment Camp)
Dorsten

Before modern inventions and conveniences, humans had ingenious ways of solving problems. So how exactly did humans survive before fridges, without clothes or before surnames were invented? Find out the answers to these questions and more, right here. Hosted by Ollie Guillou.

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes37Founded9 months ago
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History

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Latest Episodes

💬 There’s a ruined archway sitting among the trees of my local park - but what grand building did it once belong to? A castle? A church? A grand manor house?

In this episode I take a trip to Worden Park in Leyland. Rich in history, this park was on... more

You had lots of questions about the Victorian job of the "Bleach Packer". So I invited Judith Wilde from Catalyst museum back for a Q&A.Together we dig deeper into the fascinating history of this gruelling job, that helped build the chemical industry... more

💬 Many islands all over the world are known for their finance industries - and especially for being “tax havens”. But this is just the latest ways islands have reinvented themselves over thousands of years.

As far back as the Stone Age, islands ha... more

Bleach packers had one of the worst jobs of the 19th century.At Catalyst Museum in Widnes, discover the history of these workers, why they wore muzzles, and how they helped build the chemical industry.

This is a highlight from a longer episode filme... more

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Recent Guests

Natasha Solomons
Author of Cleopatra
Author
Episode: Before Social Media: How Cleopatra Turned Herself Into a Living God | Natasha Solomons
Mike Marshall
Guest expert on ancient human species
Author/Researcher on ancient humans
Episode: Before We Were The Last Human Species: When We Lived With Neanderthals
Judith Wilde
Heritage Manager at Catalyst Museum
Catalyst Museum
Episode: Before Chemicals: 'Bleach Packers' and the Birth of the Chemical Industry
Matthew Cobb
Author of The Idea of the Brain
University/Author (as discussed)
Episode: Before Brain Science: When We Thought With Our Hearts | Matthew Cobb
Barry Molloy
Archaeologist who studies Bronze Age mortuary practices
Crick Institute (collaborations mentioned)
Episode: Before Burial: When Bronze Age Homes Were FULL of Human Bones
Jill Chubb
Grandma, Guernsey Deportee
Guernsey Deportees Association
Episode: Britain’s Forgotten Deportees: Families Sent to Nazi Camps
Ralph Godwin
Guernsey Deportee, camp survivor
Guernsey Deportees Association
Episode: Britain’s Forgotten Deportees: Families Sent to Nazi Camps
Janet de Santos
Deportee, Irish/British family background
Guernsey Deportees Association
Episode: Britain’s Forgotten Deportees: Families Sent to Nazi Camps
Matt Lucas
Guernsey-based historian
Historian (The First and Second World Wars)
Episode: Britain’s Forgotten Deportees: Families Sent to Nazi Camps

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#170
Ireland/History
Apple Podcasts
#189
New Zealand/History

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Before Organisations: From Stone Age Tribes to a Fragmented World | Peter Garrett
Q: What do you mean by the age of organizations, and how did we move away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle?
The guest explains that organizations are human-made constructs that coordinate large groups and enable modern life, but they also create distances from our natural, communal ways of living. The shift began with agriculture, leading to land ownership, hierarchical structures, and rules that organized bigger populations, ultimately fragmenting social life and tying everyday existence to formal systems.
Before We Were The Last Human Species: When We Lived With Neanderthals
Q: What ancient human species do we know about and how certain are we about their boundaries?
We know about a few dozen species, spanning millions of years, but the boundaries between them are blurry and often debated, with interbreeding muddying clear lines.
Before Brain Science: When We Thought With Our Hearts | Matthew Cobb
Q: What pivotal evidence began to shift consensus toward the brain as the seat of thought?
Galen's experiments with animals suggested the brain played a crucial role in consciousness and movement, and later Broca's work pinpointed a specific brain region for speech, challenging the idea of a single center like the heart.
Before Brain Science: When We Thought With Our Hearts | Matthew Cobb
Q: Why did ancient cultures localize thought and emotion to the heart instead of the brain?
Historically, people observed bodily cues like a pounding heart during strong emotions and lacked detailed anatomical knowledge, so the heart was seen as the seat of life and feeling, with the brain viewed as a cooling or less central organ.

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1. History Daily
2. Short History Of...
3. HISTORY This Week
4. American History Hit
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What We Did Before launched 9 months ago and published 37 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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Recent guests on What We Did Before include:

1. Natasha Solomons
2. Mike Marshall
3. Judith Wilde
4. Matthew Cobb
5. Barry Molloy
6. Jill Chubb
7. Ralph Godwin
8. Janet de Santos

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