The Rest Is History - 207. Historical Love Island: THE WINNER

Episode Date: July 13, 2022

Historical Love Island has swept the nation and the podcasting world since Monday, when four couples made it to the final: General Custer & Lola Montez, Lord Byron & Sporus, Stanley Baldwin & Theodora, and Jimmy Carter & Olympias. Fans flocked to Twitter to vote for their favourite historical pair - but which couple did Rest Is History listeners crown victorious? Listen to this special episode as Tom and Dominic announce the winner. Join the waiting list for live show tickets: bit.ly/3ynxD56 Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community. *The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*: Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia! Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com Twitter:  @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thank you for listening to The Rest Is History. For weekly bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series, and membership of our much-loved chat community, go to therestishistory.com and join the club. That is therestishistory.com. Hello and welcome to this very special edition of The Rest Is History. It is the results moment. It is the final. It's the moment everybody has been talking about and waiting for. Obviously, Tom Holland, elections much in the news at the moment. Some very implausible contenders, it has to be said. But enough of the conservative leadership contest.

We're talking about the Restless History's Love Island, Dominic Sandbrook's Pleasure Island, as some like to call it. And Tom, this was your idea. Are you happy that it has gone according to plan? I think it's been a great success. And I think it's distracted the attention of the public from all the carnage and horror that's going on in the world. But as you say, enough of the Tory leadership contest. Let's get on to the real contest. So Dominic, what did you make of it?

Because you were much more sceptical than me. I was sceptical. I'll be honest with you, Tom. I've never seen Love Island. We discussed this um on monday's podcast when your daughter katie very kindly came on to explain the rules who can't who can't be with us because she's actually on holiday she's on a love island of her own tom that's very very love island yeah she is so um so sorry about that but uh we will try and hold the fort for her

so thinking back to the early rounds i think I think a couple of big disappointments for me. I was sorry to see Virginia Woolf not have a greater impact on the competition. As one of our listeners pointed out, she was famously likened to a horse looking in at a window. So maybe she wasn't really cut out for Kazza Amor from the start. There was a very sweet very sweet uh comment from lucy on twitter uh talking about katie that um she loved katie musing that virginia wolf probably

wouldn't be a strong contender for breaking up the beautiful relationship between lady falcander and judas iscariot yeah well this brings me to the other big issue so there's a lot of chats on twitter about judas and the fact that judas bowed out quite early really by his standards because normally he goes right to the bitter end doesn't he no he bowed out early in the in the bible yeah i mean he's the first disciple to go to be to be honest so i think he's actually continuing he walks rather than is evicted i mean he's not evicted by a public vote um anyway yes i mean as i said last time i was was very keen to see how Judas would get on because we knew what he would do for 30 pieces of silver,

but we didn't know what he'd do for 50 grand. But the world would never have got to find out because he and Lady Falklander, Marcia Williams, as was, they bowed out. She's obviously written some very bitter things in the newspapers on her lavender or indeed lilac notepaper um judas has kept his own counsel uh tom but tom i mean you had who did you who did you really want you wanted lord byron to win didn't you i did want lord byron to win yes i did um but do you know dominic i've

actually found myself after listening to that episode with a very very soft spot um less less for stanley baldwin than for his wife lucy right because of the cricket because of the cricket but also apparently i learned from alexander glasgow anti-general woundwort wc again on twitter you could name that she championed midwifery for those from areas of high indices of socio-economical deprivation and she has a maternity hospital named after her in Stourport. Well, that's the Baldwin. I didn't know that, but that's the Baldwin. It doesn't surprise me that's the Baldwin's for you, Tom.

So, you know, I like a woman who's into midwifery and cricket. You do? You do. You'd be great friends with the Baldwin's if they were alive now, wouldn't you? You'd be, as couples, you'd be great pals with the Baldwins. And so I worry about what the impact of Stanley going to Dominic Sandbrook's Pleasure Island may have on Lucy. Well, that's true. There's a lovely clip for those people who are interested on YouTube

of Stanley and Lucy Baldwin visiting a home for retired actors. And you can sort of hear the sound of them being introduced to all these actors and they're just hello they're just constantly they're so jolly they are so jolly that it's impossible not to take to them they'd be tremendous company so lucy's jolly too so how do you think she would get on with theodora i think she she's, Mrs. Baldwin, I think, that's hard to say, because Theodora's not massively into cricket or midwifery. Not really, no. Or sort of talking about 1920s conservative politics.

So I think that's difficult. I think the Baldwins were quite live and let live. I mean, as we said last time, their son Oliver was not only a Labour MP, but was gay. So by the standards of sort of Stanley Baldwin's set, Oliver was leading quite an unconventional life, but they were pretty supportive of him. So I think Theodora, okay, she's had a checkered history.

I think Lucy would – she understands the nature of Love Island. She's a woman of the world, so she knows that Stanley has to get involved with Theodora. But, I mean, Tom, I can't believe the podcast has degenerated to be speculating about lucy bullwyn's reaction i know when you did when you did your your doctorate did you ever imagine that this is where a career in history would lead you i i could only dream i could only dream so so there were a couple of people I noticed because I did glance at the reaction, although I'm on holiday,

but I glanced at the reaction. Clearly lots of people liked the episode, but a couple of people who were kind of, what? What is this babble? And... Fural tosh, I believe was the phrase that was... Well, it's better than woke tosh

because we've had woke tosh in the past, haven't we? So I think tosh is kind of our thing. But we're branching out. As we've done more than 200 episodes, we're trying out different kinds of Tosh, I think, is probably the best way. Okay. Well, as you said, you're on holiday. So you don't know who has won. Do you know, I woke up this morning and my son said to me, what happened with the vote?

So we've been swimming in the Baltic, Tom, would you believe we went swimming in the Baltic this morning? It's the Baltic, not very cold, Dominic. Incredibly cold. It was very,

it was a very, very manly thing to do. And we came back. He said, oh, we forgot to check out the vote. And I said, do you mean?

And I thought for a moment, I thought, because we've been talking about the conservative leadership thing last night, I thought he might mean that. But obviously he didn't. He wanted to know. He said, did Stanley Baldwin win? Well, let's find out. So this is for Arthur and for everyone who hasn't heard the results.

So there were four couples, Lord Byron and Sporris, Stanley Baldwin and Theodora, General Custer and Lola Montes, and President Jimmy Carter and Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great. That's an unusual couple, isn't it? Carter and Olympias. Very unusual. I mean, I don't really see that working. And that, I think, is why they came in fourth with 14.3% of the vote. Still 14%. I mean, that's almost as much as Jimmy won in the 1980 presidential election against Ronald Reagan. I thought that Jimmy came out of it very well. There's been a lot of interest in the killer rabbit. Yeah, you can look that's a swamp rabbit.

He claimed it was a swamp rabbit and he claimed he fended it off with his paddle. So a lot of interest in that. I think olympias not a popular contender really i think the snakes the murder yeah yeah i think i kind of what future is a as an influencer awaits her i don't know but i think for jimmy i think there's potential there you think there's a rest of history episode in it for him maybe i think there may be i. You think there's a Restless History episode in it for him, maybe? I think there may be. I think further down the line. Yeah. Then a huge disappointment to me, coming in third with 16.4% of the vote, Lord Byron and Sporris.

They're a very glamorous couple. So what held them back? Not sure. Byron was the first to be mentioned, so perhaps people just forgot about him. No one forgets about Lord Byron. So Sporris is the only one on that who um was not one of the original 10 so perhaps we we didn't give him or her i don't actually know what pronouns you should use for sparrows i think that's an issue do you think that's gender critical community um have kathleen stock has

been whipping people up not to vote for sparrows. Is that what you think? I don't know. I think he's a more ambivalent figure, isn't he? Because he didn't have a choice. I think Lord Byron, I think there's a bit of... He's not very progressive, is he, Lord Byron? Let's be honest. In some ways, he is. He's quite cancel-worthy.

He did die for freedom. I suppose so. But in other ways, perhaps not. The whole falling on chamber maze like a thunderbolt the whole the incest thing i mean i think quite a lot of the things that made byron an incendiary and controversial figure in the regency period have now come back into focus yeah in a different way well i definitely thought i thought byron sporus would probably win to be yeah honestly i thought you would be inciting people on Twitter to vote for

them. But you were quite restrained, I think. Partly it's because I found myself with an unexpected soft spot for Stanley Baldwin. But also it's because I was busy finishing a chapter yesterday. So I didn't really have time. Are you still deep into Parthia? I've almost, I've got a paragraph to go. Oh, so exciting.

It's more exciting, it's even more exciting than Love Island island can you finish your path in chapter by the end of the day i will i will trajan is going to reach um the persian gulf and he will see a ship leaving for india and that will be the end of the chapter anyway but we're not we're not talking about that so uh coming in uh second general custer and lola montez 22.3 i thought they were a glamorous couple as well. Yeah. That's a good result for Custer, who I think, Tom, you massively overpraised. I mean, you described him at the beginning as a great general,

when he's famously one of the worst generals in human history. Yeah. I mean, his career didn't have the ideal conclusion well he did die laughing to be fair i mean it's good to die with a smile on your lips yeah and from the point of view of love island that's what matters a smile on your lips yeah toss of your ringlets banter in your heart banter in your heart and i think that lola would would provide him with uh with great synergy. I think people responded to that. But coming in, I mean, a thumping majority, 47%, so almost half the vote, Stanley Baldwin and Theodora. And Dominic, a comment from Mitchell Dryden, who says, I think it's my favourite podcast ever.

Wow. I laughed so hard at the image of Stanley Baldwin and Theodora, it was as if you were reading the intimate and private thought journal of you dominic oh that's so that's there you go yeah that's my dream stanley baldwin theodora at the molyneux watching wolves when you know qualify for the champions league final so you've always been a big fan of theodora haven't you well i did um we i think tom we should do give Theodora more, do her more justice. So I think in a few weeks, we should do an episode about Justinian and Theodora,

because it's such a fascinating, they're one of the great power couples. Many years ago, I did a, I did an undergraduate course about the, called the Near East in the Age of Justinian and Muhammad, which would appeal to you. And of course, the reign of Justinian is this great sort of hinge moment, isn't it? It's the kind of beginning of late antiquity, I suppose, or it's the early stages of late antiquity. It's one of those points that people sometimes say

is when the Roman Empire becomes the Byzantine world. He's the last Latin-speaking emperor. Right, exactly. And he tries his reconquest of Italy and so on and North Africa. And Theodora is this fantastic character. I mean, because of Procopius' secret history that we talked about last time, we know a fair bit about her. But what we know is so clearly kind of tabloid gossip, incredibly salacious gossip. Except there's also her geography.

As you pointed out, she became a saint. Never really gets emphasised. But you were right. We must do a special on her. So let's do that. Well, let's do that when you get back from your holiday. Definitely. Definitely.

Because we're overdue. We've done the American Civil War. We've done quite a lot of modern stuff. We're overdue a bit of 6th century. We haven't really done Byzantium. We haven't done an episode exclusively on Byzantium, have we? No. And we get to talk about the Hagia Hagia Sophia Tom um and you can talk about uh and at the end

I mean the great question with Justinian Theodora I don't want to get into doing the podcast right now but the great question is whether their reign lays the foundations for the rise of Islam later on the collapse of a lot of the eastern roman world because of overextension and listeners will be able to find out our views on that well i think there's something else that happens in justinian's reign that may be more of a contributory factor but we will discuss that when we come to record it brilliant okay well um dominic i mustn't keep you from your holiday um no i Tommy, absolutely you mustn't. I have to go and get Trajan to the Persian Gulf. So we will end it there.

What a triumph for Stanley Baldwin though, Tom. I think it's fair. Yes, a huge triumph. You must be, I'm sure it'll set you up for your holiday perfectly. I've got a spring in my step now. Many thanks to those of you who enjoyed it. Huge apologies to those of you who didn't.

That is the most insincere apology I think I've ever heard because tom you loved every minute of that you're not sorry at all i'm not sorry at all and i'd do it again but probably not for not for a while uh well maybe maybe next year well i think it should be a regular feature yes i think it should all right okay thanks ever so much for listening everyone and uh we will uh well we're back on um we're back tomorrow on thursday with the most uh someone that you absolutely cannot imagine being on love island george orwell so we'll see you then bye bye bye Thanks for listening to The Rest Is History. For bonus episodes, early access, ad-free listening, and access to our chat community,

please sign up at restishistorypod.com. That's restishistorypod.com.