What do a moth in a Harvard computer, Irish family folklore, and Oscar Wilde’s salon have in common? In this episode of History for F***k's Sake, host Sarah Dowd is joined by Henry O’Keeffe, a retired Doctor of Mathematics, lifelong IT boffin, amateur archaeologist, raconteur, and self-proclaimed debugger of life’s glitches for an inquisitive journey into how we remember, misremember, and ultimately try to correct the “bugs” in our histories.

Kicking off with the tale of the world’s first literal computer bug, Henry and Sarah explore the intersections of rigorous scientific thinking and the wonderfully messy business of family stories, oral traditions, and the changing standards of “evidence”.

History as science, history as art, and history as accidental fiction: this is an episode for the curious, the sceptical, and anyone who suspects their family tree might have a few broken branches.

Here are the highlights:

• The story of the world’s first “computer bug” and its role as metaphor for history’s glitches
• Henry’s journey from mathematical rigour to the ambiguities of the humanities
• Why proving things in family history is (almost) impossible and why that’s okay
• The evolution of Irish oral tradition, the seanchai, and the art of “truth as entertainment”
• Census chaos, misreported ages, and how economic incentives shaped historical records
• Navigating Irish name changes, anglicisation, and the identity puzzles hidden in every family line
• How archaeology and DNA both challenge and enrich our understanding of the past
• Oscar Wilde as myth and the legacy of Jane Wilde’s feminist genius
• William Rowan Hamilton, the magic of quaternions, finds their use on Broome Bridge
• How the science and art of history can sometimes create real beauty
• Rigour and record-keeping in the age of misinformation (and what we can all do about it)

About Henry O’Keeffe:

Henry O’Keeffe is a retired Doctor of Mathematics and technologist based in Cork, Ireland. After a distinguished academic and professional career working in error correction and IT, he has spent his retirement chasing family legends, investigating archaeological sites, and interrogating the fine line between fact and folklore. An enthusiastic storyteller and investigative family historian, Henry brings the methodical curiosity of a scientist to every story especially his own.

Connect with Henry:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/henry-o-keeffe-phd-ab290587

About Sarah Dowd:

I’m Sarah Dowd - writer, speaker, heritage and arts consultant, producer, and all-around nerd - here to share the stories of our past that make us laugh, gasp, and mutter: It’s History… For F***k’s Sake.

For 25+ years I’ve created immersive, inclusive experiences that bring history alive, from rallying Second World War convoys through London to staging performances between Pearly Kings and Gen Z creatives. My work spans museums, cathedral crypts, pop-up theatres, global brands, and community projects across the UK and beyond.

As a Canadian living between the UK and France (with a late ADHD diagnosis that fuels my curiosity and creativity), I zigzag through culture, history, and big ideas, but never boring ones.

Every week on HistoryFFS, we explore how history echoes through today, from Drag Race to prefab tiny houses, with voices from musicians to mischief-makers.

Follow @HistoryFFS - because we’re all making history, one ridiculous, wonderful moment at a time.

Connect with...

What links a trumpet in Kenya, a Fringe tent in Edinburgh, and a military parade in New York? In this episode of History for F***’s Sake' host Sarah Dowd is joined by Graham (Gaz) , musician, music director, vocal coach, and one-time army bandsman for a wide-ranging chat about the unexpected path that took him from the outskirts of Glasgow to stages and stadiums around the world.

From his earliest memories of family singalongs to playing his first paid gigs in uniform abroad, Gaz talks through the twists and turns of a life shaped by both discipline and creativity. There’s laughter, big opinions (especially about Queen), and a fair bit of swearing, as they compare notes on the best musicals ever written, the worst biopics ever made, and why music doesn’t just reflect history... it sometimes drives it.

Here are the highlights:

• How a teenage trumpet player from Glasgow found his calling in the army
• Surviving the Gulf War and the night he wore a gas mask for 11 hours
• How Gaz wrote an album called “Time” in a desert church with a borrowed keyboard
• The decision to leave the military and forge a life in music, sales, and self-employment
• Why Bohemian Rhapsody is a masterpiece and how it became the soundtrack to a theatre friendship
• How songs anchor us to history, emotions, and the most human parts of ourselves
• The surreal joy of playing trumpet in the New York Gulf War Victory Parade
• What Gaz would erase from history, the past he’d relive, and why he never confessed his love for ABBA (until now).

About Graham Brown

Graham joined the Army in 1987 as a musician, completing a one-year course at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall and serving as a medic in the first Gulf War. He left the Army in 1993 to pursue a career in sales and spent eight years in media sales working initially for the education specialist, Hobsons Publishing selling on print and electronic graduate and undergraduate titles. From there, he was headhunted to be Sales Manager of The Officer and RAF In-Flight magazines and was responsible for the concept and development of Quest magazine. Following the completion of an MA in Film Composition, he left Quest as Publishing Development Director to set up Forces Recruitment Services, the first commercial consultancy to assist ex-military candidates across all ranks and services in 2001.

Connect with Graham:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/exmilitaryrecruitment/

About Sarah Dowd:

I’m Sarah Dowd - writer, speaker, heritage and arts consultant, producer, and all-around nerd - here to share the stories of our past that make us laugh, gasp, and mutter: It’s History… For F***k’s Sake.

For 25+ years I’ve created immersive, inclusive experiences that bring history alive, from rallying Second World War convoys through London to staging performances between Pearly Kings and Gen Z creatives. My work spans museums, cathedral crypts, pop-up theatres, global brands, and community projects across the UK and beyond.

As a Canadian living between the UK and France (with a late ADHD diagnosis that fuels my curiosity and creativity), I zigzag through culture, history, and big ideas, but never boring ones.

Every week on HistoryFFS, we explore how history echoes through today, from Drag Race to prefab tiny houses, with voices from musicians to mischief-makers.

Follow @HistoryFFS - because we’re all making history, one ridiculous, wonderful moment at a time.

Connect with Sarah:

Website:

How much can a scent tell us about history, memory, identity and even rebellion? Host Sarah Dowd is joined by Valerie Sadoh, playwright and founder of House of Mahogany, for an evocative deep dive into the scented stories of the last century.

From the roaring 1920s release of Guerlain’s Shalimar (the "flapper’s fragrance" that changed perfume forever) to the creative resurgence after World War II, this episode explores how perfume is more than luxury or self-expression. Scent is a time machine – linking us across generations, cultures, and continents.

Valerie shares her personal journey from playwright to scent curator, weaving storytelling and nostalgia into immersive sensory experiences. Learn how the House of Mahogany came about, and why scent transports us so powerfully to other times and places, and how fragrances can spark dialogue across identity, migration, and history.

Together, Sarah and Valerie dig into the upcoming Windrush 80 immersive experience: marking the anniversary of the Empire Windrush’s arrival and honouring the Afro-Caribbean stories too often left untold. Hear why “to be educated is to be enraged” when confronting the gaps in collective memory and how immersive, multi-sensory storytelling helps us feel history in three dimensions.

What’s inside this episode:

• The wild history of Shalimar and the rise of the modern woman
• How scent shapes memory, identity, and even social change
• Valerie’s creative process fusing storytelling and fragrance
• The power of immersive and multi-sensory history experiences
• Windrush 80: reckoning with community, migration, and the complexities of British history
• Why museums and heritage spaces need to embrace ALL the senses

About Valerie Isaiah Sadoh:

Valerie is a British playwright, producer, and community consultant whose work explores identity, race, feminism, and personal history through sharp, immersive storytelling. Her debut play Pussy Liberty won the Bread and Roses Theatre Company Award in 2017.

She has since contributed to contemporary theatre through her involvement with esteemed institutions like the Almeida Theatre, the National Theatre, Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group (2022), and the Gate Theatre. Valerie combines her dramatic craft with strategic cultural work through Les Raconteurs, leveraging her expertise in inclusive programming, audience engagement, and heritage interpretation.

Alongside her artistic pursuits, Valerie co-founded House of Mahogany, a mother-daughter-led luxury, home fragrance brand that crafts scented candles, diffusers, and sprays inspired by nostalgia, memory, and personal narrative.

Connect with Valerie:

Website: https://houseofmahogany.co.uk/

About Sarah Dowd:

I’m Sarah Dowd - writer, speaker, heritage and arts consultant, producer, and all-around nerd - here to share the stories of our past that make us laugh, gasp, and mutter: It’s History… For F***k’s Sake.

For 25+ years I’ve created immersive, inclusive experiences that bring history alive, from rallying Second World War convoys through London to staging performances between Pearly Kings and Gen Z creatives. My work spans museums, cathedral crypts, pop-up theatres, global brands, and community projects across the UK and beyond.

As a Canadian living between the UK and France (with a late ADHD diagnosis that fuels my curiosity and creativity), I zigzag through culture, history, and big ideas, but never boring ones.

Every week on...