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...

How did a brewer’s debate at a shooting party become a pop-culture phenomenon? Why is the world so obsessed with the biggest, wildest, and most WTF achievements imaginable? In this episode of History for F***’s Sake, Sarah Dowd sits down with former Guinness World Records publishing exec and cultural strategist Sam Fay for the untold, hilarious, and truly bonkers history of the Guinness Book of World Records.

From bar room brainwaves in 1950s Ireland to the Christmas tree bonanza, schoolyard squabbles, and TikTok challenges of today, Sarah and Sam uncover why the record book became a global obsession and how its tale is really one about hope, healing, joy, and postwar curiosity. Expect stories of weird and wonderful record holders, marketing genius, and the irresistible human urge to measure, compare, and compete all fuelled by the enduring power of shared spectacle.

Highlights:

• The accidental origin: how a question about birds and beer started it all
• The McWhirter twins: relentless fact-finders and the science of record-keeping
• Why the book outgrew the bar—and changed Christmas mornings forever
• Iconic record holders, from the tallest man to the most pierced woman, and the joy of celebrating human oddity
• How TV, then TikTok, made record breaking a global (and instant) spectacle
• Postwar Britain’s search for fun, facts, and a little hope after years of austerity
• The Guinness Book as a “curated snapshot” in time—why we still need it in the digital age
• What it means for museums, history, and the power of archived stories today
• Imagine the future: records in virtual reality, on Mars, or measuring joy and goosebumps

About Sam Fay:

Sam is a senior-level marketer with over 20 years’ experience in entertainment, gaming, tourism, and the experience economy - having worked for global brands such as LEGO, EA, and Guinness World Records.She has also delivered world-class immersive experiences with Layered Reality and the World Experience Organization, most recently delivering the inaugural London Experience Week 2025. Sam serves as the Marketing Trustee and Director at UNESCO’s Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich and is Founder of SuperchargedCMO.com delivering marketing services for global brands in the experience economy.

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-fay-44b5443/

Website: SuperchargedCMO.com

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 does it take to transform a ‘crap town’ (I have never thought that!) into a cultural powerhouse? In this hopeful, hilarious, and sometimes hard-nosed episode of History for F**k’s Sake, host Sarah Dowd is joined by Simon Green, Hull’s longtime culture director, cultural regeneration strategist, and unrepentant champion of local pride to mark the 50th anniversary of the Northern Theatre Company and nearly a decade of the Maritime Hull vision.

Sarah and Simon explore the extraordinary, unexpected story of Hull’s transformation from a post industrial docks town to a beacon for arts-led renewal. Blending tales of trawlermen, council wrangles, and world-famous nude art installations, Simon offers a first-hand account of how working-class pride, maritime heritage, and a “just do it our way” spirit turned civic shame into national celebration. From the Arctic Corsair’s Cold War secrets to the blue-painted bravado of the Sea of Hull, this is an episode for anyone who believes that art, history, and community can remake a city and a future.

Here are the highlights:

• Simon’s journey from working-class roots to Hull’s top cultural job
• How Hull went from national punchline to City of Culture
• The unbreakable link between maritime history, civic pride, and the Hull identity
• Moving from “paternalistic” heritage to fearless co-creation with communities
• The real power of culture
• Gentrification versus grassroots - can renewal lift up everyone?
• The Arctic Corsair’s secret Cold War mission, Icelandic friendships, and shared loss
• Surprising outcomes like getting Hull on the BBC weather map!
• The good, the bad, and the “for f**k’s sake” moments
• Relentless storytelling, political reality checks, and why culture is not optional.

About Simon Green:

Simon Green recently retired as Managing Director of Hull City Council’s arms length Culture Company after a thirty-year career leading culture, heritage,leisure as a driver of regeneration in one of the UK’s most misunderstood cities. An advocate for people-first cultural programming, co-creation, and daringly ambitious events, Simon’s legacy includes transforming Hull’s image locally and nationally, championing the working-class and maritime stories at its heart, and mentoring the next generation of culture leaders.

Connect with Simon:

Linkedin http://linkedin.com/in/simon-green-65783712

X (Twitter): @srgreen13

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...

How do songs help us survive history’s darkest times? Why do joyful melodies so often mask painful truths? In this fascinating episode of History for F***’s Sake host Sarah Dowd is joined by Canadian conductor, music director, and cultural leader Robin Thomas for a deep dive into the musical, historical, and emotional legacy of The Sound of Music.

Sarah and Robin trace the journey of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic from Salzburg to Kamloops, exploring why its story of singing nuns, resistance, tyranny, and migration has captivated audiences and helped shape collective memory for generations. Along the way, they reflect on immigrant stories, music as healing and protest, and the power of art to make sense of trauma, displacement, and changing cultural identity. Whether you’re a casual fan humming along or a die-hard who’s done the Salzburg tour, this episode will change the way you experience the von Trapps forever.

Highlights:

• Robin shares his family’s migration story and how The Sound of Music became a personal soundtrack to survival
• Discover why songs stay with us through trauma, immigration, and upheaval, and how musicals like Come From Away and Fiddler on the Roof carry national identity and collective grief
• Why The Sound of Music is more than just singing nuns and pretty mountains and how its story still has relevance
• Robin breaks down the emotional truths that music can convey, even when historic “accuracy” falls short.
• Sarah and Robin debate solitude, togetherness, and what it means to “go deep”
• Why culture, heritage, and the arts are essential and how they form a circle of meaning
• Salzburg bus tours, childhood Walkmans, musical theatre memories, and the permission to embrace being a history and music “nerd.”

About Robin Thomas:

Robin Thomas is an orchestral conductor, musician, and international fundraising professional with over 20 years’ experience in cultural capital campaigns. He has helped organisations across the globe raise hundreds of millions of pounds for transformative heritage, cultural, healthcare, education, and faith projects. Robin has held senior executive and consultancy roles in North America, the UK, and beyond, and was among the first UK professionals to achieve the Certified Fund Raising Executive credential. He has also served on the Board of the Association of Fundraising Consultants.

Connect with Robin:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011015072653

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-thomas-cfre-frsa-1a58b121/

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...

What happens when Dracula trades gloomy castles for cul-de-sacs? In this special Halloween episode, host Sarah Dowd sinks her teeth into the modern vampire mythos with gothic horror expert, actor, director, and bona fide scream queen Megan Tremethick. Together, they trace the chilling lineage from the cynical, blood-soaked anthologies of Amicus Productions in post-war Britain to Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot and beyond.

From small-town terrors and Cold War anxieties to British "scream queen" heritage and the resurrection of iconic UK horror studios, Sarah and Megan unravel how horror films and books help audiences cope with trauma, paranoia, and everyday dread. Don’t miss this spooky episode!

Highlights:

• How post-war trauma in Britain and America inspired a new wave of horror
• Salem’s Lot at 50: why Stephen King’s vampires hit differently in the suburbs
• The rise, fall, and resurrection of Amicus Productions
• Megan’s path from Cats-obsessed schoolgirl to leading new British horror (via a fateful solo trip to Cannes)
• Why facing your fears on screen or in real life can be transformational
• Vampires as metaphors
• British vs. American horror: what makes an Amicus or Hammer film so distinct
• How history, anxiety, and creative arts help us process collective fears
• Behind the scenes of Amicus’s rebirth, and a sneak peek at Megan’s horror projects.

Film Recommendations:

The Blood on Satan's Claw, Tigon - 1971

Asylum, Amicus Productions - 1972

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, Amicus Productions - 1965

The Vault of Horror, Amicus Productions - 1973

The Wicker Man - 1973

Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1978

Witchfinder General, Tigon - 1968

Dracula, Hammer - 1958

Dead of Night - 1945

About Megan Tremethick:

Megan is a Cornish actress, filmmaker, writer, and producer, known for her roles in The Reign of Queen Ginnarra (2025) and Hex Studios’ The Slave and the Sorcerer (2024), as well as appearances in The Vance Institute, The Lockdown Hauntings, and Ghost Crew. As a filmmaker, she has directed several horror shorts inspired by Giallo and H.P. Lovecraft, including Slot, The Haunter of the Dark, and Revenge of Innsmouth. Her latest project, Spoiling You, explores the unsettling side of ASMR, and she also stars in Amicus Productions’ forthcoming anthology In the Grip of Terror (2025), paying homage to Britain’s classic horror roots. Her work has been featured in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, Fangoria, and more.

Connect with Megan:

In the Grip of Terror, is available to pre-order on Backerkit.

Support the Kickstarter for

What do a secret atomic mission, the horrors of war, and a shark tale immortalised in blockbuster cinema have in common? In this haunting, unforgettable episode of History For F***’s Sake, host Sarah Dowd welcomes naval historian, author, and maritime storyteller Nick Hewitt to dive beneath the surface of one of WWII's most infamous tragedies: the sinking of USS Indianapolis.

From Jaws’ unforgettable monologue to the real-life trauma endured by hundreds of young sailors stranded in Pacific waters, Sarah and Nick dissect the myth, memory, and legacy of an event that shaped cinema and the modern US Navy. And with 2025 marking the 250th anniversary of the US Navy, there’s no better time to look at the stories we remember (and those we choose to forget).

Highlights:

• Jaws at 50: Sarah and Nick bond over their lifelong love for Spielberg’s classic
• How Quint’s monologue about USS Indianapolis hooked generations on a hidden WWII disaster
• Nick shares about the real USS Indianapolis, and her legendary war record, and why so many lives were lost
• The real context behind the atomic mission, and what war planners didn’t want in the post-war headlines
• From Jaws to Dunkirk and Oppenheimer, Nick and Sarah debate how (and why) film and TV keep history alive
• The personal aftermath for survivors and why stories like Indianapolis matter in an age still shadowed by nuclear threat.
• From Top Gun to Crimson Tide, old-school submarine duels, and a few terrible naval movies best left overboard.

Factoid: In Jaws, Quint famously recounts the sinking of the USS Indianapolis during his chilling monologue. He says the date was June 29, 1945, but in reality, the ship was torpedoed just after midnight on July 30, 1945.

Spotify / Apple Music Playlists for this episode:

Apple

Spotify

About Nick Hewitt:

Nick Hewitt is a naval historian, author, and maritime storyteller known for making the drama of the past vivid, human, and unforgettable. His latest book is *Normandy: The Sailor’s Story* (Yale University Press, now in paperback), charting the unsung naval history of D-Day. He studied history at Lancaster University and War Studies at King’s College, London, before working at Imperial War Museums and The National Museum of the Royal Navy.

Nick’s broadcast credits include presenting the BBC’s Coast, Channel 5’s D-Day’s Sunken Secrets (2014) and the BBC’s Battle of Jutland: The Navy’s Bloodiest Day (2016). His first book, Coastal Convoys 1939-1945, was published in December 2008, and he has since published The Kaiser’s Pirates (2013) and Firing on Fortress Europe (2015) and Normandy: The Sailor’s Story (2024).

Connect with Nick:

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/NickHewitt)

Book: Normandy: The Sailor’s Story

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...