Season 1
The Republic of Pirates
Blackbeard, Pirates & the South Sea Bubble | 1715–1721
The Peace of Utrecht and the Fall of the Sun King
In the summer of 1715 a hurricane destroyed the Spanish treasure fleet off the coast of Florida, scattering silver and opportunity across the Bahamas. Within months unemployed privateers and desperate sailors gathered at Nassau, turning New Providence into the nearest thing the Atlantic had to a pirate republic. This long-form documentary follows the rise of the Flying Gang, the careers of Samuel Bellamy and Blackbeard, the blockade of Charleston, the arrival of Woodes Rogers with the King’s pardon, the deaths at Ocracoke and the trials of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, and the 1724 book that transformed real outlaws into enduring legend. A calm, deeply researched history of how a brief window of lawlessness opened on the sea—and was closed.
The war is over, thousands of armed sailors are suddenly unemployed, and the Atlantic is carrying more wealth than ever before. Between 1715 and 1721, the Caribbean became the center of the Golden Age of Piracy. Nassau emerged as a pirate haven, Benjamin Hornigold helped build a community beyond the easy reach of British authority, and Edward Teach transformed himself into the terrifying figure history remembers as Blackbeard. Follow Blackbeard from the decks of Queen Anne’s Revenge to his blockade of Charleston and his final battle near Ocracoke Island. Then cross the Atlantic to London and Paris, where another kind of danger was growing. John Law’s Mississippi Company and Britain’s South Sea Company promised extraordinary riches, sending investors into speculative frenzies before two of history’s most famous financial bubbles collapsed. Along the way, explore the expanding Atlantic economy, the rise of modern credit and insurance, the transatlantic slave trade, colonial growth, Indigenous power, and the increasingly sophisticated governments and navies that brought the great pirate era under control.
Europe is exhausted. France is struggling through famine and financial crisis. The armies of the great powers have been fighting for more than a decade, and the long reign of Louis XIV is approaching its end. In this extended episode of Past Your Bedtime: History to Sleep To, journey through the final years of the War of the Spanish Succession, beginning with the devastating Great Frost of 1709. Follow Louis XIV and France through the bloody aftermath of Malplaquet, political upheaval in London, secret negotiations between Britain and France, and the diplomatic bargaining that produced the Peace of Utrecht. Then return to Versailles for the final chapter of the Sun King’s extraordinary seventy-two-year reign and the beginning of a new European order under the young Louis XV. It is a story of war, diplomacy, royal succession, economic exhaustion, and the emerging balance of power that would shape eighteenth-century Europe — told slowly and in rich historical detail for late-night listening. Get comfortable, close your eyes, and let the world of Louis XIV gradually fade into the night.
At the dawn of the eighteenth century, Sweden dominated the Baltic and a young Russian tsar was determined to change the balance of power. In this extended episode of Past Your Bedtime: History to Sleep To, settle in for the story of Peter the Great, Charles XII of Sweden, and the Great Northern War. Follow the conflict from the stunning Swedish victory at Narva through Peter’s transformation of Russia, the construction of St. Petersburg, Charles XII’s long march into Russia, and the decisive Battle of Poltava. It is a story of frozen armies, new cities, military reform, royal ambition, and the struggle for control of the Baltic — told slowly and in rich historical detail for late-night listening. Get comfortable, close your eyes, and spend the night in the early eighteenth century.