Greg Jenner (born 1982) is a British author and public historian with a particular interest in communicating history through pop culture and humour.[1]

Early life

Jenner studied for a History and Archaeology BA and a Medieval Studies MA at The University of York.[2]

Career

Jenner has worked as an historical consultant on the Horrible Histories books and television shows.[3] Jenner has credited the success of Horrible Histories to a non-patronising approach to children’s television.[4]

Jenner has written for GQ magazine[5] and has appeared as a guest on Richard Herring's interview podcasts[6] and on the Art Detective podcast.[7] He also featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme Great Lives, discussing Gene Kelly.[8]

He has appeared more than once as a guest on QI spin-off podcast No Such Thing as a Fish.[9][10] and has made appearances on the Simon Mayo[11] and the Steve Wright shows on BBC Radio 2.[12]

Jenner featured as an expert on the BBC2 television programme Inside Versailles,[13] as well as for the Independent newspaper, discussing historical accuracy in television programmes.[14]

Jenner has been made an Honorary Research Associate at Royal Holloway, University of London.[15]

Since 2019, Jenner has presented a BBC Sounds podcast, You’re Dead To Me. Each episode sees him to talk to both a historian and comedian about a historical figure or time period.[16] As well as the streamed edition, a radio-edit version is broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In February 2023 and 2024 the show won the Best Radio Entertainment Show category at the Comedy.co.uk Awards.[17][18]

In 2020, Jenner launched Homeschool History, an educational history podcast aimed at children, in response to the Coronavirus lockdown whereby children who were unable to attend school.[19][20] Homeschool History ran for two series and was broadcast on BBC Radio 4.[21]

In 2021 Jenner launched an Audible Original podcast A Somewhat Complete History of Sitting Down.[22]

Publications

Jenner is the author of several books:

Personal life

Jenner is half French on his mother's side. He is an avid fan of heavy metal and alternative rock, and loves Thrice, the band. Jenner is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.[32] He is teetotal.[33][34]

References

  1. ^ Gaia Vince (2 April 2018). "This is why good people turn bad online". The Independent.
  2. ^ "Greg Jenner". HuffPost.
  3. ^ Richard Preston (21 February 2013). "Horrible Histories: 20 years of entertaining children". The Daily Telegraph.
  4. ^ Vicky Carroll (16 February 2018). "Horrible Histories' Greg Jenner: "We don't treat kids like they're stupid"". The Big Issue.
  5. ^ "Will the monarchy survive the death of the Queen?". GQ. 3 May 2017.
  6. ^ Richard Herring (6 December 2017). "Greg Jenner — Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast #157". Richard Herring's interview podcasts – via YouTube.
  7. ^ "Bayeux Tapestry — with Greg Jenner". Art Detective podcast. 31 May 2017 – via Podtail.
  8. ^ "Greg Jenner on Gene Kelly, Series 46". BBC Radio 4. Great Lives.
  9. ^ "No Such Thing as a Fish". QI.
  10. ^ "List of No Such Thing as a Fish Episodes" – via GitHub.
  11. ^ "Rowan Atkinson set for Horrible Histories". What's on TV. 6 January 2015.
  12. ^ "Susan Calman and Greg Jenner". Steve Wright in the Afternoon. BBC Radio 2.
  13. ^ "Inside Versailles - S1 - Episode 10". Radio Times.
  14. ^ Mark Butler (23 January 2017). "Sex and swearing in the 1800s: Taboo is more historically accurate than you think". i.
  15. ^ York, University of. "Ask a Historian". University of York. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  16. ^ "You're Dead To Me". BBC Radio 4. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Comedy.co.uk Awards Winners 2022". Comedy.co.uk. 8 February 2023.
  18. ^ Craig, David (12 February 2024). "Ghosts and Taskmaster named comedy and entertainment shows of the year". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  19. ^ Marriott, James. "Homeschool History review — how to sell the Stuarts to children". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  20. ^ "Homeschool History". Greg Jenner. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  21. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Homeschool History". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  22. ^ "Take a load off with a new podcast about sitting". Financial Times. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  23. ^ Vincent, Alice (25 May 2015). "14 things we learned from Greg Jenner's history of everyday life". The Daily Telegraph.
  24. ^ "Rebecca Rideal reviews A Million Years in a Day by Greg Jenner". The History Vault.
  25. ^ "How Did Women Deal With Their Periods? The History of Menstruation". HuffPost. 1 January 2016.
  26. ^ Fara Dabhoiwala (18 March 2020). "Dead Famous by Greg Jenner review – a joyous history of celebrity". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  27. ^ "Ask a Historian". Greg Jenner. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  28. ^ Jenner, Greg (28 October 2021). Ask A Historian: 50 Surprising Answers to Things You Always Wanted to Know. Orion. ISBN 978-1-4746-1863-2.
  29. ^ "An interview with Greg Jenner". Just Imagine. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  30. ^ "You Are History: a funny children's history book by Greg Jenner". Greg Jenner. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  31. ^ "Walker Books snaps up 'riotously funny' Totally Chaotic History series". The Bookseller. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  32. ^ "Who is Greg Jenner - the Public Historian?". Greg Jenner.
  33. ^ Jenner, Greg; Fletcher, Catherine; Wang, Phil (12 February 2021). "The Borgias". You're Dead To Me. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  34. ^ Jenner, Greg [@greg_jenner] (13 December 2016). "I should add, I've been teetotal since 2002. I find drinking culture fascinating, but it's not for me" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 August 2021 – via Twitter.
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