Greg Jenner

Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.

My name is Greg Jenner.

I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster and former chief nerd on the BBC comedy show Horrible Histories.

And today we are off to ancient China to dig deep into one of the most astonishing archaeological discoveries of all time.

The first emperor of China's tomb guarded by his famous terracotta warriors.

And to help me do that, I am joined by two very special guests.

In History Corner, she's Professor of Modern Chinese History and Literature at Birkbeck, University of London, and specialises in the relationship between culture and modern Chinese nation-building.

She's written countless academic publications and several books, including two prize-winning books on the Opium War and Maoism.

It's the fantastic Professor Julia Lovell.

Welcome, Julia.

Thrilled to have you here.

And in Comedy Corner, not only has he previously bossed it on Taskmaster, Live at the Apollo and Have I Got News For You, but he's got a hilarious stand-up special on Netflix.

And last time out, we talked a bit about your education at the Malaysian school system.

You hadn't done that much global history, but I'm curious as to whether the first emperor of China, the Terracotta Warriors, may be something you do know about?

This is the So What Do You Know, where I have a go at guessing what you, our lovely listener, knows about our subject.

And while the terracotta warriors have a pretty good name recognition, I think, but in terms of pop culture, if you're a Terry Pratchett fan, you may remember that in one of his Discworld novels, the protagonist Rincewind not only discovers a terracotta army in an imperial tomb, but also uses some VR technology to go and control it, which is very nifty.

Less nifty would be the Hollywood representation of the first emperor in the film The Mummy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,

which is, frankly, a bit dodgy.

But the big question, of course, is who made the terracotta warriors and when and why and how and who found them?

Well, let's find out, shall we?