Greg Jenner

So Chaucer's writing in English, and that is why he is the father of the English language in many ways. And obviously, you said iambic pentameter, that's Shakespeare later on. But we need to move on with Chaucer's later life. Is he just constantly writing until the end of his life, or is it a phase? No, he writes all of his life, yes. So most of the Canterbury Tales...

So his final literary work is titled Cash, Please. In fact, it's called, what's the name of the poem? Yeah, Complaint to His Purse. A Complaint to His Purse. Good. I mean, Mike, as a dad, you must get plenty of that from your kids. Oh, relentless. A Complaint to the Purse. Yeah, yeah. Please, dad. It's wonderful. I think all invoices should be titled Complaint to the Purse.

A nice round number though. Well done, Geoffrey. He basically saw the whole 14th century and went, that's enough of that, thank you. Mission accomplished. The obvious thing to say, Marian, is that he died 76 years before the printing press came to England. So Caxton famously brings over a sort of Flemish printing press and prints English things for the first time. So how come Chaucer's work is so embedded, it's so successful? How come he's so popular if this was not circulating in print?

Mahtavaa, kiitos paljon. Hienoa. Siellä me ollaan. Geoffrey Chaucer. Mahtavaa. Me usein sanotaan, että Shakespeare kirjoittaa hienoja henkilökohtaisia, mutta Chaucer teki sen 200 vuotta aiemmin. Kyllä, kyllä, kyllä. Haluan, kyllä, tämän epäonnistumisen asiaa, se on, kyllä, minun täytyy mennä yhdessä. Kyllä.

Ok, well it's time now for the So What Do You Know Now? This is our quickfire quiz for Mike to see how much he has learned. Mike, you are famously good at quizzes. I think I've done ok in a couple of your quizzes. Generally, your pub quiz, not so much. Well, this is not a pub quiz. Pub quiz, I'm a dead weight. Pub quiz, I'm the guy who's going to get some more crisps.

Minulla on 10 kysymyksiä sinulle. Kysymys 1. Miksi Geoffrey Chaucerin isä oli yritys? Hän oli vintneri. Hän oli vintneri. Kysymys 2. Miksi Chaucerin elämässä on ensimmäinen dokumentaarinen evidenssi? Kroms, kroms, kroms. Kroms. Kroms. Kroms. Kroms. Kroms.

They were the scandalous... Elizabeth de Boer. Very good. Question three. What happened to Chaucer during the Hundred Years' War? He was sent to war. He was captured and ransomed for 16 pounds. 16 pounds. Bargain. Question four. What was the name of Geoffrey Chaucer's wife?

Up which Jeffrey disappeared. That's a weird analogy, but okay. Question six. Name two jobs Chaucer had while in royal service. He was an inspector of walls and ditches. He was deputy forester. He was very good. And of course he did the Tower of London, diplomat negotiator, controller of the wall trade. Question seven. What is the framing narrative of the Canterbury Tales?

We don't know who wins. We don't know who wins. They don't make it. Question eight. Name two of the storytellers in the Canterbury Tales. You've got the Miller's Tale. The knights we've already mentioned. Pilgrim. Absolutely. Lots of lovely ones. Nun, prioress, cook, wife of bath, physician's tale. Question nine. What new evidence tells us about Chaucer and Cecily Champagne? It was a labour dispute.

They were co-defendants. And this for a perfect ten, Mike. What was Chaucer's final poem about? Do you remember the name? Oh, it was about money. A complaint to the purse. It was. Very good. Well done. A perfect ten out of ten. Never in doubt. Well done, Mike. You are good at this. This is why we book you. I love it.

Kiitos paljon, Marian. Se oli todella ymmärrettävää ja mielenkiintoista. Kuuntelija, jos haluat lisää kirjallisuutta, voit katsoa Mikella aiemmin kirjallisuuden teoriaa, joka on todella hieno, tai Charles Dickensin Jumalassa. Tietysti myös Agatha Christie-episodi, jota mainitsimme. Meillä on myös live-episodi Hei-festivalissa, jossa puhutaan kirjallisuutta ympäristö-Inglantiaan, jossa mainitsimme Chauceriaa. Ja lisää 14-vuotiaat-elämästä meillä on viestintäepisodi Ibn Battuta. Hän on todella mielenkiintoinen.

Kiitos, Marian.

Oh, I've loved it. Thank you for having me. It was lovely having you here and thank you for reading Middle English so beautifully. And in Comedy Corner we had the magnificent Middle English poet himself, Mike Wozniak. Thank you, Mike. Thanks for having me back. I've had a joyous time. Brilliant. Yeah, we learned a lot, didn't we? And to you lovely listener, join me next time as we read another chapter from the big You're Dead to Me book of history. But for now, I'm off to go and drag people out of the pub and force them to walk to Canterbury while I regale them with a podcaster's tale. It's very long and very rude. Bye!

You're Dead to Me is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4. This episode was researched by Rosalind Sklar. It was written by Dr. Emmy Rose Price-Goodfellow, Dr. Emma Neguse and me. The audio producer was Steve Hankey and our production coordinator was Jill Huggett. It was produced by Dr. Emmy Rose Price-Goodfellow, me and senior producer Dr. Emma Neguse. Our executive editor was Philip Sellers.

Greg will be bringing a live version of the You're Dead to Me podcast to theatres around the UK this spring. You can join him in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Manchester. And for more information and ticket details, go to youredeadtomelive.com. I'm Shari Vahl, and I've been investigating fraud for decades. Now I'm shining light on the secret techniques criminals use to steal your money.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Jaha, täällähän onkin vanhoja karkkituttuja. Tervepä terve! No ei olla vanhoja tuttuja. Me ollaan uutuuskarkkei! Makeet uutuuksi! No mistäs te tuutte sitten? S-Marketista! Elämä on ruokaa. S-Market.

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 today we are donning our glad rags and finding our spotlight as we learn all about the legendary singer and Hollywood actress Lena Horne. And to help us we have two very special fellow performers in History Corner. They're associate professor in popular music and director of black studies at the University of Nottingham. They're an expert on musical theatre and especially race and gender identity in popular culture.

Muistamme heidät esityksessämme Broadway-historiassa. Hanna Terysiam-Robbins on täällä. Tervetuloa, Hanna. Kiitos, että olin takaisin. Kiitos, että olit takaisin. Ja Comedy Cornerissa. Esityksesi tuntuu täydellä. Hän on komediakirjaaja ja kirjaaja. Olet nähnyt hänet kaikkialla. Taskmasterissa, Franky Boyles New World Orderissa, QI, Too Hot To Handleissa. Ehkä olet nähnyt hänen uuden stand-up-showinsa, Golden Rothissa. Tiedät hänet monien esityksien kanssa, kuten recent highlights, Sojourner Truth, ja Broadway-historiassa. Ei yksi esitys, mikä se olisi.

Tulemme taas yhdessä. Se on Desiree Birch. Tervetuloa, Desiree. Kiitos, että olit takaisin, Greg. On kiva olla takaisin ja tutustua siitä, mitä on tapahtunut jo. Se on seuraava nimi. Mitä on tapahtunut jo? Desiree, olemme soittaneet monia soittajia jo. Olemme soittaneet Josephine Baker, Paul Robeson, P.T. Barnham. Kyllä. Hän soittaa vain ihmisen.

Tämä on So what do you know? Tämä on se, josta minä olen käynyt katsomassa, mitä sinut, meidän kaunis kuulijamme, saattaa tietää tänään. Ja minä ajattelen, että paljon ihmisiä, joilla on kuullut nimi Lina Horn, mutta ehkä eivät tiedä, kuka hän on. Ehkä se on Desiree's thing, The Wiz. Jos olet fani klasiikkia hollywood-movieistä, ehkä olet nähnyt hänet Cabin in the Sky tai Stormy Weather. Tai olet katsellut Star Turn, kuten Desiree teki, kuten Glinda, The Wizard of Oz-adaptation The Wiz.