In this episode of A Curious Appetite, I am joined by Gothic scholar, educator, and founder of Romancing the Gothic, Dr Sam Hirst, to explore the remarkable travel journal Summer Rambles in 1825 by the musician and traveller William Linley. Drawing on Sam's work transcribing and annotating the manuscript at Newstead Abbey, we journey through Regency England in the company of one of its most observant and entertaining diarists.

We discuss Linley's connections to the world of music and theatre, his possible links to Lord Byron, and his fascinating visit to Newstead Abbey, Byron's former home. Sam reflects on discovering the diary in the Newstead archives and explains why Linley's candid observations, social commentary, and frequent complaints make him such an engaging narrator.

Food features throughout our conversation. We examine what Linley's diary reveals about Regency hospitality, travel, and dining, from breakfasts and suppers to pickled onions, delayed fish deliveries, cold fowl, ham, and "badly dressed eels." Together we consider how food functioned as a marker of status, comfort, and sociability, and how complaints about meals often reveal just as much as descriptions of them.

Our discussion also returns to Newstead Abbey, where Sam shares insights from his work marking the bicentenary of Byron's death. We explore Byron's complicated relationship with dancing, the scandalous reputation of the waltz, the role of music within the house, and the ways Newstead has been reinterpreted for modern visitors.

The conversation then turns eastwards as Sam reflects on living and working in Kazan, Russia, a city shaped by Russian, Tatar, Muslim, Orthodox Christian, and Jewish traditions. We discuss how experiencing different cultures transformed his perspective as a historian and researcher, encouraging a deeper appreciation of nuance, complexity, and the dangers of simplistic historical narratives.

Naturally, food accompanies us on this journey. Sam shares memories of Russian, Tatar, and Central Asian cuisines, including plov, triangular meat-and-potato pastries, sour cream, cottage cheese, and the extraordinary hospitality he encountered around family tables. We also discuss nostalgia, migration, and the foods we continue to long for long after we have left a place behind.

Along the way we talk about:

• William Linley and Regency musical culture
• Byron, Newstead Abbey, and the waltz
• Hospitality and social performance in the Regency period
• Food, travel, and complaint as historical evidence
• Manuscript transcription and archival detective work
• Russia, Tatarstan, and cultural diversity
• Plov, pastries, hospitality, and food nostalgia
• Why complexity is often more interesting than certainty

Whether you're interested in Byron, Regency travel, food history, archives, or the pleasures of a well-kept diary, this episode offers a fascinating glimpse into the people, meals, friendships, and journeys that shaped life in the early nineteenth century.

Learn more about Dr Sam Hirst's work, courses, and events at Romancing the Gothic. The platform brings together readers, writers, and researchers interested in the Gothic, Romanticism, folklore, and literary history.

Interested in Byron and Newstead Abbey? Read Dr Sam Hirst's article, "Byron's Letters Reveal the Real Queer Love and Loss That Inspired His Poetry," which explores Byron's relationship with John Edleston and the emotional experiences reflected in his letters and verse.

Artwork: @medusazzz

Audio Production: @thedeliciouslegacy

Music: @manu_pino_1111

What happens when history itself becomes a magic trick?

In this episode of A Curious Appetite, I am joined by writer, director, and Artistic Director of Pither Productions, Nina Atesh, to discuss In League with the Devil, her fascinating new play inspired by the extraordinary life of Erik Jan Hanussen: illusionist, clairvoyant, celebrity showman, fraudster, political opportunist, and one of the most enigmatic figures of twentieth-century Europe.

Together we explore the challenges of researching a man who spent his life reinventing himself, blurring the boundaries between fact, fiction, performance, and belief. We discuss historical truth, psychological horror, charismatic manipulators, cults, scammers, influencers, and why audiences continue to be drawn towards certainty, spectacle, and the promise of hidden knowledge.

We also delve into the theatrical process behind the production, including Nina's collaboration with legendary illusionist Simon Drake and mind reader Graham Jolley, whose work helped recreate some of Hanussen's techniques on stage. Along the way we discuss theatre-making, pub theatre culture, the changing economics of performance, and the enduring magic of gathering together in a room to experience a story unfold in real time.

Because this is still A Curious Appetite, we also talk food memories, childhood kitchens, Cypriot family meals, smoky bacon crisps, Sunday roasts, and the surprising connections between cooking and theatre. Both rely on ritual, timing, community, and a little bit of everyday magic.

We also touch upon horror theatre, GrimFest, Kim Newman, creative collaboration, and the strange power of performance to make us believe, if only for a moment, in something impossible.

• Erik Jan Hanussen
• Illusion, magic, and performance
• Historical research and unreliable sources
• Psychological horror and theatrical storytelling
• Cult leaders, scammers, and charisma
• Simon Drake and stage illusion
• Graham Jolley and mind reading
• Pither Productions and GrimFest
• Kim Newman and horror culture
• Pub theatre and creative communities
• Cyprus, Canada, and England
• Food memories and family kitchens
• Smoky bacon crisps
• Theatre, ritual, and belief

Special thanks to Nina Atesh, Simon Drake, Graham Jolley, Kim Newman, and everyone at Pither Productions for their generosity, creativity, and for helping bring one of the most intriguing theatrical projects I have encountered in recent years to life.

Hosted by Dr Alessandra Pino.

A podcast exploring how food shapes memory, identity, longing, fear, culture, and storytelling.

📩 Contact: acuriousappetite@gmail.com

Artwork: @medusazzz
Audio Production: @thedeliciouslegacy
Music: @manu_pino_1111

Useful Links

• Pither Productions
• GrimFest London Horror Theatre Festival
• Simon Drake's House of Magic