How long have humans been dyeing their hair? How did people manage it in the time before store-bought bleach and box dye?

This week, we're diving into the colourful history of hair dye to investigate the ingredients people across time have used to colour their hair, from the expected, the strange, the scientific, to the disgusting and dangerous.

NOTE: Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, mentioned in this episode, is reported to have memorised one million hadiths!

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It's our first birthday! In this episode, we explore the 2026 Met Gala and Natalie shares an excerpt from her very first published short story!

Find Natalie's short story, SWALLOWED WHOLE, here: https://clawsoutliterary.wordpress.com/swallowed-whole/

Donate to Claws Out Literary to support local authors here: https://ko-fi.com/clawsoutliterary

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported our podcasting journey throughout the last year. It's been an exciting (and challenging!) time for the two of us, juggling things like full time work, motherhood, illness, and general life issues. Every like and comment means the world.

✨ Follow us:TikTok: @historyforhotgirlsInstagram: @historyforhotgirlspodcastYouTube: history for hot girlsSpotify: History for Hot Girls Podcast

Happy Easter & Καλό Πάσχα! We're (finally) back this week with a brief look into the origins of some of the most common Easter traditions such as chocolate bunnies and decorated eggs, including a throwback to some of our other episodes with things like syncretism and, surprisingly, the penny post!

✨ Follow us:TikTok: @historyforhotgirlsInstagram: @historyforhotgirlspodcastYouTube: history for hot girlsSpotify: History for Hot Girls Podcast

This week, we share the story of Vivienne Westwood, the brand and the person. Join us as we chat about Ms Westwood’s journey from punk to pearls and protests. We’re covering the brand’s beginnings, its evolution and what is left of the Vivienne Westwood legacy today!

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In this week's episode we explore the incredible life and career of Sayyida al-Hurra. From hot takes such as "imperialism is bad" to thirsting over the Barbarossa brothers and becoming Sayyida al-Hurra's #1 stans, we explore her life and career as she built an empire to rival that of Spain and Portugal.

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Bibliography:

Aomar Boum and Park, T.K. (2016). Historical Dictionary of Morocco. Rowman & Littlefield.

Azami, R.I., Touzani, H. and Sabil, A. (2023). Female Agency, History,and the Current Discourses of Representation: Sayyida al-Hurra (Ruler of Tétouan) as a Case Study. Journal of Applied Language and Culture Studies, [online] 6(3), pp.91–106. Available at: https://revues.imist.ma/index.php/JALCS/article/view/40237/20781.

Cem Nizamoglu (2018). Malika VI: Sayyida Al-Hurra - Muslim Heritage. [online] Muslim Heritage. Available at: https://muslimheritage.com/malika-vi-sayyida-al-hurra/.

Gregory, R. (2025). A History of Women in Piracy. Pen and Sword History.

H. Lebbady (2009). Feminist Traditions in Andalusi-Moroccan Oral Narratives. Springer.

Klausmann, U., Meinzerin, M. and Kuhn, G. (1997). Women pirates and the politics of Jolly Roger. Montréal: Black Rose Books.

Laura Sook Duncombe (2019). Pirate women : the princesses, prostitutes, and privateers who ruled the seven seas. Chicago, Ill.: Chicago Review Press.

Laura Sook Duncombe (2020). A pirate’s life for she : swashbuckling women through the ages. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press Incorporated.

Mernissi, F. and Mary Jo Lakeland (2012). The forgotten queens of Islam. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press.Prieto, S.S. (2024).

The remarkable reign of Sayyida Mandri Al-Hurra. [online] Meer. Available at: https://www.meer.com/en/78883-the-remarkable-reign-of-sayyida-mandri-al-hurra [Accessed 1 Mar. 2026].Visitmorocco.com. (2019).

Tetouan, white dove of the Mediterranean Sea | Moroccan National Tourist Office. [online] Available at: https://www.visitmorocco.com/en/travel/tetouan [Accessed 1 Mar. 2026]

Valentine’s Day wasn’t always about roses and chocolate. From ancient frat bro fertility rituals, to the invention of the modern day postal system, and a surprising amount of jail time, we're kicking off season 2 by exploring the surprisingly complicated origins of Valentine's Day.

✨ Follow us:

TikTok: @historyforhotgirls

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Bibliography:

BBC News (2025) What is Galentine’s Day and who celebrates it? By E. Griffiths, 14 February. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk Brighton & Hove Museums (n.d.)

Love letters and hate mail: Victorian vinegar valentines. Available at: https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/discovery/history-stories/love-letters-and-hate-mail-victorian-vinegar-valentines-2/

Forbes (2024) Brennan, B. Galentine’s Day and women consumers: cheers to the celebration economy, 9 February. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bridgetbrennan/2024/02/09/galentines-day-and-women-consumers-cheers-to-the-celebration-economy/Forbes (2025)

Hardcastle, K. Beyond the bouquet: how Valentine’s Day spending continues to evolve, 1 February. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/katehardcastle/2025/02/01/beyond-the-bouquet-how-valentines-day-spending-continues-to-evolve/

Strohm, Paul (2015) Who was Chaucer? 24 January. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/24/who-was-chaucer-canterbury-tales

Harford, T. (2021) The stamp at the bottom of the pyramid. Available at: https://timharford.com/2021/08/the-stamp-at-the-bottom-of-the-pyramid/ (History.com (n.d.)

History of Valentine’s Day. Available at: https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-valentines-day History.com (n.d.) Valentine’s Day. Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day

History Extra (n.d.) Valentine’s Day history: Saint Valentine and the real story. Available at: https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/valentine-day-history-saint-who-real-story-cured/

Lau, P.H. (2012) [PDF document], 17 February. Available at: https://indyaat.org/pdf/-17thFeb12

National Retail Federation (n.d.) NRF survey: Valentine’s Day spending reaches record $27.5 billion. Available at: https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/nrf-survey-valentine-s-day-spending-reaches-record-27-5-billion

Shimu, F. (2024) Galentine’s Day: a celebration of the most unconditional love I’ve ever known, 12 February. The Medium. Available at: https://themedium.ca/galentines-day-a-celebration-of-the-most-unconditional-love-ive-ever-known/

Betwixt the Sheets (n.d.) Lupercalia and Valentine’s Day [Podcast episode]. Available on major podcast platforms The Rest Is History (n.d.) Valentine’s Day [Podcast episode]. Available on major podcast platforms365

Retail (2025) Google reveals key Valentine’s Day trends for 2025. Available at: https://365retail.co.uk/google-reveals-key-valentines-day-trends-for-2025/

Hey there, history lovers!

Join us as we reflect on the first year of our podcast and provide some updates on earlier episodes, including our reaction to this year's Met Gala, next year's Met Gala theme, the Pantone Colour of the Year, Sydney Sweeney's controversial American Eagle ad, Y/N trends on tiktok and Natalie's continued hatred of romantasy, the Pope rave in Slovakia and the Louvre heist.

Thank you so much for listening and supporting our podcast this year. We can't wait to see you in late Jan/early Feb for season 2 of History for Hot Girls!

Until then, keep up with us on our socials:

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CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses sexual assault, female genital mutilation and general medical misogyny.

Hey there, history lovers! Welcome to part 2 of our deep dive into the history of hysteria.

In this episode, we follow hysteria into the 19th century and beyond, where everything gets worse. From the bizarre to the genuinely horrifying, we unpack the “treatments” used from the 1800s through the modern era as the medical treatment of women continues its downward spiral.

Help us continue spilling the tea on history’s hottest people, events, items and ideas by supporting our show and following us on your fave podcast platforms and socials!

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REFERENCES/FURTHER READING:

https://shorturl.at/aQBEV