Geoffrey Chaucer (Radio Edit)

You're Dead to Me

BBC

Comedy, History

4.7 • 11.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg Jenner is joined in medieval England by Professor Marion Turner and comedian Mike Wozniak to learn all about Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales.

Since the 15th century, Chaucer has been referred to as the father of English literature. He was one of the first authors to champion the use of Middle English for poetry instead of Latin, and after the invention of the printing press, his works became the foundation of the English literary canon – long before Shakespeare ever put quill to parchment. But Chaucer’s life was as extraordinary as his legacy, living as he did through the Black Death, the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, and the Peasants’ Revolt.

In this episode, Greg and his guests explore Chaucer’s dramatic biography: growing up the son of a wine merchant in fourteenth-century London, his work for the royal court and long career as a medieval civil servant, his relationship with John of Gaunt through his mistress Katherine Swynford, and his travels throughout Europe. They also examine the poets that influenced him – including Petrarch, Bocaccio and Dante – and take a deep dive into the famous Canterbury Tales.

This is a radio edit of the original podcast episode. For the full-length version, please look further back in the feed.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Rosalyn Sklar Written by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Dr Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett Senior Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
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0:28.8	They did know that I was different.
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0:33.5	Then you met.
0:34.3	Then we met.
0:35.2	The Gift.
0:36.1	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:40.8	Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
0:46.3	My name is Greg Jenner.
0:47.4	I'm a public historian author and broadcaster.
0:49.4	And today we are preparing our pens and parchment and peregrinating back to the 14th century to learn all about Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the famous Canterbury Tales.
0:58.9	And to inform and entertain us on our journey, we're joined by two very special travelling companions.
1:03.9	In History Corner, she's the J.R.R. Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Languages at the University of Oxford and an expert on Chaucer and late medieval literature. Maybe you've read her award-winning biography, Chaucer, a European life, or her new book, The Wife of Bath, a biography. It's Professor Marion Turner. Welcome, Marion. Delighted to be here. Thank you for inviting me. We're very happy to have you here. And in Comedy Corner, he's a comedian, actor and podcaster, you'll have seen him in Taskmaster, Man Down, and as Rose Matafayo's assistant on the wonderful junior Taskmaster. Plus, you may have heard his dulcet tones on my favourite podcast, Three Bean Salad, or seen his new live tour show, The Bench. But you'll definitely know him from our previous episodes of Your Dead to Me, most recently, Charles Dickens at Christmas and Arthurian literature. It's Mike Wozniak. Welcome back, Mike. Thank you. Hello. Thanks for having me back. Mike, we went medieval with you last time out. Yeah. All King Arthurie. I had a lovely old time. You knew a lot. It was grist to my mill. It was, yeah, I felt like I haven't wasted my childhood. You were in your element.
2:03.9	But this, this is, a lot. It was grist to my mill. It was, yeah, I felt like I hadn't wasted my childhood.
2:02.7	You were in your element.
	...

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