History's Worst F*ckboys: Rasputin
Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society
History Hit
4.8 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 September 2025
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rasputin presented himself as a mystic healer, and preached that the only way to salvation was through sin — which sometimes, if rumour is to be believed, manifested in orgies.
It's definitely giving f*ckboy behaviour.
How did he make his way from poverty to the Russian royalty inner circle? What mystical powers did he claim to have? And did he really have a 13" penis?
Helping Kate get to know this charismatic - and problematic - figure, is Frances Welch, author of Rasputin: A Short Life.
*TW: This episode contains references to sexual abuse*
This episode was edited by Tim Arstall and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
You can take part in our listener survey here.
All music from Epidemic Sounds.
Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Thanks for listening to Betwix the Sheets. |
| 0:02.1 | To get all History Hit podcasts, |
| 0:04.1 | ad free, early access and bonus episodes, |
| 0:07.6 | head over to historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. |
| 0:11.4 | Or you can sign up on Apple Podcasts with just one click. |
| 0:15.8 | Hello, my lovely Betwixtas. |
| 0:17.2 | It's me, Kate Lister. |
| 0:18.7 | Thank you. |
| 0:19.4 | You're here, quite frankly. If you weren't here, I mean, what is this really? You are the star of the show. But before I can let you keep on shining, I have to tell you. This is an adult podcast spoken by adults, other adults, about adulty things and an adult who are adults, and you should be an adult too. We do that because your safety is paramount and not because the lawyers tell us that we have to. |
| 0:38.9 | Right, on with the show. |
| 0:42.4 | It's 1914 and I am in St. Petersburg. |
| 0:46.6 | To escape the worries of the First World War, although at the time we're not calling it, |
| 0:50.9 | that I've decided I'm going to take a trip to the local bathhouse. |
| 0:54.3 | As chance would have it, this is where the aristocrats, officers, noblemen, and a couple of sex |
| 1:01.0 | workers are often seen mingling together. And appearing to the steam tonight is the charismatic, |
| 1:07.8 | albeit completely back-crap crazy, Gregory Rasputin. |
| 1:13.8 | He cuts a hell of a figure, it's all beard and straggly hair and those eyes. |
| 1:18.8 | Oh, the eyes are just menacing. |
| 1:21.0 | And despite us being in a bathhouse, he doesn't actually smell all that great. |
| 1:24.5 | But apparently, he is a holy man who is here to lead a prayer group with |
| 1:29.1 | these noble women. I mean, why wouldn't you have a prayer in a bathhouse with a load of nude |
| 1:34.8 | women? It all sounds above board to me, but I'm not sure I'm going to stick around to find out more. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.