Introducing: Mistresses with Jameela Jamil & Dr Kate Lister | 95
Even The Royals
Wondery
4.4 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this funny, fascinating, and scandal-filled podcast, Jameela Jamil and historian Dr Kate Lister pore over the stories of six astonishing “other women”. Women who have been shamed, disparaged and underestimated. Some have been cheated out of the history books altogether. Now Jameela and Kate are placing their stories in the spotlight – to see what history looks like through the eyes of the so-called side-chick.
Jameela and Kate are also joined by Katie Kennedy, aka The History Gossip, to drop some extra historical knowledge in her own inimitable way…
Prepare for a wild, gossip-fuelled ride through real history – sex, scandal, murder, betrayal, poisoning, witchcraft and much more.
Episode 1: Follow the rise and fall of King Louis XIV’s gilded era through the eyes of his outrageous maîtresse-en-titre (“official” mistress), Madame de Montespan. Quick, cunning and oh-so-extra, Montespan would stop at nothing to get to the top – including (if rumours are to be believed) poisoning any love rivals that got in her way.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Even the royals may have reached its end, but the stories that shaped history didn't stop at the palace gates. |
| 0:06.5 | That's why we're bringing you mistresses, a series that pulls back the velvet curtain to reveal the power brokers, rule breakers, and secret partners who shaped history from the shadows. |
| 0:16.2 | If you loved uncovering the hidden forces behind the crown, you'll be captivated by the wider world |
| 0:21.3 | revealed in mistresses. We're about to play you the first episode of mistresses. New episodes will |
| 0:26.1 | release weekly right here, or you can binge the entire series right now on Audible. We hope to see |
| 0:31.3 | you back next week. Enjoy. Hello there, just quickly before we get started, this episode will have adult content throughout, including scandals involving poison, black magic and sacrificial ceremonies. |
| 0:45.6 | And on top of that, there will be some strong language as well. |
| 1:02.2 | From the bedrooms of powerful men, we are bringing you the secret histories of their mistresses, concubines and courtesans. These women have been slut-shamed, disparaged and underestimated, |
| 1:09.7 | and some of them have been cheated out of history altogether. |
| 1:13.6 | I'm Jamila Jamil. I'm an actor, a writer and a broadcaster. And I'm Dr. Kate Lister, a historian with a |
| 1:19.5 | ponchant for the scandalous tales from centuries past. In this series, we are taking these stories out |
| 1:25.5 | of the shadows and placing them in the spotlight. |
| 1:28.4 | Seeing what we can learn through the eyes of the so-called side chick. |
| 1:33.1 | And sharing all the juiciest historic details too. |
| 1:36.9 | This is Mistresses, an audible original. |
| 1:43.2 | Kate, I'm so excited to be covering this with you, especially because you are an esteemed |
| 1:47.3 | historian and I left school at 17. |
| 1:51.2 | And yet we're both here? |
| 1:52.7 | Yeah. |
| 1:53.6 | We've done all right. |
| 1:54.8 | Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| 1:55.7 | One of us deserves to be here slightly more than the other, but I'm here as your fan. |
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