Molière: Satire, Scandal & the Stage

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Jan Clarke to explore the life, legend, and legacy of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin — better known as Molière. From his audacious rejection of bourgeois expectations to his controversial plays that rattled the Catholic Church and delighted the King, Molière’s story is as theatrical as his work. So what can be learned about gender, religion, power, and performance in Louis XIV’s France through Molière's comedies?

Together, Suzannah and Jan unravel the myth from the man and discover how Molière’s biting satire, his savvy court politics, and his deep understanding of human nature made him a foundational figure in French literature and European theatre.

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb.
0:02.6	If you'd like not just the Tudors ad-free to get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:10.5	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries,
0:16.0	including my own recent two-part series, A World Torn Apart, The Dissolution of the Monastries, and enjoy a new release every week.
0:25.2	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:32.2	I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb, host of the Not Just the Tudas podcast.
0:37.1	I want to tell you about a new podcast series, The Mystic and the Mayor.
0:42.0	As a historian, I'm fascinated by stories of witchcraft and magic.
0:47.1	For centuries, accusations of sorcery have brought down even the most rich and powerful.
0:52.7	But this isn't a story from the pages of distant history.
0:57.1	In February 24, in the glamorous French coastal town of Agde, a respected mayor was arrested for
1:04.7	corruption. His defence. He claims he was bewitched by the town's beautiful clairvoyant.
1:11.8	The case has got it all.
1:13.7	Phone calls from the Archangel Michael, seances where the dead speak through the living,
1:18.9	a mayor who believed he was receiving supernatural guidance.
1:23.5	Hosted by the broadcaster Anna Richardson,
1:26.7	The Mystic and the Mayor is a modern-day tale of sorcery
1:29.9	that could have come straight from the history books.
1:32.7	The dark arts, it seems, are alive and well in the 21st century.
1:37.6	Binge the whole series of The Mystic and the Mayor on Wondry Plus
1:41.8	through Apple Podcasts, Spotify or in the Wondry app.
1:49.2	This is an ad by BetterHelp.
	...

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