Oscar Wilde

Short History Of...

Noiser

History

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

⁠A Short History of Ancient Rome⁠ - the debut book from the Noiser Network is out now! Discover the epic rise and fall of Rome like never before. Pick up your copy now at your local bookstore or visit ⁠⁠noiser.com/books⁠⁠ to learn more. Oscar Wilde is remembered as one of the greatest Victorian writers, with diverse works including comedies, morality tales for children, biblical dramas and even a gothic novel. Wilde was also the originator of any number of witty quotes that can still be found adorning everything from posters, to mugs, to t-shirts. Alongside his literary renown, Wilde is revered as a martyr for LGBTQ+ rights. How did a young man from Dublin become such a famous author in England and beyond? What inspired Wilde's plays and poems? And how did he fall foul of Victorian moral sensibilities – and yet still come to enjoy the legacy he does today? This is a Short History Of Oscar Wilde. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Sos Eltis, Professor of English and Theatre Studies at Oxford University, and a fellow at Brasenose College. Written by Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check: Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by Cadbury Heroes.
0:05.2	If the past teaches us anything, it's this.
0:08.4	One great individual can change a moment, but when a group of great individuals come together,
0:13.6	that's when history is made.
0:16.0	Take the codebreakers at Bletchley Park, Turing, Clark, Welchman, each a genius in their own right, but together
0:22.6	they cracked the uncrackable code that won the war. Or those heroic swashbucklers, Dark Tannion
0:27.7	and the three musketeers, one for all and all for one. Or even nine of Cadbury's best chocolates
0:33.7	in one single tub. All heroes, no zeros, every last one of them. Cadbury Heroes.
0:40.1	Great on their own. Magic together. Get your fix now, wherever you get your treats. That's Cadbury Heroes.
0:46.3	Nine delicious chocks in one single tub. All heroes, no zeros.
0:58.0	It is a bitter January day in the year 1897. In Reading, in the south of England, a harsh wind is blowing.
1:03.0	Though it is barely 3pm, the sky is already beginning to darken.
1:09.0	Despite the unforgiving conditions, a middle-aged man, clad only in a rough woolen jacket and trousers, is tending to a garden.
1:20.6	He digs up withered plants with a small trowl, pulling them out from the roots to make way for the new crops that will be planted
1:27.5	in the spring.
1:29.7	It is hard going.
1:31.4	The ground is almost frozen solid.
1:35.3	Pausing to catch his breath, he glances up at the tall wall surrounding him on all sides
1:39.9	and the securely locked gate to the garden.
1:44.0	Because he is not in his own home, but in the grounds of Reading jail.
1:50.0	Despite the cold, though, he is as content with this work as he can be under the circumstances.
1:56.0	After all, every minute he spends digging in the frigid soil is a minute away from his cell.
	...

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