e invite you to tune in to What the Dickens?!, a podcast on all things Victorian hosted by Dory Agazarian, our History Editor, and produced by the Victorian Web.
Latest Episode: Colonel Sibthorpe's Elms
Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, Transept (1852), paper negative of a photograph by Benjamin Brecknell Turner, courtesy of The Met
In this episode, join podcast host Dory Agazarian as she travels back in time to Hyde Park on the eve of the Great Exhibition to explore a remarkably contemporary controversy over the fate of a stand of beloved elm trees — and the curmudgeon who fought to save them. Written by Dory Agazarian, with special thanks to Jacqueline Banerjee and Simon Cooke. Listen:
Further Reading (and Listening)
- The Crystal Palace, or The Great Exhibition of 1851
- "Woodman, Spare That Tree!" (1837), performed by Derek B. Scott
Previous Episode: Dickens's Ghosts
Scrooge and the Ghost by Sol Eytinge, Jr.
Just in time for Halloween! In this episode, podcast host Dory Agazarian is joined by Simon Cooke, senior editor at the Victorian Web, as they explore the meaning of ghosts, spirits, spooks, and other unsettling presences in the work of Charles Dickens. What are we to make of these Victorian emanations from the spirit world? How do these figures of menace and mystery connect with larger Victorian notions of spirituality, rationality, labor, and capital? Written by Simon Cooke. Listen:
Further Reading
Created 9 February 2024
Last modified 21 October 2025