Recording day! It has been too long, but we recorded most of “Italian Unification - Part 2” with a special guest host: Marco from Storia d’Italia! We’ll need another session to finish this fantastic episode but we’ll do it soon. (And Pitt Part 2 is progressing as well.)

It's our first birthday as a podcast! We celebrate with a special episode featuring a 3-minute summary of our story so far, some chat about favourite moments and what we're looking forward to in future episodes - next week's 2-parter being top of that list.👑 histvenicepod.podbean.com/e/first-birt...

My beach reading today. I read boring books do you don’t have to. (Prepping for Italian Unification Part 2, with a special guest host.)

(Or maybe you are just interested in Abram showing off just how many Roman Emperors he can name… That’s okay too. bit.ly/4fVwbfE)

Wow. Our episode on Cavour has had the best "release day" of any of our Prime Ministers so far. Maybe we're podcasting about the wrong country!? 😅😅 Thank you to everyone that has listened so far. #italy #history bit.ly/4fVwbfE

Very impressive remembering of emperors here!

@totalusrankium.bsky.social Very much aligned with your (and your listeners') interest. Check out starting at around 9:15 in our most recent episode on Cavour, the first Prime Minister of Italy. There is no cheating, no prep, no reading from a list. Just a kid who loves Roman history. bit.ly/4fVwbfE

Italy was a divided nation, a pawn of empires. As a journalist, Cavour fought for a constitution. As a statesman, he needed all his cunning to make friends, scheme with emperors, and pull the parts of Italy together... by force, if necessary. Recorded on vacation in Italy! bit.ly/4fVwbfE

We are back from Italy! The Prime Factors family vacation traveled from Nice to Venice, seeing the sites and learning the history of the Italian Unification. We also recorded a special episode about Camillo Benso, the Count of Cavour, one of the architects that unification... and Italy's first PM!

Cavour building Italy out of legos. I really like this mural.

We wrote a great scene about the Pitt Diamond… and we cut it for time. But I think it turned out so well I just had to share. www.primefactorspodcast.com/e/91b-smuggl...

This may be the best episode we’ve ever recorded, almost a soft relaunch of the podcast. I just listened again last night. Please let us know if you like the new “feel” of the podcast or if we should make adjustments. www.primefactorspodcast.com/e/91-william...

WILLIAM PITT THE ELDER! Do we need to say more? Yes, we do. This episode is a "relaunch" of sorts for us with a more produced style. If you haven't listened in a while-- or are a first time listener-- this is a great starting point. Please let us know if you like it. #ukhistory bit.ly/46xsVV4

We visited the Fort Pitt museum in Pittsburgh, with a great (albeit small) section on William Pitt. It was great to see the locations in our podcast in real life. (Pitt the Elder Part 1 coming soon.)

Recording day!! William Pitt the Elder is one of the most important figures in both British and American colonial history. I am so exited!

What if a podcast HAD VIDEO? The video version of my Intelligent Speech presentation is now up. This version lacks Abram's "narration" and is the version as depicted at the conference itself. #ukhistory youtu.be/7eSmaQ8HDT4

Looking for all those crazy slides that Abram refused to read? Here they are! docs.google.com/presentation...

I presented at Intelligent Speech 2025! So many great podcasters, and I can finally release my talk for free. Prime Lies: Robert Walpole looks at the lies of Prime Ministers: that Walpole was the first, that Prime Ministers exist, and that Walpole's ascendance was good democracy... bit.ly/40CWKQg

Research! Why did The Great Commoner decide that he needed to be a peer to govern?

Rockingham Part 2! As the Grenville government was on its last legs, Cumberland was asked to form a new one... during the Ascot Races. Fortunately for Charles, he was also enjoying the races that day. No one was more surprised than he to learn that he would soon be Prime Minister. bit.ly/4l2OLEq

A little bit of light podcasting... at a cowork space in Portsmouth, NH.

Recording day! Rockingham Part 2! We're recording in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (Largest city in Rockingham County, NH) Trying to get the most out of Prime Minister-named locations before the "Revolution" comes and they stop naming US towns after British PMs...

It is time to begin. WILLIAM PITT THE ELDER. (With friends.)

Finishing touches on the Rockingham2 script done! Now to find a place to record…

This is Rockingham Castle, originally built by William I in wood but replaced by William II in stone. According to Abram, the castle will be haunted by generations of woodworkers upset by the switch. You may have to be the judge. It was also the ancestral home of the Watsons. bit.ly/4kL2Vdg

Abram’s grandparents may be trying to kill me… Prime Factors Canada?

It was the adventure of a lifetime: Rockingham, only 15, running away from home to join the army. He had to ride 5 days in war-torn northern England, had to fake his way past military checkpoints, and secure an audience with the duke. It helped that his family was very, very rich. bit.ly/4kL2Vdg

Charles Watson-Wentworth wasn't a serious man. He's a guy who tried to run away to the army, partied across Europe (and maybe kept a sex journal), and then threw a 21st birthday bash for 10,000 of his closest friends. Obviously, he's a great candidate to be Prime Minister. #ukhistory bit.ly/4kL2Vdg

This may be the most beautiful place in the world to record a podcast. Charles Watson-Wentworth is coming soon! (And thanks to our friends at Rockingham Hill Farm in Rockingham, Vermont for the use of their space.)

Recording this weekend! It's been way too long. This time, I have the script done for BOTH Part 1 and Part 2 before starting to record, so with luck we'll have very little gap between the episodes. (But we don't have a venue booked for Part 2 yet.)

New Episode! For the final part of our tour across the globe we head to the chillier parts of Europe to see what was going on for them! Thanks to @flatpacksweden.bsky.social and @primefactorspod.bsky.social for doing all the legwork for this episode! historyaotearoa.com/2025/05/18/1...

Four podcasters entered a cafe... Everyone survived! This is the Prime Time/Prime Factors Trans-Atlantic Special! We talked about Prime Ministers, played a trivia game, drank tea, and had a wonderful time in London with our friends. bit.ly/4mzzhsK

Thank you to @flatpacksweden.bsky.social for your shout out on your most recent episode! I cannot believe I could have so much fun learning about Swedish monarchs, but I can never look at the cafe at IKEA the same way again...

WE ARE BACK. Abram and I traveled to London for a Very Special Episode with our friends from Prime Time. We want to thank the Travel Cafe near Waterloo Station in London for their AMAZING TEA (and their conference room). Look forward to our joint episode and maybe holiday snaps. #ukhistory

It is exciting as a podcast that is about to cover the US revolution, to be so close to the 250th anniversary. I will try so hard not to get distracted as I discuss British politics…

Abram and I took a pilgrimage to Grenville Rd! Why? No idea. Probably not named for the Prime Minister.

New episode! Having abandoned his family to pursue power, George Grenville rose to the highest office in the land. As riots broke out in England and the New World over his unpopular policies, would George Grenville rise above the fray and find success as a Prime Minister? Well, no. bit.ly/3GcdLtq

I asked ChatGPT to create an image of what it thought we look like. It’s both scary and terrible, but I wish I owned that mug.

We returned to the scene of our first travel episode, one year ago, to record George Grenville, Part 2. Not as fun as going to Canada, but still pretty good!

Recording day!

It begins. Time to start scripting our eighth Prime Minister! #ukhistory #rockingham

Larry the Cat, the UK's 12th Chief Mouser! All it took was a rat-sized metaphor scampering across the 10 Downing Street stoop to put David Cameron on the back foot politically. Fortunately, the UK has a long history of mousers in government. bit.ly/3DPmnW3

New episode tomorrow! Featuring a surprise appearance from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey! Everyone’s favorite cardinal that didn’t get Henry VIII a divorce fast enough, was arrested for treason, and would have been executed if only he didn’t poop himself to death first. #ukhistory

RECORDING DAY! We just recorded an amazing Special Episode with our co-host and guest Kess from Prime Time! It should be out in about a week! #ukhistory Still not telling you what it's about though.

I absolutely cannot tell you who our next episode will be about.

Trivia from our next episode: No. 10 was originally painted yellow. The iconic black brick formed over hundreds of years of smoke and pollution. During renovations however, it was decided to paint them black officially and keep the traditional look. #ukhistory

Abram and I were interviewed by WCA-TV about Prime Factors! Our segment starts at the 2-minute mark, alongside other podcasts recorded nearby. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sMG...

Round 3! forms.gle/74wveZ3oPksB... @totalusrankium.bsky.social @aopnetwork.bsky.social @battleroyale.bsky.social @alexstandardpod.bsky.social @primefactorspod.bsky.social @rankingpersia.bsky.social @tsarpowerpod.bsky.social @rexfactor.bsky.social

Robert Walpole - Part 1 has been remastered! I still have a crappy microphone, but we have the final intro and it all flows better. Listen to it if you haven't! Ep2 will be remastered next. (Our launch eps were slightly different than the series.) #ukhistory bit.ly/3DvgUDo

George Grenville wanted to be a lawyer, but when Uncle Cobham needed MPs to form his "Cobham Cubs" to fight Walpole, George dutifully entered parliament. After decades playing second-fiddle, would George Grenville ever step out of his family's shadow and find his own path? #ukhistory bit.ly/3ERoLeQ