Matt Phillpott
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mphillpott.bsky.social
Matt Phillpott
@mphillpott.bsky.social
Educator, writer, and historian. I am a freelance learning designer, working with Moodle, Articulate and other tools with a mission to focus on the learners learning journey. I also run Honeybee Histories, a weekly exploration of the history of bees!
I'm really excited to announce that The Hungry Historians podcast has a new home on #podbean check us out at thehungryhistorianspodcast.podbean.com/page/2/ #food_history #podcast
Page 2 | The Hungry Historians
Join Kelly Spring and Matt Phillpott for interviews and conversations with leading writers on the history of food and drink. New episodes fortnightly.</p>
thehungryhistorianspodcast.podbean.com
February 14, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Visited the Maritime Museum at Greenwich on Sunday and saw Horatio Nelson's uniform. You can just see the rip in the left shoulder - that's where the musket ball hit him and ended his life! It looks so insignificant, but literally that rip changed history! #history #nelson
February 10, 2026 at 5:45 PM
What did Thomas Hill write about #honeybee anatomy in his 1568 beekeeping manual? open.substack.com/pub/honeybee...
Thomas Hill Chapter 5 – Another look at bee anatomy
Part 12 in a semi-regular series of essays examining the 1568, A Profitable Instruction of the perfect ordering of Bees, written by Thomas Hill.
open.substack.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Fancy a cocktail? In the latest episode of The Hungry Historians we explore the history of the cocktail parlor with Nicola Nice open.spotify.com/episode/7n9A... #cocktails #history
Cocktails with Nicola Nice
open.spotify.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Just a quick reminder of our podcast episode interviewing Eric Rath about the #history of #Sake. This was a fascinating discussion about a alcoholic drink made from rice and its deep connections into Japanese culture open.spotify.com/episode/3Cnh...
Sake with Eric C Rath
open.spotify.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Commonplace books are great way to make notebooks more useful when taking notes for research purposes. In this essay I explain how to make your own commonplace books and give a few examples from those that I've compiled over the years
How to make a Commonplace Book Part 1 – The paper method
Making your own commonplace book is easy but what really matters is the mindset. In this essay I dive into the world of making your own commonplace book.
open.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:58 AM
Inspired by our discussion about the history of Sake on The Hungry Historians podcast, I sought out a local Sake bar in London. It’s a potent drink but very much enjoyed it! #sake #food_history #japan open.spotify.com/episode/3Cnh...
January 22, 2026 at 10:45 AM
As the world only seems to get worse how can we find hope and lead the best life that we can? How do we fight back without going to war or seeking prison by protest? In this essay I explore some of the ideas that give me hope in these difficult times. #hope #good_life
Finding Hope in the Darkness
How do we respond to the looming darkness?
open.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Sake is the oldest alcoholic drink in Japan. It can be drunk warm or cold and is made from rice. In the latest episode of The Hungry Historians podcast, Matt and Kelly explore the history of Sake with Eric C. Rath. #sake #food_history #japan open.spotify.com/episode/3Cnh...
Sake with Eric C Rath
open.spotify.com
January 20, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Our latest episode of The Hungry Historians is now live! In this episode Kelly and I interview Eric C. Rath about his study of the Japenese drink, Sake!

Join us on Spotify or wherever you prefer to listen to your podcasts!

open.spotify.com/episode/3Cnh...
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Round-up of the year on Honeybee Histories open.substack.com/pub/honeybee... #history #honeybees #beekeeping
Honeybee Histories: A Summary of Year Four (2025)
Round up of Honeybee Histories in 2025
open.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:51 AM
My latest History Commonplaces is a #Christmas special featuring a Christmas Pineapple! open.substack.com/pub/historyc... #history
History News 003 - The Christmas Edition
Christmas, news, and more.
open.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:06 AM
In addition to Spotify, you can listen to The Hungry Historians podcast on these platforms:

Amazon Music - music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/ed8...

Castbox - castbox.fm/channel/id68...

iHeartRadio - www.iheart.com/podcast/269-... [only available in US]

PocketCast - pocketcasts.com/podcast/the-...
For the best experience accessing Amazon Music, we recommend using the latest version of Firefox, Chrome, Safari or Edge.
music.amazon.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 3:19 PM
The Hungry Historians podcast is back for season 2! We open with a fascinating exploration of Or Rosenboim's book "Air and Love" - an examination of her family history told through the lens of #food and #cooking open.spotify.com/episode/0Fxq... #history #foodhistory
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:11 PM
In this weeks History Commonplaces I explore Chris Park’s assessment of Charles Butler’s The Feminine Monarchie - a beekeeping manual from 17th century England which first popularised the idea that the leader bee is a Queen! historycommonplaces.substack.com/p/chris-park... #beekeeping #history
Chris Park's assessment of Charles Butler's The Feminine Monarchie (1623)
In the early 17th century, Charles Butler wrote a beekeeping manual which granted him the title 'father of English beekeeping'. In this essay we explore a presentation by Chris Park 400 years later.
historycommonplaces.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Looking forward to launching season 2 of our podcast, The Hungry Historians, tomorrow. Look out for another dive into the world of food history open.spotify.com/show/2dd70WM... #food #history
Kelly A. Spring - SPAM
open.spotify.com
December 3, 2025 at 7:16 PM
What was the Isle of Wight Disease? When did the American Bee Journal begin? Who first coined the term superorganism when talking about honeybees? In this week's Honeybee Histories I discuss these questions and offer a short video montage! open.substack.com/pub/honeybee... #honeybees #beekeeping
Did you know that about the history of Honeybees?
Isle of Wight disease, the American Bee Journal, and bees as a superorganism
open.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:03 PM
If you have an interest in #food and #history then do check out the #HungryHistorians podcast, where Kelly A Spring and myself chat with writers of food history! Available on Spotify and many other podcast platforms open.spotify.com/show/2dd70WM...
Kelly A. Spring - SPAM
open.spotify.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:31 AM
John Foxe offered his readings various ways to 'read' his Book of Martyrs, even when they were unable to actually read themselves. Find out more in this examination of Zollinger's article on the subject open.substack.com/pub/historyc... #history #16thcentury #johnfoxe #bookhistory
Sixteenth Century Literacy in Text and Context
In this essay I travel back 20 years to notes that I took on an article about strategies employed by John Foxe to support different levels of literacy in his readers.
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:40 AM
This week in my news #Substack essay, I write about John Foxe. It's been a long time since I've written on this subject so this is very much a re-introduction! open.substack.com/pub/historyc... #history #johnfoxe #martyrology
Getting to know John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments
John Foxe wrote the Acts and Monuments in the Elizabethan era, depicting the Protestants who had died for their faith and rearranging history into a more suitable narrative for the new religion.
open.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 10:45 AM
In this week's History Commonplaces I provide a summary of our podcast episodes The Hungry Historians and mention the Food History Seminar and Honeybee Histories open.substack.com/pub/historyc... #history #foodstudies #podcast #honeybees
History Commonplaces - History News 001
A newsletter introducing The Hungry Historian podcast, the Food History Seminar, and Honeybee Histories Substack
open.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 9:10 AM
In the 17thC Charles Butler not only wrote an acclaimed manual on beekeeping but created a fully formed musical score that mimicked the 'piping' sounds made by queen bees. In this essay I explore this unusual aspect of #beekeeping history. open.substack.com/pub/honeybee... #honeybees #music
Charles Butler Part 3: The Music of Honeybees
When Charles Butler wrote his manual on beekeeping he also demonstrated his interest in the sounds the bees made and connected these to his love of music.
open.substack.com
September 26, 2025 at 8:12 AM
What is a Commonplace Book? I examine the genre that is influencing the format for my History Commonplaces #substack through the example of Anna Jameson open.substack.com/pub/historyc... #history #commonplaces #jameson
September 25, 2025 at 6:23 AM
I’m really excited that we’re launching the 9th year of the Food History Seminar. We have a packed programme for you this term from health in WWII and SPAM to ceremonial milk spoons! Check out our programme. All events are free and online but do require booking: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
www.history.ac.uk
September 23, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I'm very exciting to announce my new Substack - History Commonplaces! I'll be using this space to explore book and food history, the Reformation, and lots more. I'll also be talking about commonplace books! Do Subscribe if that seems of interest! historycommonplaces.substack.com?r=b9rby&utm_...
History Commonplaces | Matt Phillpott | Substack
Commonplaces were a form of structured notebook to aid memory and research in the past. This substack commonplace replicates this idea based on the researches of Dr Matthew Phillpott, with interests i...
historycommonplaces.substack.com
September 17, 2025 at 9:02 PM