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Katie Kennedy is simply a softly spoken Oxford University pupil engaged studying for her masters grade - but erstwhile she's not got her caput buried successful a dusty tome, she's producing sharp, witty videos for her 500,000 followers connected TikTok.
Videos similar 'Why did Egyptian pharaohs privation to instrumentality their sisters to lb town?' and 'Did radical shag during the plague?' person racked up implicit 45 cardinal views, with viewers loving her irreverent takes connected the past figures we learned astir astatine school.
The 22-year-old has loved past since she was dragged astir National Trust properties “every Sunday” by her parents arsenic a child. Her involvement is piqued by societal past - hence the sanction of her channel, @TheHistoryGossip, which has had much than 14 cardinal likes successful conscionable implicit a twelvemonth since she launched the platform.
"I'll bash fun, cheeky past for my videos - precise naughty, rather sweary, which my dada does not like," she laughs from her chamber astatine Oxford University. "It's things like, wherefore did Elizabeth I person minging teeth? And past I'll explicate that she utilized to brushwood her teeth with sweetener paste, she loved marzipan. I similar to absorption connected antithetic periods of history, and if I find thing interesting, hopefully different radical will, too.”
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Hailing from Durham, Katie’s ain household travel from a mining background, which adds an other furniture of involvement to her emotion of the past. “My great-grandad was a miner, my mum’s broadside person ever lived successful the north-east truthful there’s tons of societal past there,” she explains. “It’s truly absorbing erstwhile radical speech astir the kings and queens of Britain, but really from a working-class background, to absorption connected mean radical successful past and their stories is adjacent much fascinating. Just mean radical and what they did successful their day-to-day lives.”
In betwixt graduating with a grade successful past past and archaeology, and winning a spot astatine Oxford to survey mid-18th period past for her masters, Katie has written her archetypal book, The History Gossip: Was Anne of Cleves a Minger? And 365 Other Historical Curiosities, named for the archetypal of her TikToks to truly spell viral, racking up 3 cardinal views alone. “I retrieve visiting my person successful Oxford and we were successful this ramen restaurant,” says Katie. “I’d posted the Anne of Cleves video conscionable earlier we near and past near my telephone for ages. When I checked it aboriginal it truly started popping off, and that was the archetypal clip I thought, ‘ooh, interesting’. I can’t get implicit it, it’s truthful bizarre. But I’ve had radical travel up to maine successful the thoroughfare and say, ‘do you marque past TikToks?’ it’s truly lovely, I’m precise grateful for it.”
The astir gratifying facet of her hobby, says Katie, is knowing her videos are grabbing the attraction of different young people. “The champion portion is erstwhile I get comments that say, ‘I’ve chosen to bash GCSE History due to the fact that of you’ oregon ‘I’ve pre-ordered your publication to get maine done my GCSE History’ - I’m like, arsenic agelong arsenic you don’t punctuation it word-for-word, that’s great!” she laughs. “It’s beauteous to get those comments, it’s wherefore I bash it. And erstwhile radical connection and say, ‘I privation to bash past astatine uni, bash you person immoderate advice?’ I effort to reply arsenic galore arsenic I tin due to the fact that I deliberation it’s truthful benignant erstwhile radical instrumentality clip retired of their time to remark bully things. I truly admit it - particularly connected the internet, wherever it tin beryllium a nasty place, but I haven’t experienced that much.”
The worst Katie gets is disorder astir her accent - mostly from Americans. “They’ll inquire maine to crook connected the subtitles,” she smiles, “and past they’ll say, ‘what does minging mean? What does munter mean? Why is she talking similar this?’ But I emotion utilizing that benignant of connection due to the fact that that’s however I talk successful mundane life, and I consciousness that it makes it much accessible to people. There’s a glossary astatine the backmost of the publication to each the slang I use, truthful hopefully that volition travel successful helpful…”
Struggling with a deficiency of assurance erstwhile she archetypal started university, Katie had nary thought her transmission could assistance boost her self-esteem.“When I started it, I was successful the last twelvemonth of my grade and conscionable wanted a originative outlet,” she remembers. “ And past I was a spot self-conscious. I was like, ‘I'll person to contiguous myself successful a definite mode and speech astir things successful a definite mode to beryllium taken seriously’. And I deliberation erstwhile I started to relax, beryllium myself, marque it funny, it conscionable benignant of took disconnected from there. So I'm truly grateful for that, that radical person responded truthful good and gone, ‘I similar your humour, I similar your accent’. That means a lot. ‘Cause I ever get paranoid that radical don't recognize me!”
With the motorboat of her publication and much followers subscribing to TheHistoryGossip each day, Katie plans to support her fans blessed with adjacent much scandalous historical goss. “I request to get much organised,” she laughs. “I bash effort to station a video a time but I should person immoderate benignant of system.” Katie has acceptable her sights connected doubling her followers to a cardinal earlier she graduates. “That would beryllium incredible,” she sighs.
*The History Gossip: Was Anne of Cleves a Minger? And 365 Other Historical Curiosities by Katie Kennedy is retired connected Thursday November 7 (£14.24, Michael O’Mara Books, 2024)
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