History would be a lot more fun if someone cherry-picked the good parts. That’s exactly what the British actor Stephen Fry does in his new podcast series, a 12-episode sequel to his 2018 series, Stephen Fry’s Victorian Secrets. This time he focuses on the 20th century—specifically the Edwardian era, which ended when W.W. I began, in July 1914. It was a period of strict manners and afternoon tea but also excess, adultery, murder, and the sinking of the Titanic. Omnipresent is the monarch for whom the era is named—Edward VII—whose gluttony (his waist reportedly measured 48 inches) was rivaled only by his appetite for women. —J.V.