A wild history of partying

For hundreds of years people have gathered after dark to drink, dance, and escape the pressures of everyday life. But how did going out become a habit across the world? In today's episode of the History Extra podcast, John Borkham chats to Imogen Willetz about the hedonistic history of partying, journeying from 17th century Japan to Weimar, Germany, Cold War Las Vegas. And beyond. Imogen, welcome to the History Extra podcast. Thanks very much for having me. Now, Imogen, this is a book all about the history of partying, of hedonism, and people generally just having a great time. But before we properly begin, let's just get a bit of clarity on that terminology.

What to you counts as going out? Great question. So we have always had hedonism, drinking, dancing, drugs, all of these activities are so fundamental to what it is to be human. But what I'm interested in is the moment at which they stop being part of religion or court celebrations and nightlife and going out becomes its own distinct entity that's separate from those two realms. And if we think of nightlife in that sense, then it's quite fun. We really can date its origin to 17th century Japan, when people partied in a way that was not to do with the king, wasn't to do with religion, it was its own Separate commercial environment designed to be experienced and enjoyed after dark.

Excellent. So just talk about Japan then,'cause that's the that's the first chapter of the book, isn't it? And you specifically talk about an area of what is now Tokyo called Yoshiwara. Can you paint a little picture of that then for our listeners? So Edo at that time, which is now known as Tokyo, was a very male dominated city. So men outnumbered women by two to one. It was a kind of quasi military dictatorship, you know, under the shogun. And what Yoshiwara was this amazing kind of ten acre patch and the outskirts of the city. You had to travel by horse for hours to get there. Very otherworldly. And the idea was that it was a female dominated space, you know, courtesans and performers and banqueting. And it was this kind of art cultural paradise that was very distinct and very separate from what Edo would have felt like to live in. It was just

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