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In the first episode of a new series, Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Julia Leikin and comedian David Mitchell to learn all about the life of Catherine II of Russia, better known as Catherine the Great. Catherine\\u2019s story is full of contradictions and ambiguities. She was a German princess who became empress of all Russia, a ruler who believed in Enlightenment philosophy but championed imperial expansion, and a sexually open woman in the patriarchal eighteenth century. From her childhood in Germany through her marriage to the heir to the Russian throne and eventual coup against his rule, this episode charts the twists and turns of Catherine\\u2019s life, and asks what kind of ruler she really was.\\n \\nHosted by: Greg Jenner\\nResearch by: Jon Mason\\nWritten by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner\\nProduced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner\\nAudio Producer: Steve Hankey\\nSenior Producer: Emma Nagouse