Natasha Kitcher

Natasha is currently the Research Fellow focusing on the digital history of communications as part of the Science Museum's AHRC-funded Congruence Engine project.

She previously completed a PhD titled 'The Electrophone: The Life and Death of a Victorian Broadcasting Device 1893 - 2023.' This work was part of a Collaborative Doctoral Project between Loughborough University and BT Archives, also funded by AHRC. The Electrophone has been described as the Victorian smartphone, enabling people to listen to live theatre, music concerts, and sermons from the comfort of their own home, it was a form of broadcasting that emerged at the end of the nineteenth century; many years before the Wireless was introduced to Britain. Using a media-archaeology approach this project explored what the Electrophone can tell us about the use of media in the period, as well as what relevance this early case of convergence has today.

Prior to her time at Loughborough, Natasha studied History at Royal Holloway, where she completed her BA in History and an MA in Public History. As part of the course she learned a great deal about engaging wider audiences in the past and wrote a play (Mum is MAD!) that was performed at Stanley Halls in 2019.