History Hit Podcasts

How Hot Was Henry VIII?

With SIX wives, Henry VIII must have had something going for him, right? Was he handsome? Charming? Intelligent? Just plain powerful?

In...

The Battle of Bosworth

A King clinging to his right to rule. A young Tudor ready to snatch the crown and begin a new dynasty.

With immersive sound design and...

Emperor Nero

Emperor Nero has gone down in history as the archetypal bad ruler - cruel, decadent, and perhaps even responsible for setting Rome ablaze. But how...

American Traitors: Axis Sally

Is contributing to enemy propaganda treason? In this second episode on American Traitors, we are meeting 'Axis Sally', real name Mildred...

Ashurbanipal: The Last Great King of Assyria

Known as the 'King of the World' and the last great king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal bestrode the ancient Mesopotamian world as a warrior but also a...

The Darkest Scandal in Victorian Britain

Today we step into the shadowy world of W.T. Stead—a Victorian journalist whose life was as controversial as it was...

Tudor True Crime: Murder of Amy Dudley

**WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of suicide**

On 6 September 1560, Amy Robsart Dudley died after falling down a staircase at...

The Colosseum

Join Dan in Rome as he unravels the dramatic story of the Colosseum and the gladiators who fought — and died — for glory. From the origins of...

The Real Virgin Mary

Why has the idea of the Virgin Mary’s virginity been so important?

What does this tell us about the relationship between Christianity and...

Medieval Obscenity

This episode contains obscene and sexual language throughout

The medieval world was far from prudish, it was positively bawdy. Writers,...

What If Lincoln Hadn't Been Shot?

It's the biggest 'What if?' in American history: What if Lincoln hadn't been shot? The assassination could so easily have failed and things went...

New York's Wildest Murder Case

This 1897 New York murder case that has it all - a villain, an incredibly useless police force, and a duck who saves the day. The incredible Dr...

Tudor True Crime: Murder of Christopher Marlowe

Who stabbed the famed playwright? And who planned it? We're stepping out of the sun and into the shadows on Not Just the Tudors, as Professor...

How Rome Built An Empire

In the new game Anno 117: Pax Romana, the Emperor has appointed you as governor, tasked with developing new provinces in the Empire.

It’s...

Napoleon in Paris

Napoleon Bonaparte dreamed Paris would be the 'capital city of the universe' and much of what we see - and love - about Paris is thanks to him....

The White Huns

The Huns weren’t just Attila’s warriors in Europe — in Central Asia, the White Huns built the most powerful Hunnic empire, ruling for a...

How Wild Were The Last Days Of Rome?

As Rome fell, was it really non-stop orgies and parties?

That's become a popular connotation, and in today's episode Kate is joined by...

The Paston Letters with Helen Castor

Matt Lewis and Helen Castor uncover the romantic entanglements and perilous struggles of the 15th-century Paston family, whose personal...

Pompeii

Warning: this episode contains explicit language and discussions of sex.

Pompeii is a city frozen in time and shows us exactly how the...

American Traitors: Benedict Arnold

Is Benedict Arnold the biggest traitor in American History? In this episode, Don is joined by author Stephen Brumwell to examine how Arnold went...

Othered: Race, Gender & Human 'Monsters'

**Contains examples of 'othering', including birth abnormalities, and the terms used to describe them historically**

Professor Suzannah...