History Podcasts
The History Hit network gives you access to a growing range of podcasts presented by and featuring historians at the forefront of research and debate.
Scroll down to listen to the most recent episodes from our network.
Dan Snow’s History Hit explores the deep history behind today’s headlines – giving you the context to understand what is going on today. Everything has a history, every challenge made easier by understanding its nature, its genesis. In a world of fast opinions, we put historians into the debate, women and men who bring real knowledge built over careers spent researching.
The Ancients, hosted by historian Tristan Hughes, is dedicated to discussing our distant past. Historians and archaeologists join Tristan to discuss specific themes from antiquity, from Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome.
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb presents Not Just the Tudors. Together with expert interviewees, she covers the sweeping range of the early modern period: everything from the Aztecs to witches, Velázquez to Shakespeare, Mughal India to the Mayflower.
Gone Medieval is hosted by historians Matt Lewis and Eleanor Janega, who shine a light on one of the most fascinating yet misunderstood periods of history: the Middle Ages. In each episode, experts lead listeners beneath the skin of captivating stories to uncover new insights.
In Betwixt the Sheets join historian, Kate Lister as she unashamedly roots around the topics which seem to have been skipped in history class. Everything from landmark LGBTQ+ court cases, to political scandal, to downright bizarre medieval cures for impotence.
In American History Hit, join Don Wildman twice a week for your hit of American history, as he explores the past to help us understand the United States of today. We’ll hear how codebreakers uncovered secret Japanese plans for the Battle of Midway, visit Chief Powhatan as he prepares for war with the British, see Walt Disney accuse his former colleagues of being communists, and uncover the dark history that lies beneath Central Park.
After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal joined History Hit’s award-winning podcast network in October 2023, hosted by actor, writer and historian Anthony Delaney and writer, broadcaster, historian Maddy Pelling. Together, the duo unpick history’s spookiest, strangest and most sinister stories – from the disappearance of HMS Terror to the origins of Halloween.
War historian and broadcaster James Rogers hosts our Warfare podcast, which opens up fascinating new perspectives on how conflict has shaped and changed our world. James teams up with fellow historians, veterans, and experts to reveal astonishing new histories of inspirational leadership, breakthrough technologies, and era defining battles.
Patented, hosted by Dallas Campbell, dives into stories of flukey discoveries, erased individuals and murky marketing ploys with the help of experts, scientists and historians.
Click on any of the listings below to listen to the most recent episodes from our network.
All Podcasts
42:10
Did Ancient People Have Sex Toys?
27 December 2024Dating back some 30,000 years, sex toys have a long (no pun intended) and fascinating history.
What were the earliest sex toys like? How did...
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49:00
What happened to the Princes in the Tower?
27 December 2024Did Richard III really murder the Princes in the Tower?
Join Matt Lewis to dive into the enigmatic tale of the Princes in the Tower, joined...
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43:47
The Origins of Istanbul
27 December 2024Today we dig into the history of Istanbul, the city at the crossroads of East and West. Across thousands of years, the city has survived the rise...
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42:55
Lexington & Concord: The First Battles of the Revolutionary War
26 December 2024The shot heard ‘round the world'; the start of the American Revolution. An event that would have profound consequences for world history,...
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55:55
Tomb of King Herod
26 December 2024Did Herod really order the massacre of thousands of infants? Tristan Hughes revisits the scandalous and captivating story of the discovery of King...
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1:24:21
Six Wives: Jane Seymour & Anne of Cleves
26 December 2024In this second special Christmas edition, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb offers another chance to hear the fascinating series from earlier this year...
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37:53
Mystery of the Ghost Ship: Mary Celeste
26 December 2024In 1872 the ghost ship Mary Celeste is found sailing across the Atlantic without a single crew member left on board. Theories over what happened...
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46:42
Charles Dickens' Christmas
25 December 2024Just as Scrooge wanders London's streets on a cold Christmas night, Dan Snow follows the ghosts of Charles Dickens' past to discover the city that...
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48:00
Sex Life & Scandal of Charles Dickens
24 December 2024Like it or not, there's no escaping Charles Dickens at this time of year.
But who was the man behind classics such as A Tale of Two Cities,...
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53:18
Christmas Movie Knight
24 December 2024It’s Christmas. The holly and ivy are adorning the fireplace, hopefully the shopping is (mostly) done and the King of Misrule is on his...
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27:55
How Old is America?
23 December 2024When fossils were discovered in the US during the 19th Century, it altered American understandings of science, religion, race and more. So what...
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1:28:56
Six Wives: Katherine of Aragon & Anne Boleyn
23 December 2024In the first of three special Christmas editions, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb offers another chance to hear the series from earlier this year in...
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47:14
Who was the "Elephant Man"? Joseph Merrick's True Story
23 December 2024The life of Joseph Merrick, the man they dared to call "The Elephant Man", will fill you with pain and anger. He was treated so cruelly by society...
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30:11
Folk Christmas: Yule, Solstice & Ancient English Traditions
23 December 2024Folktales around the fire, gooding & mumping and the terrifying Hooden Horse are just some of England's winter folk traditions from history. In...
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45:07
Druids
22 December 2024Aligning with the winter solstice of 2024, Tristan Hughes and Professor Ronald Hutton delve into the ancient Druids of Britain and...
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37:08
Kateryn Parr | Secret Lives of the Six Wives
20 December 2024At the time, surely Kateryn Parr had her reservations about being Henry VIII's sixth wife?
Aside from being a tyrannical maniac who'd just...
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40:25
Lives of Medieval Nuns
20 December 2024The often forgotten world of medieval nuns holds many secrets about the lives of ordinary people of the age, their daily routines, education, and...
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19:24
How the Mongols Changed the World
20 December 2024After the death of Chinggis Khan, the founder and first Emperor of the Mongol Empire, the land became the largest contiguous empire in...
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26:33
Outlaws vs the FBI: J. Edgar Hoover's G-Men
19 December 2024What makes the ideal gangster hunter? In the 1930s, outlaws like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Bonnie & Clyde were the scourge on the...
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42:12
The Birth of Money
19 December 2024Gold has shaped human history for several millennia. But how and when did it first turn into currency? And what can it tell us about the birth of...
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52:05
The Bible
19 December 2024How did the Bible transform from a guarded manuscript read in secret to a book accessible to millions?
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined...
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