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
43:26
Nell Gwyn: Celebrity Mistress of King Charles II
15 April 2025How did a working class illiterate woman become King Charles II's favourite mistress?
Nell Gwyn was an incredibly talented comedy actor who...
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55:00
Ibn Fadlan: An Arab Among Vikings
15 April 2025**This podcast contains descriptions of sexual violence, enslavement and human sacrifice**
"I have never seen more perfect physical...
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53:37
Vietnam: The My Lai Massacre
14 April 2025How did a US Army mission in Vietnam end with the massacre of up to 500 people?
In this episode, Don is joined by Christopher Levesque to...
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34:29
Ireland's Darkest Folklore
14 April 2025*TW: This episode contains discussions and themes of infertility.*
Fairies have long been part of Irish folkloric history, with its...
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49:03
Succession 1625: James I to Charles I
14 April 2025March 2025 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of King James VI and I, and the succession of his son Charles I. Crowned King of Scotland at...
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55:58
The Age of Invention: The Beginning of the Modern World?
14 April 2025Assassin's Creed Syndicate incorporates technology into its gameplay and story more than any other game in the series. Its setting in Victorian...
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1:22:51
The Sinking of the Titanic
13 April 2025How could the unsinkable ship… sink? In this dramatic moment-by-moment account, Dan tells the dramatic tale of the Titanic from the moment of...
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45:07
Cassandra: Priestess of Troy
13 April 2025*This episode discusses sexual assault*
Cursed by Apollo to always speak the truth but never be believed; what makes Cassandra's story so...
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50:24
The Black Prince
11 April 2025Edward of Woodstock, famously known as the Black Prince, was held up as the epitomy of Medieval Chivalry. Matt Lewis is joined by the Black...
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32:32
The Red Army Surrounds Berlin
10 April 2025By April 1945, Soviet forces stood at the gates of Berlin. From the summer of 1944, Hitler's armies had suffered a series of cataclysmic defeats...
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44:12
President Lyndon B. Johnson: Triumph to Tragedy
10 April 2025Born in poverty in Texas Hill Country, President Johnson delivered an unsurpassed series of legislation, including the Voting Rights Act and Civil...
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39:42
Tudor England's Dumbest Murder
10 April 2025Alice Arden wanted her husband Thomas dead. So did the rest of the village of Faversham. What followed was a twisted dance of passion, poison,...
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53:09
The Great Jewish Revolt
10 April 202570 AD. Tens of thousands of Roman troops surround Jerusalem. What follows is one of the most brutal sieges in ancient history—and the dramatic...
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40:44
Christopher Columbus
10 April 2025Christopher Columbus was a man of contradictions: he professed God spoke to him to direct his travels, yet after four voyages he still could not...
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46:02
History's Worst F*ckboys: Emperor Caligula
10 April 2025Have you ever heard of the Emperor who made his horse a senator? Seems like a top bloke, right? Today on Betwixt the Sheets we’re going to meet...
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33:37
The Great Tariff Battle
8 April 2025Have trade tariffs ever worked? Dan explores a cautionary tale from the turn of the 20th century when Britain's Conservatives' flirtation with...
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48:21
Hysterectomies: 2000 Years of Care & Coercion
8 April 2025Today, it is one of the most commonly performed surgeries. But when was the hysterectomy, the removal of the uterus, first performed? How has this...
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51:08
Monsters of the Medieval Apocalypse
8 April 2025Does a four-winged leopard, a woman riding bareback on a monstrous serpent-like beast and giants having a good chat signal the beginning of the...
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50:47
Vietnam War: Turning Points
7 April 2025The Vietnam War is a defining chapter in American military history. But how did the US get so involved in this far away conflict? And when did...
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32:21
Scotland's Darkest Folklore
7 April 2025From misty mountains to deep-sea caves, we explore the dark side of Scottish folklore. Tales of Selkies - seal folk caught between sea and shore -...
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29:45
Henry VIII's Conscience and Contradictions
7 April 2025Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into the tumultuous and nuanced religious policies of Henry VIII's reign. She examines how Henry VIII utilised...
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