History Podcasts | History Hit

 

 

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

45:49

President Andrew Johnson: Reconstruction & The First Impeachment

28 March 2024

Three quarters of a million people dead in the Civil War. A country separated in to two. How do you join it back together? Do you punish the...

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30:06

Surgery in the Early Modern Age

28 March 2024

Today surgery is one of the most important sectors in the medical field. But what was surgery like for people in the 16th and 17th centuries,...

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55:36

The Murdering Midwife of Covent Garden

28 March 2024

‘If only walls could talk’ is a phrase which feels particularly relevant to mysterious murder cases throughout history. And in today’s...

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58:36

2. The British Empire: The Raj and Indian Independence

28 March 2024

This is the story of the British Empire in India. Over two episodes, we'll chart India's history from the birth of the Mughal Empire until the...

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43:15

The Pantheon

27 March 2024

The Pantheon is one of the greatest Roman monuments still standing. First built as a pagan temple by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Caesar...

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40:54

1. The British Empire: Mughals & the East India Company

27 March 2024

This is the story of the British Empire in India. Over two episodes, we'll chart India's history from the birth of the Mughal Empire until the...

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55:32

The Dark History of Ballet

26 March 2024

Whilst ballet is undoubtedly one of the most graceful and elegant art forms, it also has a long and dark history of sexual exploitation.

How...

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39:45

Medieval Sex Work

26 March 2024

Prostitutes were everywhere in the streets and neighbourhoods of medieval cities. In one and the same building, there might be a school upstairs,...

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41:40

D.B. Cooper & the 70s Hijacking Craze

26 March 2024

On 23 June 1972, a man boarded American Airlines Flight 119 in St Louis. He sat most of the way to Tulsa before donning a wig and a pair of gloves...

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38:03

Who is the Real Dracula? The Bloody History

25 March 2024

This is the incredible history of Dracula, from medieval ruler Vlad the Impaler, to Bram Stoker and the Victorian theatre world. Get ready for a...

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27:55

Jewish History of Venice

25 March 2024

Essential to any history of Venice during its glory days is the story of its Jewish population. Venice gave the world the word ghetto....

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55:45

The English Navigator Who Became a Samurai

25 March 2024

In the year 1600, a bedraggled English sailor and his sick and dying crewmates anchored off the coast of Kyushu, Japan. His name was William...

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40:52

The Salem Witch Trials

24 March 2024

More than 200 accused, 20 executed and a village plagued with hysteria. Were the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693 the work of superstition, a...

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54:33

Britain After the Ice Age: Star Carr

24 March 2024

Over 13,000 years ago, Britain emerged from the ravages of the Ice Age as a changed land. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who had adapted to cold...

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49:29

King Henry II

22 March 2024

One of the pivotal figures in Medieval history, King Henry II centralised royal power, instituted legal reforms and established common...

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56:27

Did the Cold War Ever End?

21 March 2024

Would the Cold War have happened if the nuclear bomb was never created? How did Gorbachev, Reagan and Thatcher reduce tensions between the East...

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38:44

Abraham Lincoln's Sex Life

21 March 2024

Abraham Lincoln is often thought of as the most loved president in America's history, but how much do we know about his personal...

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46:18

England's Worst Witch Trial: Pendle Witches

21 March 2024

Inside the heavy walls of Lancaster Castle, the darkest & deadliest of English witch trials played out in 1612 - the Pendle Witch Trials. By the...

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46:35

Tudor Ladies-in-Waiting

21 March 2024

For every Tudor Queen, their ladies-in-waiting were their confidantes, chaperones and intimate witnesses to their lives. These women were high...

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22:16

Atlantis

21 March 2024

The fictional island of Atlantis has intrigued and eluded us for millennia. First mentioned in the works of Plato, it's a story that captures our...

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55:19

Great Wall of China

20 March 2024

It's one of the most iconic structures in the world: The Great Wall of China.

But is it just one wall? And who built it and why? Today,...

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