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
32:30
Sign Language
13 July 2022Imagine knowing no language at all…
*wordlessness*
…and then giving birth to one.
This is what happened amongst the children...
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26:08
The 'Dark Ages' with Michael Wood
12 July 2022Lasting 900 years, the ‘Dark Ages’ were between the 5th and 14th centuries, falling between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance....
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53:04
Bras
12 July 2022Bras are an everyday item for around half of the adult population, and for as long as humans have developed breasts they have been faced with the...
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42:27
The Origins of Thor
12 July 2022Few early medieval gods are as well-known and as popular as Thor. He’s currently thrilling moviegoers worldwide with his new outing for the...
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29:24
The Black Medal of Honour
11 July 2022In 1945, when Congress began reviewing the record of the most conspicuous acts of courage by American soldiers during WWII, they recommended...
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52:56
Isaac Newton
11 July 2022One of the greatest mathematicians and most influential physicists of all time, Isaac Newton was born into a world of turmoil that shaped him and...
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27:10
NATO Expansion: Is Bigger Better?
11 July 2022NATO is expanding and enlarging. With the number of rapid response troops set to increase to 300,000, and Sweden & Finland in line to gain...
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38:47
The Shortest History of Democracy
10 July 2022In a time of grave uncertainty about the future of our planet, the radical potential of democracy is more important than ever.
From its...
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34:31
Rise of Rome: The Fall of the Samnites
10 July 2022In the final part of our Samnite Wars episodes, Tristan is once again joined by Dr Kathryn Lomas from Durham University to find out more about...
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30:02
Mummies
9 July 2022When the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead they were trying to stop time, to preserve the body so well that it would last throughout...
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20:18
Medieval Gardens
9 July 2022Gardens and gardening are aspects of medieval life that rarely get much attention. But it was a period when those with a little more land created...
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23:25
The Korean War: Why Britain Fought
8 July 2022With the range to sail anywhere in the world and the supplies to facilitate it, HMS Belfast served a crucial role in the Korean War.
Once...
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33:00
Nzinga: Warrior Queen Who Fought Colonialism
8 July 2022Warrior. Diplomat. Queen.
From fighting alongside her father and negotiating with the Portuguese on her brother’s behalf, to campaigning...
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35:26
Coffee
7 July 2022A cup of coffee was once a luxury. Now it is quick, cheap and widely available — a daily essential for many.
How did this happen? Today on...
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30:45
Tudor Poet Anne Askew: Heretic or Martyr?
7 July 2022Born in 1521, Anne Askew was condemned as a heretic for her radical Protestantism beliefs during the reign of Henry VIII. Tortured and executed...
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28:24
Rise of Rome: The First Samnite War
7 July 2022In this first episode of a two-parter on the Samnite Wars, we focus in on one of Rome’s greatest rivals in early Italy. Based in modern day...
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36:28
Boris Johnson: Removing a Prime Minister
6 July 2022It's been an extraordinary day in British politics with dozens of Conservative MPs handing in their resignations and expressing a lack of...
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43:57
Cryonics: Living Forever?
6 July 2022Often mistakenly called Cryogenics, Cryonics is the speculative practice of preserving and storing recently dead bodies at very low temperatures...
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28:20
The Forgotten Massacre at Dartmoor Prison
5 July 2022During the War of 1812, the last time Britain and the United States went to war with each other, more than six thousand American sailors ended up...
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40:15
Alfred the Great
5 July 2022Alfred the Great - King of the West Saxons and later King of all the English not under Scandinavian rule - is the only English King to be given...
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41:24
The Medieval Bishop's Sex Workers
5 July 2022Outside Medieval London’s city walls, Southwark was a land without rules. It was the place where people went to partake in theatre, watch bear...
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