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
38:45
Saint Patrick
17 March 2022Man, myth or legend... who was the real Saint Patrick? Did he really banish all the snakes from Ireland? Where does the shamrock tradition come...
Listen Now
49:26
What Is an Oligarch?
17 March 2022The use of the word ‘Oligarch’ has been increasingly rampant across international news outlets since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just weeks...
Listen Now
40:51
Beekeeping with Bez from the Happy Mondays
17 March 2022Bez from the Happy Mondays: dancer, rockstar and...beekeeper?!
Bez, who has kept bees for more than seven years, shares some hilarious...
Listen Now
35:33
The Steam Engine and Simultaneous Invention
16 March 2022The revolution in speed ground to a halt in the 1960s. The previous half-century saw great leaps in how quickly people could get from place to...
Listen Now
33:04
Putin's Rise to Power
16 March 2022In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we wanted to take a closer look at Russian President, Vladimir Putin's rise to power. We've dug...
Listen Now
34:19
Steam Engines and Transport Innovators
16 March 2022The revolution in speed ground to a halt in the 1960s. The previous half-century saw great leaps in how quickly people could get from place to...
Listen Now
53:00
Genetic Engineering
16 March 2022Over the course of only half a century, genetic engineering has developed from an intellectual concept to a medical reality. Yet the ethical and...
Listen Now
34:42
Recreating the Viking World in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
15 March 2022Assassin's Creed: Valhalla has brought the Viking Age to life in stunning detail, and now the game is even being used as an educational...
Listen Now
51:41
The Assassination of Julius Caesar: Explained
15 March 2022March 15th 44BC is perhaps the most notorious date in all of ancient history. On that fateful day, the Ides of March, 55-year-old Roman dictator...
Listen Now
28:52
The KGB in Ukraine
14 March 2022The KGB was the main security agency for the Soviet Union. Tasked with surveillance and rooting out dissidents, religious practitioners and...
Listen Now
42:28
The Real Cyrano de Bergerac
14 March 2022One of the world's much loved stage and screen characters has just returned to the cinema in a new film version starring Peter Dinklage. But...
Listen Now
48:18
Who Are Boko Haram?
14 March 2022Boko Haram is one of the largest Islamist militant groups in Africa, with Nigeria’s ongoing battle with insurgent groups and government...
Listen Now
1:14:31
The Rise and Fall of Brutus
13 March 2022Marcus Junius Brutus is best known as one of the conspirators against Julius Caesar, but there's so much more to his complex story. In today's...
Listen Now
37:21
My Dad Wrote a History Hit!
13 March 2022In this special episode Dan Snow teams up with Alice Levine, Jamie Morton and James Cooper from My Dad Wrote A Porno to chat about all things sex...
Listen Now
35:10
Medieval Gaming: Crusader Kings III
12 March 2022How would you rule an early medieval dynasty? Maybe you'll send your spymaster to dig around for secrets or champion honestly to keep stress...
Listen Now
21:41
How the British Prepared for Nuclear War
11 March 2022In this interview from the History Hit archive with Julie McDowall, she talks Dan through exactly how the British government prepared for a worst...
Listen Now
40:37
The Origins of Kyiv
11 March 202224th of February 2022 marked the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This episode of Gone Medieval looks at the origins of its capital...
Listen Now
0
Elizabeth Stuart: The Forgotten Queen
10 March 2022As a contribution to International Women's Day last Tuesday, this episode of Not Just the Tudors is a tribute to one of the great - but largely...
Listen Now
44:48
Helen of Troy
10 March 2022Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships - but is there more to her than a beautiful face? To mark Women's History Month, Tristan is...
Listen Now
28:21
Preventing Nuclear War
10 March 2022While Ukraine fights to defend itself from Russian forces, Putin makes a nuclear threat to the west and the rest of the world. Dr Jeremy Garlick,...
Listen Now
29:08
Wild Swimming with River Expert Angela Jones
10 March 2022Angela Jones, also known as 'The Wild Woman of the Wye', often spends up to six hours in the river. She joins Jimmy on the farm to talk about wild...
Listen Now