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
Medieval New Year
1 January 2022In the medieval world, January 1 wasn’t actually New Year’s Day (that was March 25), but the anniversary of Jesus’s circumcision (according...
Listen NowThe World's Biggest Nuclear Bomb
31 December 2021In the early hours of 30 October 1961, a bomber took off from an airstrip in northern Russia and began its flight through cloudy skies over...
Listen NowSex in the Middle Ages
31 December 2021Please note that this episode contains conversation about sex that you might not want to listen to in the presence of children.
What did...
Listen NowA Happy Tudor New Year
30 December 2021For the Tudors, Christmas Day was not traditionally the date when gifts were given. The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on 25 December and end...
Listen NowHow Julius Caesar Changed Time
30 December 2021We’re finishing off 2021 with what is perhaps Julius Caesar’s greatest legacy. It’s not a military victory or battle, but one of the many...
Listen NowInside The Great Cathedrals of Europe
30 December 2021A trip to Paris wouldn't be the same without taking a moment to gaze up at the great looming towers of the Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral with its...
Listen NowThe Great Escape with Air Commodore Charles Clarke
29 December 2021What was it like in Stalag Luft III? In this episode from the History Hit archives, Dan Snow speaks with Air Commodore Charles Clarke, a...
Listen NowThe Origins Of Scotland
29 December 2021The Medieval period saw the advancement of many countries, evolving to the provinces in Europe that we know today; Scotland is no different. In...
Listen NowVikings: Surviving Winter
28 December 2021Vikings are often depicted as fearless warriors, but they were not immune to the harsh realities of northern weather. They not only survived in...
Listen NowThe 1914 Christmas Truce (Part 2)
28 December 2021Part Two of our episodes on the famous Christmas Truce. On Christmas Eve 1914 many sectors of the Western Front in France and Belgium fell silent....
Listen NowBiggest Tudor Discoveries 2021
27 December 2021In this special end of the year edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb takes a look back at 2021 and the major events and...
Listen NowCreating the United Nations
27 December 2021The search for Peace on Earth has spanned centuries, and involved the creation and dissolution of numerous treaties and organisations. So how does...
Listen NowThe 1914 Christmas Truce (Part 1)
27 December 2021On Christmas Eve 1914 many sectors of the Western Front in France and Belgium fell silent. Troops from all sides put down their weapons and sang...
Listen NowRace & Identity in the Ancient Greek Novel
26 December 2021For the first 4 centuries AD/CE, the ancient Greek novel was the most popular literary form in the Roman Empire and at the heart of these popular...
Listen NowMedieval Christmas
25 December 2021Ever wondered why we call Christmas, ‘Christmas’? And why it’s celebrated on the 25th December? Or maybe where the Christmas tree came from,...
Listen NowStorytime with the Snows: Boudica
25 December 2021In a special episode of the podcast, Dan's children join him for a lively retelling of Boudica and the violent uprising that tore Roman Britain...
Listen NowHMS Belfast & the Arctic Convoy
24 December 2021Moored on the Thames, HMS Belfast has become a permanent fixture in the landscape of London, but since her initial launch over 80 years ago she...
Listen NowChristmas Carols: A Musical History
24 December 2021Traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season, it is thought that carols existed to keep up people’s...
Listen NowTudor Ghosts and Angels
23 December 2021To this day, the presence of angels is synonymous with the Christmas story and the momentous events associated with the Nativity. For the...
Listen NowHannibal's Winter War
23 December 2021It’s fair to say that winter battles weren’t commonplace in the ancient Mediterranean world. There is, however, one striking exception. A...
Listen NowDan Explores Dickensian London!
23 December 2021Just as Scrooge wandered London's streets on a cold Christmas night, Dan Snow follows the ghosts of Charles Dickens' past to discover the city...
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