History Podcasts | History Hit

 

 

History Hit 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

24:44

Hitler's American Gamble

13 December 2021

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941 remains etched in public memory as the turning point of WW2. But in fact, it was Hitler’s...

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56:53

Songlines: Australia's Book of Genesis

12 December 2021

What the Book of Genesis is to the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, songlines are to Indigenous Australians. Epic tales of desire,...

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31:29

The Secrets of WW2's Women Soldiers

12 December 2021

The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in 1938 it saw many thousands...

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43:02

Heralds & Heraldry

11 December 2021

Heralds and Heraldry share many aspects of modern sport today, from colourful kits to large gatherings of cheering crowds. But what did it mean to...

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32:11

USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor

10 December 2021

When the USS Arizona was destroyed on 7 December 1941, it was the United States’ Navy’s single biggest loss of life. Producers Annette Hull...

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28:36

Battle of Austerlitz: Napoleon's Greatest Victory

10 December 2021

2 December is a special date for those fascinated by Napoleon Bonaparte. Not only is this the date he crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804, but...

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41:18

True Crime on the Elizabethan Stage

9 December 2021

The true crime genre - stories of actual murders and other crimes that are then fictionalised - is not a new phenomenon. More than four...

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47:59

Homosexuality & Ancient Greece

9 December 2021

Frederick the Great, Marie Antoinette and Oscar Wilde. Each of them have talked about, or been talked about in terms of, Ancient Greek ideas of...

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34:03

Moscow 1941: Hitler's Nemesis with Jonathan Dimbleby

9 December 2021

While the allies reeled from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and Hitler's declaration of war on the United States, a ferocious battle was...

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28:29

Life at Bletchley Park

8 December 2021

Betty Webb was heavily involved with the work going on at Bletchley Park. While she was not part of the code-breaking team, her work was invaluable...

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42:24

Inside North Korea

8 December 2021

With closed borders, a totalitarian regime, electricity blackouts and widespread poverty, North Korea is a brutal place to survive; even...

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28:11

Queen Cynethryth of Mercia's Lost Abbey

7 December 2021

Queen Cynethryth of Mercia was one of the most distinguished rulers of Anglo Saxon Britain. Wife to King Offa, ruler of the Mercians (the most...

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53:22

Pearl Harbor: 80th Anniversary

7 December 2021

On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service launched a surprise military strike upon the United States against the naval base at...

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34:58

The Murder of Rizzio, Mary Queen of Scots' Favourite

6 December 2021

On 9 March 1566, David Rizzio - close friend and private secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots - was stabbed dozens of times in front of the pregnant...

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22:56

Pearl Harbor: 80 Years Later

6 December 2021

On 7 December 1941, Imperial Japan launched an attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. In this episode 80 years later, James speaks to Adrian...

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25:25

Barbados: The World's Newest Republic

6 December 2021

November 30 2021, Bridgetown, fifty-five years since Barbados’ 1966 Independence, the Royal Standard flag representing the Queen was lowered and...

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39:13

The Bronze Age Burials at Stonehenge

5 December 2021

Today we’re talking all about science, Stonehenge and what we know about a massive migration into Britain at the start of the Bronze Age some...

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28:08

Band of Brothers

5 December 2021

HBO's Band of Brothers remains one of the greatest mini-series ever made. 20 years after the award-winning series debuted, Dan speaks to...

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42:04

The Burgundians

4 December 2021

Battles, murders, and forgotten treasures - the Burgundians lived life like an episode of Game of Thrones. Once one of the most powerful kingdoms...

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41:41

The IRA: 22 Years Later

3 December 2021

This week marks the 22nd anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) coming into effect, a crucial development in the Northern Ireland peace...

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39:48

The Hundred Years' War

3 December 2021

Over 100 years of conflict, two warring nations, five monarchs on either side and countless casualties in a dispute over claims to the throne: in...

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