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

49:04

Black Tudors

2 December 2021

Our image of the Tudor era remains overwhelmingly white. But the black presence in England was much greater than has previously been recognised,...

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1:24:08

The Origins of Life on Earth

2 December 2021

Today we’re going back to the beginning – no Romans, Celts, Egyptians or Macedonians in sight. We’re going much further back, covering...

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32:12

Discovered! Rare Celtic Coins in the New Forest

2 December 2021

In a special episode of the podcast, Dan and his team hit the road after receiving a call about the discovery of a hoard of rare Iron Age coins,...

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44:50

The Blitz: An Alternative History

1 December 2021

Between September 1940 and May 1941, the German Luftwaffe relentlessly pounded British cities with bombs in an attempt to force the British to...

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21:51

Ridley Scott on Gucci, Gladiator and the Blitz

1 December 2021

Please note that this episode contains the use of explicit language right from the very beginning.  

Ridley Scott, a prolific...

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42:17

Arnold Schwarzenegger on Churchill's Birthday

30 November 2021

Actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger joins Dan in conversation on today's podcast about Winston Churchill, who was born on...

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44:04

Ibn Fadlan: The Real 13th Warrior

30 November 2021

Ibn Fadlan might be familiar to many based on modern-day renditions from films such as The 13th Warrior. Ibn Traveled from Bagdad to Russia,...

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55:24

How Powerful was Henry VIII?

29 November 2021

Was Henry VIII as all-powerful and tyrannical as we have come to believe? Is the scheming of Thomas Cromwell portrayed in Wolf Hall close to the...

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27:26

Battle of Austerlitz: Napoleon's Greatest Victory

29 November 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,...

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39:35

Winston Churchill

29 November 2021

Winston Churchill was many things a writer, politician, journalist, painter but the defining aspect of his career was as a war leader. Warfare...

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42:52

Vindolanda's 2021 Excavation

28 November 2021

Situated roughly one mile south of Hadrian’s Wall is one of the great jewels of Roman and early medieval archaeology: Vindolanda. Over the past...

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28:12

The Complicated Legacy of F W de Klerk

28 November 2021

The result of his complicated legacy, the death of South Africa's last apartheid president, F W de Klerk, on November 11 2021 generated a flood of...

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36:02

How To Live Like A Monk

27 November 2021

Monks. We know that they dedicated their lives to serving God, but what did it mean to be a Monk? In today's, episode Matt is joined by the...

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37:19

The Punjab Soldiers of WWI

26 November 2021

About one in six of the men who served in the First World War came from undivided India. However, unlike those who hailed from Britain and the rest...

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1:04:57

The Rise of the Praetorian Guard

26 November 2021

From Gladiator to Rome Total War to Star Wars, today the Praetorians are one of the most distinctive military units of Imperial Rome. It was their...

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25:07

The First Gun Crime in London

25 November 2021

Early in the morning of Sunday 13 November 1536, a London merchant named Robert Pakington was shot dead crossing Cheapside as he walked to...

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1:02:20

Menka: Village of the Breadfruit Goddess

25 November 2021

It is one of the most remote ancient sites in the world. Situated on the isolated Micronesian island of Kosrae are the ruins of an ancient...

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27:15

The British Spy who Saved Jews from Hitler

25 November 2021

Thomas Kendrick was at the very centre of British Intelligence operations throughout the first half of the twentieth century. He combined a public...

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23:19

The Battle of Prokhorovka

24 November 2021

The Battle of Prokhorovka was one of the largest tank battles in military history. Taking place on the Eastern Front, it was fought on 12 July 1943...

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23:04

From the Punjab to the Western Front

24 November 2021

Over a million Indian soldiers served during the First World War, but many of the records of the soldiers who fought valiantly for the Allied...

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34:48

Medieval Treasure: What To Do If You Find Some

23 November 2021

If you're lucky enough to find some 'treasure', you're legally obliged to report it. A coroner then decides whether it's actually treasure. Yes,...

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