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
32:03
Origins of the Olympics
4 August 2024The Olympics. It’s the most famous sporting event in the world, and the 33rd Olympiad is taking place in Paris right now. But how did it all...
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32:07
How Nudes Changed Britain
2 August 2024Why were nudes so significant in Victorian England? What role did painting them play in wider social change at that time? And why didn't men think...
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43:08
Richard III's Mother: Cecily
2 August 2024Cecily Neville was the matriarch of the House of York, the mother of two kings of England and an ancestor of every monarch since Henry VIII. Born...
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30:40
American Operators on WW1's Front Line
1 August 2024When the First World War ended at 11am on 11 November, 1918, how did army command relay the ceasefire to their troops? In fact, before radios and...
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52:52
New York Morgue's Dark Secrets
1 August 2024The unclaimed dead of New York City's streets and rivers were once brought to the notorious New York Morgue. It's a history that has never been...
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49:07
Hestia: Goddess of Hearth & Home
1 August 2024As both the eldest and youngest child of the great titan Kronos, and the Greek goddess of hearth and home, Hestia was incredibly important in...
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46:02
Henry VII: Rise of the Medieval Tudors
1 August 2024Henry VII was descended from some of the greatest Welsh princes. When word spread that he had a chance of taking the English throne, Welsh...
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36:58
The Warsaw Uprising
31 July 202480 years ago, the Polish resistance rose up against their German occupiers and tried to seize back control of their capital city. For two months a...
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59:51
The Boy Who Hid in the Woods: How I Survived the Holocaust
30 July 2024Warning: this episode contains descriptions of violence.
Maxwell Smart was just a boy when the Nazis came for him and his family. Within...
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39:00
The Dark History of Bearded Ladies & the Victorian Freak Show
30 July 2024What would it have really been like to visit a Victorian freak show? Were "freak performers" exploited, or empowered in a world that would likely...
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43:38
Rollo: The First Norman
30 July 2024Rollo was a Viking leader who became the first ruler of Normandy in the early 10th century. His descendants, the Normans, later conquered England...
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38:21
A History of Cheating at the Olympics
29 July 2024Dan is joined by the QI Elves James Harkin and Anna Ptaszynski to talk about cheating in sports as the 2024 Olympics get underway. Why do we do it...
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39:23
The Third Presidential Assassination: McKinley
29 July 2024On 6th September, 1901, President William McKinley attended a public reception at the Pan American Exposition, a 6-month-long World’s Fair, in...
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43:17
The Final Days of Marie Antoinette
29 July 2024How did Marie Antoinette, last Queen of France, spend her final days before the guillotine took her head? Did she ever really stand a chance?...
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32:45
Vivaldi’s Greatest Protegé
29 July 2024In early 18th century Venice, the Ospedale della Pietà took in abandoned baby girls through a tiny gap in the wall. In addition to ensuring...
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26:11
Harris vs Trump: How We Got Here
28 July 2024With the news that Kamala Harris is the assumed Democratic nominee for the November election, the presidential race looks very different than it...
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43:16
The Maya Collapse
28 July 2024Just over 1,000 years ago, the ancient Maya world in Mesoamerica was turned upside down. Prominent cities like Tikal, Palenque, Copan and...
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45:46
The Cult of Becket
26 July 2024Almost immediately after Thomas Becket’s murder, reports of miraculous healings and divine interventions spread like wildfire. Canterbury...
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43:23
History of Grief: Sky Burials & Victorian Death Photos
26 July 2024Why did the Victorians dress up their dead relatives for photo shoots?
What are the origins of embalming? And why do most of us have such a...
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46:03
President William McKinley: The Secret Service & the Spanish-American War
25 July 2024Why does the Secret Service protect the President of the United States? And what can we learn from McKinley's life and presidency, not just his...
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1:02:23
The Roman Gladiator
25 July 2024The ferocious, professional fighters who fought in great arenas all across the Roman Empire for the pleasure of the crowd were the celebrities of...
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