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

1:05:48

The Rise of Hannibal

22 August 2021

He was one of the greatest enemies the Romans ever faced. An excellent general and a larger-than-life figure, he led an army across the alps and...

Listen Now
42:10

The Witches of Lorraine

21 August 2021

Between 1570 and 1630, there was intense persecution and thousands of executions of suspected witches in Lorraine, a small duchy on the borders of...

Listen Now
38:54

King Arthur

21 August 2021

King Arthur of Camelot, we've all heard stories about him, but who exactly was he? In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt is joined by Senior...

Listen Now
26:31

80th Anniversary of the First Arctic Convoy

20 August 2021

As the Soviet Union reeled from the shock of the German invasion in 1941 it asked for aid from Britain and its allies and the arctic convoys was a...

Listen Now
21:53

The Jacobite Risings

20 August 2021

On 19 August 1745, the Jacobites engaged in the final of their five uprisings, stretching back to 1689. In this episode, Kelsey Ellington examines...

Listen Now
37:36

Beauty Ideals in the 16th Century

19 August 2021

What was the 16th century ideal of beauty for women? Fat or thin? Blonde or brunette? Pale or tanned? How did women keep clean? Did they...

Listen Now
25:54

What Went Wrong in Afghanistan?

19 August 2021

History is vital for contextualising current events but as Professor Paul Miller argues in today's episode of the podcast it cannot tell us all we...

Listen Now
42:22

Colchester: From Bronze Age to Boudica

19 August 2021

It is the one possible case of urbanisation in Britain prior to the arrival of the Romans, and that is just the start of the story of Colchester. In...

Listen Now
29:14

Afghanistan: History Repeating Itself?

18 August 2021

The collapse of the Afghan army and government and takeover by the Taliban has evoked many historical comparisons, but how valid are they? To find...

Listen Now
33:54

Critiquing the War in Afghanistan with Mike Martin

18 August 2021

In 2014, Dr Mike Martin famously critiqued the Ministry of Defence with a book based on a series of conversations Martin had with the Afghan locals,...

Listen Now
29:05

The Rise of Oliver Cromwell

17 August 2021

Oliver Cromwell is the only English commoner to become head of state and is one of the most remarkable and controversial figures in history....

Listen Now
1:04:55

Tacfarinas: The Desert Hydra

17 August 2021

He was one of the greatest rebels of Rome from the 1st century AD, but his name is not one you might initially think of. Derided by Roman historians...

Listen Now
35:08

Æthelred the Unready

17 August 2021

His 38 years as king make him one of the longest ruling monarchs in English history, and yet he is remembered as unsuccessful, naive and overly harsh...

Listen Now
43:43

Bloody Mary vs. The Virgin Queen

16 August 2021

Queen Mary I has had a bad press over the centuries, her five-years on the throne overshadowed by her half-sister Elizabeth's 45-year...

Listen Now
47:00

Bonnie Prince Charlie

16 August 2021

In August 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie led a rebellion that brought the Jacobite cause closer to seizing the throne than almost any other. He had...

Listen Now
53:21

WW2: Tank Hero in Battle of Arras

16 August 2021

Major-General Eugene Vincent Michael Strickland, known to many as Strick - was a tankman and war hero of France, Italy, and North Africa during...

Listen Now
23:36

The Jewish Commandos Who Helped Defeat the Nazis

15 August 2021

During the Second World War, a special commando unit was formed in Britain from Jewish refugees from Germany, Austria and other parts of occupied...

Listen Now
24:09

Palaces in Paradise: Centres of the Persian World

15 August 2021

Persepolis is arguably the most famous ancient site associated with the Achaemenid Persian Empire, but it certainly wasn’t the only...

Listen Now
42:45

The Fall of the Aztec Empire

14 August 2021

In August 1521 after a last stand on the steps of their temple buildings, the Aztec defenders of Tenochtitlan surrendered to the Spanish forces of...

Listen Now
36:47

Fertility & Childbirth: The Great Leveller

14 August 2021

Giving birth in the middle ages was a dangerous time for women. It had no regard for class, wealth, or status. It could even have been more dangerous...

Listen Now
27:49

Escaping the Berlin Wall

13 August 2021

There were many attempts to escape over and under the Berlin Wall but Tunnel 29 was highly unusual for tunnelling into East Berlin rather than out to...

Listen Now