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
The Beauty and Violence of the Renaissance
4 June 2021The Renaissance was a time of radical change in Europe with an explosion in the production of art, new methods of waging war, Europeans...
Listen NowD-Day from the Air
4 June 2021It’s 77 years since D-Day but it might never have happened at all without one very specific piece of new technology; the resonant cavity...
Listen NowA 16th Century Public Executioner
3 June 2021The German executioner Meister Frantz Schmidt kept a fascinating journal of all the executions, torture and punishments he administered between 1573...
Listen NowDisaster Before D-Day: Exercise Tiger
3 June 2021The D-Day landings of June 6 1944 were the largest amphibious landing in the history of warfare, and are famed as a major turning point towards...
Listen NowPolynesian Mythology
3 June 2021From creation stories to voyager journeys, mythology and oral history are often key to our identities. In this episode Christina Thompson shines a...
Listen NowThe Bank That Sacked Its Customers
2 June 2021When we think of investment banking we think of high-risk trades, profit at any cost and big bonuses but there is an institution that sees it...
Listen NowDisaster Before D-Day: Exercise Tiger
2 June 2021The D-Day landings of June 6 1944 were the largest amphibious landing in the history of warfare, and are famed as a major turning point towards...
Listen NowDemocracy
1 June 2021In this episode taken from our back catalogue Professor Paul Cartledge the concept which is the foundation stone of our political culture: democracy....
Listen NowSlaves, Gold & Ivory: East African Trade Routes
1 June 2021Long before Atlantic trade routes became established East Africa had strong connections with the wider world, trading across the Indian Ocean and...
Listen NowDissolution of the Monasteries
31 May 2021Ordered by King Henry VIII and carried out by Thomas Cromwell, the dissolution of the monasteries was the greatest land re-distribution in England...
Listen NowTulsa Race Massacre
31 May 2021On May 31 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, was torn apart by one of the worst instances of racialised violence in American history. In a period of great racial...
Listen Now1943: The Year the War Was Won?
30 May 2021There are many theories for when the Second World War was lost by the Axis powers. In this episode, Digital historian Alwyn Collinson shares the...
Listen NowJoan of Arc
30 May 2021On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake at the age of 19. It is safe to say that few teenagers have had as big an impact on Anglo-French...
Listen NowThe Golden Age of Chariots
30 May 2021Taxis to the front line or ancient tanks? Through archaeological remains and ancient depictions, we have some idea of what the ancient military...
Listen NowIsrael and Palestine: An Israeli Perspective with Benny Morris
29 May 2021The conflict between Israeli's and Palestinians is one that inflames strong emotions and opinions on all sides, but can a solution be found or is...
Listen NowMatilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior
29 May 2021In many ways, Empress Matilda can be seen as a pawn of the men in her world. Sent away aged eight to match with the Holy Roman Emperor, she...
Listen NowThe Mystery of the Ninth Legion
28 May 2021The legions of Rome were the nucleus of Rome’s military might for centuries. From campaigning in northern Scotland to the Persian Gulf, these...
Listen NowHow To Plan For a Crisis
28 May 2021How is it possible to avoid disasters when they are inherently unpredictable? Niall Ferguson, renowned historian, senior fellow at Stanford...
Listen NowThe Renaissance Lute
27 May 2021The lute, with its double strings and beautiful decorative detail is a familiar feature of Renaissance paintings. In the sixteenth century, lute...
Listen NowSinking the Bismarck
27 May 2021In May 1941 Nazi Germany's most powerful warship and pride of the Kriegsmarine the Bismarck slipped out of harbour and made its way to hunt Allied...
Listen NowAlexander the Great's First Persian Victory
26 May 2021If there had been a different outcome to the Battle of Granicus, we might never have heard about Alexander the Great. Taking place in 334 BC, this...
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