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
300 years of British Prime Ministers: Part 3
18 April 2021In the third episode of our series chronicling the history of British Prime Ministers we travel from one of the Most famous occupants of the office,...
Listen NowThe Legacy of Thermopylae
18 April 2021Ever since its occurence in 480 BC, the Battle of Thermopylae has been the stuff of legend. Echoes of this battle, reportedly fought between a seven...
Listen NowIrish Independence
16 April 2021On 18th April 1949, the Republic of Ireland Act came into effect which saw Ireland become a republic and leave the Commonwealth. 2021 also marks the...
Listen NowJFK's Darkest Hour: The Cuban Missile Crisis
16 April 2021In October 1962 the world came very close to annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the autumn of 1962, a U2 reconnaissance aircraft...
Listen NowBattle of Okinawa
16 April 2021The last major confrontation of the Second World War, and the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific theatre, the Battle of Okinawa ended in...
Listen NowLife and Death in Medieval England
15 April 2021We often hear about the kings and queens of medieval England, but what was life like for the ordinary person? From knights to peasants to barbers,...
Listen NowEdges of Empire: Chesters Roman Fort
15 April 2021Described as one of the most complete cavalry forts that survives in Britain, Chesters Roman Fort is also home to the best preserved military baths...
Listen NowBritish Seapower in the 1900s
14 April 2021During the changes and troubles of the 20th century, officials in Britain faced a huge question: how could they maintain imperial power? Dr Louis...
Listen NowOutbreak of WW2 & The British People
14 April 2021Our traditional understanding of the beginning of the Second World War in 1939 hinges on studies of Chamberlain and his fellow statesmen, but what...
Listen NowThe End of Sex Disqualification?
13 April 2021The First World War saw unprecedented numbers of women enter the workplace and help pave the way for women to be given greater rights and...
Listen NowYuri Gagarin: The First Human to Leave Our Planet
12 April 2021On April 12th 1961 the Soviet Union shocked the world by launching the first man into space; Yuri Gagarin. Strapped to the top of a gigantic ICBM...
Listen Now300 years of British Prime Ministers: Part 2
11 April 2021Continuing our series looking at British Prime Ministers this episode tackles the period following the Battle of Waterloo all the way up to...
Listen NowLessons from the Antonine Plague
11 April 2021A plague which affects people from across society, mass exodus from city centres and numerous opinions on how best to stay well ... all familiar to...
Listen NowPrince Philip's Military Service
11 April 2021During almost a century of life, Prince Philip dedicated seven decades to the service of Great Britain as the partner of Queen Elizabeth II. But...
Listen NowPrince Philip
9 April 2021Abandoned by his parents, exiled from his home, a veteran of Second World War battles, an author, the founder of the World Wide Fund for Nature...
Listen NowThe Xiongnu: History's First Nomadic Empire?
9 April 2021Between the 3rd century BC and the 1st century AD, the Xiongnu inhabited the area surrounding Mongolia. They influenced the later Hun Empire, and had...
Listen NowWW2: The Secret British Resistance
9 April 2021What if the Battle of Britain had not been a success for the British? What was the plan had the Nazis successfully crossed the channel? Chris...
Listen NowWhat Britain Did to Nigeria
8 April 2021When we think of the British Empire we often think of India, Pakistan, Singapore, Burma or perhaps South Africa but an often underrepresented part of...
Listen NowPersia's Untapped Source: The Persepolis Fortification Texts
8 April 2021The Persepolis Fortification Tablets / Texts are the who’s who of the Ancient Achaemenid Empire, a unique insight into the administrative...
Listen NowCatherine the Great
7 April 2021Catherine the Great came from minor German nobility to become Empress of Russia and one of the most extraordinary women of the eighteenth century....
Listen NowBoer War: Kipling, Kingsley and Conan Doyle
7 April 2021In early 1900, Rudyard Kipling, Mary Kingsley and Arthur Conan Doyle crossed paths in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War. Motivated in various...
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