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 Rise of Cicero
25 March 2021Cicero is often considered to be one of the greatest orators of Ancient Rome. But how did he reach prominence in Roman politics? Why are his speeches...
Listen NowIstanbul: A Tale of Three Cities with Bettany Hughes
24 March 2021In this episode from the back catalogue, Dr Bettany Hughes joins Dan to talk about her history of Istanbul which sits at the crossroads of Europe and...
Listen NowHeinrich Himmler: My Great-Uncle
24 March 2021Katrin Himmler's great-uncle was Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, and one of the principle architects of the Holocaust. Katrin has confronted her...
Listen NowOne Normal Family, 300 Years of History
23 March 2021Every family has a history and delving into the history of one ordinary French family over three centuries provides a remarkable picture of deep...
Listen NowFrench Resistance Super Spy
22 March 2021Today's podcast is about French Resistance spies! Dan is joined by the author Roland Phillips who has uncovered the story of Mathilde Carré who was...
Listen NowWW2: The Danish Resistance
22 March 2021Despite declaring itself neutral at the outset of the Second World War, Denmark’s experience of the war years is identifiable by its internal...
Listen NowBoudica: Through Roman Eyes
21 March 2021The Iceni warrior who led a revolt against the Roman Empire around 60 AD often stands alone in our memory of ancient queens in Britain, but in this...
Listen NowNapoleon: Captive on Saint Helena
21 March 2021Saint Helena is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. Nearly a thousand mile from the nearest piece of land, this recently created...
Listen NowThe Census
20 March 2021Here in the UK, it's census time! Today, I'm joined on the podcast by one of the nations favourite family historians Dr Michala Hulme who certainly...
Listen NowThe War in the East: Part 1 with Bill Frankland
19 March 2021In this episode taken from our archive, I talk to Dr Bill Frankland (19 March 1912 – 2 April 2020), a veteran of World War Two who lived through...
Listen NowThe American Way of War: A History
19 March 2021From Ancient Greece, through the Enlightenment, the Napoleonic Wars, The First World War, then the Second, and all the way through to modern drone...
Listen NowAnother History of Ideas with David Runciman
18 March 2021Today, I am joined once again by Professor David Runciman to talk about the second series of his brilliant History of Ideas podcast. The series looks...
Listen NowPetra: The Rose City
18 March 2021A city of caves, temples and tombs, Petra gains its nickname from the pink sandstone from which it was carved. In this second part of his...
Listen NowSt Patrick's Day
17 March 2021We all have a story about St Patrick's Day and our guest on the podcast today, Adrian Mulligan has a few. Adrian is an Associate Professor of...
Listen NowMontgomery: Britain’s Best Known Field Marshall
17 March 2021From fighting on the front line as a Junior Officer in the first days of the First World War, to commanding Allied ground forces on D-Day, the...
Listen NowThe My Lai Massacre
16 March 2021On the 16th March 1968, the My Lai Massacre occurred in South Vietnam. 350-500 men, women, children and babies were brutally killed by US troops...
Listen NowThe Ides of March
15 March 2021Today's podcast is an episode taken from our sibling podcast The Ancients. In 4 BC, the Ides of March took on a new significance. Previously...
Listen NowThe Enigma of Dieppe
15 March 2021Almost 80 years after the raid on Dieppe on 19 August 1942, David O’Keefe has uncovered the secret mission to pinch Enigma related material...
Listen NowThe Ides of March
14 March 2021In 44 BC, the Ides of March took on a new significance. Previously observed as the first full moon of the new year, the 15 March is today...
Listen NowWritten Constitutions with Linda Colley
14 March 2021On the podcast today we have the legendary Linda Colley to talk all about her new book examining the phenomenon of written constitutions. From...
Listen NowVikings in America
12 March 2021The Vikings were one of the great exploring peoples of the past. They travelled east along the rivers to the Silk Road, they explored west across the...
Listen Now