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
37:58
The Opium Wars
20 May 20242/2. The British Empire aggressively pursued the opium trade well into the 19th century, fueling an addiction epidemic within China. The Qing...
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41:01
Great Irish Famine: Coffin Ships & the Dark Truth (Part 2)
20 May 20241847 was the darkest year in the spiralling horror of the Great Irish Famine. It is known in Ireland as 'Black '47'. The British Government...
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41:16
Henry VIII's Sister, Margaret Queen of Scots
20 May 2024Margaret Tudor - daughter of King Henry VII, sister to Henry VIII - was married at 13 to James IV of Scotland, learning the skills of statecraft...
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50:01
The British Empire, China and Opium
19 May 20241/2. Victorian readers were captivated by descriptions of smoke-filled opium dens among backstreet brothels and pubs in London's East End in Oscar...
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35:52
The Real Hamilton: An American Myth?
19 May 202411 Tonys, a Grammy, a Pulitzer Prize and broken box office records - there's no denying the impact of Lin-Manuel Miranda's...
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54:07
Dionysus: God of Wine
19 May 2024Dionysus. He's known as the party God of ancient Greece who you never wanted to cross. Associated with theatre, mysterious cults and even, on one...
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35:16
Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period
18 May 2024Dating from 1467-1603, the Sengoku or ‘Warring States’ period is known as the bloodiest in Japan’s history; an era of continuous social...
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40:41
Medieval Monsters, Ghosts & Werewolves
17 May 2024The supernatural in the Medieval world was always close at hand. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis pays a visit to the only two...
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48:14
The REAL Bridgerton: Georgian Sex
17 May 2024The long-awaited third season of Bridgerton is here! And with it, we all become obsessed with a particularly sexy version of Regency-era...
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32:49
American Castaways: Treachery & Survival in the Falklands
16 May 2024Today we dive into the little-known true story of American castaways abandoned on the Falkland Islands during the War of 1812 ― a tale of...
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31:47
Shogun: The Real First English Samurai
16 May 2024The acclaimed TV series Shogun, now screening on Disney+, is based on true events. Its main character John Blackthorne is modelled on William...
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38:45
Oliver Cromwell's Decapitated Head & Charles II's Revenge
15 May 2024***Warning: today's episode contains graphic description of violence***
In 1661 Oliver Cromwell was hung and beheaded...the only problem was...
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47:15
Caligula
15 May 2024Caligula. One of the most infamous Roman emperors of them all. He didn't rule Rome for long, but he has gained a legacy as this incredibly evil...
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33:13
The Royal Navy's Darkest Night & The Origins of Longitude
14 May 2024A mix of treacherous seas, navigation errors, and historical intrigue led to one of the Royal Navy's darkest nights. Dan travels to the Scilly...
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45:20
A Guide to Medieval Churches
14 May 2024Do you know the difference between a church and a chapel? A bishop and an archbishop? An abbey and an abbess?
In this episode of...
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49:47
Medieval Torture & Execution
14 May 2024When you say ‘going medieval’ on someone, it brings up quite nasty connotations.
But is this brutal suggestion a fair depiction of...
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31:28
Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt: The Impossible Alliance that Won WWII
13 May 2024In the summer of 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. As the Germans drove towards Moscow, a catastrophic Soviet defeat seemed imminent - a...
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40:04
The Real Hamilton: Downfall, Duel & Death
13 May 2024When Alexander Hamilton took a bullet to the abdomen on the morning of the 11th July 1804, he joined a long list of people who had fallen foul of...
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36:51
Shardlake and its Creator C.J. Sansom
13 May 2024Fans of historical fiction and crime novels have been saddened to learn of the recent death of the award-winning, best-selling author C.J. Sansom,...
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36:33
The Great Famine: Ireland’s Darkest Chapter (Part 1)
13 May 2024One million people died. Two million emigrated. The Great Irish Famine was the world turned upside down. The darkest chapter in Ireland's...
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50:42
Twelve Caesars with Mary Beard
12 May 2024The title of Caesar has echoed down the ages as the pinnacle of absolute power and perhaps even tyranny. A single man at the head of a nation or...
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