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
42:29
Black Death: 5 Strangest Cures
24 March 2025It was a plague like no other. It provoked strange cures like no other. Anthony Delaney takes Maddy Pelling in search of the oddest cures...
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53:36
THE LEADERS: Hirohito
24 March 2025Was Hirohito really as passive as history has painted him? Emperor Hirohito stood at the head of Japan’s war machine, yet after 1945, both the...
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57:17
The Fall of Athens
23 March 2025In 404 BC, Athens faced total defeat. Once the dominant power of the Greek world, their navy was shattered, their food supply cut off, and on the...
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40:00
Real Wives of Dictators | Nadya Alliluyeva, Stalin's Wife
21 March 2025Nadezhda Alliluyeva was born into a revolutionary family, but was it always her fate to marry Joseph Stalin?
She was independent,...
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59:47
Medieval Jerusalem
21 March 2025Imagine walking where those who shaped your deepest beliefs have walked...
Matt Lewis is joined by archeologist Professor Jodi Magness to...
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42:39
The Rise & Fall of The Moors in Spain
21 March 2025In 711 an Arab and Berber army crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and invaded the Iberian Peninsula. Seven years later, their conquests had birthed...
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40:35
What If JFK Wasn't Shot?
20 March 2025The biggest counterfactual that hangs on the assassination of JFK is this: Would JFK have launched a ground war in the jungles of Vietnam? Don...
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33:34
Samurai & Shinobi: Assassin's Creed Shadows Review
20 March 20255. Assassin's Creed Shadows Review
Assassin's Creed Shadows is now available to play! Matt Lewis had advanced access to the new game and...
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42:49
Henry VIII & his Rabbis
20 March 2025Henry VIII's desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon changed England; it could be justified by a biblical law that prohibited a man from marrying...
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53:28
The Iliad
20 March 2025A story of war, honour, and destiny, The Iliad is one of the greatest epics in history. Written by Homer and featuring legendary figures like...
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34:45
Final Days of Joan of Arc: Trial & Execution
20 March 2025(Part 2/2) Joan of Arc, mystic leader of a French army, was captured and sold to the English who tried her as a witch. What do the final days of...
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1:01:03
THE LEADERS: Stalin
19 March 2025Was WWII actually Stalin's War? He's a man whose name is synonymous with absolute power, the epitome of ruthless ambition, his story is one of...
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40:30
The Truth About Alice in Wonderland
18 March 2025In this episode, we're well and truly going down a rabbit hole. To unpick the controversies surrounding the author of Alice in Wonderland, Kate is...
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56:56
Edward III: The Little Lion
18 March 2025Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis bring our series on the Plantagenets to its climax with a look at one of England's most influential...
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31:57
The Confederacy: Could They Have Won?
17 March 2025Did the Confederates predict that secession would lead to war? How ready were they to fight? And what was their military strategy?
Cecily...
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53:26
Murderous Women
17 March 2025**This podcast contains graphic descriptions of murders and the punishments of those convicted**
Gruesome murders carried out by women...
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46:19
Azuchi Castle: The Ultimate Fortress
17 March 2025Assassin's Creed Shadows gives us the chance to explore the places where history occurred. One such place is recreated in remarkable detail:...
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46:00
Black Death: Inside Medieval Lockdown
17 March 2025Around 50% of everyone in Europe died during the Black Death. It's very hard to make sense of that. What did it look and feel like to live through...
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34:06
Babylon: The Most Important City of Antiquity
17 March 2025The urban cultures of ancient Mesopotamia formed the foundation for so much of our modern world. Nowhere exemplifies this better than the city of...
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51:51
Rise of Julius Caesar
16 March 2025Julius Caesar is one of history’s most famous figures. But before his legendary conquests and romance with Cleopatra, how did he rise to...
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57:49
Roger Mortimer: The Usurper
14 March 2025Roger Mortimer: The Man Who Overthrew a King.
Matt Lewis delves into the life of Roger Mortimer, a key figure in the downfall of King Edward...
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