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
25:42
The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre: Slavery After the Civil War
18 April 2024During the spring of 1921, eleven bodies were found in in rural Georgia. These men were victims of horrific murders, and also of a more widespread...
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34:26
Elizabeth I: Make-Up & Beauty Tips
18 April 2024What do we know about what Elizabeth I actually looked like? How was her appearance altered through the use of cosmetics? Portraits suggest...
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46:04
The Goths
17 April 2024The Goths are renowned for many things, not least sacking Rome in 410 AD and helping to bring about the fall of the Western Roman Empire. They...
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38:21
The Georgian Husband with Fourteen Wives
17 April 2024Charles Hamilton allegedly had fourteen wives according to the newspapers, but the headline was that Charles used to be called Mary. In the 18th...
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22:27
Mao's China, The Berlin Wall and WWII Egypt: Witnessing History with Peter Snow
16 April 2024As a foreign correspondent for ITN in the 70s, Peter Snow remembers handing tins of film to strangers on airport runways, hoping they would take...
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41:58
The Battle of El-Alamein Explained
16 April 2024Fought in the second half of 1942, the Battles of El Alamein were a series of climactic confrontations in Egypt between British Imperial and...
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42:49
Rise of Wessex
16 April 2024In Gone Medieval’s special series exploring some of Anglo-Saxon Britain’s most influential kingdoms, we reach Wessex - the last kingdom left...
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1:03:27
Fetishwear: A Kinky History
16 April 2024What is the origin of the word fetish? How did the war play a part in shaping fetishwear? And what are some of the styles that are most...
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50:10
President Ulysses S. Grant: The Myth of the Butcher
15 April 2024How does a heroic general of the Civil War become one of the lowest rated Presidents (at least until recently)?
To discuss Grant's...
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35:30
Bigfoot: the Origin Story
15 April 2024Our second episode examining the very real history of Bigfoot. This time we're looking at ancient Native American rock art and meeting the extinct...
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37:36
Unusual Births and Disability in 17th Century England
15 April 2024**WARNING: This episode contains themes that some listeners might find distressing and commonly-used historic terminology that does not reflect...
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44:55
The Trial of Charles I
14 April 2024In the mid-17th century, King Charles I of England was put on trial for treason against the sovereign state. Such a process involved a singular...
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44:08
What is Zionism?
13 April 2024Dan delves into the complex history of Zionism, exploring its multifaceted origins and the various ideological strands that have shaped it over...
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44:08
Looted Artefacts: Black Market of Archaeology
13 April 2024Have you ever wondered about the dark side of archeology? The illegal seizing of ancient artefacts? The looting of goods from age old historical...
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40:26
Ulysses S. Grant & the Civil War
11 April 2024Strategic brilliance? Relentless determination? Unbeatable leadership and cooperation with Lincoln? How did Ulysses S. Grant distinguish himself...
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42:12
The History of Drag Queens
11 April 2024The word drag is synonymous with flamboyant, fun performances. But where does the term come from and what does it mean?
This more...
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41:56
Rise of Mercia
11 April 2024In Gone Medieval’s special series examining some of Anglo-Saxon Britain’s most significant kingdoms, we arrive at the kingdom of Mercia, which...
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47:22
Seducing James I: Mary & George
11 April 2024The major new TV series, Mary & George tells the scandalous story of George Villiers, who rose - thanks to his mother Mary’s...
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28:30
The First Europeans
11 April 2024Europe’s earliest known humans lived over 1.2 million years ago. After initially roaming the plains of Iberia in small groups, they spread...
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39:31
Deadly Dancing Plague of 1518
10 April 2024When people think of Medieval diseases, hysterical dancing is not usually what first comes to mind. Yet in 14th and 15th century Germany, dozens...
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21:36
Plagues
9 April 2024From a plague in Athens during the Peloponnesian War in 430 BCE, to another in 540 that wiped out half the population of the Roman empire, down...
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