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
42:24
The Walls of Babylon
13 March 2024The ancient metropolis of Babylon was famed for its wonders like the Tower of Babel and the mysterious Hanging Gardens. But few Babylonian...
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42:04
Boudica: Queen of the Iceni
13 March 2024She's the warrior queen who took on the mighty Roman Empire, but who really was Boudica?
Separating facts from the myths we've read can be...
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39:47
Real Medieval Women with Philippa Gregory
12 March 2024When we think about women in the Middle Ages, we know about Eleanor of Aquitaine or Hildegard of Bingen, but we are a lot less likely to think...
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48:37
18th Century Graffiti: Sex, Murder & Rebellion
12 March 2024Whether it's a declaration of love, anger or rebellion against the government, graffiti can give us incredible insight into the social history of...
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47:49
Infiltrating the IRA: Murder & Espionage in Northern Ireland
12 March 2024With Operation Kenova back in the headlines, we look to the story of Frank Hegarty, an IRA member turned British informant whose assassination led...
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30:16
The Rise & Fall of the Ku Klux Klan
11 March 2024A far-right hate group known the world over, the Ku Klux Klan emerged in the aftermath of the Civil War. So why did it emerge? Where did it get...
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26:34
How to Live Like a Stuart Aristocrat
11 March 2024After the Restoration of the Monarchy, the upper classes took their cues from court life - its entertainments, costumes, food and leisure...
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54:17
'Black Widow': Serial Killer of Victorian England
11 March 2024Mary Ann Cotton is known as the first British female serial killer. A trail of bodies, many her own children, followed her through life. Bodies...
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39:53
The Financial Crashes that Changed the World
11 March 2024Over the last turbulent century, the global economy has suffered the shockwaves of recessions and depressions, bubbles and unchecked investor...
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43:01
The Origins of Wine
10 March 2024Wine is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the world. But its popularity dates back thousands of years. Throughout ancient history,...
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44:23
Oppenheimer vs Einstein
10 March 2024Today we're talking about two 20th century titans, the physicists J. Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein. Their scientific achievements changed...
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36:21
Medieval Origins of Italian Food
8 March 2024For a thousand years, Italy’s cities have been magnets for everything that makes for great eating: ingredients, talent, money and power. Italian...
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48:25
The Real Joan of Arc
8 March 2024How did a peasant girl go on to lead French armies at the age of 17?
To mark International Women's Day on March 8th, Kate's joined by...
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44:16
Lincoln & the Civil War
7 March 2024Inaugurated into the thick of secession and assassinated just weeks after Confederate surrender, there is no separating the story of Abraham...
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34:31
Jane Seymour: Henry VIII’s Third Queen
7 March 2024Jane Seymour is a paradox. Of Henry VIII’s six wives, she is the one about whom we know perhaps the least. She was the most lowly of the queens,...
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29:22
4. Machu Picchu: The Fall of the Inca Empire
7 March 2024Part 4/4. The Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru in 1526 in a bloody pursuit of gold and riches; it was the beginning of the end for the Inca....
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47:14
The Great Pyramid of Giza
6 March 2024The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only ‘Wonder of the Ancient World’ still standing. Built over 4500 years ago at the same time as Stonehenge,...
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42:18
Pirate Queens: Mary Read & Anne Bonny
6 March 2024Mary Read and Anne Bonny are legendary female pirates from the golden age of piracy. Raised as boys, they sailed with captain Calico Jack and...
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45:05
Kink in the Renaissance
5 March 2024Come with us back to Renaissance England, when writers were playing with ideas of sexuality in interesting ways.
How much of a filth bag was...
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41:39
St. Thurstan: York's Rebel Archbishop
5 March 2024One of Medieval England’s most influential figures, Thurstan was the Archbishop of York from 1114 to 1140 who fought attempts by the Archbishop...
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44:02
3. Machu Picchu: Inca Gods and Human Sacrifices
5 March 2024Part 3/4. Juanita the Ice Maiden is one of the most famous mummies in the world. She was found in 1991 by anthropologist Johan Reinhard lying out...
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