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
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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46:00
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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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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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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41:03
Real Wives of Dictators | Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler's Wife
14 March 2025What was life like as Adolf Hitler's other half?
Although their marriage came (very) late in their lives, Eva Braun was with Hitler from the...
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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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1:02:03
THE LEADERS: Mussolini
14 March 2025Once a political heavyweight with dreams of a new Roman Empire, Mussolini's journey from a rebellious socialist youth to the fascist leader of...
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48:15
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
13 March 2025Dwight D. Eisenhower is a fixture in the lists of America's favourite Presidents. How did Eisenhower change America? How did the Cold War and...
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36:15
Final Days of Joan of Arc: Rise to Fame
13 March 2025(Part 1/2) So many things make Joan of Arc iconic. The fearless, crossdressing warrior saint who dies a martyr's death. Today Maddy begins a...
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55:08
Obelisks
13 March 2025Ancient Egyptian obelisks stand as towering symbols of power and engineering brilliance, scattered across the world. But how were they built and...
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43:23
How Did Samurai And Shinobi Fight Battles In Medieval Japan?
13 March 2025Chasing Shadows 4. Warfare
Assassin's Creed Shadows gives players the chance to experience history as two icons of medieval Japan: samurai...
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44:38
The Birth of New York City
13 March 2025Exactly 400 years ago, the Dutch West India Company built Fort Amsterdam on the southern tip of Manhattan island, a beacon of power and resilience...
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35:36
The Origins of Jim Crow
12 March 2025The Jim Crow era is one of the darkest periods in American history. The country was divided by laws, customs and etiquettes that demeaned African...
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35:38
The Dark History of London’s Drug World
11 March 2025Travel back to post-WW1 London, when sex, drugs and music was exploding in Soho... causing a national moral panic.
The drugs of choice?...
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1:07:27
Queen Isabella: She-Wolf of France
11 March 2025"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." When that woman is Queen Isabella; She-Wolf, the results are catastrophic.
As our series on the...
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40:52
The Confederacy: Life In The South
10 March 2025The Civil War consumed the Confederacy for its entire existence, draining it of supplies, food and people. In this second episode of our...
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32:42
Lady Nene: Female Samurai?
10 March 2025Assassin's Creed Shadows introduces us to some of Japan's mightiest historical leaders. Yet, "beside every great man is an ever greater woman"....
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