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
45:58
Sex in Ancient Rome
29 January 2024How sexually depraved were the Romans?
Whilst they were a civlised, stoic and innovative bunch, they were also a promiscuous bunch with very...
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31:57
The Black Death
29 January 2024By the time the Black Death subsided, between 75 and 200 million people in Afro-Eurasia were dead, entire towns and cities had collapsed, and the...
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41:17
How Ecology Shaped History with Peter Frankopan
29 January 2024History books rarely make much reference to the impact of climate and the natural environment on people, and vice versa. Yet volcanic...
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47:54
Hermes: Messenger of the Gods
28 January 2024Famed as the herald of the Greek gods, Hermes is the ‘jack of all trades’ when it comes to the pantheon of Mount Olympus. Known for his...
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44:36
Alaskan Stories: Sedna the Sea-Goddess & Myth of Last Frontier
28 January 2024We are the stories we tell. In Alaska the Inupiaq people tell the story of Sedna the goddess of the sea. They understand that the land they live...
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39:59
Masters of the Air: WWII's Bloody 100th Bombers
28 January 2024Screenwriter John Orloff joins Dan to talk about the new WWII mini-series 'Masters of the Air'. It tells the true story of the 'Bloody Hundredth',...
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41:40
Sex in Ancient Egypt
26 January 2024How did the Ancient Egyptians differ from us? In many ways they did, but in terms of sexuality, perhaps not so much.
As we’ll find...
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20:36
Masters of the Air: WW2's Bloody 100th Bombers
25 January 2024How did the 100th bomber group get a reputation for being unlucky? Who were they? And what was their role in the Second World War?
In this...
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25:47
Battle of Hastings
25 January 2024Over the previous three episodes in our special series, Gone Medieval has taken a close look at the three main contenders for the throne of...
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24:59
The Mythical Origins of Britain
25 January 2024The British Isles were once thought of as the edge of the Ancient World, a land of giants and other mysteries. According to these myths, survivors...
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46:01
Henry VIII's Nemesis, Cardinal Pole
25 January 2024Reginald Pole has been styled as both the nemesis of Henry VIII and as Mary I's bloody accomplice. Pole was related to the English royal...
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49:58
The Vandals
25 January 2024Known for bringing about the fall of the Western Roman Empire - the Vandals have a reputation for violence, destruction, and conquering. Moving...
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54:06
Alexander the Great
24 January 2024This is everything you need to know about the famed conqueror Alexander the Great. Alongside Dan Snow, host of Dan Snow's History Hit, Tristan and...
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43:25
One Life: The 'British Schindler' Nicky Winton & The Kindertransport
24 January 2024Nicholas Winton masterminded an effort that saved the lives of 669 Jewish Children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War Two. There's a new...
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29:31
The Taj Mahal
23 January 2024The Taj Mahal is one of the most iconic and romanticised buildings on earth. Commissioned by a Mughal ruler to mark the passing of his beloved...
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42:08
William the Conqueror
22 January 2024When his cousin King Edward the Confessor died childless, Duke William of Normandy saw the throne of England as his birthright. But one man stood...
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44:44
Murder in the Stuart Court
22 January 2024The public fascination with true crime is nothing new. Four centuries ago, the sensational story of the death in the Tower of London of...
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45:37
Robert Burns' Sex Life
22 January 2024How did an 18th century working class farm labourer climb the social ladder to become the most beloved poet Scotland has produced?
By the...
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36:46
The Life and Death of Vladimir Lenin
22 January 2024Vladimir Lenin died just over 100 years ago, on the 21st of February, 1924. The Russian revolutionary leader fought in no battles, spent much of...
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45:01
The Watergate Scandal
21 January 2024Wiretapping, White House tapes and the possibility of impeachment. On June 17, 1972, a break-in at the Watergate Hotel triggered a chain of events...
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43:59
The Real Dick Turpin
21 January 2024"Your money or your life!"
Those are the immortal words ascribed to this famous outlaw. Terror of the rich. Hero to the poor. Charmer of...
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