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
26:49
1. Napoleon: The Early Years
20 November 2023He clawed his way to the zenith of power with a relentless determination that few could fathom... he conquered empires, destroyed armies and out...
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38:59
Treasures of Pompeii
19 November 2023Despite being uncovered in the 16th Century - new finds are still being discovered daily in Pompeii. With each new discovery offering a fresh...
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32:01
Ancient Goddesses of Sex and War
17 November 2023Sex and death are often intertwined: one is the start of creation, the other is the end.
And as we’ll learn in today’s episode, ancient...
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34:39
Habsburg Inbreeding with Dr. Adam Rutherford
17 November 2023One of Early Modern Europe’s most powerful families, the Habsburgs shared a physical trait so distinctive that it came to be regarded as a badge...
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48:43
Princes in the Tower: New Evidence Revealed
16 November 2023For more than 500 years, history has judged that the Princes in the Tower were murdered on the orders of their uncle Richard III. Until now there...
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46:58
JFK: The Most Popular President?
16 November 2023Who was JFK? How popular was he in his lifetime? And how did his untimely death impact the world's memory of him?
In this first of two...
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41:35
The Real Witch Hunts: Persecution & Panic
16 November 2023Witch hunts blazed across Europe from the 1400s right into the 1700s. Their terror has been burned into the collective memory. But how accurate...
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56:18
Kazakhstan's Valley of Kings
16 November 2023Gold and horses! Few ancient civilisations were greater masters of metalworking and horse riding than the Saka culture of Central Asia. Also known...
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38:22
Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I with Tracy Borman
16 November 2023Anne Boleyn is usually considered in the context of her marriage to - and demise at the hands of - King Henry VIII. But ultimately, the...
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29:00
The Belfast Blitz
16 November 2023It wasn't just London that was devastated by German bombing raids in WWII, but Belfast in Northern Ireland too. The most intense bombing took...
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37:33
Napoleon's Greatest Battles with Ridley Scott
14 November 2023Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most accomplished military commanders in world history. He rose to become Emperor of the French after a series of...
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33:20
Burma: Medieval Superpower
13 November 2023Burma – now Myanmar – was once a superpower playing a pivotal role at the crossroads of Asia. Located in one of the richest areas on the...
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31:53
The Gettysburg Address
13 November 2023What makes the Gettysburg Address one of the most famous speeches in history? Did Lincoln really write it on the train? How did the audience...
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44:19
JFK Special 2. | The Kennedy Sister They Tried To Hide
13 November 2023This November marks 60 years since President John F Kennedy was assassinated.
His name is associated with history defining events, but...
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47:10
Henry VIII: What You Really Need to Know
13 November 2023The truth about Henry VIII may surprise you. This second episode of Not Just the Tudors' Tudor Dynasty mini-series provides you, in a...
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30:11
Remembrance Day: Searching for My Father the WWII Pilot
13 November 2023John Watts never knew his father. He was conceived days before his father, Wing Commander Joseph Watts, was killed on a bombing mission over...
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37:42
The Man Who Hanged Nazis: Albert Pierrepoint
12 November 2023For Albert Pierrepoint, execution was a family affair. His father and uncle were hangmen and from the 1940s until the late 1950s Albert was...
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41:51
Persephone: Queen of the Underworld
11 November 2023This episode contains references to death and sexual assault.
Persephone is Queen of the Underworld in Ancient Greek...
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42:01
Love, Lust & Fighting in World War II
10 November 2023It can be hard to comprehend the magnitude of historical events, with World War Two a prime example of this.
By 1945, some 3 million British...
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39:09
President Martin Van Buren
9 November 2023The 'Little Magician', the 'Sly Fox' or - to our expert guest - a 6.5/10 president. We're onto President number 8, Martin Van Buren.
Don is...
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25:22
Ghost Fetishes: From Ancient World to Victorians
9 November 2023What is spectrophilia? Well, it's a fetish for ghosts (as well as mirrors), so being turned on by anything lurking in the non-physical realm. What...
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