History Podcasts | History Hit

 

 

History Hit 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

56:18

Kazakhstan's Valley of Kings

16 November 2023

Gold and horses! Few ancient civilisations were greater masters of metalworking and horse riding than the Saka culture of Central Asia. Also known...

Listen Now
38:22

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I with Tracy Borman

16 November 2023

Anne Boleyn is usually considered in the context of her marriage to - and demise at the hands of - King Henry VIII. But ultimately, the...

Listen Now
29:00

The Belfast Blitz

16 November 2023

It wasn't just London that was devastated by German bombing raids in WWII, but Belfast in Northern Ireland too. The most intense bombing took...

Listen Now
37:33

Napoleon's Greatest Battles with Ridley Scott

14 November 2023

Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most accomplished military commanders in world history. He rose to become Emperor of the French after a series of...

Listen Now
33:20

Burma: Medieval Superpower

13 November 2023

Burma – now Myanmar – was once a superpower playing a pivotal role at the crossroads of Asia. Located in one of the richest areas on the...

Listen Now
31:53

The Gettysburg Address

13 November 2023

What makes the Gettysburg Address one of the most famous speeches in history? Did Lincoln really write it on the train? How did the audience...

Listen Now
44:19

JFK Special 2. | The Kennedy Sister They Tried To Hide

13 November 2023

This November marks 60 years since President John F Kennedy was assassinated. 

His name is associated with history defining events, but...

Listen Now
47:10

Henry VIII: What You Really Need to Know

13 November 2023

The truth about Henry VIII may surprise you. This second episode of Not Just the Tudors' Tudor Dynasty mini-series provides you, in a...

Listen Now
30:11

Remembrance Day: Searching for My Father the WWII Pilot

13 November 2023

John Watts never knew his father. He was conceived days before his father, Wing Commander Joseph Watts, was killed on a bombing mission over...

Listen Now
37:42

The Man Who Hanged Nazis: Albert Pierrepoint

12 November 2023

For Albert Pierrepoint, execution was a family affair. His father and uncle were hangmen and from the 1940s until the late 1950s Albert was...

Listen Now
41:51

Persephone: Queen of the Underworld

11 November 2023

This episode contains references to death and sexual assault.

Persephone is Queen of the Underworld in Ancient Greek...

Listen Now
42:01

Love, Lust & Fighting in World War II

10 November 2023

It 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...

Listen Now
39:09

President Martin Van Buren

9 November 2023

The '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...

Listen Now
25:22

Ghost Fetishes: From Ancient World to Victorians

9 November 2023

What 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...

Listen Now
40:24

The Medieval Boleyns

9 November 2023

From the fields of Norfolk to the royal court - via city commerce, local government, liberal education and numerous wedding bells - the Boleyns...

Listen Now
47:51

Hitler's Third Reich

9 November 2023

3/4. In this special 4-part series, we look back at the life of Adolf Hitler. With the help of Frank McDonough, a leading historian of the Third...

Listen Now
40:02

The Illyrians: Pirates of the Adriatic

8 November 2023

Inhabiting the Balkans in antiquity, the Illyrians played a vital role in Ancient History. From their renowned reputation as skilled craftsmen,...

Listen Now
41:40

Witchcraft: Everything You Need to Know

8 November 2023

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb pays a visit to historians Dr. Anthony Delaney and Dr. Maddy Pelling, who are...

Listen Now
52:02

The Rise of Hitler

8 November 2023

2/4. In this special 4-part series, we look back at the life of Adolf Hitler. With the help of Frank McDonough, a leading historian of the Third...

Listen Now
42:46

Hitler's Early Years

7 November 2023

1/4 In this special 4-part series, we look back at the life of Adolf Hitler. With the help of Frank McDonough, a leading historian of the Third...

Listen Now
52:28

Henry VII

6 November 2023

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb kicks off four special episodes about the Tudor Dynasty with a look at its founding father King Henry VII. Seen as an...

Listen Now