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

41:55

Mary, Queen of Scots

3 November 2023

This is the story of the incredible rise and fall of Mary, Queen of Scots. She was queen of Scotland, she was queen of France, and she could have...

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1:04:54

Israel, Gaza and the West Bank: A History

3 November 2023

In light of the complex and tragic situation unfolding in Gaza and Israel, this episode looks at the past 100 years of the history of the region...

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25:11

WWII Britain's 'Missing' Sailors

3 November 2023

During WWII, the sailors of the British merchant navy played a vital role in keeping the UK fed and armed. They carried essential supplies across...

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51:16

HMS Terror: Cursed Arctic Expedition

3 November 2023

Was ever a ship more aptly named? In 1845, HMS Terror (and its forgettably named sister ship HMS Erebus) set off from Victorian Britain. Their...

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47:10

Scottish Kings' Sex Lives

3 November 2023

One thing royal families strive for is the common touch. Whilst some have struggled with it, King James IV and V in the 15th and 16th centuries...

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51:09

The Hundred Years' War

3 November 2023

The Hundred Years' War plunged England, France and their allies into over a century of conflict. This bleak period of history had rebellions,...

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22:24

Alexander The Great: The Siege of Tyre

3 November 2023

The renowned conqueror Alexander the Great was known as 'the two-horned one' by his enemies, and for good reason. His campaigns were bloody...

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22:52

Killers of the Flower Moon: Native Americans & the FBI

2 November 2023

During the first half of the 20th century, dozens of murders plagued the oil-rich Osage Nation. The question of who killed them, and why, spread...

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29:16

A Guide to Living in Dark Times with Weird Medieval Guys

2 November 2023

Olivia Swarthout prowls the web for little-seen snippets of medieval art and life, sharing it via the Weird Medieval Guys Twitter and instagram...

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31:24

Victorian Sex

2 November 2023

They’re famously thought of as a buttoned up prudish bunch, but we all know they loved to bump uglies as much as anyone today. 

Were...

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49:33

Guy Fawkes & the 1605 Gunpowder Plot

1 November 2023

Other countries celebrate their victories and independence. But in Britain, we celebrate a bungling terrorist from the 17th century. Why? Who was...

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56:32

Gunpowder Plot: Tudor Origins

1 November 2023

The Gunpowder Plot is one of the hinge events of British history - an act of terror the roots of which stretch back to the Tudor period and Henry...

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35:00

Human Evolution: Dragon Man

1 November 2023

Homo longi, also known as Dragon Man, is an extinct archaic human species - with a nearly complete skull found near Harbin, China, dating back to...

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32:02

History of the Witch

31 October 2023

It’s that time of year again, Halloween. A word which conjures up images of pumpkins, ghosts, and of course…witches.

But have you ever...

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39:33

New Orleans Voodoo

30 October 2023

If you've ever watched a Voodoo scene in a horror movie, you might be forgiven for envisioning zombies, dolls and witchcraft when asked what it...

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37:40

Ghosts of Wales

30 October 2023

Wales has a wealth of ghost stories, including fantastical animals, flickering death omens and unseen things that go bump in the night. Whether...

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39:14

Origins of the Witchfinder General

30 October 2023

In the 1640s, Matthew Hopkins gave himself the grandiose title of Witchfinder General and set himself the task of purging England of witches. But...

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51:03

Witches

29 October 2023

From seductive sorceresses to withered necromancers, witches play a varied - and vital - role in ancient history. Recorded in classical epics by...

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31:38

Hammersmith Ghost: How to Murder a Poltergeist

29 October 2023

Can it be murder if you think you're killing a ghost? In 1804 the London suburb of Hammersmith was being terrorised by a ghost. One man set out to...

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23:53

Josephine Baker: Jazz Age Superstar to WW2 Spy

27 October 2023

Josephine Baker was one of the most extraordinary people of the 20th century - and the first black woman honoured in the French Panthéon in...

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38:55

President Andrew Jackson

26 October 2023

The seventh person to hold the position of President is arguably one of the most divisive.

A strong-willed military hero, whilst President...

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