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
38:40
The Sahara: Traders and Travellers
26 October 2023Stretching across from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, Northern Africa is dominated by the Sahara Desert. The largest hot desert in the world,...
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35:50
The Templars in Britain
26 October 2023The Knights Templar have an enduring reputation―but not one they would recognise. Originally established in the twelfth century to protect...
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38:27
History of Asexuality
24 October 2023We live in a hyper-sexualised world. But what if you don't take a sexual interest in anyone?
Asexuality makes up roughly 1% of the...
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38:55
The Real Wild West
23 October 2023Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, John Wayne. We've seen them roping and wrangling and defeating their enemies, all by the time the credits...
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29:02
Last Witch of Scotland
23 October 2023In 1727, Janet Horne of the Highland community of Dornoch became the last person in Britain to be tried and executed for witchcraft.
As the...
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38:22
Kings of Medieval Ethiopia
23 October 2023Overseeing a rich and diverse kingdom, Ethiopia’s medieval monarchs consolidated their power by claiming descent from the Biblical King Solomon....
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43:00
The Murders of Alexander the Great
22 October 2023This episode contains strong language, and references to sexual assault.
Alexander the Great - conqueror, legend, murderer. After ascending...
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27:46
Inside the Tudor Home
22 October 2023We are all familiar with great Tudor palaces and country houses but what were the homes of ordinary people like during that time? How were...
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35:36
Hitler's Sex Life
20 October 2023We all know how the song goes, the one about Hitler having one testicle.
And whilst it's disarming to poke fun at someone so evil, there's...
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26:41
Medieval North America: Gods of Thunder
19 October 2023From 800 to 1300 CE, a great religious movement swept Mesoamerica, the Southwest, and the Mississippi valley. This Medieval Warm Period was one of...
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39:43
The Hundred Years War
19 October 2023For the last several decades, Jonathan, Lord Sumption - former senior judge and medieval historian - has been crafting a monumental, five-volume...
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34:37
The Tudors Told Through Numbers
19 October 2023There are countless ways to understand and analyse the Tudors but a new book takes a unique look at the dynasty through its statistics. And...
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31:06
How to Survive the Ice Age
19 October 2023When you think of the 'Ice Age', tales of saber-toothed predators and hulking megafauna probably come to mind - but what else do we know about...
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41:46
Banshees: Ireland's Harbinger of Death
19 October 2023Today Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) joins Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling for the story of the Banshee. In Irish folklore the Banshee heralds...
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28:46
Spectrophilia: The Ghost Fetish
17 October 2023If you happen to be a Spectrophiliac, then October must be a particularly exciting time for you.
What is a spectrophiliac? Well, it's a...
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33:21
Battle of the Alamo
16 October 2023A 13 day siege. 90 minutes of fighting. An almost 200 year legacy and the most popular tourist site in the state of Texas.
The 1836 Battle...
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39:39
HMS Terror: Cursed Arctic Expedition
16 October 2023Was 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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41:21
Burke & Hare: Scotland’s Most Notorious Serial Killers
16 October 2023They’re the most famous grave-robbers in the world…except they never actually robbed any graves. Discover the true story of Burke and Hare’s...
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37:22
Goriest Murders in Ancient Rome
16 October 2023This episode is a bloody delight: from flesh-eating fish and humiliating deaths inside sacks, to a deadly re-enactment of the Icarus myth. For a...
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31:00
The Origins of Halloween
16 October 2023From its prehistoric origins until today, Halloween has always had the Shiver of Terror running through it. First as a pagan festival of...
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41:41
Shakespeare's son Hamnet with Maggie O'Farrell
16 October 2023When it comes to Shakespeare's biography and his inner life, there's a certain lack of evidence. But what if Shakespeare actually signposted us to...
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