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
42:24
What if the South Won the Civil War?
9 October 2023What if the Civil War had ended differently, with the South seceding from the Union? Would slavery have continued? Would the southern states have...
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41:11
Origins of Medieval Universities
9 October 2023The University of Vienna is one of the oldest in the world. Founded by Rudolph IV Habsburg in 1365, it has been teaching students for centuries....
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45:01
Witchcraft: A History in Four Trials
9 October 2023Most of our knowledge of witchcraft accusations and executions comes from the proceedings of high profile and significant...
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44:26
Tyre: Jewel of Phoenicia
8 October 2023One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, Tyre was a jewel of the Ancient World. A Phoenician metropolis, and the birth place of numerous...
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53:44
Alexander The Great
7 October 2023This is everything you need to know about the famed conqueror Alexander the Great. Alongside Tristan Hughes, host of the hit podcast The Ancients,...
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41:50
Age of Consent: Medieval Meaning, Victorian Scandals & Modern Relevance
6 October 2023While the age of consent has fluctuated over time, it reveals some fascinating and enlightening things about how we view sexuality in...
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34:51
Origins of the Vietnam War
5 October 2023In 1969, at the height of US presence, there were over half a million Americans in Vietnam.
But why were they there in the first place? When...
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41:54
Normal Women with Philippa Gregory
5 October 2023Did women really do nothing to shape England’s culture and traditions through centuries of turmoil, plague, famine and religious reform? In...
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47:40
The Venerable Bede
5 October 2023Bede, whose name towers over early medieval English literature, is often referred to as the “father of English history.” He calculated the...
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47:08
Gladiators in Britain
5 October 2023When you think of Gladiators you tend to think of Roman Amphitheatres, Hollywood films, and probably not Colchester in the UK. But thanks to the...
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34:54
England's Greatest Monarchs with David Mitchell
4 October 2023David Mitchell joins Dan in today's episode to ask the all-important question - who was England's greatest monarch? From the 'overrated' William...
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40:20
Achilles
3 October 2023This episode contains themes of a sexual nature
Achilles is one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology. The son of Peleus, a Greek King,...
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42:56
Sex: The Medieval Rules
3 October 2023Given that the medieval period covers the best part of 1000 years, there's a fair amount of sexual myth and beliefs to get through.
How...
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23:03
Suleyman the Magnificent
2 October 2023The Lion House is a riveting new book from journalist and historian Christopher De Bellaigue, written like a novel that tells the dramatic story...
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45:06
The American Buffalo with Ken Burns
2 October 2023'It's one of those threads you pull on and immediately you're connected to the whole fabric of American history.'
The American Buffalo,...
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39:51
The Habsburgs
2 October 2023How did an obscure Swiss family grow in power to gain control of the Holy Roman Empire in the 15th century? How did they manage to then take in a...
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28:23
How Shakespeare Depicted Race
2 October 2023In the same way that Shakespeare’s women characters were performed by boys in female costume, African, Middle Eastern, Hispanic and Jewish roles...
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1:21:55
Captain Cook
1 October 2023Dan tells the extraordinary tale of Captain James Cook. Born a labourer's son, he would rise to become one of history's greatest explorers. He...
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40:50
The Dead Sea Scrolls: Jesus, John the Baptist & Essenes
1 October 2023Part 2/2. Of unknown authorship, the Dead Sea Scrolls - also known as the Qumran Scrolls - are some of the most important ancient documents ever...
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37:35
Julius Caesar's Sex Life
29 September 2023"I came. I saw. I conquered".
Perhaps the most famous Julius Caesar quote of all time. But after hearing all about his bedroom antics, it...
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35:10
President James Monroe
28 September 2023Serving from 1817 to 1825, James Monroe's presidency was only the fifth presidency of the United States. Monroe's time in power saw the...
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