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
46:12
Henry VIII’s Fool, Will Somer
18 September 2023In some portraits of Henry VIII there appears another, striking figure. This is Will Somer, the king’s fool, a celebrated wit who could raise...
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32:16
Holy Roman Empire
18 September 2023Voltaire famously wrote that the "The Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.” But Dr. Eleanor...
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40:23
The Origins of the Popes
17 September 2023The popes of Rome emerged from the humblest of beginnings. The first was a fisherman, charged with spreading the word of God under the watchful...
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47:32
Rise and Fall of High Heels
17 September 2023For most of their history, High Heels were resolutely masculine. The most manly of manly footwear. How did they turn into burning icons of...
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47:02
Harappan Civilisation
17 September 2023The Harappan civilisation, also known as the Indus Valley civilisation, was an ancient urban civilisation that thrived in the Indus River valley...
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39:34
The Middle Ages in Five Facts
15 September 2023Where is the grave of King Arthur? What was the worst year in human history? Who were the most fractious royal siblings? What were the origins of...
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30:50
Hate Mail: A Scandalous History
15 September 2023From tip-off letters about the gun powder plot to village quarrels that lead to jail time - today we’re going Betwixt the Sheets to find out...
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48:21
President James Madison
14 September 2023His life is one of firsts for the United States. Having contributed to the Federalist Papers, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, in 1812...
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1:06:32
The Roman Legionary
14 September 2023When you picture ancient Roman Soldiers, an image of battle-hardened warriors equipped with iron breastplates, large rectangular shields and...
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43:10
Margaret Cavendish: 17th Century Revolutionary
14 September 2023In an age when literature was dominated by men, Margaret Cavendish wrote passionately about gender, science and philosophy. She published under...
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37:13
Wars of the Roses: Jack Cade’s Rebellion Explained
13 September 2023It’s one of the most dramatic stories you might never have heard. Featuring a seaborne assassination, a vengeful manhunt and London Bridge in...
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30:15
Sunglasses
13 September 2023What do all incredibly cool people have in common? They wear Sunglasses. Whether you're Miles Davis or Audrey Hepburn, James Dean or Bob Dylan,...
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27:47
The Great Caterpillar Outbreak of 1782
12 September 2023In the spring of 1782, it wasn't the American Revolutionary War that had Londoners worried. The city and nearby countryside had been covered in...
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38:13
Anne of Bohemia
12 September 2023Dr. Eleanor Janega continues Gone Medieval’s special series of podcasts about Medieval Queens with a look at Queen Anne of Bohemia, the first...
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43:15
Victorian London's Hidden Porn Trade
12 September 2023Holywell Street, just off London's Fleet Street, was the hidden epicentre of Victorian pornography.
The Daily Telegraph described it as "the...
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39:42
The Knights Templar
11 September 2023Few organisations in history have names as loaded with legend as the Knights Templar. Western culture is infused with the mythology of these pious...
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34:42
9/11: Toxic Gas, PTSD & Rebuilding
11 September 2023New York was a city of 8 million people in 2001. A city that would be changed forever by the events of 9/11.
In this episode, we will not...
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34:58
Hapsburg Inbreeding with Dr. Adam Rutherford
11 September 2023One of Early Modern Europe’s most powerful families, the Hapsburgs shared a physical trait so distinctive that it came to be regarded as a badge...
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39:10
The Nazi Massacre at Rumbula
10 September 2023What would it be like to discover that your grandfather was a Nazi? For decades, generations of Germans have been grappling with the legacies of...
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35:38
Deep-Sea Submersibles & the Titan Disaster
10 September 2023The Titan submersible implosion was a tragic example of marine exploration going wrong. Today Dallas speaks to one of the world's leading marine...
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44:06
Liangzhu: Cradle of Chinese Civilisation?
10 September 2023Where do you begin to understand the origins of Chinese civilization? Located near the Yangtze River, the treasures of the Liangzhu culture can be...
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