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
43:32
Origins of Olive Oil
3 September 2023When you think of inventions that helped change the course of history, it's doubtful Olive Oil makes the list. Originating thousands of years ago...
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34:45
Self Sacrifice in Ancient India
1 September 2023Today we’re looking into self sacrifice in ancient India. Why did people do it? How did people think about death and the afterlife? Who were the...
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54:30
Rwandan Genocide
1 September 2023This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and sexual assault.
Over the course of 100 days in 1994, it's estimated that between...
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41:01
Æthelflæd: Lady of the Mercians
1 September 2023Matt Lewis kicks off Gone Medieval’s special series of podcasts about Medieval Queens with a look at Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians who...
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41:52
President Thomas Jefferson
31 August 2023Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, so how did it work out when he became the leader of this nation that...
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46:58
Dutch Golden Age: 'The Goldfinch' and its Painter
31 August 2023On the morning of 12 October 1654, in the Dutch city of Delft, a sudden explosion was followed by a thunderclap that could be heard more than 70...
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40:59
Pompeii: The Eruption of Vesuvius
31 August 2023This episode contains references to scenes that some listeners may find distressing
In 79 AD, ancient armageddon hit Pompeii: Mount Vesuvius...
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29:38
Secret Origins of the SAS
30 August 2023In 1974, a pioneer of the SAS and master of military deception, Dudley Clarke, passed away. His death went almost entirely unnoticed by the...
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35:36
Medieval Swords
30 August 2023No invention conjures up the 'Old World' as much as the Sword. It's an utterly iconic object that whisks us back to knights in shining armour. But...
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36:25
Ivan the Terrible
29 August 2023The name Ivan the Terrible is synonymous with brutality and ruthlessness. While Western scholars insist that the first crowned Tsar of all Russia...
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34:30
History of Sex For Sale
29 August 2023Many people claim sex work to be the oldest profession, but we can likely put that down to being midwifery or medical professionals of some...
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38:55
How to be an Atheist in the Middle Ages
29 August 2023We tend to think that it was impossible not to subscribe to Christianity in the Middle Ages. But, as in any age, belief can wax and wane. But the...
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46:25
Charlie Chaplin
28 August 2023The Golden Age of Hollywood was a place of pioneers, storytellers, ideas, westward expansion, money, politics and scandal- the story of Hollywood...
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28:41
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
28 August 202345 seconds. An estimated 7.9 on today's Richter scale. The deadliest earthquake in US history.
In this episode, we're examining the 1906 San...
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28:46
Napoleon's Greatest Victory: Austerlitz
28 August 2023December 2nd is a special date for those fascinated by Napoleon Bonaparte. Not only is this the date he crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804,...
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43:52
Henry VIII's Billionaire Wardrobe
28 August 2023Henry VIII was described as the 'best dressed sovereign in the world' by the Venetian ambassador Sebastian Giustinian. The Tudor King spent the...
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40:19
How Brutish were our Ancestors?
27 August 2023Was life for our ancient ancestors brutish and short or did they exist as noble savages, free and living in harmony with nature and each other?...
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53:42
Maya Sacrifice & Warfare
27 August 2023With a history stretching back thousands of years, it’s about time that the Ancients started looking at the extraordinary Maya civilisation in...
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38:05
Marie Curie
27 August 2023In a leaky shed in Paris, Marie Curie turned two tons of pitchblende (aka special rocks) into a single test tube of radium chloride - its green...
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36:18
Henry I of England
25 August 2023The fourth son of William the Conqueror, King Henry I, is remembered as a harsh but effective ruler. He skilfully manipulated the barons in...
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43:04
How Fear Shaped History
25 August 2023What scares you? Some of humankind’s most common fears and phobias include fear of heights, flying, spiders, snakes, injections, germs, public...
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