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

43:29

Polyamory: From Mormons to 60s Counterculture

15 August 2023

The polyamory movement has a long and interesting history. It takes in Pilgrims meeting Native American Indians, Mormons having their take on it,...

Listen Now
42:17

Sex: The Medieval Rules

15 August 2023

Sex. It’s everyone’s favourite subject. But has it been that way since the Middle Ages? The repressive instincts of some medieval churchmen...

Listen Now
26:24

Scottish Clans

14 August 2023

It is believed clans started to emerge in Scotland around 1100AD and were originally the descendants of kings – if not of demigods from Irish...

Listen Now
28:37

The Texas Chicken Ranch: Famous Brothel to Broadway

14 August 2023

When it closed in 1973, the Texas Chicken Ranch was the oldest continually operating brothel in the United States. Why was this brothel able to...

Listen Now
36:26

Christopher Wren

14 August 2023

Best known for St. Paul’s Cathedral, Christopher Wren was the greatest architect Britain has ever known. But he was so much more: he applied his...

Listen Now
47:27

Putin's Rise to Power

14 August 2023

Serving continuously as either Prime Minister or President since 1999, Vladimir Putin's leadership of Russia has always dominated the geopolitical...

Listen Now
39:42

Gladiators of Pompeii

13 August 2023

This episode contains some references to graphic violence.

Gladiators are one the most enduring symbols of Ancient Rome, and Pompeii is no...

Listen Now
40:35

Oppenheimer: Inventor of the Atomic Bomb

13 August 2023

Robert Oppenheimer was the father of the atomic bomb - a weapon of unprecedented power, which, when dropped on Japan, would end WWII and would...

Listen Now
44:04

Archimedes and the Siege of Syracuse

12 August 2023

Dan tells the story of Archimedes, the ancient Greek inventor whose weapons of war protected the town of Syracuse from a Roman army. The Romans...

Listen Now
34:46

Afghanistan: The Legacies of Withdrawal

11 August 2023

In August 2021, after 20 years of military presence, the United States withdrew the last of their troops from Afghanistan. With chaos quickly...

Listen Now
26:49

Æthelstan: First King of the English

11 August 2023

The grandson of Alfred the Great, Æthelstan the Glorious was the first King of England, reigning from 924 to 939. Æthelstan inherited the...

Listen Now
40:01

History of Kissing: Why do we lock lips?

11 August 2023

A good old smooch. It’s something that we do on a daily basis in one form or another (if we’re lucky), and yet have you ever stopped and...

Listen Now
35:32

The Pueblo Revolt

10 August 2023

On August 10 1680, the Pueblo people began the most successful uprising against colonial power in North America.

For 11 days, Spanish...

Listen Now
44:11

Attila the Hun: Scourge of God

10 August 2023

One of the most powerful, and feared, leaders of history - Attila the Hun's legacy has persevered over centuries. His consolidation of the Hunnic...

Listen Now
43:26

Treasures of Lambeth Palace

10 August 2023

Books belonging to Henry VIII, Richard III, Mary I and Edward VI are among the treasures in the historic library of the Archbishops of Canterbury,...

Listen Now
37:45

Surviving Hitler and Stalin

9 August 2023

Lord Daniel Finkelstein recounts stories from his parents' remarkable lives. His mother Mirjam Wiener survived the Nazi concentration camps, and...

Listen Now
52:36

Coca Cola: A Backyard Invention

9 August 2023

Was Coca Cola originally made with Cocaine? Did Coca Cola invent Santa? Who knows the Coca Cola recipe? Dallas is joined by Bart Elmore, an...

Listen Now
34:48

Genghis Khan

8 August 2023

Genghis Khan roughly translates to 'Universal Ruler', a fitting name for the most famous nomadic conqueror to have ever lived. He was born as...

Listen Now
41:07

Eleanor of Castile

8 August 2023

Eleanor of Castile married King Edward I of England as part of a political deal to affirm English sovereignty over Gascony. But the...

Listen Now
38:08

History of Make-Up

8 August 2023

Most of us present ourselves with some form of cosmetic, so it’s strange that historically there’s been so much judgement around the use of...

Listen Now
30:15

Attila The Hun

7 August 2023

Known to the Romans as the 'Scourge of God', Attila the Hun brought chaos to the world around him. He and his armies plundered, pillaged and...

Listen Now