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

44:59

Karaoke: The History

19 July 2023

When you think about it, the Karaoke machine is a simple invention. Basically two existing inventions, the tape deck and the microphone, were...

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32:11

Black Boxes: Recording Airplanes' Final Moments

18 July 2023

They can survive in lava for half an hour and accelerations of 3,400 Gs. Their beacons can be detected 20,000 feet beneath the waves. Most...

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37:34

Wars of the Roses: Jack Cade's Rebellion Explained

18 July 2023

It’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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44:38

Althea Gibson: The Wimbledon Champion Who Beat The Odds

18 July 2023

The world of tennis in the 1940s wasn't made for someone of Althea Gibson's background.

She was the descendent of slaves, and grew up in...

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26:40

Prigozhin: The Fate of Russian ‘Favourites’

17 July 2023

Russian history is defined by the rise and fall of favourites. Peter the Great had Menshikov, and Nicholas II had Rasputin. It's part of the...

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25:39

A History of American Childhood

17 July 2023

School, play and much less work: the idealised childhood is a very separate part of life. But how did it come to be so? And why is this perhaps...

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29:55

WW2: Top 5 Strangest Weapons

17 July 2023

They say war can be one of the biggest drivers of innovation. Inventions like radar, computers and penicillin, all developed during the Second...

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41:52

Tudor Queens: The Power of Jewellery

17 July 2023

From the mid-15th century to the mid-16th century, there were 10 Queens Consort of England, from Margaret of Anjou to Katherine Parr. For each of...

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38:19

Napoleon

16 July 2023

Did Napoleon really come from nothing and conquer everything? The release of the trailer for Ridley Scott's new epic biopic film has created hot...

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47:48

Jersey: Ice Age Island

16 July 2023

The largest of the Channel Islands, when you think of Jersey, it's doubtful that Neanderthals, Woolly Mammoths, and Woolly Rhinoceroses come to...

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38:03

Ectoplasm: Seances & the Rise of Spiritualism

16 July 2023

Communicating with the dead has a long and winding history. The rise of seances and the showmanship of paranormal activity rose to prominence in...

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38:47

Mozart's Sex Life

14 July 2023

When we think of the biggest pop icons of all time, we might reach for Madonna, Elvis, or yes, even Michael Jackson. 

One name that’s...

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32:41

Ukraine: War Crimes & Cluster Bombs

14 July 2023

As over a year passes since the Bucha Massacre, new information and intelligence on Russian war crimes continues to emerge from the conflict. With...

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40:39

Beowulf

14 July 2023

Composed towards the end of the first millennium, Beowulf is the classic Anglo-Saxon epic poem that transcends its time to shed light on...

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43:56

Helen of Troy with Natalie Haynes

13 July 2023

Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships - but is there more to her than a beautiful face? Commemorated throughout history in...

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29:45

Nixon in Moscow: The Kitchen Debate

13 July 2023

Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev. Leading figures of the United States and the Soviet Union respectively, in a verbal debate about capitalism...

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32:45

Elizabethan Rivals: Francis Bacon & Edward Coke

13 July 2023

As Queen Elizabeth I lays dying, King James VI of Scotland is waiting to accede to the throne of England. But who will thrive and who will fall...

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42:11

The Picts: Scourge of Rome

12 July 2023

Emerging around the 3rd century CE and later designated official adversaries of the Roman Empire, the Picts wreaked havoc across the northern...

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31:03

Fish & Chips: The Unexpected Origins of Britain's Favourite Dish

12 July 2023

Fish and Chips. About 382 million portions of the iconic national dish are consumed every year. That works out to around 6 servings per person,...

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25:50

Russia & USA: The 100-Year Cold War

11 July 2023

The Cold War was defined by the antagonism between two world superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. They relied on proxy wars,...

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40:10

Victorian Baby Farming Killer: Amelia Dyer

11 July 2023

In Victorian Britain, there was no formalised state adoption. Instead, desperate mothers paid other families to take their newborns. This tragic...

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