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

39:26

California Gold Rush

3 July 2023

From the rings on our fingers to coins in our pockets and, for a select few, the medals hanging around our necks. Gold is one of the most coveted...

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37:44

The Battle of Gettysburg

3 July 2023

The first three days of July 1863 saw the bloodiest single battle of the American Civil War. This clash between the Unionist and Confederate...

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48:18

Elizabeth I's Musician: William Byrd

3 July 2023

The most admired and influential composer during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, William Byrd died exactly 400 years ago on 4...

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28:59

Alan Turing & Bletchley Park

3 July 2023

Alan Turing: pioneering mathematician, computer scientist, codebreaker. He played a crucial role in decrypting Nazi messages during the Second...

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48:12

The First Day of The Somme

2 July 2023

Dan Explains the first day of The Somme which remains the bloodiest day in the history of the British army; a symbol of the senseless carnage of...

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32:45

Lion Man: The First Myth?

2 July 2023

Discovered in a German cave, days before the Second World War broke out, the Lion Man statue remained an enigma for decades. A figurine that...

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39:45

Dogs: Domesticating Wolves, Inventing Breeds (& Killer Beavers)

2 July 2023

How do we go from wolves to modern dogs? And where do Killer Beavers fit into the story?

Humans domesticated wolves long before any other...

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25:15

Wagner & Putin: The Russian Coup?

30 June 2023

On the 24th of June 2023, amidst rising tensions within Russia, the Wagner mercenary group rebelled against the Russian Government. With news...

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26:15

Medieval Comedy: Minstrels

30 June 2023

Every historian dreams of hitting gold in the archives. Matt Lewis’s guest Dr. James Wade of Girton College, Cambridge has done just...

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44:56

Women Warriors: From Boudicca to Ukrainian Snipers

30 June 2023

From Boudicca to Ukrainian snipers, battlefields have always contained a surprising number of women.

Today Kate is joined Betwixt the Sheets...

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50:50

Stonewall

29 June 2023

What made June 28 1969 a landmark occasion for LGBTQ+ rights?How was Stonewall different from the uprisings that had come before it? And why were...

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53:08

Shakespeare's Plays: The Power of Gestures

29 June 2023

When we think of Shakespeare, we mostly think of language. But what about gesture and other forms of nonverbal communication - from thumb-biting...

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42:22

Persia and the Bible

29 June 2023

As the Babylonian Empire fell into decline, and it's power faded, the Persian Empire stepped in to fill the void that was left - but how did this...

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28:34

Toto Koopman: Socialite, Vogue Model and WWII Spy

28 June 2023

Toto Koopman was remarkable; she was a high society socialite who risked her life wining and dining with Italian blackshirts in order to gather...

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36:26

Ejector Seats: Death Defying Invention

28 June 2023

"Eject! Eject!" Imagine hearing that and the next second flying out into the sky at hundreds of miles an hour, your life in the hands of a chair....

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42:05

Great Fire of London

27 June 2023

Why do we call the Great Fire of London in 1666 “great”? Was it because of the significant challenge it posed to authorities and residents as...

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37:37

Time Team's Tony Robinson: A Life in History

27 June 2023

On this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis talks to Sir Tony Robinson — actor, author and presenter — who is now hosting his own podcast,...

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50:44

Stonewall Uprising: Liberation & Mafia Exploitation

27 June 2023

In 1969 America, it was illegal to be gay in 49 out of 50 states. You could be fired from your job and evicted by your landlord if you were found...

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24:40

Wagner vs Putin: A History of Russian Coups

26 June 2023

On the 24th of June, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin and his paramilitary group Wagner carried out what appeared to be an attempted coup in Russia. In a...

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52:11

Amelia Earhart

26 June 2023

On July 2 1937, Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off on what was supposed to be the final leg of their circumnavigation of the...

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38:04

Transgender Fairies in Early Modern Literature

26 June 2023

Today we think of fairies on the stage and in stories as often cute, ultra-feminine and unthreatening. But in Early Modern literature, fairies...

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