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

42:14

Victorian Pregnancy & Childbirth: The Untold History

9 June 2023

Why did Victorian doctors recommend women to lie still in solitary confinement for days after giving birth? What was the 'sit up and cough'...

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45:58

The Wright Brothers

8 June 2023

Approximately 100 thousand flights take off and land each and every day. A months long journey on a boat is condensed to just a few hours with the...

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52:49

Ravenna and the Fall of Rome

8 June 2023

The fall of the Western Roman Empire stands as one of the most monumental moments in ancient history, symbolising the end of centuries of Roman...

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44:11

Elizabethan 'Travel Liar': The Truth about David Ingram

8 June 2023

In 1567, a sailor named David Ingram sailed from Plymouth with 400 others on a slaving expedition. The ensuing events read like a fantastic...

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25:02

The British Empire

7 June 2023

The British Empire was one of the most influential and far-reaching empires in history. Dan and his guest journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera...

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28:21

Suffragette Scientists

7 June 2023

Hold onto your lab coats, because the suffragette scientists are here to shake things up! Patricia Fara, author of A Lab of One's Own, joins...

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16:56

Hiding Anne Frank

6 June 2023

In this episode of Warfare, host James Patton Rogers is joined by Tony Phelan and Susanna Fogel, creators of the new TV series A Small Light,...

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34:03

The Pre-Raphaelites: Art & Sexual Liberation

6 June 2023

The Pre-Raphaelites: Art & Sexual Liberation

If there’s one thing we like to embrace on this podcast, it’s a slice of controversy. Which...

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42:17

Medieval Japan: Myths of the Samurai

6 June 2023

Medieval Japan - especially its stories of fearless Samurai and Ninja warriors - have an enduring place in our consciousness. But how true are...

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26:29

D-Day: Britain and America's 'Special Relationship'

5 June 2023

The 6th of June, 1944 was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany and the pinnacle of the 'special relationship' between Britain and the United...

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32:53

White Women Slave Owners

5 June 2023

Of all of the people enslaved in the southern United States over time, 40% of them were owned by women. For example, when she married George...

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37:10

D-Day: US Airpower with WW2 Veteran Chuck Richardson

5 June 2023

On June 6th 1944, Allied forces launched a massive amphibious invasion of Normandy, France - the operation involved over 150,000 troops from the...

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47:33

Mary Queen of Scots, Catherine de' Medici & Elisabeth de Valois

5 June 2023

Three powerful Renaissance queens all lived together at the French court for many years. They were bound together through blood and marriage,...

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28:07

The Ejector Seat

4 June 2023

An ejector seat propels a human at speeds reaching 200 miles in less than a second. It can save a life... or snap a neck. John Nichol remembers...

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33:04

Hieroglyphs

4 June 2023

Vulture. Snake. Baboon in a Basket. Get ready for hieroglyphs, history, and hilarity as Dallas talks to Egyptologist Chris Naunton.

We...

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38:55

Boudica's Battle of Britain

4 June 2023

The Celtic queen who led a major uprising against the Roman Empire in ancient Britain, Boudica, is a name known throughout history. Her rebellion,...

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38:35

Origins of the Forbidden Fruit Myth

2 June 2023

How did the apple become the dominant symbol of temptation and sin, when it isn’t even mentioned in the Bible story of Adam and...

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48:26

A History of Queer Women

2 June 2023

One thing’s for certain, queer people have always been a part of society. The language may not have always been there to describe them in all of...

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24:19

War Gaming the 19th Century

2 June 2023

War Gaming, an activity that has been around as long as warfare itself, provides valuable insights into the complex nature of war. Whether it's...

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39:26

California Gold Rush

1 June 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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44:09

Origins of Horse Riding

1 June 2023

Human and Horse relationships have long be intertwined; from the ancient Eurasian plain, through to modern cowboys. But how did these huge,...

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