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
50:02
Darius the Great, Persian King of Kings
6 October 2024One of the most famous and recognisable Persian kings of antiquity, Darius the Great was an Achaemenid superstar, ruling the Achaemenid Persian...
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59:07
Richard II vs. Henry IV
4 October 2024For the Plantagenets, family might be a curse as often as a boon. They could provide invaluable support, or dangerous rivalry. At the end of the...
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44:24
Illegitimacy: Sex & Secrecy in the 18th Century
4 October 2024Why were children punished for illegitimacy in the 18th century? And what does the word even mean?
The truth is quite shocking, and probably...
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41:00
Rise of the Medici
3 October 2024The House of Medici ruthlessly wielded control of Florence for nearly 300 years. Through financial and political machinations, they transformed...
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39:57
Outlaws: Bonnie & Clyde
3 October 2024Just how murderous were Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow? Where did those famous photos come from? And how did the press lead to the pair's...
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44:54
Burke & Hare: Scotland’s Most Notorious Serial Killers
3 October 2024Discover the true story of Burke and Hare’s murderous rampage through the streets of Edinburgh, all to serve the needs of the city’s...
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34:50
The Rise and Fall of Jane Boleyn
3 October 2024In 1542 Jane Boleyn was executed for having aided and abetted Henry VIII's fifth wife Catherine Howard to commit adultery. It was the second...
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46:27
The Legend of Osiris, King of the Dead
3 October 2024The story of Osiris and how he became King of the Dead is a gruesome tale and one of the most famous legends from Egyptian...
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35:11
The British Agent Who Tried to Kill Lenin
1 October 2024Robert Bruce Lockhart was one of the most extraordinary and unconventional agents of the 20th century. A British diplomat, spy, and propagandist,...
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45:38
Medieval Chastity Belts: History Unlocked
1 October 2024Sexual purity was hugely importance in the medieval world, especially for women.
How did chastity work in practice? Why was it so important?...
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53:39
The Rise of British Castles
1 October 2024Castles. For centuries they have held fast across the landscape of the British Isles. Like beacons on a hill they project power in stone and...
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46:50
Woodrow Wilson & The End of WW1: The League of Nations
30 September 2024When it comes to US foreign policy in the early 20th Century, isolationism tends to come to mind. What, then, was Woodrow Wilson's impact on the...
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50:21
Who was Jack the Ripper? The Artist (Suspect 3)
30 September 2024Part 3/4. By looking at the men accused of being Jack the Ripper, we uncover dark truths about Victorian society - and our own. Why were these...
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39:18
William and Mary's Glorious Revolution
30 September 2024The events that led to the joint monarchy of William and Mary in 1689 have long been known as the Glorious Revolution, in which King James II was...
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35:45
The Creation of Modern China
29 September 2024On the 1st of October 1949, a huge crowd gathered in Tiananmen Square. In the shadow of Beijing's imperial Forbidden City, they listened as Mao...
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1:00:06
The Fall of Carthage
29 September 2024It’s 146 BC. Fire rises high over the North African coast. The once-thriving port city of Carthage is burning. Thousands of Roman soldiers have...
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50:40
Sex in Ancient Mesopotamia
27 September 2024How sexually liberated were the people of Ancient Mesopotamia? In what is modern day Iraq and dates back to around 3000 BC.
The answer may...
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46:47
The Iranian Embassy Siege with Ben Macintyre
26 September 2024On the drizzly, grey morning of 30th April 1980, six heavily armed gunmen stormed the Iranian Embassy in London. They charged through the front...
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43:36
Outlaws: Jesse James
26 September 2024Jesse James. Perhaps the most notorious American outlaw?
He’s become legendary figure of the Wild West, compared to an American ‘Robin...
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46:42
Isis and the Goddesses of Egypt
26 September 2024Isis, Hathor, Sekhmet and Bastet were adored and honoured in Ancient Egypt, with their stories passed between thousands of followers and down...
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35:18
Wounds of Christ: Macabre History of Stigmata
26 September 2024The wounds that Christ received on the cross - the stigmata - have had a strange afterlife, reappearing on the flesh of followers from St Francis...
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