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
49:23
AI
5 April 2023Get ready for the coming of our robot overlords by listening to this episode all about the history of AI. Who was Shakey the robot? Why did we...
Listen Now
19:01
Massacre on the Slave Ship Zong
4 April 2023Please note, this episode contains descriptions of racial violence that some listeners may find disturbing.
In November 1781, a British...
Listen Now
31:56
Excavating An Anglo-Saxon Palace: Ad Gefrin
4 April 2023Though today it is just a muddy field, the small hamlet of Yeavering was once a bustling centre of Anglo-Saxon power in the North of England. At...
Listen Now
50:32
A History of the C-Word
4 April 2023WARNING: This episode includes adult content and explicit language. As offensive terms go, you are entering a hard hat area.
It’s one of...
Listen Now
23:18
Operation Paperclip: America's Nazi Scientists
3 April 2023In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Allied Powers sent research teams into the ruins of the Third Reich to cherry-pick the best German...
Listen Now
32:43
Espionage & Enslavement in the Revolution
3 April 2023Claire Bellerjeau tells Don the the story of Liss, an enslaved Black woman in 18th century New York, and her involvement with one of George...
Listen Now
41:30
Creator of Don Quixote: Cervantes
3 April 2023In the early 17th century, an aged veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a book. It was the story of a poor nobleman who...
Listen Now
42:21
Liberation of Dachau
3 April 2023A warning that this episode contains descriptions of genocide and terms for groups which were classified that way at the time.
In April...
Listen Now
23:12
The Rise of Zelenskyy
2 April 2023Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meteoric rise to power has been packed with drama and action. His journey has taken him from a Russian-speaking, aspiring...
Listen Now
23:05
April Fool's Day
2 April 2023When does spaghetti grow on trees? When can you milk a duck? When does Google read your brainwaves? On April Fool’s Day!
Come with us into...
Listen Now
36:47
Alexandria: The Sunken City
2 April 2023The Egyptian city of Alexandria was one of the greatest cities of the ancient Mediterranean world. Founded by Alexander the Great himself in...
Listen Now
37:47
Medieval Origins of Coronations
1 April 2023A coronation is a moment of history packed with symbolism and meaning, and throughout April 2023 Gone Medieval will be your perfect historical...
Listen Now
40:50
Early Modern Murder
31 March 2023What was the early modern version of CSI? Why might whole pubs have been singing an executed person’s final words? And was the crime of murder...
Listen Now
42:22
Churchill's Darkest Hour
31 March 2023Winston Churchill's ascension to Prime Minister in 1940 was a key turning point in world history, ultimately being one of the first steps to help...
Listen Now
40:29
Septimius Severus
30 March 2023Given his incredible career, you'd perhaps expect the name of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus to be better known. Born in North Africa in 145AD,...
Listen Now
27:51
French Spies in the American Revolution
30 March 2023The story of the American Revolution is one of the best known in American history. But it could have been very different. Outgunned and outmanned...
Listen Now
49:37
Troy
30 March 2023Often thought of as an ancient, mythical idea, immortalised in the works of Homer, it's hard to imagine Troy as real place. But when Heinrich...
Listen Now
36:34
How People Died in 16th Century London
30 March 2023In one week in London in September, 1665, no fewer than 47 different causes of death were reported, including consumption, fever, dropsy, being...
Listen Now
22:23
The Space Shuttle
29 March 2023Over a period of 30 years, NASA's Space Shuttle program contributed to some of space exploration's most important achievements, as well as some of...
Listen Now
30:34
Fish Tanks and Aquariums
29 March 2023Early aquariums didn't have much more in them than some sorry looking trout. Yet such was the excitement at being able to see this underwater...
Listen Now
34:14
Scott's Last Days in the Antarctic
28 March 2023Captain Robert Falcon Scott died in his tent in Antarctica in March 1912 during his failed effort to become the first person to reach the South...
Listen Now