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
35:55
The Secret History of Nuclear War
10 April 2023Why is it that nobody has used the absolute weapon, the nuclear bomb, since 1945? Was it ever likely that the American arsenal would be used...
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52:15
Catherine Howard: Henry VIII's Fifth Wife
10 April 2023Catherine Howard was Queen Consort - and fifth wife - to Henry VIII for just 16 months before he had her executed for treason for committing...
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28:00
The Assassination that Ended South African Apartheid
9 April 2023The assassination of Chris Hani was a pivotal moment in the dismantling of South African apartheid. On the 10th of April, 1993, he was shot dead...
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47:46
Athena: Goddess of Wisdom
9 April 2023This episode contains graphic references of a sexual nature.
Athena is the goddess of wisdom, tactical war and skilled craft in Greek...
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50:09
Vasectomies
9 April 2023Why did Sigmund Freud want a vasectomy at 67 years old? Why were goat gonads all the rage in the 1920s? Who was the first person to get the...
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44:32
Tournaments & Rebellion in Historical Fiction
8 April 2023The Second Baron’s War was a time of great unrest and upheaval in 13th century England. Fought just decades after the signing of Magna Carta, it...
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36:55
AI At War: Killer Robots
7 April 2023What if we could take people completely out of the equation when planning military strikes? Lethal autonomous weapons systems use artificial...
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34:15
Sports Bra
7 April 2023REAL LIFE INVENTOR ALERT!!!
Two jockstraps cleverly sewn together. That was how the very first sports bra was made in 1977. The product...
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27:50
Hudson River: America's First Art Movement
6 April 2023English-born artist Thomas Cole emigrated to the United States in 1818. Six years later he began what is now known as the Hudson River School,...
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33:46
Mary, Queen of Scots on Film: Historians’ Verdict
6 April 2023What do you get when you bring together five top historians to debate Mary, Queen of Scots on film? History with the gloves off - our second...
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41:13
Rise of the Assyrians
6 April 2023At its pinnacle, the kingdom of Assyria stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf, a feat few could compare with in 660BCE....
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41:23
The Rise and Fall of Saddam Hussein
5 April 2023Perhaps one of the best-known modern dictators, Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq for nearly 30 years before eventually being overthrown in 2003 by the US...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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