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
Roller Coasters
23 November 2022The world’s first Loop-the-Loop roller coaster gave so many people whiplash that they kept a medical team on the payroll.
Find out where...
Listen NowKings and Queens: Villains, Heroes and Rulers
23 November 2022Dan teams up with his parents and esteemed journalists Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan to explore the lives, loves, triumphs and disasters of a...
Listen NowHanseatic League
22 November 2022Growing from a few North German towns in the late 12th century, the Hanseatic League — a powerful network of...
Listen NowMussolini's Favourite Daughter
22 November 2022What do we know about the people who shared the surname Mussolini with the Italian fascist dictator?
Edda Mussolini may have been Benito’s...
Listen NowCentral Park: What Lies Beneath
22 November 2022Central Park is an oasis of nature in New York City, amidst the countless skyscrapers and gridded streets of Manhattan. Over 800 acres of sweeping...
Listen NowRonald Reagan: The Peacemaker
21 November 2022When Ronald Reagan became President in 1981, he was initially written off by many as a reckless B movie cowboy who would lead the US to nuclear...
Listen NowInside the JFK White House
21 November 2022November 22nd marks 59 years since the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. One of the most famous assassinations in history, JFK's...
Listen NowFootball and the Tudors
21 November 2022Already in 2022 we have celebrated England’s Lionesses winning the Women’s European Championships, and this month you may well be waiting with...
Listen NowRogue Heroes: Veteran of the SAS
21 November 2022Mike Sadler is the last surviving original member of the SAS and is featured in the new television series SAS Rogue Heroes as a dashing young man...
Listen NowFrozen Food
20 November 2022The Frozen Food industry was invented by the Birdseye company. And that company was started by a living breathing Birdseye; Clarence...
Listen NowRise of the Etruscans
20 November 2022Situated in the North of Italy, the Etruscan's were once a powerful civilisation, dominating the Italian peninsular. Predecessors to Ancient Rome,...
Listen NowThe Rise of Christianity
19 November 2022In the fourth century AD, the Christian faith exploded out of Palestine, overwhelming the paganism of Rome, converting the Emperor Constantine in...
Listen NowConscientious Objection in WW2
18 November 2022Accounts of the Second World War usually involve tales of exceptional bravery in battle, as the allied nations stood together against fascism. But...
Listen NowTattoos
18 November 2022George V, Otzi the Iceman, possibly Winston Churchill and … Kate Lister. What do all these people have in common?
They have tattoos. As do...
Listen NowMedieval Pubs
18 November 2022For centuries, the pub has played a central role in our lives and communities. Throughout Britain, there are many pubs saying that they are the...
Listen NowWho Really Invented the Light Bulb?
17 November 2022While Thomas Edison is widely credited as the inventor of the electric lightbulb in 1879, it had existed in one form or another since the the...
Listen NowValley of the Kings
17 November 2022On the west bank of the Nile, across from the ancient city of Thebes, lies the Valley of the Kings - the final resting place of several Pharaohs...
Listen NowHenry VIII’s Lost Brother, Prince Arthur
17 November 2022During the early part of the sixteenth century England should have been ruled by King Arthur Tudor with his wife Catherine of Aragon as Queen. Had...
Listen NowThe Budget: Britain's Financial Crisis Explained
17 November 2022Rising interest, cost of living crisis, energy prices at an all-time high- is Britain's precarious financial situation the fault of policymakers...
Listen NowWarhammer
16 November 2022***Real life inventor alert*** We speak to Rick Priestley the co-creator of the weird world of Warhammer where valiant humans, noble elves, savage...
Listen NowBand of Brothers: A New Discovery
16 November 2022In part 2 of this series on Easy Company and the American 101st Airborne Division, we are back in the village of Aldbourne, following in the steps...
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