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
27:58
Executions in Medieval London
12 November 2022Public executions were a major part of Londoners’ lives from the 12th century right through to the 19th. Now the Museum of London Docklands has...
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39:54
Origins of WW1: Beyond the Archduke
11 November 2022The 11th of November marks Remembrance Day, a memorial day honoured since the end of the First World War. Hostilities ended on the 11th hour of...
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37:52
Hacks, Hitler & the Hotel Imperial
11 November 2022We might now be used to hearing about the intimate details of celebrities and world leaders, but when did this become the norm?
In the lead...
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28:40
Lost Recordings from the Front Line
11 November 2022Often faster than letters sent by ship, WWII soldiers stationed in South East Asia would send heartfelt and humorous video messages to their loved...
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37:07
African Americans in WW2
10 November 2022The experience of African Americans in World War 2 was, to say the least, a gross double standard. While fascism was confronted in the name of...
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37:54
The Tomb of Tutankhamun
10 November 2022In November of 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter, thanks to benefactor Lord Carnarvon, discovered the untouched tomb of Tutankhamun....
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55:35
Inca Apocalypse
10 November 2022For many, the word Inca conjures up images of an ancient civilisation in South America, swiftly conquered by the Spanish in their quest for gold...
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22:29
The Crown: A Short History of British Monarchy
10 November 2022For at least 1,500 years, since the mists swirling around the Dark Ages began to clear, the British Isles have had monarchical rulers. For...
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34:07
Canned Food
9 November 2022Hope you’re hungry because today we’re opening a can of historical worms as we discover the origins of canned food.
How did canned...
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42:57
Fall of the Berlin Wall
9 November 2022On November 9th, 1989, 33 years ago to the day, the Berlin Wall that had symbolised the ideological and physical division of Europe came crumbling...
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44:10
Sex in Ancient China
8 November 2022How did the people of Ancient China think about sex?
From sexual vampirism to unrealistic representations of courtesan culture, from wife...
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32:00
Britain’s Lost Kingdoms
8 November 2022Britain was once a mosaic of small kingdoms, some of which have vanished without a trace. In his new book Lost Realms, Thomas Williams,...
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40:03
Origins of Modern Iran
8 November 2022As protests continued across Iran, a number of Iranian-made kamikaze drones were fired by Russian forces at targets thousands of miles away in...
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54:10
The Race for the North Pole
7 November 2022On April 6th 1909, deep inside the Artic Circle after months on the ice, Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and their four Inuit guides reached what...
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38:14
WW2: Battle of El Alamein
7 November 2022The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a key turning point in the Second World War - a moment when the Allies were no longer on the defensive, but...
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50:26
Life in Tudor England
7 November 2022What was life really like in Tudor England? This was a society where monarchy was under strain, the church was in crisis, where contending with...
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21:47
The Birth of the CIA
7 November 2022American intelligence services like the CIA are commonly thought of as global behemoths of international surveillance and covert operations,...
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34:01
The World's Earliest Cave Art
6 November 2022200,000 years ago in what is now Tibet, two children left a set of hand and foot prints on a travertine boulder, still identifiable today and is...
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40:46
Rise and Fall of Zeppelins
6 November 2022They were cigars the size of ocean liners that floated through the clouds. Cow intestines filled with hydrogen held them up. The world’s first...
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22:20
The Czech Braveheart: Jan Žižka
5 November 2022Jan Žižka is the legendary Czech national hero who led Hussite forces against three crusades and never lost a single battle. His rise to...
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54:20
Indecent Exposure
4 November 2022It can happen on a bus, in a park, in your home, at the school gates. An estimated one in every ten women in England and Wales have reported it...
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