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
31:14
The Troubles Begin
4 October 2022This episode will establish the century-long roots of sectarian tensions, paint a picture of the political atmosphere in Northern Ireland as the...
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35:26
Black Victorians
4 October 2022Why is there an assumption that Victorian Britain was white? Who does this mean is missing from our history books? And how can we find out more...
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37:56
Boy Kings of Medieval Europe
4 October 2022Charles III recently became King at the age of 73 - the oldest man ever to become a British monarch. That might not seem so odd to us today, but...
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26:45
Remembering Hilary Mantel
3 October 2022Dame Hilary Mantel died on 22 September 2022 at the age of 70. Her acclaimed Wolf Hall trilogy - which brought the life of Thomas Cromwell so...
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33:28
Pontiac's Rebellion
3 October 2022In 1763, Native American tribes in the Great Lakes region began fighting British expansion and rule in their territory, attacking forts and...
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38:39
WW2: The Moro Warriors
3 October 2022The resistance fighters of the Moro, an indigenous Muslim population of the Philippines, have been described as most the most successful and...
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49:52
The Raising of the Mary Rose
3 October 2022Forty years ago on 11 October 1982, after 437 years under water, Henry VIII’s warship, the Mary Rose, was raised from the seabed of the...
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15:46
The Energy Crisis: 2022 vs 1973
2 October 2022A long dark, cold winter looms with soaring energy prices. Some of the advice we've heard recently includes buying a new kettle or taking a...
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1:01:02
The Rise and Fall of Roman London
2 October 2022In 43 AD, the Romans set up temporary forts along the banks of a river to wait for their Emperor, Claudius, to march onto the enemy capital of...
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30:48
FORENSICS: Lie Detectors
2 October 2022What does Wonder Woman have to do with the invention of the lie detector? Does refusing to yank a donkey’s tail make you a liar? Is it folly to...
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26:01
The World’s Greatest Cathedrals
1 October 2022The emergence of the Gothic style in twelfth-century France - with its pointed arches, flying buttresses and stained glass windows - triggered an...
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47:49
Patton: America's Greatest General?
30 September 2022General George S. Patton was one of America's most successful - and indeed unconventional - military leaders.
From a young age, 'Georgie'...
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38:43
Bad King James VI & I
30 September 2022You might know him best as the longest reigning Scottish king, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, the father of Charles I, or the eponymous poster...
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39:18
The Evolution of Warfare with Sir Lawrence Freedman
29 September 2022From the stone age to current day, from sticks and rocks to drones and artillery - the nature of warfare has changed drastically throughout...
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43:02
Battle of Midway
29 September 2022The Battle of Midway took place between the US and Japan in June 1942. The US victory, after 4 days of fighting in the air and sea around the...
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46:22
The Real King Arthur: Ambrosius Aurelianus
29 September 2022A friend of Merlin, the husband of Guinevere, and the inspiration for numerous Hollywood blockbusters - the story of King Arthur is known by many...
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26:25
Remembering Hilary Mantel
29 September 2022Dame Hilary Mantel died on 22 September 2022 at the age of 70. Her acclaimed Wolf Hall trilogy - which brought the life of Thomas Cromwell so...
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31:15
The Atomic Bomb & the Secret City
28 September 2022In 1939 Franklin D Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein, warning him that the Nazis might be developing nuclear...
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40:44
Space Food
28 September 2022If humans travel to Mars then by the time they come home all the food they eat will be five years old. Want a bite?
Food often gets...
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23:43
What Could Labour Learn From Harold Wilson?
27 September 2022In the week of the Labour Party when polls indicate that the party is likely to form the next government, it seems an opportune moment to examine...
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48:24
Private Members’ Clubs
27 September 2022Private Members’ Clubs are often the location of suspected scandal - from Oscar Wilde to Chris Pincher, what happens behind these elitist...
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