History Hit Podcasts

The English Civil War

What sparks a nation to turn against its own king? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb dives into the turbulent and transformative decade that witnessed...

Gay Sex Scandal that Outraged the Georgians

What price might a man pay for sex in the 18th century? Well, if it was with another man, he might pay with his life.

In this episode,...

The Acropolis

From dazzling festivals honouring the goddess Athena to the engineering marvels of the Parthenon, Dan and classical historian Steve Kershaw...

The Sumerians

More than 5,000 years ago, in what is today southern Iraq, one of the world’s first civilisations emerged. A civilisation often credited with...

Shag, Marry, Kill: Roman Emperor Edition

Which would be better for a fling, which would you not touch with a barge pole, and which is marriage material? There's only one way to find...

King Edward I: Hammer of the Scots

From his early years marked by an assassination attempt on his father that coincided with Edward's conception, to his brutal campaigns against the...

The Rise and Fall of Carthage

In this episode, we tackle the Punic Wars - three epic clashes between Rome and Carthage for control of the Mediterranean. From naval battles to...

American Traitors: The Rosenbergs

This week we’re stepping heart of Cold War America with the story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Accused of espionage and executed at the height...

Jack the Ripper: Invention of a Monster

Jack the Ripper as we think of him, is an invention of the Victorian media. They took the complete absence of hard facts about the killer, and...

The Sea Peoples

Tristan Hughes sits down with Professor Eric Cline to explore the enigmatic Sea Peoples, often blamed for the catastrophic Bronze Age collapse...

Tudor True Crime: Europe's Most Murderous Dynasty

The rich and powerful Guise family was one of the most treacherous and bloodthirsty in sixteenth-century France. They whipped up religious...

The Tower of London

Dan takes listeners through 1000 years of Britain's history at the Tower of London, from its formidable kings to its most notorious prisoners. Dan...

Women of the Crusades

The image we usually associate with a Crusader - of a dashing nobleman on a mighty steed heading out for Holy War - often obscures all of the...

How To Survive the Revolutionary War

'If I turn from beholding mutilated bodies, mangled limbs, and bleeding, incurable wounds, a spectacle no less revolting is presented, of...

Life in the Roman Army

Anno 117: Pax Romana is set in the year when the Roman Empire expanded to its greatest extent in all its history; and saw the death of Trajan, who...

The Dark Side of Medieval England

This episode contains descriptions of execution and torture.

To be Hanged, Drawn & Quartered. Put on the Rack. Impaled on a spike. This list...

Tudor True Crime: Murder in the Stuart Court

The public fascination with true crime is nothing new.  Four centuries ago, the sensational story of the death in the Tower of London of...

Knossos

You probably know the Ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, who lives in a labyrinth under Knossos on the island of Crete - was there...

Origins of Homo Sapiens

Where do we come from? The origins of modern humans stretch back hundreds of thousands of years, and new discoveries are reshaping how we...

How Hot Was Henry VIII?

With SIX wives, Henry VIII must have had something going for him, right? Was he handsome? Charming? Intelligent? Just plain powerful?

In...

The Battle of Bosworth

A King clinging to his right to rule. A young Tudor ready to snatch the crown and begin a new dynasty.

With immersive sound design and...