History Hit Podcasts

The Murder that Shook Mary Queen of Scots

On the night of Saturday the 9th of March, 1566, a pregnant Mary Queen of Scots was having a dinner party.

It was a night that ended in the...

The Hittites

What made the Hittites one of the great Bronze Age powers, and how did their empire survive on war, diplomacy and faith? Tristan Hughes is joined...

How to Escape Alcatraz

What was it like to live on Alcatraz? And was it possible to escape? In this episode, Don speaks to a historian with the unique experience of...

The Crusades: The Last Battle for the Holy Land

For the third episode in our mini-series on the Crusades, we dive into the 1291 Siege of Acre - the desperate, violent last stand that ended two...

Elizabethans in India

How did England’s earliest travellers to India try to win favour in a Mughal golden age that scarcely noticed them?

Professor Suzannah...

The Depravity of the Marquis De Sade

Sadism - the derivation of pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering and humiliation on others - is named after this man. So what exactly did he...

How To Do Celtic Magic

What's the best cure for a hangover? What's the most effective way to curse your enemies? How do you keep demonic powers at bay?

The...

When the Mormons Rebelled Against America

Driven from the United States, the Mormons journeyed West to build a new society in the desert- one that would challenge the political, economic,...

The Victorian Sex Scandal of Fanny & Stella

The Victorians are seen as the ultimate guardians of rigid gender boundaries.

When Fanny Park and Stella Boulton transgressed those imagined...

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most powerful figures of the medieval world: twice a queen, a crusader, a rebel and the architect of an...

The Battles of Lexington & Concord

Assassin's Creed III gives players a unique chance to take part in the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and to influence the course of history....

Lady Jane Grey

What if becoming queen was the worst thing that could happen to you? What if the crown became your death sentence?

Professor Suzannah...

Homo Sapiens vs Neanderthals

Tristan Hughes is joined by Ella Al-Shamahi, paleoanthropologist and presenter of the hit BBC series Human, to explore what interactions between...

Inside the Moulin Rouge

The Moulin Rouge opened its doors in 1889, at the height of the Belle Epoch - 'the Beautiful Age'.

Its famous windmill structure stood on...

The Bishop who Took Down Richard II

What makes an Archbishop one of the most hated figures in British history? And does Thomas Arundel truly deserve to be branded the greatest...

The Origins of Chicago

Chicago is the third most populous city in the United States. It's the windy city, the railroad capital, and home of countless film and tv...

Henry VIII's Descent into Darkness

He's known as one of history's most murderous kings, but was he always a monster? Or was he acting in ways expected of a king during his...

The Romans and China

How did Roman silver travel from Egypt to China across monsoon seas, pirate waters, and bustling ports?

Tristan Hughes is joined by...

Grace O'Malley, Ireland's Pirate Queen

She cut off her hair to sail the seas. She divorced her husband by locking him out of his own castle. And when her son was killed by the occupying...

The Crusades: Assassins vs Templars

For the second episode in our mini-series on the Crusades, we explore the legendary rivalry between two extraordinary medieval orders: the...

The Betrayal of Thomas Becket

"Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?!"

These words supposedly uttered by a King over 800 years ago set in motion a chain of gruesome...