History Hit Podcasts

Revolutionary War: What If the British Won?

Today we're heading back 250 years to the end of the Revolutionary War - but this time, we're asking what might have happened if the British had...

The Truth About Frankenstein

Against a time of radical change, a gothic masterpiece was written by the teenage Mary Shelley.

Published in 1818, Frankenstein takes us...

Mary Rose & the Battle of the Solent

Before the Spanish Armada threatened England in 1588, an even more dangerous invasion loomed, just across the Channel in France. The Battle of...

Doggerland: The North Sea Atlantis?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Rachel Bynoe who has literally dived into the enigmatic world of Doggerland, a prehistoric landmass now submerged...

Why Do Empires Fall?

For centuries, the Roman Empire commanded unparalleled control over the world around it. It expanded its borders through trade and conquest,...

The Power of Medieval Gossip

People have always gossiped, but what did they gossip about in medieval times? How were women punished for gossiping? And where does the term...

Chaucer's Wife of Bath: Medieval Feminist

This episode contains explicit language and themes

We're revelling in the Canterbury Tales this week; who else to kick things off with a...

When Britain Sent Its Convicts to America

Britain shipped convicts to America from the days of Jamestown right up until 1775. More than 50,000 were sent. To explore this too seldom told...

How Bloody Was 'Bloody Mary'?

Last week we heard about Mary's formative years. Today we get to her reign, the infamous burnings and ask ourselves if Bloody Mary was as bad as...

The Roma: Resistance & Survival

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb welcomes Dr. Madeline Potter to unravel the rich yet tumultuous history of the Roma people. From Tudor England, where...

Crusader Queens of Jerusalem

The very first Assassin's Creed video game takes us back to the Third Crusade, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. As Saladin's Islamic armies tried to...

Pirates: Piracy in the South China Seas

Zheng Yi Sao was a pirate leader so formidable that she made Blackbeard and Captain Morgan look like amateurs. From humble beginnings as a sex...

Hannibal's March on Rome

It was perhaps Hannibal’s greatest gamble — after years of victories, not least his famed trek across the snow-capped Alps, could he strike at...

St. Christopher & Summertime Saints

Ever worn a St. Christopher medallion and wondered about the man carrying the Christ child across a river? Or heard of St. Uncumber, the bearded...

Royal Sex: Queen Victoria

With NINE children, it can probably be assumed that Queen Victoria was no stranger to the sheets, but what do we actually know about her love (and...

The Rise & Fall of Sparta

Today, we trace the rise and fall of ancient Greece’s most formidable warrior society - Sparta. This society's militaristic culture and...

Revolutionary War: When Was the Turning Point?

In 1775, revolutionaries went to war against the British. Seeking independence from colonial ties, they fought more than 150 battles over eight...

The Duchess of Malfi

A young widow stands against the expectations of her family. A woman striving for love and agency in a society which demands she claimed neither,...

Plato's Republic

Today we journey into the creation of Plato's Republic. Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. James Romm to discover how Plato's encounters with the...

The Final Days of Anastasia Romanov

In the aftermath of the bloody Russian revolution, the Romanovs went from being a glittering royal family, to vulnerable everyday citizens who...

The Seven Years War

The Seven Years' War in the 18th century is often called the first world war - it was fought across Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa,...