History Hit Podcasts

St. Francis & the First Nativity Play

Christmas would not be complete without a nativity play: Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, all watched over by an ox, a donkey and assorted bystanders...

The Mother of All Tudors: Child Bride to Kingmaker

Ever heard of Margaret Beaufort? Probably not. But whilst her name has been overshadowed by those of her son, grandson and great-grandchildren,...

The German Spies at Pearl Harbor

What would you do if you discovered that members of your family had spied for the Japanese at Pearl Harbor? When this happened to Christine Kuehn,...

The Boston Tea Party: Did The Sons of Liberty Really Dress Up As Native Americans?

Assassin’s Creed III recreates many key events from the American Revolution, including the Boston Tea Party, when colonists resisted British...

The Bombing of Guernica

The aerial bombardment that rained down on the Spanish city of Guernica in 1937 was one of the most shocking atrocities of the Spanish Civil War....

Henry VIII At War

**Contains descriptions of war atrocities, including rape and infanticide**

In 1544, Henry VIII led the largest army ever raised by an...

What Happened The Day Pompeii was Destroyed?

We all know the story of Pompeii: the Roman town reduced to ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Roughly two-thousand years later, archaeologists have...

The Ten Commandments

Did Moses really receive the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, or is that just ancient legend? Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Dylan Johnson to...

Sex & Scandal in Ancient Egypt

What did the Ancient Egyptians think about sex? Is there any truth to a rumoured royal sex scandal? What did they think of same-sex...

Medieval Roots of The Modern Alphabet

How did the alphabet we use today take shape?

Matt Lewis welcomes Danny Bate to explore how the medieval period shaped the alphabet we use...

The Quakers' Rebellious Origins

How could walking naked through town be seen as religious? What about digging up a corpse? Or bursting into church services to cause...

Origins of Chocolate

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Cameron McNeil, Mesoamerican archaeologist, to explore cacao, in ancient Mesoamerican societies like the Maya,...

The Dark Side of the Vikings

How dark really were the Vikings? How much of a part did human sacrifice play in their world? And what was their relationship with...

Sitting Bull and the Battle of Little Bighorn

The Battle of the Little Bighorn - also known as the Battle of the Greasy Grass - was one of the most dramatic and important clashes in American...

How Poets Spoke Truth to Power

Throughout history, the words of poets have often ignited change or unsettled those in power. In England particularly, poetry has both...

The Truth About Mythical Women

Myths are incredibly powerful, especially when it comes to creating nations.

Why are mythical women so central to how we think about our...

Medieval Europe's Encounter with Islam

What if the Renaissance was powered by Arabic science?

Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Elizabeth Drayson to uncover how figures like...

What Was the American Ice Age?

For thousands of years, North America was a frozen frontier buried beneath miles-deep ice... How did the first people reach the Americas live...

Dark Side of the Quakers

**Contains story of a young male suicide**

Out of the devastation of the English Civil Wars, a radical new religious movement was born. The...

Life as a Greek Philosopher

One of the most profoundly influential periods in history is the 5th century BCE, when when a collection of great minds in Ancient Greece formed...

The Only Prime Minister Ever Assassinated

Was this moment the closest Britain came to revolution? When Prime Minister Spencer Perceval lay dying on the floor of the Parliament, many feared...