History Hit Podcasts

Pirates: Barbary Corsairs & The Bombardment of Algiers

For centuries, the Barbary Corsairs captured ships and enslaved European Christians, turning the Mediterranean into a sea of fear and ransom....

The Queen of Sheba

A figure of wealth, wisdom, and global fascination - how did the Queen of Sheba become one of history’s most enduring royal icons?

In this...

Royal Sex: Marie Antoinette

Behind the wild accusations of extra-marital affairs and a lavish lifestyle, who was the real Marie Antoinette? Why did her marriage to King Louis...

Canterbury Tales: Pilgrims' Professions

Do you know what a Squire did? Was a Merchant as fancy as he sounds?

Gone Medieval continues our week of pilgrimage as Matt Lewis is joined...

Boudicca: Myths vs Reality

Boudicca, the warrior queen of the Iceni tribe, has become a symbol of resistance and British defiance. But what do we really know about her, and...

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...

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...

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...

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...