History Hit Podcasts

How to Get Cancelled as a Medieval Mistress

What do you have to do wrong to be specifically named in a law? In the 14th Century, one of the mistresses of King Edward III found out. So who...

After Agincourt: Henry V's French Campaigns

What happened after the Battle of Agincourt? How did Henry V's victory turn into a seven-year struggle of sieges, diplomacy, ambition, murder and...

What If Alexander Fought Rome?

Rome vs Alexander. It's a counterfactual of suitably epic proportions, fit for movie theatres and sprawling strategy video games. What would've...

400 Year Old Artist's Dark Revenge

Artemisia Gentileschi's paintings personify female rage against men. She paints women beheading men, hammering nails into their skulls,...

Louis XIV: Sun King and Propagandist

How did Louis XIV use his day-to-day life, especially his marriage, to help create the mythology of the Sun King as semi-divine, radiant and...

The Seven Deadly Sins

Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath! You might be surprised to learn the true history of the Seven Deadly Sins doesn't start in the...

Annexation of Alaska

In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in a deal that reshaped the map of North America... but what did that moment mean for the...

BONUS: Hear a chapter of Maddy's new book, Hoax

Hear a chapter of Maddy's new book, "Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment". It's out now! It's the story of three women and their...

A History of Homophobia

Has there ever been a time when homophobia did not exist? And what causes it to rise and fall?

Kate is joined by Dr. Harry Tanner, author of...

Matilda of Canossa: Medieval Italy's Iron Countess

What if one medieval woman could outwit emperors, shape popes, and force Henry IV to stand barefoot in the snow?

Dr. Katherine Harvey joins...

The Quaker Who Put Penn in Pennsylvania

From being locked up in the Tower of London to founding the 5th most populous state in the country, and the city at the heart of the Revolution,...

Royal Favourites: James I and George Villiers

How did a relatively humble gentleman become the most powerful man in Stuart England?

Few figures embodied the glamour and instability of...

Investigating the Nazi Massacre at Rumbula

An underground Nazi weapons factory and stash of 77-year-old Denazification files. What is it really like to discover that your grandfather was a...

Human Sacrifice In The Aztec Empire

When you think of the Aztec Empire, what do you picture? Human sacrifice?

In today's episode, Anthony is joined by Aztec expert Dr. Caroline...

The Real Armageddon

Armageddon is more than just a biblical prophecy hailing the end of days. It is a real place: Megiddo, an ancient city that for thousands of years...

Battle of the Eras: Medieval vs Early Modern

What if the medieval world did not end with a bang, but with a messy argument over who gets to define history itself? Matt Lewis spars with Not...

Pirates in the Caribbean: How It All Began

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced recreates the beautiful islands of the Caribbean in stunning detail, and introduces players to some of the...

How to Get Cancelled in Ancient Judea

What do we know about Jesus? Kate is joined for this episode by Professor of Christian Origins, Helen Bond, to find out more about the historical...

Stonewall Jackson's Last Battle: Chancellorsville

It was Robert E. Lee's greatest strategic triumph but it came at a heavy cost - the loss of his talismanic leader and friend Stonewall Jackson...

Hoaxes and Lies in the Enlightenment

How did a ghost story bring London to a standstill? Was it a haunting, a fraud, or something even more revealing about Georgian society? Why did...

Ancient China: The Warring States

How did ancient China plunge into 261 years of chaos, and how did that turmoil forge an empire?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Andrew...