History Hit Podcasts

Who Was The Naughtiest Pope In History?

Sex, scandal and ... the Sacraments? Renaissance Rome wasn't for the faint hearted. And the Vatican? For some that was the source of the...

Anne Boleyn: Myths vs Reality

The life of Anne Boleyn has intrigued audiences for centuries. Everyone knows something about her time as Queen of England, and of course, her...

What Caused the Civil War? | John Brown's Raid

John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry helped cause the Civil War. His is a magnetic persona that's hard to take your eyes away from. But who were the...

The Permian Extinction: When Life Nearly Died

It was the biggest mass extinction event in Earth’s history. 250 million years ago, a 252 million years ago, Earth faced its deadliest crisis....

Day In The Life Of A Body Snatcher

Join Anthony and Maddy as they spend a day - or should that be night? - in the life of a 19th century body snatcher.

Find out which months...

Vanity of Henry VIII with Kate Lister

With six wives, Henry VIII must have had something going for him, right? Was he handsome? Charming? Intelligent? Just plain powerful? In this...

Emperor Augustus

Augustus has often been hailed as Rome’s greatest emperor - he ended civil war, built an empire and declared a new age of peace. But behind the...

History's Worst F*ckboys: Emperor Nero

Where does Emperor Nero fit in the pantheon of history's worst f*ckboys?

Does he measure up against the likes of previous episodes on...

The Real Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine was a queen who defied expectations, a duchess who outmanoeuvred kings, and a mother whose dynasty shaped the future of...

The Origins of California

How did California become the Golden State? It's a story that includes conquistadors, missionaries, gold miners, railroad builders and tourists,...

The Ottoman-Venetian Wars

Ezio Auditore, the hero of Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed Revelations, travels from Venice to the...

Charles V, Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor

In the second episode of our special Habsburg dynasty series, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by renowned historian Professor Geoffrey...

Georgian England's Notorious Dumpling Poisoner

Did she do it? Did serving girl Eliza Fenning poison the dumplings she served the Turner family? This is a true crime case from 1813 that brings...

The Greatest Knight That Ever Lived: William the Marshal

William the Marshal’s story reads like a legend. Born a landless younger son, he rose through sheer skill and courage to become the greatest...

541 AD: The Worst Year in History

Was this the worst year in human history? Bubonic plague sweeps across the Mediterranean. The sun vanishes behind volcanic ash. Crops fail, famine...

Queer Georgians

How did the Georgians discuss sexuality? And how, and why, did they regulate it? In this episode, Kate talks to Dr Anthony Delaney about his new...

After 1066: The Domesday Book

Matt Lewis and Levi Roach uncover the importance and intricacies of the Domesday Book, a monumental survey commissioned by William the Conqueror...

Rommel's Defeat in North Africa

Today, we unravel the dramatic North African campaign of World War II. Discover how the Allies turned the tide against Rommel, why Tunisia’s...

What Caused the Civil War? | Politics

How did the politicians in Washington D.C. push America towards the one thing they wanted to avoid: all out Civil War? We look at how the violent...

Shakespeare's Male Muse: A Mystery Solved?

Could a long-hidden miniature painting unlock the mystery of Shakespeare’s most intimate poetry? Unearthed after 400 years in a private...

Fall of the Sumerians

Tristan Hughes continues our special series on Great Disasters, journeying back to ancient Mesopotamia with Dr Paul Collins to explore the fall of...