History Hit Podcasts

Excavating An Anglo-Saxon Palace: Ad Gefrin

Though today it is just a muddy field, the small hamlet of Yeavering was once a bustling centre of Anglo-Saxon power in the North of England. At...

A History of the C-Word

WARNING: This episode includes adult content and explicit language. As offensive terms go, you are entering a hard hat area.

It’s one of...

Operation Paperclip: America's Nazi Scientists

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Allied Powers sent research teams into the ruins of the Third Reich to cherry-pick the best German...

Espionage & Enslavement in the Revolution

Claire Bellerjeau tells Don the the story of Liss, an enslaved Black woman in 18th century New York, and her involvement with one of George...

Creator of Don Quixote: Cervantes

In the early 17th century, an aged veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a book. It was the story of a poor nobleman who...

Liberation of Dachau

A warning that this episode contains descriptions of genocide and terms for groups which were classified that way at the time.

In April...

The Rise of Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meteoric rise to power has been packed with drama and action. His journey has taken him from a Russian-speaking, aspiring...

Assassins vs Templars: Robert de Sablé

What does it take to be the Grand Master of the Knights Templar? Robert de Sablé, born into a respected military family in France was the 11th...

April Fool's Day

When does spaghetti grow on trees? When can you milk a duck? When does Google read your brainwaves? On April Fool’s Day!

Come with us into...

Alexandria: The Sunken City

The Egyptian city of Alexandria was one of the greatest cities of the ancient Mediterranean world. Founded by Alexander the Great himself in...

Medieval Origins of Coronations

A coronation is a moment of history packed with symbolism and meaning, and throughout April 2023 Gone Medieval will be your perfect historical...

Early Modern Murder

What was the early modern version of CSI? Why might whole pubs have been singing an executed person’s final words? And was the crime of murder...

Churchill's Darkest Hour

Winston Churchill's ascension to Prime Minister in 1940 was a key turning point in world history, ultimately being one of the first steps to help...

Septimius Severus

Given his incredible career, you'd perhaps expect the name of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus to be better known. Born in North Africa in 145AD,...

French Spies in the American Revolution

The story of the American Revolution is one of the best known in American history. But it could have been very different. Outgunned and outmanned...

Troy

Often thought of as an ancient, mythical idea, immortalised in the works of Homer, it's hard to imagine Troy as real place. But when Heinrich...

How People Died in 16th Century London

In one week in London in September, 1665, no fewer than 47 different causes of death were reported, including consumption, fever, dropsy, being...

The Space Shuttle

Over a period of 30 years, NASA's Space Shuttle program contributed to some of space exploration's most important achievements, as well as some of...

Fish Tanks and Aquariums

Early aquariums didn't have much more in them than some sorry looking trout. Yet such was the excitement at being able to see this underwater...

Scott's Last Days in the Antarctic

Captain Robert Falcon Scott died in his tent in Antarctica in March 1912 during his failed effort to become the first person to reach the South...

Pestle or Sex Toy? The Roman 'Dildo'

You may have seen the news that archaeologists have been reassessing a phallic object from Vindolanda Roman Fort in the north of...