History Hit Podcasts

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...

Vikings in Spain

When we think of Vikings, we tend to picture them in the colder climates of Northern Europe, and not so much in the warmer regions of Spain and...

HMS Victory

During the Battle of Trafalgar, the men on the gun decks of HMS Victory felt the heat of fire from above and from below; they dodged enemy cannon...

The White House Chief of Staff

While the President of the United States is often seen as the most powerful person in the world, the vastness of the Federal government is too...

Rise of ISIS

This episode contains graphic references of violence and torture

The rise of Islamic State (ISIS) stands as one of the darkest legacies of...

Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Renaissance Painter

During a time of increasing religious and political conflict, Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s paintings portrayed work and pleasure, rituals and...

How to Prepare for Nuclear War

With Putin's war in Ukraine raging on, the threat of a nuclear conflict feels as real as ever. But since the Iron Curtain fell, our understanding...

Assassins vs Templars: The Knights Templar

An order of crusading monks draped in white robes marked with a red cross: the Knights Templar perhaps don’t sound that daunting when you first...

Roman Beast Hunts

This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and cruelty against animals.

The Romans were - and still are - infamous for the...

Ouija Board

The Ouija Board was patented in 1890. But in did not appear out of thin air. It was only one in a long, long line of devices attempting to pierce...

The Real Dick Whittington

Dick Whittington - who died 600 years ago this month - is a familiar name to generations of pantomime goers. But Richard Whittington’s real life...

Sordid Soho

From the Chevalier de Saint-Georges to the Merry Monarch to Madame Jojo and Madame Trenti, the district of Soho in London has played host to many...

WW2: What Happened at Yalta?

In early 1945, with an inevitable defeat of Nazi Germany on the horizon, the Allied leaders of the United States, Britain and Russia came together...

Cooking for Churchill: Georgina Landemare

Clear soup, Irish stew and steamed puddings - this was the war work of Georgina Landemare, the Churchills' longest-serving cook.

Throughout...

A History of America in 5 Foods

You are what you eat - and so is America. Various foods have played their part in the country’s history. Anna Zeide, author of US History in 15...