History Hit Podcasts

The Man who Wrote Robinson Crusoe: Daniel Dafoe

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Alan Downie about Daniel Dafoe, whose life was at least as...

The Rise of Cleopatra

Famed across the ages and around the world - everyone knows the name Cleopatra. But how did she become one of the most infamous women in...

Wars in the Atlantic World

How has warfare shaped the way humans live in the Atlantic World? Well, a lot. Military campaigns from the late Middle Ages to the Age of...

Waterloo Uncovered: Bones from the Battlefield

Join James for this special episode as we take an exclusive look at an astonishing discovery made at the Waterloo battlefield in...

Sign Language

Imagine knowing no language at all…

*wordlessness*

…and then giving birth to one.

This is what happened amongst the children...

The 'Dark Ages' with Michael Wood

Lasting 900 years, the ‘Dark Ages’ were between the 5th and 14th centuries, falling between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance....

Bras

Bras are an everyday item for around half of the adult population, and for as long as humans have developed breasts they have been faced with the...

The Origins of Thor

Few early medieval gods are as well-known and as popular as Thor. He’s currently thrilling moviegoers worldwide with his new outing for the...

The Black Medal of Honour

In 1945, when Congress began reviewing the record of the most conspicuous acts of courage by American soldiers during WWII, they recommended...

Jack the Ripper

Who is Jack the Ripper ? More than 130 years after the horrendous crimes that terrified the Whitechapel borough in London, the identity of the...

Isaac Newton

One of the greatest mathematicians and most influential physicists of all time, Isaac Newton was born into a world of turmoil that shaped him and...

NATO Expansion: Is Bigger Better?

NATO is expanding and enlarging. With the number of rapid response troops set to increase to 300,000, and Sweden & Finland in line to gain...

The Shortest History of Democracy

In a time of grave uncertainty about the future of our planet, the radical potential of democracy is more important than ever.

From its...

Rise of Rome: The Fall of the Samnites

In the final part of our Samnite Wars episodes, Tristan is once again joined by Dr Kathryn Lomas from Durham University to find out more about...

Mummies

When the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead they were trying to stop time, to preserve the body so well that it would last throughout...

Medieval Gardens

Gardens and gardening are aspects of medieval life that rarely get much attention. But it was a period when those with a little more land created...

The Korean War: Why Britain Fought

With the range to sail anywhere in the world and the supplies to facilitate it, HMS Belfast served a crucial role in the Korean War.

Once...

Nzinga: Warrior Queen Who Fought Colonialism

Warrior. Diplomat. Queen.

From fighting alongside her father and negotiating with the Portuguese on her brother’s behalf, to campaigning...

Coffee

A cup of coffee was once a luxury. Now it is quick, cheap and widely available — a daily essential for many.

How did this happen? Today on...

Tudor Poet Anne Askew: Heretic or Martyr?

Born in 1521, Anne Askew was condemned as a heretic for her radical Protestantism beliefs during the reign of Henry VIII. Tortured and executed...

Rise of Rome: The First Samnite War

In this first episode of a two-parter on the Samnite Wars, we focus in on one of Rome’s greatest rivals in early Italy. Based in modern day...