History Hit Podcasts

Francesca Caccini: Composer to the Medicis

Francesca Caccini (1587-c.1641) is one of the forgotten women of classical music. She was an exceptional singer and instrumentalist, but above...

Operation Amherst

On the 7th April 1945, 702 French members of the Special Air Service parachuted into the Netherlands to recapture Dutch canals, bridges and...

The Objects That Made Britain

What can art tell us about a country's history? Well, a lot! In today's episode, Dan is joined by Art Historian Temi Odumosu and popular historian...

The Ear Trumpet

Ear Trumpets are seen as old fashioned and clumsy, mostly deployed in pop culture for comic effect as a snarky shorthand for how old and...

The Rise of Marius: Third Founder of Rome

Gaius Marius (157 BC – 86 BC) was one of the first warlords of the late Roman Republic, a general and statesman who held the office of...

The Rise of Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan is still considered one of the most famous and most feared warrior kings in history. But his name still divides opinion. To some, he...

The Falklands War: Turning Points

As a mist set in and the sea began to swell, British and Argentine warships circled one another off the coast of the Falkland Islands. Yet hidden...

Resisting the Third Reich

Across the whole of Nazi-ruled Europe, the experience of occupation was sharply varied. As a result, resistance movements during World War II...

The Tudors in Portraits

Visitors to the Holburne Museum in Bath are having a close encounter with the most familiar faces in English history. A stunning exhibition,...

The Moving Forest with Ben Rawlence

If you are listening to this in the UK, the spot where you are standing was almost certainly once forest. 

Ben Rawlence joins Jimmy to...

Before Rome: The Truth About Late Iron Age Britain

Roman connections with Britain stretch back to (at least) the mid 1st century BC. But what has archaeology revealed about the Late Iron Age...

Recreating the Viking World in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla has brought the Viking Age to life in stunning detail, and now the game is even being used as an educational...

Monks: Medieval Masters of Invention

In medieval times it was monks who were the masters of invention. They were the most educated members of society who saw scientific and...

Tuskegee Airmen: A WW2 Pilot's Story

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in American military history. They faced discrimination and segregation at...

Cold War Submarine Warrior

Eric Thompson has had his finger literally on the nuclear button. He joined the Royal Navy submarine service in the early days of the Cold War. He...

Rapa Nui: The Truth About Easter Island

1,900 miles west of South America and 1,250 miles from any other population centre, Easter Island - or Rapa Nui - is world famous for its...

The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures

In 1888 Louis Le Prince shot the world’s first motion picture in Leeds, England. In 1890, weeks before the public unveiling of his camera and...

The Taj Mahal & the Emperor Who Built It

The Taj Mahal was commissioned 390 years ago by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. But what can...

War In Space

On November 15 2021 Russia tested an anti-satellite weapon, shattering one of their own satellites into over a thousand pieces. This space debris...

The Foundations of Modern India

The greatest anti-imperial rebellion of the nineteenth century, The Indian Rebellion of 1857, witnessed mass violence against the British. Ninety...

Spacesuits

Creating a successful spacesuit was one of the biggest challenges in man's quest to land on the moon. And, it required borrowing skills from some...