History Podcasts
The History Hit network gives you access to a growing range of podcasts presented by and featuring historians at the forefront of research and debate.
Scroll down to listen to the most recent episodes from our network.
Dan Snow’s History Hit explores the deep history behind today’s headlines – giving you the context to understand what is going on today. Everything has a history, every challenge made easier by understanding its nature, its genesis. In a world of fast opinions, we put historians into the debate, women and men who bring real knowledge built over careers spent researching.
The Ancients, hosted by historian Tristan Hughes, is dedicated to discussing our distant past. Historians and archaeologists join Tristan to discuss specific themes from antiquity, from Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome.
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb presents Not Just the Tudors. Together with expert interviewees, she covers the sweeping range of the early modern period: everything from the Aztecs to witches, Velázquez to Shakespeare, Mughal India to the Mayflower.
Gone Medieval is hosted by historians Matt Lewis and Eleanor Janega, who shine a light on one of the most fascinating yet misunderstood periods of history: the Middle Ages. In each episode, experts lead listeners beneath the skin of captivating stories to uncover new insights.
In Betwixt the Sheets join historian, Kate Lister as she unashamedly roots around the topics which seem to have been skipped in history class. Everything from landmark LGBTQ+ court cases, to political scandal, to downright bizarre medieval cures for impotence.
In American History Hit, join Don Wildman twice a week for your hit of American history, as he explores the past to help us understand the United States of today. We’ll hear how codebreakers uncovered secret Japanese plans for the Battle of Midway, visit Chief Powhatan as he prepares for war with the British, see Walt Disney accuse his former colleagues of being communists, and uncover the dark history that lies beneath Central Park.
After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal joined History Hit’s award-winning podcast network in October 2023, hosted by actor, writer and historian Anthony Delaney and writer, broadcaster, historian Maddy Pelling. Together, the duo unpick history’s spookiest, strangest and most sinister stories – from the disappearance of HMS Terror to the origins of Halloween.
War historian and broadcaster James Rogers hosts our Warfare podcast, which opens up fascinating new perspectives on how conflict has shaped and changed our world. James teams up with fellow historians, veterans, and experts to reveal astonishing new histories of inspirational leadership, breakthrough technologies, and era defining battles.
Patented, hosted by Dallas Campbell, dives into stories of flukey discoveries, erased individuals and murky marketing ploys with the help of experts, scientists and historians.
Click on any of the listings below to listen to the most recent episodes from our network.
All Podcasts
1:01:29
Sex & Scandal in King James' Court
8 April 2024King James I was a man whose sexuality was known by people in France, let alone (the newly formed) Britain of the early 17th century.
So it...
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25:33
Nazis, the CIA & Psychedelics
7 April 2024This is the untold story of how Nazi experiments with psychedelics influenced CIA research and the War on Drugs. From covert mind control programs...
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53:25
How to Survive in Babylonia
6 April 2024Would you be able to survive in ancient Babylonia?
In this episode, Tristan is joined once again by Amanda Podany from California State...
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40:34
Viking Royalty: Nicknames, Love Poems & Victorian Myths
5 April 2024We think we know the Vikings, but how well do we really know them?
From the insignia we think they wear, to the names they call themselves...
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36:16
The Dynasty that Made Medieval France
5 April 2024From Hugh Capet to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Capetian dynasty considered itself divinely chosen to fulfil a great destiny. From an insecure...
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29:53
NATO: 75 Years Deterring Armageddon
4 April 2024It comprises more than half of the world's defence spending, but what is the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation? How has the United States...
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39:54
Wars of Religion: A Woman's Fight for Justice
4 April 2024At the end of the French Wars of Religion, a widow Renée Chevalier instigated the prosecution of a military captain who had committed multiple...
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40:20
The Great Sphinx
4 April 2024The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most iconic monuments from ancient history. 73 meters in length and 20 meters high, the huge limestone...
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51:54
Jack the Ripper
4 April 2024What is it about this case that holds the imagination after all these years? When did that fascination with it begin? How early on did the myths...
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37:52
The Mary Celeste: Ghost Ship
3 April 2024In 1872 the ghost ship Mary Celeste is found sailing across the Atlantic without a single crew member left onboard. Theories over what happened on...
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28:15
Kensington Palace: Serving the Royal Court
2 April 2024Kensington Palace was the centre of court life in 18th-century Britain. It was the principal London residence for the Royals, as well as a lavish...
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40:53
Rise of Northumbria
2 April 2024In a time of in-fighting and tribal warfare, what did it take to form the politically dominant, culturally rich and geographically vast kingdoms...
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35:50
History of Sh*t: Aztec Poo Goblins to Viking Turds
2 April 2024Of all the taboo topics covered on Betwixt the Sheets, this one might make you wince the most.
But it cannot be denied that poo and our...
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38:11
George Washington
1 April 2024As Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, George Washington was a central feature of the American Revolutionary War. He was also the first...
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25:38
The Real Great Gatsby
1 April 2024A wealthy man in his early 30s. An army man. A German immigrant. A bootlegger. A lover. Who was Jay Gatsby? And if he was based on a real person,...
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27:51
Medieval Mass Murdering Monk: Malmesbury Abbey
1 April 2024Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire was an institution of national significance from the late seventh century until the dissolution of the monasteries...
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48:38
Martin Luther
1 April 2024A controversial figure during his lifetime, Martin Luther set in motion a revolution that split Christianity in the West and left an indelible...
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29:13
The Amelia Earhart Mystery Solved?
31 March 2024What happened to the pioneering pilot, Amelia Earhart? In 1937, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe by aircraft, Earhart and her...
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45:33
Pontius Pilate
31 March 2024Pontius Pilate was the Roman Prefect of Judea during the reign of Emperor Tiberius and is most famous for condemning Jesus of Nazareth to death by...
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42:55
Scandalous Sex Lives of Royalty
29 March 2024We've been fascinated by royalty for hundreds of years, but what do we know about their sex lives? Quite a lot, it turns out.
Today we're...
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36:20
What is a Pilgrimage?
29 March 2024In medieval times, Britain was criss-crossed by pilgrim routes, that took in such world-famous sites as Canterbury and Lindisfarne as well as...
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