History Hit Podcasts

How and Why History: Rome and the Mediterranean

By the first century BC, the nuisance of piracy had become a plague in the Mediterranean. The Romans dispatched Pompey who freed the way for the...

Chemical Weapons in WW1

Although the use of chemicals as weapons can be traced much further back in history, their use became widespread after the First World War, when the...

Vikings: The Sons Of The Great North

Who are the Vikings? Share the way of life, customs and beliefs of these men of the North. Understand exactly what is going to urge them to leave...

Joking About Stalin

Jonathan Waterlow joined me on the podcast to explore how ordinary people used political jokes to cope with and make sense of their lives under...

Invasion of Poland in WW2 with Roger Moorhouse

Roger Moorhouse comprehensively discusses the Polish campaign of 1939, separating the myths from reality and outlining the abject horrors that the...

The Polynesians: Ancient Mariners of the Pacific

The ancient Polynesians remain the greatest seafarers in history. Already by the time of the legendary founding of Rome on 21 April 753 BC,...

The Simulmatics Corporation

Jill Lepore joined me on the podcast to discuss The Simulmatics Corporation. Founded in 1959, it mined data, targeted voters, accelerated news,...

Greek Myths

Natalie Haynes joined me on the podcast to retell the stories of remarkable women at the heart of Greek myths, from Medusa, Penelope, and Pandora,...

The Great Famine

Charles Read joined me on the podcast to discuss the economic and political causes of the Great Famine. We discuss the British government’s...

The Battle of Arnhem with James Holland

This episode features interviews with two leading historians of the Second World War, James Holland and Paul Reed. They tell the story of the Battle...

The Viking History of the Lofoten Archipelago

Dan Snow explores the Viking history of Lofoten, an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten is known for...

The Battle of Salamis

We've had the Battle of Thermopylae with the brilliant Paul Cartledge; we've had the Battle of Artemisium with the great Owen Rees. And I'm...

Krystyna Skarbek

Clare Mulley joined me on the podcast to talk about the extraordinary story of Krystyna Skarbek, who worked as a spy for the British Special...

The Wola Massacre

In August 1944, when the Warsaw Uprising occurred, Axis troops were ordered to raze the Wola suburb to the ground and kill all of its inhabitants,...

How and Why History: Alfred the Great

Ever since his reign in the 9th century, Alfred the Great has been celebrated as one of the most accomplished of our kings. A learned and...

Pearl Harbour

In this episode, History Hit's Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about Sunday 7 December 1941, the day Japanese aircraft attacked the United States...

V2 with Robert Harris

Robert Harris joined me on the podcast to talk about Nazi Germany and the story of the V2 rocket.

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The Light Ages

Seb Falk joined me to discuss the science in the Middle Ages, or, according to his new book, 'The Light Ages'. They gave us the first...

The Rise of Constantine

The Emperor Constantine I, better known as Constantine the Great, is one of the most significant emperors in Roman history. His later Christian...

Battle of Britain: What Were the Germans Thinking?

Victoria Taylor is an aviation historian who is just completing her PhD in the Luftwaffe and its politicisation under the Nazis. She talked to me...

Budapest Ghetto

Born in Budapest in July 1944, Agnes Grunwald-Spier resided in the Ghetto with her mother from November 1944 to January 1945. Having gained degrees...