History Hit Podcasts

The Elizabethans and Islam

Elizabeth I's excommunication by the Pope in 1570 marked the beginning of an extraordinary - and little-known - English alignment with Muslim...

Victorian London In Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Historians Review & Ubisoft Developer Interview with Jeffrey Yohalem

For the past few weeks, Matt Lewis has investigated the history...

The Dark Side of Ancient Rome

As a lot of new listeners have joined us, and it's a bank holiday in the UK, we thought we'd re-run one of our earliest, goriest episodes. Trust...

How did Andrew Jackson Change the U.S. Presidency?

A hero to some, and a villain to others, the seventh president of the United States was a populist firebrand who reshaped America and left a...

The Fall of Rome: Origins

The Roman Empire, once an ancient powerhouse, experienced a dramatic fall from its golden age to eventual collapse. 

Tristan Hughes and...

What Made You Ugly In Ancient Rome?

What was a Roman skincare routine like? Why did the beard make a comeback under Emperor Hadrian? And what did it mean to be ugly in this...

Magna Carta 1225

What's the true story behind the Magna Carta, and how did a 17-year-old King Henry III shape a document that impacted the course of...

Germany After Hitler

80 years ago, as the war in Europe drew to a close, the world began to come to terms with the horrors of the Third Reich. This is the story of the...

Prehistoric Ireland: Newgrange

An astonishing ancient tomb is Ireland's most famous prehistoric monument; Newgrange. Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Muiris O’Sullivan, an...

The Dark Side of Sir Francis Drake

For centuries, Sir Francis Drake has been celebrated as a national hero - the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. But behind the Drake...

Spring-Heeled Jack: Terror of Victorian London

The grimy streets of Victorian London were stalked by a shadowy menace: Spring-Heeled Jack! He had glowing eyes and blue flames came out his...

The Fall of Richard Nixon

Who was the real Richard Nixon? There are sides to him that get overlooked, like that he had a deeper understanding of foreign affairs than any...

The Death of Hitler

Warning: this episode contains discussion of suicide.

Berlin, April 1945: After nearly 12 years, the "Thousand-Year Reich" is crumbling....

The Truth About Medusa

You could be forgiven for thinking the Greek myth of Medusa has zero relevance to us today. Snake for hair?!

But as you'll hear in today's...

Genghis Khan's Pax Mongolica

Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Jeremiah Jenne to explore the incredible impact of the Mongol Empire on medieval history. From Marco Polo's...

Vietnam: The End of the War?

How did the US get out of Vietnam? In this episode, we are diving into how 'peace' was agreed in Paris, and what it really meant for...

England's Darkest Folklore

A spectral Black Dog with hellish eyes; a homicidal water spirit who drowns children; a mermaid who takes revenge on a vile cad. Maddy Pelling...

Tudors & Their Dogs

What was life like for man's best friend in the court of Henry VIII? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is led by the pawprints of history by Mike Loades...

The Origins of Scotland Yard

Assassin's Creed Syndicate recreates Scotlland Yard, the famous home of the Metropolitan Police Force, and lets players explore its overcrowded...

The Dreyfus Affair: The Spy Scandal that Shook France

It started with an inconsequential piece of military intelligence, scrawled on a piece of paper and left in a waste paper basket. But over the...

Jason and the Argonauts

From clashing rocks to golden treasure, Jason and the Argonauts is the ultimate Greek mythological adventure. But what lies behind the legend? And...