History Hit Podcasts

Wales' Darkest Folklore

Wales is set apart from a lot of countries, with one of its folk tales - the Red Dragon - featuring in its flag. 

What are the mythical...

Cortés and the Aztecs

When Hernán Cortés and his men first laid eyes on the gleaming white pyramids of Tenochtitlan, they thought they were mountains of silver. How...

The Liberation of Bergen-Belsen

Warning: This episode contains detailed discussion of the Holocaust and genocide, which some listeners may find upsetting.

80 years ago,...

Nell Gwyn: Celebrity Mistress of King Charles II

How did a working class illiterate woman become King Charles II's favourite mistress?

Nell Gwyn was an incredibly talented comedy actor who...

Ibn Fadlan: An Arab Among Vikings

**This podcast contains descriptions of sexual violence, enslavement and human sacrifice**

"I have never seen more perfect physical...

Vietnam: The My Lai Massacre

How did a US Army mission in Vietnam end with the massacre of up to 500 people?

In this episode, Don is joined by Christopher Levesque to...

Succession 1625: James I to Charles I

March 2025 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of King James VI and I, and the succession of his son Charles I. Crowned King of Scotland at...

The Age of Invention: The Beginning of the Modern World?

Assassin's Creed Syndicate incorporates technology into its gameplay and story more than any other game in the series. Its setting in Victorian...

Ireland's Darkest Folklore

*TW: This episode contains discussions and themes of infertility.*

Fairies have long been part of Irish folkloric history, with its...

The Sinking of the Titanic

How could the unsinkable ship… sink? In this dramatic moment-by-moment account, Dan tells the dramatic tale of the Titanic from the moment of...

Cassandra: Priestess of Troy

*This episode discusses sexual assault*

Cursed by Apollo to always speak the truth but never be believed; what makes Cassandra's story so...

The Black Prince

Edward of Woodstock, famously known as the Black Prince, was held up as the epitomy of Medieval Chivalry. Matt Lewis is joined by the Black...

The Red Army Surrounds Berlin

By April 1945, Soviet forces stood at the gates of Berlin. From the summer of 1944, Hitler's armies had suffered a series of cataclysmic defeats...

President Lyndon B. Johnson: Triumph to Tragedy

Born in poverty in Texas Hill Country, President Johnson delivered an unsurpassed series of legislation, including the Voting Rights Act and Civil...

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a man of contradictions: he professed God spoke to him to direct his travels, yet after four voyages he still could not...

The Great Jewish Revolt

70 AD. Tens of thousands of Roman troops surround Jerusalem. What follows is one of the most brutal sieges in ancient history—and the dramatic...

History's Worst F*ckboys: Emperor Caligula

Have you ever heard of the Emperor who made his horse a senator? Seems like a top bloke, right? Today on Betwixt the Sheets we’re going to meet...

Tudor England's Dumbest Murder

Alice Arden wanted her husband Thomas dead. So did the rest of the village of Faversham. What followed was a twisted dance of passion, poison,...

The Great Tariff Battle

Have trade tariffs ever worked? Dan explores a cautionary tale from the turn of the 20th century when Britain's Conservatives' flirtation with...

Monsters of the Medieval Apocalypse

Does a four-winged leopard, a woman riding bareback on a monstrous serpent-like beast and giants having a good chat signal the beginning of the...

Hysterectomies: 2000 Years of Care & Coercion

Today, it is one of the most commonly performed surgeries. But when was the hysterectomy, the removal of the uterus, first performed? How has this...