History Hit Podcasts

Easter Rising: Build-Up To Irish Rebellion

(Part 1/2) With Britain engaged in the First World War in Europe, Irish rebels sensed an opportunity.

Irish revolutions had fought for...

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

He was responsible for the fastest trains in history. He built innovative new hospitals for Florence Nightingale. His vessels shattered records...

The Murder That Shook Edwardian Britain

When the music hall dancer, Belle Ellmore, disappeared in January 1910, it was her performing colleagues who raised the alarm.

Her murder by...

Welsh Folk Tales

Dr. Eleanor Janega welcomes Russ Williams, author of 'Where the Folk? A Welsh Folklore Road Trip', to delve into the rich tapestry of Welsh...

Confederacy: Myth of the Lost Cause

How do you justify a war you lost, and that destroyed countless homes, businesses, towns and families? This was a question facing the southern...

Black Death: 5 Strangest Cures

It was a plague like no other. It provoked strange cures like no other. Anthony Delaney takes Maddy Pelling in search of the oddest cures...

Dr Faustus: Pacts with the Devil

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb steps into the electrifying world of Elizabethan theatre to unravel the dark allure of Christopher Marlowe's Dr....

Ranjit Singh: India’s Sikh Warrior King

Of the many empires that have risen and fallen throughout history, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India draws our attention to one of the...

THE LEADERS: Hirohito

Was Hirohito really as passive as history has painted him? Emperor Hirohito stood at the head of Japan’s war machine, yet after 1945, both the...

The Fall of Athens

In 404 BC, Athens faced total defeat. Once the dominant power of the Greek world, their navy was shattered, their food supply cut off, and on the...

Real Wives of Dictators | Nadya Alliluyeva, Stalin's Wife

Nadezhda Alliluyeva was born into a revolutionary family, but was it always her fate to marry Joseph Stalin?

She was independent,...

Medieval Jerusalem

Imagine walking where those who shaped your deepest beliefs have walked...

Matt Lewis is joined by archeologist Professor Jodi Magness to...

The Rise & Fall of The Moors in Spain

In 711 an Arab and Berber army crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and invaded the Iberian Peninsula. Seven years later, their conquests had birthed...

What If JFK Wasn't Shot?

The biggest counterfactual that hangs on the assassination of JFK is this: Would JFK have launched a ground war in the jungles of Vietnam? Don...

Samurai & Shinobi: Historians Review Assassin's Creed Shadows

5. Assassin's Creed Shadows Review

Assassin's Creed Shadows is now available to play! Matt Lewis had advanced access to the new game and...

Henry VIII & his Rabbis

Henry VIII's desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon changed England; it could be justified by a biblical law that prohibited a man from marrying...

The Iliad

A story of war, honour, and destiny, The Iliad is one of the greatest epics in history. Written by Homer and featuring legendary figures like...

Final Days of Joan of Arc: Trial & Execution

(Part 2/2) Joan of Arc, mystic leader of a French army, was captured and sold to the English who tried her as a witch. What do the final days of...

THE LEADERS: Stalin

Was WWII actually Stalin's War? He's a man whose name is synonymous with absolute power, the epitome of ruthless ambition, his story is one of...

Edward III: The Little Lion

Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis bring our series on the Plantagenets to its climax with a look at one of England's most influential...

The Truth About Alice in Wonderland

In this episode, we're well and truly going down a rabbit hole. To unpick the controversies surrounding the author of Alice in Wonderland, Kate is...