History Hit Podcasts

Murder in Anglo-Saxon England

Records from Anglo-Saxon England are filled with stories of murder, witchcraft and betrayals of the worst kind, giving the impression that this...

Jamestown: The British and The Powhatan

From suspicion, to siege, to collaboration, to all out war - in this episode we uncover the complex reality of the Jamestown colonists'...

Peasants' Revolt: Medieval Rebellion

1381, England, the world turned upside down as the commoners rise up and dismantle the mechanisms of power. They're angry about taxes, serfdom,...

The Reign of Terror: Not Just The Guillotine

Assassin’s Creed Unity puts players right into the Parisian streets where the bloody events of the Reign of Terror occurred, and gives us the...

Nell Gwyn: Actress and Royal Mistress

How did a lowly orange seller become the most famous actress of her time and mistress of King Charles II?

In 1660, King Charles II ruled...

Iwo Jima: WWII in the Pacific

80 years ago, on the rocky volcanic island of Iwo Jima, the vicious battle for the Pacific reached ever bloodier crescendos. As Allied forces...

Ice Age Australia

Giant kangaroos. Killer wombats. Carnivorous lions. These beasts once roamed the barren landscape of Ice Age Australia - a vast supercontinent...

Goat Testicle Transplants: The Bizarre History

Quack doctors have made some INCREDIBLE promises throughout history, but what good would a goat testicle transplant do for you?

In the early...

Treasures from Anglo-Saxon Graves

What can grave goods tell us about the lives of people 1,500 years ago? Matt Lewis delves into the early medieval world through the lens of...

Nostradamus

For centuries, Nostradamus has been hailed as the man who saw the future—his cryptic quatrains allegedly foretelling everything from the French...

Frederick Douglass: Enslavement & Escape

Born enslaved in 1818, by the time of the Civil War Frederick Douglass was famous around the United States and Europe for his work in the...

Rene Descartes

The famous saying "I think, therefore I am" was the cornerstone of the philosophy of Rene Descartes, who died 375 years ago this month at the age...

Hieroglyphs

From twisted flax to one-legged ibises, Egyptian hieroglyphs offer a window into the heart of ancient Egypt. But how did this script really...

Final Days of the Romanovs (Part 2)

(2/2) We join the captive Romanovs as they are moved from The Alexander Palace to Siberia and then to Ekaterinburg, where their dreadful murder...

2. The English Civil War: Roundheads vs Cavaliers

Episode 2/2. In 1642, England was torn apart by a fierce struggle. Royalist armies, loyal to the defiant King Charles I, clashed with the forces...

Sex Lives of Spartans

When you hear the word Sparta, what do you picture?

Well, put aside the images of the rippling six packs for just a moment, as there's a lot...

Why the Early Middle Ages Matter

What do the terms 'medieval' and 'early medieval' truly mean? When did these periods begin and end? Why is it inaccurate - even offensive - to...

Jamestown: The Journey To America

In May 1607, over 100 English settlers arrived at Chesapeake Bay on the East Coast of North America. Traveling 50 miles inland along the James...

Maximilien Robespierre: A Moral Terror

Assassin’s Creed Unity allows us to confront one of the most controversial men in history: Maximillien Robespierre. What made him such a...

When Europeans reached Australia

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb delves into the dramatic story of the first European encounters with the indigenous people of Australia. She's joined...

Sweating Sickness: Deadly Tudor Plague

It's a medical-history-mystery: the Sweating Sickness. Things get clammy as Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling ask what was this deadly disease?...