History Hit Podcasts

Is the Loch Ness Monster real?

What lurks beneath the dark waters of Loch Ness? The legendary monster? A piece of Celtic folklore? A warning of the Nazis' rise to power? A...

The Fall of Constantinople

Assassin's Creed Revelations transports us to Constantinople, only a couple of generations after its conquest by the Ottoman Empire. It is one of...

The Fall of Constantinople

May 1453 saw the siege that would lead to the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was the culmination of an age-long struggle between...

Emperor Constantine

How did Constantine the Great conquer his rivals and shape the Roman Empire?

Tristan Hughes discusses the dramatic rise of Roman Emperor...

Did Ancient People Have Sex Toys?

Dating back some 30,000 years, sex toys have a long (no pun intended) and fascinating history.

What were the earliest sex toys like? How did...

What happened to the Princes in the Tower?

Did Richard III really murder the Princes in the Tower?

Join Matt Lewis to dive into the enigmatic tale of the Princes in the Tower, joined...

The Origins of Istanbul

Today we dig into the history of Istanbul, the city at the crossroads of East and West. Across thousands of years, the city has survived the rise...

Lexington & Concord: The First Battles of the Revolutionary War

The shot heard ‘round the world'; the start of the American Revolution. An event that would have profound consequences for world history,...

Tomb of King Herod

Did Herod really order the massacre of thousands of infants? Tristan Hughes revisits the scandalous and captivating story of the discovery of King...

Six Wives: Jane Seymour & Anne of Cleves

In this second special Christmas edition, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb offers another chance to hear the fascinating series from earlier this year...

Mystery of the Ghost Ship: Mary Celeste

In 1872 the ghost ship Mary Celeste is found sailing across the Atlantic without a single crew member left on board. Theories over what happened...

Charles Dickens' Christmas

Just as Scrooge wanders London's streets on a cold Christmas night, Dan Snow follows the ghosts of Charles Dickens' past to discover the city that...

Sex Life & Scandal of Charles Dickens

Like it or not, there's no escaping Charles Dickens at this time of year.

But who was the man behind classics such as A Tale of Two Cities,...

Christmas Movie Knight

It’s Christmas. The holly and ivy are adorning the fireplace, hopefully the shopping is (mostly) done and the King of Misrule is on his...

How Old is America?

When fossils were discovered in the US during the 19th Century, it altered American understandings of science, religion, race and more. So what...

Six Wives: Katherine of Aragon & Anne Boleyn

In the first of three special Christmas editions, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb offers another chance to hear the series from earlier this year in...

Who was the "Elephant Man"? Joseph Merrick's True Story

The life of Joseph Merrick, the man they dared to call "The Elephant Man", will fill you with pain and anger. He was treated so cruelly by society...

Vikings in Medieval Baghdad

In the ninth century, the Vikings earned a fearsome reputation along the coasts of western Europe. But they also travelled eastwards and reached...

Folk Christmas: Yule, Solstice & Ancient English Traditions

Folktales around the fire, gooding & mumping and the terrifying Hooden Horse are just some of England's winter folk traditions from history. In...

Druids

Aligning with the winter solstice of 2024, Tristan Hughes and Professor Ronald Hutton delve into the ancient Druids of Britain and...

Kateryn Parr | Secret Lives of the Six Wives

At the time, surely Kateryn Parr had her reservations about being Henry VIII's sixth wife?

Aside from being a tyrannical maniac who'd just...