History Hit Podcasts

Inside the Foundling: London's First Orphanage (Part 2)

(2/2) We find out what life inside the Foundling Hospital was like as we complete the heartbreaking and heartwarming history of London's first...

Georgian Christmas

Pantomimes, pleasure gardens, bare-knuckle boxing and political upheaval. Christmas in the 18th and early 19th centuries was a very different...

How Did People Smell in Medieval Times?

Accessing stories from the past can be difficult, but how do we access smells from the past?

In today's episode, Kate is joined by...

The Haunting Medieval World of M.R.James

The chilling ghost stories of M.R.James are as much a part of our Christmas television viewing as the King’s speech. But few realise that...

Was the Civil War Won by Chance?

How did a couple's holiday save Kyoto from certain ruin? How did a landslide contribute to the Revolutionary War? Basically, how have chance...

Pirates of the Pacific & the Spanish Empire

Pirates weren’t just a menace on the high seas - they were a direct threat to Spain’s empire-building ambitions in the Pacific. Professor...

Lost Children of Georgian London (Part 1)

Today Anthony and Maddy look into the heartbreaking history of the Foundling Hospital, now London’s saddest museum. 

Starting in the...

The Mongol Invasions of Ming China

In Assassin's Creed Chronicles China, players foil a plot by Altan Khan to invade Ming China with his Mongol army. But who was Altan Khan, and how...

The Cod Wars

In the long and lamentable history of human conflicts, the Cod Wars have to be among the most bizarre. And what was the catalyst for them? You...

The Thracians

They were ancient masters of cavalry, creators of dazzling treasures, and the ancestors of the legendary Spartacus, but who exactly were the...

Life and legends along the Medieval coastline

Matt Lewis is joined by archaeologist Ben Robinson from BBC's 'Villages by the Sea' to explore the deep historical ties along Britain's coastline,...

Catherine Howard | Secret Lives of the Six Wives

Henry VIII called her his 'rose without a thorn', but the teenage Catherine Howard was to fall out of favour less than 18 months after becoming...

The Syrian Civil War: How It Started

Dan is joined by the Defence Editor for The Economist, Shashank Joshi, to explore the origins of the brutal Syrian civil war that has left the...

President Calvin Coolidge: The Roaring 20s' Quiet Leader

Sworn in after the death of President Harding by the light of a kerosene lamp, the 30th President of the United States led the country through 6...

Marie Antoinette

In 1770, 14-year-old Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria arrived in France to marry Louis XVI. As Marie Antoinette, she became the ultimate diva...

Predicting Death: Strange History of the Premonitions Bureau

Can we see beyond the veil, glimpse the future before it arrives? John Barker, a psychiatrist with a fascination for the unexplained, thought...

The Wise Men

The Three Wise Men were kings, magicians, more than three, on camels, walking across deserts and the men who tricked Herod. How can they be all...

Henry VIII's Tudor Christmas

Tudor Christmas was a time for revelry and fun. Henry VIII and his court celebrated the full 12 days of Christmas in excess, with tables ladened...

Medieval Burials

What can medieval burial practices reveal about societal values and beliefs? Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by biological anthropologist Dr. Jo...

History (and Future) of Dating

The history of lonely hearts ads might be a lot deeper than you'd expect.

For as long as people have been printing newspapers, people (read:...

Waco: A Cult, the FBI and a Fiery Ending

76 people died on 19th April 1993 when the compound of a religious sect, the Branch Davidians, went up in flames. It had been under siege by...