History Hit Podcasts

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...

Elizabeth I & the Sultan of Morocco

Elizabeth I and Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur of Morocco shared a common goal of empire building, despite their cultural, political and religious...

Ireland's First Witch: Medieval Murderer? (Part 2)

(Part 2/2) Anthony returns to his hometown of Kilkenny to conclude the tale of the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Ireland. Set 700...

The Eight Tigers: Imperial Eunuchs

The infamous eunuchs of the Ming imperial court are the primary villains of Assassin’s Creed Chronicles China. The Eight Tigers were a real...

Surviving the Great War: Medics in the Trenches

Warning: this episode contains graphic details of injuries.

The brutal nature of the First World War presented frontline medical personnel...

Hanukkah & the Maccabees

It's perhaps the best known Jewish festival of the year, but what exactly are Hanukkah's origins, and why was it first celebrated?

On...

Anne of Cleves | Secret Lives of the Six Wives

Anne of Cleves gets a pretty raw deal in the history books.

She's often accused of being ugly, after Henry VIII claimed the painting he had...

Crusades Against Heretics

The Albigensian Crusade was a blood-soaked military campaign, as the church desperately attempted to purge heresy across Christendom in the early...

Fascism in America

The rise of fascism in America in the 1920s & 30s looked just like the rise of fascism in Germany at the same time- scapegoating, the...

Pearl Harbor: The Man Who Spied For Japan

On 7th December, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy struck the United States. In an action which killed 2,403 Americans and destroyed 21 US warships...