History Hit Podcasts

Ireland's First Witch: Medieval Murderer? (Part 1)

(Part 1/2) 700 years ago, in 1324, the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Ireland died in Kilkenny. This is the story of a successful...

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is both older and newer than you might think, with mysteries and controversies buried in its foundations. To help shed a...

Majestic Mughals: From Akbar to Shah Jahan

Beginning with the reign of Emperor Akbar and continuing through to Shah Jahan, India's Mughal Empire enjoyed fabulous wealth and stable...

Churchill & FDR: The Origins of the 'Special Relationship'

Today we explore one of history's most consequential relationships - that of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, a pivotal alliance that...

The First South Americans

The prehistoric archaeology of South America is fascinating and constantly developing.

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Tom Dillehay to...

How to be a Medieval Teenager

Matt Lewis is joined by Alice Loxton to explore the lives of 18-Year-Olds through history

From Bede surviving a devastating plague to...

Jane Seymour | Secret Lives of the Six Wives

Meek and mild, or smart and scheming? Have we all been underestimating the third wife of Henry VIII?

Was Jane Seymour the meek and mild lady...

The Greeks vs Persia: The War that Changed the Ancient World

In the 5th century BC, the ancient world's pre-eminent superpower turned its gaze towards the turbulent fringes of its empire. Under the...

The Witches of Lorraine

**This episode contains brief descriptions of tortures**

Between 1570 and 1630 there was intense persecution as thousands of people were...

The Mayflower: What Was Life Like At Sea?

A cargo hold, just 5 feet tall and divided up with canvas - this is what served as the living quarters for the 102 passengers of the Mayflower on...

Most Haunted House in America: The Amityville Horror

112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville (Long Island) is arguably the most haunted house in America. Inside its walls demonic forces were, allegedly,...

Fall of the Etruscans

Before Rome came the Etruscans - they were the dominant culture in ancient Italy in the centuries before Rome's imperial expansion. But how did...

Oswald Mosley & Fascism in Britain

This is the story of British fascism seen through the life of its leader, Oswald Mosley. We explore his charismatic yet deeply flawed personality,...

History of Pubic Hair

We often think of the way we treat pubic hair as a relatively modern thing.

But how did they manage pubic hair in Ancient Greece, or the...

Excommunication in the Middle Ages

Both Frederick II and King John were excommunicated from the all-powerful church, but why?

Dr. Eleanor Janega and Dr. Felicity Hill explore...

The Mayflower: Why Did the Pilgrims Leave Europe?

More than 30 million people can trace their ancestry to the 102 passengers and 30 crew aboard the Mayflower when it landed in Plymouth Bay,...

The Women who Painted the Tudors

We probably think that the only artists working in the Tudor court were men, like Holbein and Hilliard. But new research is revealing that women...

The Pazzi Conspiracy

At its height in the 15th century, Florence was ruled by the renowned Medici family renowned for their banking nous and towering intellect - the...

Ian Fleming's Commandos

Amid the chilling tension of the Cold War, Ian Fleming captured readers with his character James Bond, whose missions were based on his...

English Village Sacrificed to Plague (Part 2)

(Part 2/2) They could've run, but they stayed. In 1665 plague arrived in the idyllic English village of Eyam. What followed was a story of...

Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel story is iconic. Featured in the Book of Genesis, it explains how different languages came to be across the world. But what are...