History Hit Podcasts

Inside the Icelandic Witch Trials

Picture a witch. Chances are, you're thinking of a woman.

But in 17th century Iceland, over 90% of the people killed for being a witch, were...

Ancient Irish Funeral Traditions

Have you ever been to an Irish wake? If so, you may have heard of the ancient tradition of keening or the superstition of the 'hungry grass'. In...

American Origins of Halloween

How did the pre-Christian commemoration of Samhain travel across the seas from Ancient Ireland to America? And how did it evolve into the...

Diary of Samuel Pepys

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb unlocks the pages of one of the most extraordinary diaries ever written. Samuel Pepys chronicled his life in...

Origins of Yoga

Warrior, Cobra, Downward Dog. If you do Yoga today, those are poses you’re surely aware of. But where and when did Yoga originate?

In this...

Truth About Irish Funeral Beliefs

What are the origins of keening for the dead? What is the history of Irish wakes? And why must you never put a coffin down on the way to the...

What Caused Europe's Witch Hysteria?

Across early modern Europe, fear spread like wildfire; between the 15th and 17th centuries, tens of thousands were accused, tortured, and executed...

Owain Glyndwr, Welsh Rebel

Who was the self-proclaimed Prince of Wales, who was foretold in myth to free Wales from the tyrannical English and who was also a fabled...

How Bloody Was 'Bloody Mary'?

Before Mary I was Queen, no other woman had worn the crown of England.

This made her a Tudor trailblazer, and a target.

During her...

Was the American Revolution a World War?

What makes a war a World War? If it's the involvement of multiple major world powers, will France, Spain and the Netherlands do?

If it's...

Jane Boleyn with Philippa Gregory

Jane Boleyn has long been called the most hated woman in Tudor history. Wife to Anne Boleyn's brother George, Jane served as lady-in-waiting to...

'She Devil' Serial Poisoner of Victorian England

Sarah Dazley was one of the most infamous women in the world for a moment in 1843 when she was accused of poisoning not one but two former...

Isaac Newton vs Counterfeiters at the Royal Mint

Everyone knows the great achievements of Sir Isaac Newton. Or do they? Assassin's Creed Gold focuses not on the first half of Newton's career,...

Atatürk: Fall of the Ottoman Empire

On the 19th of May, 1919, an Ottoman general stepped ashore at the Black Sea port city of Samsun. This marked the beginning of the Turkish War of...

Boudica's Tribe: How the Iceni Survived the Romans

Join us for a special episode of The Ancients, recorded on-site in Norfolk, as we delve into the fascinating history of the Iceni tribe both...

Prophet Muhammad

Matt Lewis is joined by Dr. John Tolan to explore the profound impact of the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century. Who was...

How To Fake Virginity

Why, just why, would one put a leech up their .. you know where? It's all in the name of virginity, or the faking of it.

Kate is joined by...

Elizabeth I: Evil or Genius?

Elizabeth I is often celebrated as one of the greatest English monarchs - but should she be? From her commanding portraits and grand speeches to...

What If George Washington Became King?

‘No occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations.' This was George Washington's response when the idea of his...

Witches of Cornwall

From the spookiest corner of the British isles, comes two stories of witches. Stories of fairies and magical powers, of skeletons and haunted...

When Europe met Islam

In the Early Modern period the boundaries between Christian and Islamic civilisations were far more porous than we imagine: Isaac Newton’s...