History Hit Podcasts

Origins of the Olympics

The Olympics. It’s the most famous sporting event in the world, and the 33rd Olympiad is taking place in Paris right now. But how did it all...

How Nudes Changed Britain

Why were nudes so significant in Victorian England? What role did painting them play in wider social change at that time? And why didn't men think...

Richard III's Mother: Cecily

Cecily Neville was the matriarch of the House of York, the mother of two kings of England and an ancestor of every monarch since Henry VIII. Born...

American Operators on WW1's Front Line

When the First World War ended at 11am on 11 November, 1918, how did army command relay the ceasefire to their troops? In fact, before radios and...

New York Morgue's Dark Secrets

The unclaimed dead of New York City's streets and rivers were once brought to the notorious New York Morgue. It's a history that has never been...

Hestia: Goddess of Hearth & Home

As both the eldest and youngest child of the great titan Kronos, and the Greek goddess of hearth and home, Hestia was incredibly important in...

Henry VII: Rise of the Medieval Tudors

Henry VII was descended from some of the greatest Welsh princes. When word spread that he had a chance of taking the English throne, Welsh...

The Warsaw Uprising

80 years ago, the Polish resistance rose up against their German occupiers and tried to seize back control of their capital city. For two months a...

The Boy Who Hid in the Woods: How I Survived the Holocaust

Warning: this episode contains descriptions of violence.

Maxwell Smart was just a boy when the Nazis came for him and his family. Within...

The Dark History of Bearded Ladies & the Victorian Freak Show

What would it have really been like to visit a Victorian freak show? Were "freak performers" exploited, or empowered in a world that would likely...

Rollo: The First Norman

Rollo was a Viking leader who became the first ruler of Normandy in the early 10th century. His descendants, the Normans, later conquered England...

A History of Cheating at the Olympics

Dan is joined by the QI Elves James Harkin and Anna Ptaszynski to talk about cheating in sports as the 2024 Olympics get underway. Why do we do it...

The Third Presidential Assassination: McKinley

On 6th September, 1901, President William McKinley attended a public reception at the Pan American Exposition, a 6-month-long World’s Fair, in...

Hippocrates: The Father Of Medicine

Around 460 BCE, a man was born in Ancient Greece who would change medicine forever. He invented a new scientific approach to medicine that...

The Final Days of Marie Antoinette

How did Marie Antoinette, last Queen of France, spend her final days before the guillotine took her head? Did she ever really stand a chance?...

Vivaldi’s Greatest Protegé

In early 18th century Venice, the Ospedale della Pietà took in abandoned baby girls through a tiny gap in the wall.  In addition to ensuring...

Harris vs Trump: How We Got Here

With the news that Kamala Harris is the assumed Democratic nominee for the November election, the presidential race looks very different than it...

The Maya Collapse

Just over 1,000 years ago, the ancient Maya world in Mesoamerica was turned upside down. Prominent cities like Tikal, Palenque, Copan and...

The Cult of Becket

Almost immediately after Thomas Becket’s murder, reports of miraculous healings and divine interventions spread like wildfire. Canterbury...

History of Grief: Sky Burials & Victorian Death Photos

Why did the Victorians dress up their dead relatives for photo shoots?

What are the origins of embalming? And why do most of us have such a...

President William McKinley: The Secret Service & the Spanish-American War

Why does the Secret Service protect the President of the United States? And what can we learn from McKinley's life and presidency, not just his...