History Hit Podcasts

Real Life Crime in Victorian London

"You've got to pick a pocket or two" says Fagan to Oliver Twist about the foggy streets of Victorian London where poverty and oppression abounded....

A Short History of Pirates

Swashbuckling, murder and robbery on the high seas! We're bringing back the fan-favourite episode on Dr Rebecca Simon's 'Pirate Queens: The Lives...

The Inside Story of the Brexit Referendum

On the eve of the 2024 General Election, we're joined by Tim Shipman, chief political commentator at The Sunday Times, to hear about how things...

Sex & Scandal in UK Politics

With the UK election a mere few days away (at time of release), what better time to look back at some of the biggest scandals in our political...

The Rise of Thomas Becket

"Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?!"

These words supposedly uttered by a King over 800 years ago set in motion a chain of gruesome...

How did Brexit Happen? A History

On the eve of the 2024 General Election, we're tackling one of the UK's most divisive topics; Brexit.

The 2016 referendum on EU membership...

What Caused the American Revolution?

What took the US from the Boston Tea Party to Lexington and Concord? Where was the turning point for the creation of the republic?

Mary Beth...

Six Wives: Kateryn Parr

Six wives - six lives that we think we know everything about. But beyond their mostly doomed marriages to Henry VIII and, in most cases, tragic...

Queen Victoria: The Woman Behind An Era

Queen Victoria was the last English monarch of the House of Hanover and gave her name to an era in British history. Although small in stature, she...

How WWI Started

110 years ago today, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire was struck down by an assassin's bullet. His death triggered one of the most...

Public Executions: A Day At London's Hanging Tree

Would you have gone? Would you have drunk with the condemned? Paid your way into their prison the night before? Public executions in London were...

Temple Mount

Temple Mount is one of the most sacred places in Jerusalem. A rocky outcrop that has become important for Islam, Judaism and Christianity and the...

Origins of the Patriarchy

Whose idea was the patriarchy? How long has it been a part of our lives? And how do we even define it?

For something that's so prevalent in...

1217: The year that forged England

Two years after King John had agreed to the terms of Magna Carta, he reneged on his word, plunging England into war. The rebellious barons...

President Benjamin Harrison: The President with a Petting Zoo

Why is the 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison, remembered as a 'Human Iceberg'? Why did it seem as though he was predestined...

Origins of the Silk Road

The Silk Road was a pivotal ancient exchange network that connected the grassy steppes of Asia and the Middle East with the Western world. The...

The Biblical Kingdom of Israel

The story of the ancient kingdom of Israel is a central part of the Old Testament. Famous for its kings like Saul, David and Solomon, the kingdom...

Women Pirates of the Caribbean

Anne Bonny and Mary Read were pirates who sailed the Caribbean in the early 18th century. For both of them, piracy offered a chance at a freedom...

Spooky Origins of the Ouija Board

Do you dare try? The Ouija board was invented in 1890. It was an idea lifted from Spiritualist devices for communicating with the dead. Find out...

Magna Carta in America

What does a document written in 1215 in England have to do with the United States? Surprisingly a lot actually! The Magna Carta is thought to have...

Incest in Ancient Egypt

From recent research we know that the great boy king Tutankhamun was a result of incest.

How did it effect him? And was incest in Ancient...