History Hit Podcasts

Infiltrating the IRA: Murder & Espionage in Northern Ireland

With Operation Kenova back in the headlines, we look to the story of Frank Hegarty, an IRA member turned British informant whose assassination led...

The Rise & Fall of the Ku Klux Klan

A far-right hate group known the world over, the Ku Klux Klan emerged in the aftermath of the Civil War. So why did it emerge? Where did it get...

How to Live Like a Stuart Aristocrat

After the Restoration of the Monarchy, the upper classes took their cues from court life - its entertainments, costumes, food and leisure...

'Black Widow': Serial Killer of Victorian England

Mary Ann Cotton is known as the first British female serial killer. A trail of bodies, many her own children, followed her through life. Bodies...

The Financial Crashes that Changed the World

Over the last turbulent century, the global economy has suffered the shockwaves of recessions and depressions, bubbles and unchecked investor...

The Origins of Wine

Wine is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the world. But its popularity dates back thousands of years. Throughout ancient history,...

Oppenheimer vs Einstein

Today we're talking about two 20th century titans, the physicists J. Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein. Their scientific achievements changed...

Medieval Origins of Italian Food

For a thousand years, Italy’s cities have been magnets for everything that makes for great eating: ingredients, talent, money and power. Italian...

The Real Joan of Arc

How did a peasant girl go on to lead French armies at the age of 17?

To mark International Women's Day on March 8th, Kate's joined by...

Lincoln & the Civil War

Inaugurated into the thick of secession and assassinated just weeks after Confederate surrender, there is no separating the story of Abraham...

Jane Seymour: Henry VIII’s Third Queen

Jane Seymour is a paradox. Of Henry VIII’s six wives, she is the one about whom we know perhaps the least. She was the most lowly of the queens,...

4. Machu Picchu: The Fall of the Inca Empire

Part 4/4. The Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru in 1526 in a bloody pursuit of gold and riches; it was the beginning of the end for the Inca....

The Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only ‘Wonder of the Ancient World’ still standing. Built over 4500 years ago at the same time as Stonehenge,...

Pirate Queens: Mary Read & Anne Bonny

Mary Read and Anne Bonny are legendary female pirates from the golden age of piracy. Raised as boys, they sailed with captain Calico Jack and...

3. Machu Picchu: Inca Gods and Human Sacrifices

Part 3/4. Juanita the Ice Maiden is one of the most famous mummies in the world. She was found in 1991 by anthropologist Johan Reinhard lying out...

Kink in the Renaissance

Come with us back to Renaissance England, when writers were playing with ideas of sexuality in interesting ways.

How much of a filth bag was...

St. Thurstan: York's Rebel Archbishop

One of Medieval England’s most influential figures, Thurstan was the Archbishop of York from 1114 to 1140 who fought attempts by the Archbishop...

2. Machu Picchu: The Rise of the Inca Empire

Part 2/4. At their most powerful, the Inca had the largest empire in the world. Lasting just one century from the mid-15th century, it stretched...

Adventures of a Mughal Princess

In the British Library, there is a manuscript copy of the memoir of Princess Gulbadan, the only surviving female-authored memoir from the Mughal...

The Wandering Pirate: Nathaniel North

The new season of "Echoes of History" features Ubisoft's new game: "Skull and Bones".

Bermuda was at the crossroads between Europe and the...

Machu Picchu: The 'Lost City'

Part 1/4. Dan takes the podcast to the Peruvian Andes as he follows in the footsteps of intrepid American explorer Hiram Bingham who revealed...