History Hit Podcasts

The Invention of Heterosexuality

Sexuality is a funny thing. It's a social construct just as much as, say, virginity is.

We use words like heterosexuality and homosexuality...

Vikings in Medieval Baghdad

In the ninth century, the Vikings earned a fearsome reputation by wreaking chaos on the coasts of western Europe. But what is perhaps less well...

Demeter with Natalie Haynes

Demeter is the Goddess of the Harvest and Agriculture in Ancient Greek mythology.

Mother of Persephone, and daughter of Kronos and Rhea,...

The Tudors' Portrait Artist: Holbein

How we visualise the Tudors largely comes from their portraits painted by Hans Holbein the Younger.  Between 1526 and 1543, he captured the...

The Ghost of Anne Boleyn

We talk the ghost of Anne Boleyn, Queen of England before Henry VIII chopped off her head, with the marvellous Tracy Borman.

Where can Anne...

Mother Shipton: Tudor Prophetess of England's Doom

Did a Tudor prophetess correctly predict the English Civil War, the Crimean War, the sinking of the Titanic, World War One and the end of days?...

President John Tyler: The 'Accidental' President

He may have been the tenth President, but John Tyler - 'His Accidency' - was a pioneer in many ways.

Tyler was the first Vice President to...

A Guide to Ancient Egypt

Egypt was a vast kingdom of the ancient world. Its rulers were considered gods and wielded tremendous power and wealth. Egyptian scholars,...

Medieval Baghdad

Today we find ourselves in 9th-century Baghdad, the beating heart of the Islamic Abbasid Caliphate. This was a vast empire that stretched from...

The Rise & Fall of Political Parties

The two party division of the US political system is as evident as ever as we warm up to the 2024 elections. But where does this state of affairs...

Hellfire Club: Sex, Scandal & Satanism in Georgian England

Sex, Satanism and Scandal surrounded the Hellfire Club that operated out of a network of caves in the country estate of 18th century aristocrat...

JFK Special 4. | How Jackie O Defined An Era

If the Kennedy's were America's first royal family, then Jackie was its queen.

She was a style icon who, alongside her husband and president...

3 Ways to Die in Early Modern Europe

Life in the 16th and 17th centuries was brutal - the development of warfare technology made conflicts catastrophic for civilians as well as...

Medieval Origins of Santa Claus: St. Nicholas

In many parts of Europe, before Christmas comes, you have first to celebrate one of the medieval period's favourite saints - Saint Nicholas of...

Who was al-Mu’tazz?

In a time of anarchy and political upheaval, the established militant force in Samarra now has unprecedented power over the Caliph. In this...

What Really Happened to the Princes in the Tower?

For over 500 years, the mysterious disappearance of two English princes has perplexed the world. Historians have long assumed that Edward V and...

Origins of Sparta

Considered one of Athens' biggest rivals, and known for their bloodthirsty and brutal nature - there's a reason the Spartans have been...

AIDS Epidemic: Life & Death On The Frontline

How do we understand something as huge as a global epidemic?

Similarly to Covid, the AIDS epidemic, which was most destructive in the 1980s...

Operation Downfall: What if the Allies Invaded Japan?

How would the Allied forces have forced the surrender of Japan had they not dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Operation Downfall...

Montaigne: Philosopher of the French Renaissance

Centuries before Proust's Remembrance of Things Past took us on a tour of memory and James Joyce played with stream of consciousness, a 16th...

The Fall of Constantinople

May 1453 saw Constantinople under siege - the culmination of an age long struggle between Christianity and Islam for control of the Eastern...