History Hit Podcasts

JFK: The Most Popular President?

Who was JFK? How popular was he in his lifetime? And how did his untimely death impact the world's memory of him?

In this first of two...

The Real Witch Hunts: Persecution & Panic

Witch hunts blazed across Europe from the 1400s right into the 1700s. Their terror has been burned into the collective memory. But how accurate...

Kazakhstan's Valley of Kings

Gold and horses! Few ancient civilisations were greater masters of metalworking and horse riding than the Saka culture of Central Asia. Also known...

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I with Tracy Borman

Anne Boleyn is usually considered in the context of her marriage to - and demise at the hands of - King Henry VIII. But ultimately, the...

The Belfast Blitz

It wasn't just London that was devastated by German bombing raids in WWII, but Belfast in Northern Ireland too. The most intense bombing took...

Napoleon's Greatest Battles with Ridley Scott

Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most accomplished military commanders in world history. He rose to become Emperor of the French after a series of...

Burma: Medieval Superpower

Burma – now Myanmar – was once a superpower playing a pivotal role at the crossroads of Asia. Located in one of the richest areas on the...

The Gettysburg Address

What makes the Gettysburg Address one of the most famous speeches in history? Did Lincoln really write it on the train? How did the audience...

JFK Special 2. | The Kennedy Sister They Tried To Hide

This November marks 60 years since President John F Kennedy was assassinated. 

His name is associated with history defining events, but...

Henry VIII: What You Really Need to Know

The truth about Henry VIII may surprise you. This second episode of Not Just the Tudors' Tudor Dynasty mini-series provides you, in a...

Who was Al-Jahiz?

In a time bound by rigid social and class divides, knowledge and the pursuit thereof often bridged the gap between lowly beginnings and a prolific...

Remembrance Day: Searching for My Father the WWII Pilot

John Watts never knew his father. He was conceived days before his father, Wing Commander Joseph Watts, was killed on a bombing mission over...

The Man Who Hanged Nazis: Albert Pierrepoint

For Albert Pierrepoint, execution was a family affair. His father and uncle were hangmen and from the 1940s until the late 1950s Albert was...

Persephone: Queen of the Underworld

This episode contains references to death and sexual assault.

Persephone is Queen of the Underworld in Ancient Greek...

Love, Lust & Fighting in World War II

It can be hard to comprehend the magnitude of historical events, with World War Two a prime example of this.

By 1945, some 3 million British...

President Martin Van Buren

The 'Little Magician', the 'Sly Fox' or - to our expert guest - a 6.5/10 president. We're onto President number 8, Martin Van Buren.

Don is...

Ghost Fetishes: From Ancient World to Victorians

What is spectrophilia? Well, it's a fetish for ghosts (as well as mirrors), so being turned on by anything lurking in the non-physical realm. What...

The Medieval Boleyns

From the fields of Norfolk to the royal court - via city commerce, local government, liberal education and numerous wedding bells - the Boleyns...

Hitler's Third Reich

3/4. In this special 4-part series, we look back at the life of Adolf Hitler. With the help of Frank McDonough, a leading historian of the Third...

The Illyrians: Pirates of the Adriatic

Inhabiting the Balkans in antiquity, the Illyrians played a vital role in Ancient History. From their renowned reputation as skilled craftsmen,...

Witchcraft: Everything You Need to Know

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb pays a visit to historians Dr. Anthony Delaney and Dr. Maddy Pelling, who are...