History Hit Podcasts

Hitler's Sex Life

We all know how the song goes, the one about Hitler having one testicle.

And whilst it's disarming to poke fun at someone so evil, there's...

Medieval North America: Gods of Thunder

From 800 to 1300 CE, a great religious movement swept Mesoamerica, the Southwest, and the Mississippi valley. This Medieval Warm Period was one of...

The Hundred Years War

For the last several decades, Jonathan, Lord Sumption - former senior judge and medieval historian - has been crafting a monumental, five-volume...

The Tudors Told Through Numbers

There are countless ways to understand and analyse the Tudors but a new book takes a unique look at the dynasty through its statistics. And...

How to Survive the Ice Age

When you think of the 'Ice Age', tales of saber-toothed predators and hulking megafauna probably come to mind - but what else do we know about...

Banshees: Ireland's Harbinger of Death

Today Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) joins Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling for the story of the Banshee. In Irish folklore the Banshee heralds...

Spectrophilia: The Ghost Fetish

If you happen to be a Spectrophiliac, then October must be a particularly exciting time for you.

What is a spectrophiliac? Well, it's a...

Who were the Banū Mūsā brothers?

The Medieval scholars of Baghdad were obsessed with math and saw it as the ultimate harmony of the universe. Deana and Ali explore the lives and...

Battle of the Alamo

A 13 day siege. 90 minutes of fighting. An almost 200 year legacy and the most popular tourist site in the state of Texas.

The 1836 Battle...

HMS Terror: Cursed Arctic Expedition

Was ever a ship more aptly named? In 1845, HMS Terror (and its forgettably named sister ship HMS Erebus) set off from Victorian Britain. Their...

Burke & Hare: Scotland’s Most Notorious Serial Killers

They’re the most famous grave-robbers in the world…except they never actually robbed any graves. Discover the true story of Burke and Hare’s...

Goriest Murders in Ancient Rome

This episode is a bloody delight: from flesh-eating fish and humiliating deaths inside sacks, to a deadly re-enactment of the Icarus myth. For a...

The Origins of Halloween

From its prehistoric origins until today, Halloween has always had the Shiver of Terror running through it. First as a pagan festival of...

Shakespeare's son Hamnet with Maggie O'Farrell

When it comes to Shakespeare's biography and his inner life, there's a certain lack of evidence. But what if Shakespeare actually signposted us to...

The Murders That Shocked Georgian London

Laundress-turned-murderess, Sarah Malcolm horrified Georgian London in 1733 when she was found guilty of killing three women she worked for while...

Eleanor of Aquitaine: Debunking the Myths

On this special edition of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega pays a visit to our sister podcast Betwixt the Sheets to be the guest of its...

Hades: King of the Underworld

This episode contains references to death and sexual assault.

Hades is King of the the dead and the Underworld in Ancient Greek...

The Black Death: the Rise of Women, Witches & the Peasant’s Revolt

There’s not much good to come out of a plague, especially a bubonic plague in the 14th century. A pandemic which definitely didn't involve zoom...

Welcome to After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

Introducing After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal, the podcast that takes you to the shadiest corners of the past, unpicking history’s...

President John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams didn't just share a name with his father. He also followed in his footsteps to take the Presidency, and then lose it after one...

Ötzi the Iceman

Ötzi, otherwise known as the Iceman, is a renowned glacial mummy uncovered in 1991 in the Tyrolean Alps between Italy and Austria. Found by...