History Hit Podcasts

Black Tudors

The most famous Black African in Tudor England is John Blanke, a musician in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII. The discovery of Blanke,...

The Sahara: Traders and Travellers

Stretching across from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, Northern Africa is dominated by the Sahara Desert. The largest hot desert in the world,...

The Templars in Britain

The Knights Templar have an enduring reputation―but not one they would recognise. Originally established in the twelfth century to protect...

History of Asexuality

We live in a hyper-sexualised world. But what if you don't take a sexual interest in anyone?

Asexuality makes up roughly 1% of the...

The Real Wild West

Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, John Wayne. We've seen them roping and wrangling and defeating their enemies, all by the time the credits...

Who was Al-Mahani?

In medieval Baghdad, there was a particular focus on two elements of knowledge expansion: recording existing principles, and further expanding on...

Last Witch of Scotland

In 1727, Janet Horne of the Highland community of Dornoch became the last person in Britain to be tried and executed for witchcraft.

As the...

Kings of Medieval Ethiopia

Overseeing a rich and diverse kingdom, Ethiopia’s medieval monarchs consolidated their power by claiming descent from the Biblical King Solomon....

The Murders of Alexander the Great

This episode contains strong language, and references to sexual assault.

Alexander the Great - conqueror, legend, murderer. After ascending...

Inside the Tudor Home

We are all familiar with great Tudor palaces and country houses but what were the homes of ordinary people like during that time? How were...

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...