History Hit Podcasts

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...

Theoderic the Great

In the year 493, the leader of a vast confederation of Gothic warriors personally cut down Odoacer, the man famous for deposing the last Roman...

William the Silent, Father of the Netherlands

What encouraged a young man who had spent most of his formative years being raised by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, to bite the hand that feeds...

Figures of Baghdad | Trailer

In Figures of Baghdad, we’ll get to know some of the great minds of the Abbasid Empire, all of whom are characters you can find in Assassin's...

The WW2 Witch Trial of Hellish Nell

What made a working class woman from Edinburgh become such a threat to British intelligence services during the Second World War, that they tried...

What if the South Won the Civil War?

What if the Civil War had ended differently, with the South seceding from the Union? Would slavery have continued? Would the southern states have...

Origins of Medieval Universities

The University of Vienna is one of the oldest in the world. Founded by Rudolph IV Habsburg in 1365, it has been teaching students for centuries....

Witchcraft: A History in Four Trials

Most of our knowledge of witchcraft accusations and executions comes from the proceedings of high profile and significant...

Education & The House of Wisdom

The sharing of culture was vital for the Abbasids. Even their predecessors, the Umayyads, had been fascinated by the knowledge of other cultures...

War between the Brothers

Muslims spilled a lot of ink pondering what good government should look like, what a wise ruler should be like, and why it mattered for society....

Tyre: Jewel of Phoenicia

One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, Tyre was a jewel of the Ancient World. A Phoenician metropolis, and the birth place of numerous...

Alexander The Great

This is everything you need to know about the famed conqueror Alexander the Great. Alongside Tristan Hughes, host of the hit podcast The Ancients,...

Age of Consent: Medieval Meaning, Victorian Scandals & Modern Relevance

While the age of consent has fluctuated over time, it reveals some fascinating and enlightening things about how we view sexuality in...