History Hit Podcasts

Æthelflæd: Lady of the Mercians

Matt Lewis kicks off Gone Medieval’s special series of podcasts about Medieval Queens with a look at Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians who...

President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, so how did it work out when he became the leader of this nation that...

Dutch Golden Age: 'The Goldfinch' and its Painter

On the morning of 12 October 1654, in the Dutch city of Delft, a sudden explosion was followed by a thunderclap that could be heard more than 70...

Pompeii: The Eruption of Vesuvius

This episode contains references to scenes that some listeners may find distressing

In 79 AD, ancient armageddon hit Pompeii: Mount Vesuvius...

Secret Origins of the SAS

In 1974, a pioneer of the SAS and master of military deception, Dudley Clarke, passed away. His death went almost entirely unnoticed by the...

Medieval Swords

No invention conjures up the 'Old World' as much as the Sword. It's an utterly iconic object that whisks us back to knights in shining armour. But...

Ivan the Terrible

The name Ivan the Terrible is synonymous with brutality and ruthlessness. While Western scholars insist that the first crowned Tsar of all Russia...

History of Sex For Sale

Many people claim sex work to be the oldest profession, but we can likely put that down to being midwifery or medical professionals of some...

How to be an Atheist in the Middle Ages

We tend to think that it was impossible not to subscribe to Christianity in the Middle Ages. But, as in any age, belief can wax and wane. But the...

Charlie Chaplin

The Golden Age of Hollywood was a place of pioneers, storytellers, ideas, westward expansion, money, politics and scandal- the story of Hollywood...

The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

45 seconds. An estimated 7.9 on today's Richter scale. The deadliest earthquake in US history.

In this episode, we're examining the 1906 San...

Culture of Prosperity

Medieval Muslims imagined themselves as scholarly warriors, poets, and philosophers, knights, and cavaliers. This elite culture and the way it...

Napoleon's Greatest Victory: Austerlitz

December 2nd is a special date for those fascinated by Napoleon Bonaparte. Not only is this the date he crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804,...

Henry VIII's Billionaire Wardrobe

Henry VIII was described as the 'best dressed sovereign in the world' by the Venetian ambassador Sebastian Giustinian. The Tudor King spent the...

How Brutish were our Ancestors?

Was life for our ancient ancestors brutish and short or did they exist as noble savages, free and living in harmony with nature and each other?...

Maya Sacrifice & Warfare

With a history stretching back thousands of years, it’s about time that the Ancients started looking at the extraordinary Maya civilisation in...

Marie Curie

In a leaky shed in Paris, Marie Curie turned two tons of pitchblende (aka special rocks) into a single test tube of radium chloride - its green...

Henry I of England

The fourth son of William the Conqueror, King Henry I, is remembered as a harsh but effective ruler. He skilfully manipulated the barons in...

How Fear Shaped History

What scares you? Some of humankind’s most common fears and phobias include fear of heights, flying, spiders, snakes, injections, germs, public...

WW2: Life in Tanks

What was it actually like to operate a tank during the Second World War?

In this episode, we explore the iron belly of tank warfare through...

Prehistoric North America

What could the prehistoric artists of North America have in common with the graffiti artists of today? Picked into the rocks of southwestern...