History Hit Podcasts

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...

Girls on Stage and Page in the Elizabethan Age

Contrary to the idea that the early modern stage was male-dominated, girls actually played an active part in religious dramas, civic pageants,...

Homo floresiensis: Early Human ‘Hobbit’

An extinct species of archaic human, Homo floresiensis has been discovered solely in one, very specific location - the Indonesian island of...

WWII Britain: The Home Guard's Silent Assassins

WWII Britain's Home Guard wasn't a bumbling dad's army but in fact included factions of highly trained silent killers and spies hiding out in...

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology may seem like something from a sci-fi movie plot, but it’s a very real thing and has likely affected many areas of your life,...

Chairman Mao

Leader of the Chinese Communist Party from 1949 until his death in 1976, Chairman Mao reshaped the nation's course of history, founding the...