History Hit Podcasts

Victorian Abortion & Birth Control

We’re connected to the past in more ways than you might think. 

For example, the 1861 Offences against the person Act is an abortion...

WW2: The Deadliest Blitz?

When you think of the Blitz and the devastation enacted by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, British cities like London or Coventry...

England's First Female Sheriff: Nicholaa de la Haye

Nicholaa de la Haye’s strength and tenacity saved England at one of the lowest points in its history.

She remained loyal to King John to...

Birth of the US Government: The Constitutional Convention

Beginning with the enduring words, 'We the People of the United States', the US Constitution is the basis of the government and its three distinct...

Poseidon: God of the Sea

God of the sea, earthquakes, and horses, Poseidon is one of the most iconic Olympians.

In this episode, host Tristan Hughes is joined by...

Tudor Gifts: How to Win Friends and Influence People

How meaningful can a gift - especially of a book - be? In the fickle world of the Tudor court, the strategic gifting of books was a common...

Oppenheimer: What If America Never Dropped the Atomic Bomb?

The new Oppenheimer movie has everyone asking questions about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 - were two bombs necessary? Would the war...

The Walkman: The First Intimate Technology

Think about how intimate our relationship with technology is. In today’s day and age, it’s almost impossible to function in the modern world...

The Fall of Mussolini

Benito Mussolini, the Italian fascist dictator met a gruesome end during the final days of World War II when he and his mistress were executed and...

How to Survive Plague and War in the Middle Ages

Throughout history, there have been plenty of hugely destructive, catastrophic moments. And yet somehow the human race managed to live on until...

Barbie: Feminist Icon?

Barbie is many things: an astronaut, a robotics engineers, a judge, and now a movie star! But can she be considered a feminist...

Warrior Women: Boudicca to Ukrainian Snipers

From Boudicca to Ukrainian snipers, battlefields have always contained a surprising number of women.

Today Kate is joined Betwixt the Sheets...

Barbie: German Sex Doll to American Icon

She's an icon, a polymath, a fashionista, and she's absolutely everywhere right now.

Where did Barbie come from? What has she represented to...

The Reformation: What Catholics & Protestants Believed

In the sixteenth century, religious beliefs underwent a dramatic change. As differences between the late medieval Roman Catholic Church and the...

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...

Nazi's Most Wanted: Assassin Hannie Schaft

Known among the Nazis as "the girl with the red hair," Hannie Schaft was a resistance fighter so deadly that Adolf Hitler personally ordered her...

Stonehenge

Stonehenge. The most iconic prehistoric monument in the world. And yet its story is still so enigmatic.

In this episode, host Tristan Hughes...

Chewing Gum: From the Aztecs to Avocados

Spearmint, peppermint, double-bubble. You may think that chewing gum is a modern invention, when in fact we've been chewing the stuff since the...

Scottish Kings' Sex Lives

One thing royal families strive for is the common touch. Whilst some have struggled with it, King James IV and V in the 15th and 16th centuries...

Lost Vikings of Greenland

Is there a lost colony of Vikings somewhere in Greenland, shut off from the rest of the world? For hundreds of years, that question has taxed...

Oppenheimer

Often referred to as the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer's work in the field of theoretical physics changed the world as we knew...