Channel History Hit: Recent Episodes
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This is a combined feed which includes shows from across the History Hit Network. Including: Dan Snow's History Hit Histories of the Unexpected, Art Detective, Chalke Valley History Hit. More shows coming soon. Follow us on Twitter/Facebook: @HistoryHit
In late 1914, the charismatic and brilliant explorer Ernest Shackleton led 27 men on a voyage to cross the Antarctic to reach the South Pole. But what should have been a successful expedition turned into a two-year nightmare of hardship and catastrophe when their vessel the Endurance was crushed in the Weddell Sea pack-ice and sunk. Stranded with no ship, no contact with the outside world and limited supplies, it would be up to the men to find their own way back to civilisation.
This is the second episode of a special mini-series that dramatically retells the extraordinary story of the 1915 Endurance Expedition.
Subscribe to Dan Snow's History Hit to get every episode of our Endurance22 season and follow Dan as he searches for the lost Endurance shipwreck in real-time.
Presented by Dan Snow, written and produced by Mariana Des Forges. Shackleton's diary is read by Dan Aspel and produced by Thomas Ntinas.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
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In late 1914, the charismatic and brilliant explorer Ernest Shackleton led 27 men on a voyage to cross the Antarctic to reach the South Pole. But what should have been a successful expedition turned into a two-year nightmare of hardship and catastrophe when their vessel the Endurance was crushed in the Weddell Sea pack-ice and sunk. Stranded with no ship, no contact with the outside world and limited supplies, it would be up to the men to find their own way back to civilisation.
This is the first part of a special mini-series that dramatically retells the extraordinary story of the 1915 Endurance Expedition.
Be sure to subscribe to get each part in your feed over the next few days.
Presented by Dan Snow, written and produced by Mariana Des Forges. Shackleton's diary is read by Dan Aspel and produced by Thomas Ntinas.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Tristan of The Ancients podcasts has published his first book, Alexander’s Successors at War: The Perdiccas Years. Focussing in on 323 – 320 BC, the book tells the story of the tumultuous events that seized Alexander the Great’s empire immediately after this titanic figure breathed his last in June 323 BC. Today, we’re giving you a taster of what you can expect. Sit back and relax as Tristan reads out an abridged chapter from the book (including a swift introduction). He tells the story of a Spartan mercenary captain called Thibron, who set forth from Crete with c.6,000 battle-hardened mercenaries intend on forging his own Greco-Libyan empire in North Africa. Filled with several twists and turns the story is a symbol for the many fascinating events, and the larger than life cast, that dominates the immediate aftermath of Alexander’s death.
Order Tristan’s book today here.
Order from Amazon.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
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The expedition has begun and Dan is here to answer your questions about all things Endurance22, the expedition to find Shackleton’s lost shipwreck! For the first time, Dan is the subject of his own podcast as he’s interviewed by History Hit’s producer Mariana Des Forges about all things Endurance. They talk about how he’s feeling about the perilous journey across the southern ocean, what listeners can expect over the coming weeks and he answers your questions.
He also speaks to Mensun Bound of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust who is the lead marine archaeologist on the expedition about his greatest discoveries and what they’re expecting to find when they make it to Antarctica.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
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Amid Moscow’s increasing build-up of troops along the Ukrainian border and the preparation of infrastructure for a possible invasion, tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue to mount. Dating back centuries, the history of the relationship between the two countries is one of complexity - but one that is important to understand to make sense of the current crisis.
A. D. Miller is a former Moscow correspondent for the Economist, and the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of ‘Independence Square,’ a novel set in Kyiv during the Orange Revolution. In a conversation about the historical dispute behind Russia’s current threat to invade Ukraine, A. D. Miller and Dan discuss the key events in the twentieth century, including the turning point - the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the relevance of NATO. They also detail the consequences of the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the most recent of tensions.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
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With Kenneth Branagh film, Belfast, hitting cinemas - we run down the historical background of the early years of the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland.
Dan is joined by Tim McInerney, co-host of The Irish Passport podcast, for this deep dive into the pivotal events of 1969 to the early 1970s.
This episode will establish the century-long roots of sectarian tensions, paint a picture of the political atmosphere in Northern Ireland as the decade came to a close, and track the series of escalating conflicts that climaxed in the deployment of British Troops.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
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John von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived, a man who was in his day as well-known as Einstein and considered smarter. Von Neumann was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He created the first-ever programmable digital computer, prophesied the potential of nanotechnology and, from his deathbed, expounded on the limits of brains and computers - and how they might be overcome.
Ananyo Bhattacharya, science writer and former medical researcher, joins Dan on the podcast. They discuss the story of the 20th century’s foremost forgotten intellectual - who von Neumann was and his remarkable contributions to mathematics that continue to impact our lives today.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
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Join celebrity farmer, ecologist and conservationist, Jimmy Doherty, on his farm as he talks to eco-experts and well-known faces about trying to live a greener life.
From bug burgers and sustainable football clubs, to viagra honey and foraging fungi, Jimmy’s new weekly podcast will cover all things ecology.
Hear Jimmy chat to guests like his old friend Jamie Oliver, ecopreneur Eshita Kabra-Davies, the Eden Project's Sir Tim Smit, BOSH!, Dale Vince, Bez from the Happy Mondays... and many more.
A new episode will drop every Thursday.
Subscribe to On Jimmy's Farm from History Hit - https://podfollow.com/1606172296
On the 30th January, 372 years ago, Charles I, king of Great Britain and Ireland, stepped out of the Banqueting House in Whitehall, to be beheaded in front of a huge London crowd. It was a deeply shocking moment not just in the lives of those people who witnessed it, but also in the longer span of British history. But the regicide didn’t just happen out of the blue, it was part of a truly revolutionary period - one that experienced civil war, regime change, religious upheaval and, for the only time in British history, a period of republican government.
Rebecca Warren, an early modern historian who specialises in the history of the church during the British civil wars and interregnum between 1640-1660, joins Dan on the podcast. They discuss the reason king and parliament went to war, the Battle of Preston in August 1648 as a turning point, the day-by-day details of the trial, and how the image of Charles as a martyr became immediately fostered as a result.
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The 1950s in West Germany saw a sharp decline in Nazi war crimes investigations and trials. Instead, there were campaigns for amnesties and reductions of earlier sentences, many led by former high-level Nazis and supported tacitly by conservative politicians. Prosecutions lacked any serious or systematic effort, and in both German states, the emphasis was more on integration and rehabilitation, with the aim of stabilising their war-torn societies, rather than the rigorous investigation of Nazi crimes. This began to change in West Germany following scandals about former Nazis in prominent positions. As the 50s wore on, several new trials spotlighted the horrors and scale of Nazi atrocities.
Rainer Schulze, Professor of Modern European History at University of Essex and Editor of The Holocaust in History and Memory, joins Dan on the podcast for a conversation about the prosecution of Nazi war criminals in post-war Germany. They discuss the turning point of the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, how the 1963-1965 Auschwitz Trials in Frankfurt brought the Holocaust back into broad public consciousness and the legacy of Nuremberg in the present day with the case of the 100-year-old man who stood trial in Germany in 2021, charged with assisting in the of the murder of 3,518 people as a former SS guard at Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
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Carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949, the Nuremberg trials were held for the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. The most widely-known of those trials was the Trial of Major War Criminals, held from November 20, 1945, to October 1, 1946. Judges from the Allied powers of Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States, presided over the hearing of 22 defendants, who included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers along with German industrialists, lawyers and doctors, were indicted on such charges as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity.
Sir John Tusa, broadcaster and writer, joins Dan on the podcast. They discuss what led to the Nuremberg trials, the intricate details of the Trial of Major War Criminals, outcomes for subsequently convicted war criminals such as Hermann Göring, and the lasting impact of these trials.
This episode is dedicated to the late Ann Tusa, who co-authored with husband John, 'The Nuremberg Trial'.
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Thomas Geve was just 15 years old when he was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp on 11 April 1945. It was the third concentration camp he had survived. During the 22 months he was imprisoned, he was forced to observe first-hand the inhumane world of Nazi concentration camps. On his eventual release, Thomas felt compelled to capture daily life in the death camps in more than eighty profoundly moving drawings. He detailed this dark period of history with remarkable accuracy.
Despite the unspeakable events he experienced, Thomas decided to become an active witness and tell the truth about life in the camps. He has spoken to audiences from around the world and joins Dan on the podcast for Holocaust Memorial Day. They discuss Thomas’ rare living testimony, how as a child he had the unique ability to document the details around him, and his book ‘The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz: A Powerful True Story of Hope and Survival’.
Thomas’ daughter Yifat, also kindly shares with Dan the lasting impact of her father’s experiences.
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Have you heard? History Hit is going to the Antarctic!
Dan is joining an incredible expedition to locate the missing shipwreck of Ernest Shackleton’s vessel that was crushed by the ice and sank during his 1914 attempt to cross Antarctica. If they find the Endurance, it'll be the greatest underwater discovery since the Titanic. Over the coming weeks, we'll be releasing an exclusive series into your regular podcast feed that tells the incredible tale of the Endurance expedition- how Shackleton and his men survived months stranded on the ice with no contact with the outside world and how they made their daring escape. It will follow Dan in real-time as he and the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust set up an ice camp of their own down in the Weddell Sea and search for the lost Endurance. With podcasts recorded in the Antarctic, listeners will be the first to hear about the breakthroughs and challenges of navigating an Antarctic expedition as told through interviews with his crew-mates, reporting from the ice and personal diary entries from Dan.
Coverage starts on 7th of February 2022- lookout for Endurance22 podcasts coming soon!
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Join James from the Warfare Podcast, as he chats to the writer and cast of the new film 'Munich - the Edge of War'. Set in 1938, the movie follows Chamberlain's attempts to appease Hitler, desperate to avoid another Great War. Joining James is author Robert Harris, along with lead actors George Mackay and Jannis Niewöhner. Together they discuss the historical significance of Chamberlain and Hitler's relationship, Munich's role in contemporary politics, and the pressures of having to learn German in a week. Munich – The Edge of War is in select cinemas now and on Netflix from January 21st.
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The Gilded Age was a time in American history when the economy grew at its fastest rate in history. This had wide-reaching cultural and social effects, including a broadening tier of self-made millionaires, the rapid growth of the working class and a burgeoning black middle class.
It is against this backdrop of rapid change that Julian Fellows, creator of Downton Abbey, sets his new drama. We sat down with the show's historical advisor, Dr Erica Dunbar to help us understand the opportunities, challenges and tensions of this time.
The Gilded Age is available in the UK on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW from 25 January. For US audiences, it is available on HBO from the same date.
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Rebecca Gibb is a Master of Wine. A ninja who can sniff out a Merlot from a Margaux at 50 paces. In this archive episode, she talks to Dan about the riots that tore through the region of Champagne just before the First World War as the small wine growers rose up against the power of the big Champagne brands. This story has it all: invasive species, globalisation, climate crisis, superbrands, booze and artisanal production.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
Most people think that Britain's worst moment of the war was in 1940 when the nation stood up against the threat of German invasion. Yet, eighty years ago, Britain stood at the brink of defeat. In 1942, a string of military disasters engulfed Britain in rapid succession, including the collapse in Malaya; the biggest surrender in British history at Singapore and the passing of three large German warships through the Straits of Dover in broad daylight.
Taylor Downing, historian, writer and broadcaster, joins Dan on the podcast to draw the startling parallels between events in 1942 and today. They discuss just how unpopular Churchill became in 1942 against the backdrop of a new low of public morale, the two votes attacking his leadership in the Commons and the emergence of a serious political rival. As people began to claim that Churchill was not up to the job and that his leadership was failing badly, it was 1942 that was in fact Britain’s real darkest hour.
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On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law banning abortion, effectively legalising the procedure nationwide. The court held that a woman’s right to an abortion was implicit in the right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Roe v. Wade, involved the case of Norma McCorvey “Jane Roe”, who in 1969, wanted an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was illegal except when necessary to save the mother's life. Her attorneys, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, filed a lawsuit on her behalf in U.S. federal court against her local district attorney, Henry Wade, alleging that Texas's abortion laws were unconstitutional.
Linda Greenhouse has reported on and written about the Supreme Court for The New York Times for more than four decades, earning numerous accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize. Currently, Linda writes an opinion column on the court and teaches at Yale Law School - today, she joins Dan on the podcast. They discuss the legality of abortion prior to the 19th century, the details of the court ruling, and the legacy and current challenges to Roe v. Wade, which continues to divide Americans today.
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Joan of Arc is a name that’s instantly recognisable to most. A controversial figure in her own day, she has remained so ever since, often being adopted as a talisman of French nationalism.
But how much do we really know—or understand—about the young woman who ignited France’s fightback against England during the Hundred Years’ War, but who paid the ultimate price at the age of just 19? To get to the heart of the real ‘Maid of Orléans’, Matt Lewis from the Gone Medieval podcast is joined in this episode by Dr Hannah Skoda, a Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History at the University of Oxford.
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After the outbreak of the First World War, boys as young as twelve were caught up in a national wave of patriotism and, in huge numbers, volunteered to serve. The press, recruiting offices and the Government all contributed to the enlistment of hundreds of thousands of underage soldiers in both Britain and the Empire. Having falsified their ages upon joining up, many broke down under the strain and were returned home, while others fought on and were even awarded medals for gallantry.
Richard van Emden, who has interviewed over 270 veterans of the Great War and has written twelve books on the subject, joins Dan on the podcast. They discuss the unknown stories of boys who served in the bloodiest battles of the war, fighting at Ypres, the Somme and on Gallipoli.
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Anthony Ray Hinton is an Alabama was held on death row after being wrongly convicted of the murders of two restaurant managers, John Davidson and Thomas Wayne Vasona, in Birmingham, Alabama on February 25 and July 2, 1985. In 2014 he was released after winning a new trial which demonstrated that the forensic evidence used against him during his original conviction was totally flawed. Since his exoneration and release Anthony has become an activist, writer, and author. In this episode, Anthony takes Dan around the streets of Birmingham, Alabama and they explore some of the most iconic locations of the civil rights movement. They also discuss his experiences as a death row inmate and the vital importance of forgiveness.
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Fought between the 22nd-25th of April 1951, the battle of Imjin River was part of a Chinese counter-offensive after United Nations forces had recaptured Seoul in March 1951. The assault on ‘Gloster Hill’ was led by General Peng Dehuai who commanded a force of 300,000 troops attacking over a 40-mile sector. The 29th Independent Infantry Brigade Group, under the command of Brigadier Tom Brodie, of the 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, was responsible for defending a 15-kilometre section of the front, over which General Peng Dehuai sent three divisions of his force. What resulted was the bloodiest battle that involved British troops in modern history since the Second World War.
Taken from the 2021 Gloucester History Festival, Dan is joined by two battle veterans of the 1951 Korean War battle, Tommy Clough and Brian Hamblett. Tommy served as a gunner with the Royal Artillery which was attached to the Gloster, Brian served in the British military in Infantry manning machine guns in his platoon - both were Chinese prisoners of war for more than two years. They join Dan to explore the battle of the Imjin River on what was its 70th anniversary.
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Eugenics has been used in attempts throughout history, and across continents, to gain power and assert control.
In this episode, we trace Eugenics from its intellectual origins in Victorian Britain to the actual policies put into action to control populations birthrates in Nazi Germany and 20th Century America.
Dan is joined by broadcaster and geneticist Adam Rutherford who helps him understand this complicated legacy as well as what the troubling future of gene editing has to hold.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
The true-crime genre - stories of actual murders and other crimes that are then fictionalised - is not a new phenomenon. More than four centuries ago, a series of plays based on real life cases appeared on the London stage. It was a short-lived craze generated by the insatiable early modern appetite for the "three Ms" - melodrama, moralizing and misogyny. In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author Charles Nicholl about the little known phenomenon of Elizabethan true crime, which even influenced the works of William Shakespeare.
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George. Where did it all go wrong? George Washington could have had a comfortable career as a loyal member of His Majesty's Virginia militia and colonial grandee. But no, he had to go and roll the dice. In this episode, Dan speaks to historian Alexis Coe about her biography of Washington. She has a fresh take on the first President, but no less scholarly for that. Young George Washington was raised by a struggling single mother, demanded military promotions, caused an international incident, and never backed down - even when his dysentery got so bad he had to ride with a cushion on his saddle. But after he married Martha, everything changed. Washington became the kind of man who named his dog Sweetlips and hated to leave home. He took up arms against the British only when there was no other way, though he lost more battles than he won.
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The laws now enforced throughout the world are almost all modelled on systems developed in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During two hundred years of colonial rule, Europeans exported their laws everywhere they could. But not quite as revolutionary as we may think, they weren't filling a void: in many places, they displaced traditions that were already ancient when Vasco Da Gama first arrived in India. Even the Romans were inspired by earlier precedents.
Fernanda Pirie, Professor of the Anthropology of Law at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford and author of ‘The Rule of Laws: A 4,000-Year Quest to Order the World,’ joins Dan on the podcast. They discuss where it all began, and what law has been and done over the course of human history.
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2021 was a bumper year for archaeological discoveries across Britain. In this episode, we go on a whistlestop tour of some of the most notable finds — from an immaculately preserved Roman mosaic found on a working farm, to the puzzling ruin of a Norman church discovered by HS2 engineers.
Dan is joined by author and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts, who got to see many of these discoveries first hand and meet the people who found them during the filming of the latest series of Digging For Britain.
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102 years ago on the 10th of January 1920, the League of Nations was formed out of the Treaty of Versailles. Its aim was to maintain peace after the First World War. With 58 member states by the 1930s, it had successes e against drug traffickers and slave traders, settling border disputes and returning prisoners of war. But much of the treaty was designed to punish Germany after WWI, creating an environment of disillusionment that enabled Nazi ideology to thrive. Across the rest of Europe, it was working up against economic depression, rising nationalism and a lack of support from the two great nations of Russia and the United States. Its ultimate demise began with Hitler's declaration of war in 1939.
Was it too utopian and doomed to fail? In this episode Mats Berdal, Professor of Security and Development at Kings College London, joins Dan to discuss the legacy of the League of Nations, its importance in establishing the Geneva Protocol (prohibition of gas warfare), laying the foundations of the UN and the challenges that led to its ultimate failure.
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U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are two of the world’s most influential leaders, together at the centre of some of the biggest controversies and most impressive advancements of our time. Taking office at the height of the 2008 global recession, Obama was keenly aware of the fractured relationship between the US and Europe, while Merkel was initially sceptical of the charismatic newcomer who had captivated her country. Despite their partnership having been the subject of both scrutiny and admiration, few know the full story.
Upon Merkel’s departure from office after 16 years last month, Dan is joined by Claudia Clark, author of ‘Dear Barack: The Extraordinary Partnership of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel’. They discuss Merkel and her administration, where the partnership between Obama and Merkel began, the historically significant parallel trajectories that marked the highs and lows of their extraordinary alliance, and the continued influence of their legacy on global politics.
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For the first time, the 1921 Census of England & Wales is now publicly available, only online at the family history website, Findmypast. More detailed than any previous British census taken up to that point, it provides us with a remarkable, once-in-a-generation snapshot of a country that had been transformed after the First World War. In this episode, we are joined by guests Audrey Collins, from The National Archives, and Myko Clelland, from Findmypast. They explain what the records show about how families, communities and workplaces were reshaped by the war, as well as share stories buried deep within the Census that reveal so much about how our ancestors lived a hundred years ago.
Are you interested in exploring your own family history? After years spent digitising and transcribing this unique record of your recent history, the 1921 Census is now available exclusively online with Findmypast. Start exploring now at findmypast.co.uk
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The 6th of January marks one year since the United States Capitol attack of 2021, whereby a mob of supporters of Republican President Donald J. Trump stormed the Capitol Building. On today’s anniversary, what can we learn from prehistory to the present, about democratic decay, corruption and cronyism?
Dr. Brian Klaas, UCL Associate Professor in Global Politics, Washington Post Columnist, and author of ‘Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How it Changes Us’ is today’s guest on the podcast. So, are tyrants made or born? If you were thrust into a position of power, would new temptations to line your pockets gnaw away at you until you gave in? As one of the world's leading and most effective commentators of democratic decline, Brian joins Dan to answer these questions.
They discuss the rise of hierarchy in prehistoric times, how cognitive biases from our Stone Age minds continue to cause us to select the wrong leaders and what we can learn about King Leopold II of Belgium about whether power or systems, corrupt.
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Sitting Bull, best known for his initiative and victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn, is a greatly revered Native American Chief. But he was more than a fierce leader of his people. Bestowed the name ‘Sitting Bull’ at only 14 by his father, he showed characteristics of courage, perseverance, and intelligence beyond his years - traits that would come to define him, and the relationship between Native Americans and the US government for generations. In this episode, James from the Warfare Podcast is joined by Professor Jeff Olster, who specialises in the impact of the United States on Native Americans between the 18th to 20th centuries. Together they discuss who Sitting Bull was, the journey that led him to Little Bighorn, and the injustices inflicted upon the Native American people by the US Government.
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Ramesses the Great, ego in the ancient world and Tutankhamun's sacred underwear. These are all covered in today's episode with Dr Campbell Price about the treasures that will be housed in the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, set to open later this year.
Dr Campbell Price is the Chair of Trustees for the Egypt Exploration Society, the UK’s leading charity supporting archaeological fieldwork and research in Egypt. He's also the curator of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the Manchester Museum.
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Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered by Howard Carter almost 100 years ago, and two years later they opened up the stone sarcophagus that held the golden coffin containing the mummy of Tutankhamun. In this archive episode from 2019, Dan gets Dr Tarek Al Awady to take him around the exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery which examined some of the treasures taken from his tomb, many of which were on tour for the first time. Dan and Dr Al Awady discuss Tutankhamun's life and his legacy.
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Revolutions, droughts, famines, invasions, wars, regicides - the calamities of the mid-seventeenth century were both unprecedented and widespread. A global crisis extended from England to Japan, and from the Russian Empire to sub-Saharan Africa. North and South America, too, suffered turbulence. Changes in the prevailing weather patterns, longer and harsher winters, and cooler and wetter summers - disrupted growing seasons, causing dearth, malnutrition, and disease, along with more deaths and fewer births. Some contemporaries estimated that one-third of the world died.
Geoffrey Parker, distinguished University Professor and Andreas Dorpalen Professor of European History join Dan on the podcast to discuss the sequence of political, economic and social crises that stretched across the 1600s. They discuss the link between climate change and worldwide catastrophe 350 years ago, and the contemporary implications: are we at all prepared today for the catastrophes that climate change could bring tomorrow?
Geoffrey is the author of ‘Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century'.
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Please note that this episode contains conversation about sex that you might not want to listen to in the presence of children.
What did medieval people really think about sex, and were those thoughts all that different from ours today?
The medieval humoral system of medicine suggested that it was possible to die from having too much-or too little-sex, while the Roman Catholic Church taught that virginity was the ideal state. Holy men and women committed themselves to lifelong abstinence in the name of religion. Everyone was forced to conform to restrictive rules about sex and could be harshly punished for getting it wrong. More familiarly, medieval people faced challenges in finding a suitable partner and also struggled with many of the same social issues that we face today.
Dan is joined by Katherine Harvey, Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London and author of ‘The Fires of Lust: Sex in the Middle Ages’. Katherine holds a PhD in Medieval History from King’s College London and has published widely on medieval topics, including sexuality, gender, emotions and the body. Join Dan and Katherine as they discuss sex through the ages, as relating to general attitudes, frequency, religion and marriage.
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A trip to Paris wouldn't be the same without taking a moment to gaze up at the great looming towers of the Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral with its watchful gargoyles on every corner. Today, celebrated journalist Simon Jenkins joins Dan to discuss 'humankind's greatest creation'; the cathedral. Simon has travelled across Europe - from Chartres to York, Cologne to Florence, Toledo to Moscow and Stockholm to Seville - to illuminate old stalwarts and highlight new discoveries. They compare favourites and share which ones they think are overrated. Simon's new book is called 'Europe's 100 Best Cathedrals'.
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The Medieval period saw the advancement of many countries, evolving to the provinces in Europe that we know today; Scotland is no different. In this episode, Cat Jarman from the Gone Medieval podcast is joined by Dr. Adrian Maldonado, an Archeologist and Glenmorangie Research Fellow at National Museums Scotland. With the birth of kingdoms such as Alba, Strathclyde, Galloway, and the Norse Earldom of Orkney, what can the artefacts and materials tell us about the emergence of Scotland? Adrian Maldonado is the author of 'Crucible of Nations: Scotland from Viking-age to Medieval kingdom', published by NMSE - Publishing Ltd.
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Part Two of our episodes on the famous Christmas Truce. On Christmas Eve 1914 many sectors of the Western Front in France and Belgium fell silent. Troops from all sides put down their weapons and sang carols, exchanged gifts and buried their dead in No Man's Land. The following day the truce continued in many, but not all areas, and troops gathered in crowds between the lines. there may even have been a bit of a kick about. In this episode, three distinguished historians, Peter Hart, Taff Gillingham and Rob Schaefer tell us about the events of the truce itself. We also hear extracts of letters and diaries from the men involved, including some broadcast here for the first time in English. This episode was first released on 24th December 2020.
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On Christmas Eve 1914 many sectors of the Western Front in France and Belgium fell silent. Troops from all sides put down their weapons and sang carols, exchanged gifts and buried their dead in No Man's Land. The following day the truce continued in many, but not all areas, and troops gathered in crowds between the lines. there may even have been a bit of a kick about. This is part 1 of a two-part Christmas podcast that explores the truce with three distinguished historians, Peter Hart, Taff Gillingham and Rob Schaefer. We also hear extracts of letters and diaries from the men involved, including some broadcast here for the first time in English. This episode was first released on 23rd December 2020.
Please vote for us! Dan Snow's History Hit has been nominated for a Podbible award in the 'informative' category: https://bit.ly/3pykkds
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In a special episode of the podcast, Dan's children join him for a lively retelling of Boudica and the violent uprising that tore Roman Britain apart- a classic bedtime story in the Snow household. Merry Christmas from Dan and his family!
Please vote for us! Dan Snow's History Hit has been nominated for a Podbible award in the 'informative' category: https://bit.ly/3pykkds
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Traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season, it is thought that carols existed to keep up people’s spirits, along with dances, plays and feasts since before the fourteenth century. Whether religious or not, the singing of Christmas carols is a tradition enjoyed by many every year, but do we know why?
Author of ‘Christmas Carols: From Village Green to Church Choir,’ composer and choirmaster Andrew Gant joins Dan for this carol-filled episode of the podcast. Andrew and Dan discuss why we sing Christmas carols and how they came to hold the magic enjoyed by so many. Accompany Dan and Andrew in the festive spirit as delve into the history of one of our best-loved musical traditions and the surprising stories behind a handful of well-known seasonal songs.
Audio courtesy of Signum Records
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Just as Scrooge wandered London's streets on a cold Christmas night, Dan Snow follows the ghosts of Charles Dickens' past to discover the city that inspired his greatest works. With London-born tour guide David Charnick, they slip down hidden alleyways to find the old debtor's prison that the Dicken's family once called home; a place that haunted a young Charles for the rest of his life. They overlook the Thames to tell the tales of Victorian scavengers who searched the murky waters for bodies to turn over for profit. They find the old counting houses and graveyards that inspired the creation of Ebenezer Scrooge. They walk down the very street that Bob Cratchit 'went down a slide on Cornhill twenty times, in honour of its being Christmas-eve'. With David's masterful guidance and atmospheric readings, this immersive episode takes you to the fireside of a London coaching inn as the sun sets outside on a late December afternoon.
A warning: this episode contains references to historical suicides.
Dickens' extracts are read by Robyn Wilson. 'Roger de Coverley' and 'Durang's Hornpipe' performed by Vivian and Phil Williams. You can join David for a variety of historical London tours here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/david-charnick-footprints-of-london-7320403619
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Thanks largely to his feature in the Gospel of Matthew, King Herod ‘the Great’ of Judaea is one of the infamous figures from the whole of history. So what do we know about this ancient near eastern ruler, who in his lifetime had contacts with a series of ‘goliath’ figures from the ancient Mediterranean World: from Caesar to Cleopatra and from Marc Antony to Augustus. To talk about King Herod, with a particular focus on the material and meaning of his monumental tomb at Herodium, Tristan was re-joined by Holy Land archaeologist Dr Jodi Magness. A wonderful speaker, Jodi has previously been on the podcast to talk all about the Siege of Masada and Jewish burial at the time of Jesus.
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The permanent home of the Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, has been the subject of a heated, decades-long debate. Currently housed in the British Museum, Greece has been proactively campaigning for their return since the 1980s. But, how did this controversy start and why did the marbles end up in London, to begin with?
In this episode, we find out with the help of Nick Malkoutzis and Georgia Nakou, two Greek journalists and contributors to Macropolis (www.macropolis.gr). You can also hear more from Nick and Georgia on the English-language podcast about greek politics and society, The Agora.
Please vote for us! Dan Snow's History Hit has been nominated for a Podbible award in the 'informative' category: https://bit.ly/3pykkds
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While many traditions regard God to be incorporeal, some three thousand years ago in the Southwest Asian lands, a group of people worshipped a complex pantheon of deities, led by a father god called El. El had seventy children, who were gods in their own right. One of them was a deity, known as Yahweh. Yahweh had a body, a wife, offspring and colleagues. He fought monsters and mortals. He gorged on food and wine, wrote books, and took walks and naps. But he would become something far larger and far more abstract: the God of the great monotheistic religions.
Author of ‘God: An Anatomy’ and Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter, Francesca Stavrakopoulou is today’s guest on the podcast. Examining God’s body, from his head to his hands, feet and genitals, Francesca and Dan discuss how the Western idea of God developed, the places and artefacts that shaped our view of this singular God and the ancient religions and societies of the biblical world and not only the origins of our oldest monotheistic religions, but also the origins of Western culture.
If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.
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The Battle of Agincourt looms large in the English historical and cultural imagination, this explainer wades through the mythology to help listeners really understand this infamous battle.
From almost the moment the battle finished the myth of Agincourt was being spun. Henry V milked the victory for all its worth to secure his reign and it has continued to play a prominent role in the British psyche ever since inspiring both Shakespeare and Churchill amongst others. It was however a crushing English victory with much of the nobility of Northern France being killed on that muddy field that day. It is all the more remarkable as Henry's army had been worn down by previous battles and ravaged by dysentery with thousands dying in miserable agony. In this episode, Dan returns with another of his explainers to explore the background, the campaign, the battle itself and its aftermath.
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On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two unknown brothers from Ohio changed history. The Wright Brothers took the world's first engine-powered flight. It didn't take long for countries around the world to realise that the Wright flying machine had the potential to revolutionise warfare and soon everybody wanted flying machines of their own. But the US didn't have the advantage; Historian and TV Consultant Gavin Mortimer tells Dan that after that first flight, the Wright Brothers spent more time in court trying to protect their patent and ground other aviators than they did in their workshop. Not only did it make them largely despised by their contemporaries, they quickly fell behind in the race to master the air.
For more about those dramatic days of pioneering aviation, Gavin's book is called 'Chasing Icarus: The Seventeen Days in 1910 That Changing American Aviation'
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Our image of the Tudor era remains overwhelmingly white. But the black presence in England was much greater than has previously been recognised, and Tudor conceptions of race were far more complex than we have been led to believe. In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Onyeka Nubia whose original research shows that Tudors from many walks of life regularly interacted with people of African descent, both at home and abroad - findings that cast a new light on the Tudor age and our own attitudes towards race relations in history.
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On February 27 1763, thousands of enslaved people in the Dutch colony of Berbice—in present-day Guyana—launched a huge uprising against their oppressors. Surrounded by jungle and savannah, the revolutionaries—many of them African-born—effectively controlled the colony for a year as they resisted European attempts to overthrow them. In the end, the Dutch prevailed because of one unique advantage—their ability to call upon soldiers and supplies from neighbouring colonies as well as from Europe. This little-known revolution was the biggest in South America’s long and dark period of enslavement, one that almost changed the face of the Americas. Yet the efforts of the mutineers have largely been overlooked—until now. To shine a light on the uprising that came so close to success, Dan is joined by Marjoleine Kars who is professor of history at the University of Maryland in the US. Marjoleine is the author of Blood on the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast, which helped uncover the workings of this little-known yet crucial rebellion. The book has won multiple awards, including the Cundhill History Prize, and has been described as an astonishing work of original history.
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British politician Gavin Barwell served as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Theresa May from June 2017 to July 2019, one of the most turbulent periods in recent British political history.
As the Prime Minister’s senior political adviser, Barwell was at May's side as she navigated tumultuous Brexit negotiations, met Donald Trump, learnt about the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, met Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer to broker a cross-party Brexit agreement - and ultimately made the decision to stand down as Prime Minister.
Joining Dan on the podcast, Gavin poignantly reveals a historical first-hand account of how government operates during times of crises, resignations and general elections. Taking us beyond the corridors of power, they discuss the prominence of political advisors, the shifting of power and the decision-making that goes on behind closed doors at 10 Downing Street.
Gavin is the author of Chief of Staff: Notes from Downing Street
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941 remains etched in public memory as the turning point of WW2. But in fact, it was Hitler’s declaration of war on the United States – four days later on December 11, 1941 – that changed everything.
In this episode, Professor of International Relations at Cambridge University Brendan Simms tells Dan the story of those five unsettling days. Churchill did not sleep “the sleep of the saved and thankful” after the attack, as he later claimed. Japan’s leaders were unsure whether Hitler would honour a private commitment to declare war. Roosevelt knew that many Americans didn’t want their country to entangle itself in a conflict with the Third Reich as well as Japan. In the end, it was Hitler’s decision that ended the uncertainty, bringing the US into the European war and transforming world history. You can read more in 'Hitler's American Gamble', the new book by Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman.
Please vote for us! Dan Snow's History Hit has been nominated for a Podbible award in the 'informative' category: https://bit.ly/3pykkds
The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in 1938 it saw many thousands of women take on a huge range of vital roles in the war effort which had never before been open to them. This included manning anti-aircraft stations, searchlights, plotting rooms and many more. This could be dangerous work and over 700 women were killed during the conflict. Some women also faced dangers closer to home including the behaviour of some of the men they served with. Sadly, the contribution of these women and the risks they endured has often been overlooked. To shine a light on their courage and service Dan is joined by historian, broadcaster and writer Tessa Dunlop and Grace Taylor, a 97 year-old former ATS ‘Gunner Girl’. Tessa Dunlop is the author of the book: Army Girls: The secrets and stories of military service from the final few women who fought in World War II. Tessa and Grace discuss with Dan the reality of women serving on the front line, how allowing women to more fully participate in the war effort marked a radical social departure and Grace's experience as a member of the ATS.
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2 December is a special date for those fascinated by Napoleon Bonaparte. Not only is this the date he crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804, but also the date of his greatest victory a year later, the Battle of Austerlitz. James Rogers from the Warfare podcast is joined by world-leading historian Andrew Roberts to dissect the conditions, tactics and aftermath of Napoleon's greatest battle. If you’re enjoying this podcast and looking for more fascinating Warfare content then subscribe to our Warfare Wednesday newsletter here. Passages read by Matt Lewis Music: Not My Taste (a) - Doug B Rossi, Tony Phillips Majesty (a) - Bradley Andrew Segal, Haim Mazar Force of Nature (a) - John Christopher Lucas Lemke.
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While the allies reeled from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and Hitler's declaration of war on the United States, a ferocious battle was also raging across the icy steppes of Russia in early December 1941. Hitler had launched his invasion of the Soviet Union in June of that year - Operation Barbarossa- the largest and deadliest in modern history. The German army was no match for the sheer number of soldiers sent by Stalin or the brutal conditions of a Russian winter. By the time Hitler's army reached the gates of Moscow on the 2nd of December, millions from both sides had died.
In June this year, Dan was joined by historian and veteran broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby to discuss the beginning of Operation Barbarossa and the German offensive. Jonathan joins Dan once more to, this time, look at Stalin's response, what was going on in the city during the Battle of Moscow and why the Soviets ultimately succeeded in defeating the Germans.
You can listen to the first part here: https://podfollow.com/dan-snows-history-hit/episode/e1cf197bb81f0354bac4f8d2e8c19b27be871511/view
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With closed borders, a totalitarian regime, electricity blackouts and widespread poverty, North Korea is a brutal place to survive; even looking at a foreign media outlet can get a North Korean citizen sent to a concentration camp. So why, in 2011 did leader Kim Jong Il allow Jean Lee, a celebrated American journalist to set up a news bureau in Pyongyang?
In today's episode, Jean is Dan's guide to North Korea. She tells him about her extraordinary experiences living and working in North Korea as the AP bureau chief. She delves into the history of the Korean peninsula, the Korean War and what made North Korea the country it is today- including the mythology of the Kim dynasty and the famine of the 1990s.
She also talks about her hit podcast on the BBC World Service - The Lazarus Heist- that tells the dramatic story of an elite group of North Korean cyber hackers who not only infiltrated Sony pictures in 2014 but also attempted a one-billion-dollar heist at the Bangladesh bank two years later.
On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service launched a surprise military strike upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. Just before 8 a.m., the base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft as fighters, level, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers descended on the base in two waves. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The following day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the United States, and Congress declared war against Japan. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The previously reluctant U.S. entered the Second World War.
Join Dan as he walks through the details of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, explainer style. Later in the episode, Dan welcomes Michael “Mickey” Ganitch, Pearl Harbor survivor to the podcast. Mickey served on the USS Pennsylvania and was on-board when the Japanese attacked, he served the rest of the war on the USS Pennsylvania, including when she was torpedoed just before the Japanese surrender. Now 102-years-old, Mickey continues to share his story.
A special thanks to Mickey and Barbara Ganitch, as well as the National Archives and Records Administration of the United States for the detail that we were able to include in this episode.
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November 30 2021, Bridgetown, fifty-five years since Barbados’ 1966 Independence, the Royal Standard flag representing the Queen was lowered and Dame Sandra Mason was sworn in as the president of Barbados. The handover ceremony marked the birth of the world’s newest republic.
The most easterly of the Caribbean Islands, Barbados was inhabited by its indigenous peoples prior to the European colonisation of the Americas in the 16th century. Under the command of Captain John Powell, the first English ship arrived in Barbados in May 1625 and its men took possession of the island in the name of King James I. During this period, Barbados became an English and later British colony that served as a plantation economy, dependent on the labour of enslaved Africans on the island's sugar plantations.
Dan is joined by Guy Hewitt, who served as the High Commissioner of Barbados in London from 2014 to 2018. They discuss the detailed history of Barbados, the significance of the Slave Trade until its formal abolition in 1834, the impact of the Commonwealth, subsequent Barbadian-British relations, and why now sees the end to the 396-year-reign of the British Monarchy over the Island country.
HBO's Band of Brothers remains one of the greatest mini-series ever made. 20 years after the award-winning series debuted, Dan speaks to Robin Laing who played Edward 'Babe' Heffron about life on set, how they created an entire frozen forest inside an air hanger during a sweltering August and his close relationship with the real Babe Heffron. They're joined by writer John Orloff who tells them about being approached by Tom Hanks and writing two of the most crucial episodes in the series: 'Day of Days' that see's the paratrooper regiment drop into occupied Normandy and 'Why We Fight' about the Lansberg concentration camp. A must-listen for any Band of Brothers fan!
Dan Snow's History Hit is up for a 2021 Pod Bible award! Vote for us to win best informative podcast here: https://podbiblemag.com/pod-bible-poll-winners-2021-vote/. Thank you from Dan and the History Hit team!
Over 100 years of conflict, two warring nations, five monarchs on either side and countless casualties in a dispute over claims to the throne: in this episode, Gone Medieval's Matt Lewis unravels the numbers. He takes us through the biggest turning points of the Hundred Years’ War chronologically and gives us some insight into the personalities involved on the English and French sides.
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In a special episode of the podcast, Dan and his team hit the road after receiving a call about the discovery of a hoard of rare Iron Age coins, at a secret location in the New Forest. At the St Barbe Museum in Lymington, Dan speaks to the detectorists who made the discovery of a lifetime and to Professor Emeritus Tony King about what these coins and their unusual imagery tell us about Britain's Celtic ancestors and civilization before the Romans arrived.
It's important for the local community that such a discovery can stay in the area. St Barbe Museum + Art Gallery in Lymington are appealing for help to secure and exhibit this exciting hoard of Celtic Coins in the museum. Support their Celtic Countdown where all donations will be match funded. One donation, twice the impact. https://bit.ly/3D1kgb2
Please note that this episode contains the use of explicit language right from the very beginning.
Ridley Scott, a prolific director and producer, is responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. While "Alien" (1979) and "Blade Runner" (1982), are regarded as significantly influential sci-fi films, "Gladiator" (2000) and "Black Hawk Down" (2001), to name just a few, highlight his dedication to epic historical dramas.
Drawing from more recent history upon the release of his latest film, House of Gucci, Ridley joins Dan on this special episode of the podcast. Against the backdrop of the true-crime tale, the historic appeal of the Gucci business through the 60s, 70s and 80s and the personal history of the dynasty of the Gucci family, Ridley shares his approach to portraying Italy through opera. Ridley and Dan discuss the secrets of Ridley’s directorial process in relation to historical accuracy, the significance of his inspired relationship with history, what periods he is drawn to portraying and why World War II is particularly important to him. Ridley also shares with Dan what he is working on next.
Actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger joins Dan in conversation on today's podcast about Winston Churchill, who was born on this day in 1874. They talk about Arnie's admiration for the former British Prime Minister as a leader and a thinker, how he modelled his own governorship on Churchill while in office from 2003-2011, and how he ended up in California in the first place.
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Winston Churchill was many things a writer, politician, journalist, painter but the defining aspect of his career was as a war leader. Warfare infused his life from its very beginning due to his relation to the Duke of Marlborough and a childhood re-enacting the Battle of Waterloo in the ground of Blenheim Palace. As a young man, he saw conflict at first hand both as a soldier and a reporter in Cuba, India, Sudan and South Africa. In the political wilderness following the disaster of Gallipoli during the First World War, he undertook service on the Western Front. These experiences were what made Churchill uniquely qualified as Prime Minister in 1940 to lead Britain through its great ever military crisis and onto victory in the Second World War. Joining Dan to discuss how the military experiences of his formative years shaped him for the difficult military decisions he took in office is Anthony Tucker-Jones. Anthony is a former defence intelligence officer, widely published military expert and author of the upcoming book: Churchill, Master and Commander: Winston Churchill at War 1895–1945. They examine Churchill's military career, his role as commander in chief and the decisions he took both good and bad.
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The result of his complicated legacy, the death of South Africa's last apartheid president, F W de Klerk, on November 11 2021 generated a flood of differing assessments. De Klerk wrote himself into the history of South Africa on February 2 1990, when he announced the unbanning of the African National Party (ANC) and other liberation movements, as well as the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. While this set South Africa on the path of reform, De Klerk’s failure to break free of apartheid thinking was evident throughout the years that would follow.
To arrive at a rounded, fact-based understanding of De Klerk’s place in history, Dan is joined by “Mac” Maharaj. Mac has been involved in the freedom struggle since 1952. After serving a twelve-year sentence on Robben Island from 1965-1976, he was appointed secretary of the department charged with organising the ANC within South Africa. Mac served alongside De Klerk in the first democratic cabinet, led by Mandela. As joint secretary of the Multi-Party Negotiating Forum and the Transitional Executive Council, Mac was directly involved in the negotiations that produced the transition from apartheid to democracy.
Mac is the co-author of the upcoming Breakthrough: The Struggles and Secret Talks that Brought Apartheid SA to the Negotiating Table
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From Gladiator to Rome Total War to Star Wars, today the Praetorians are one of the most distinctive military units of Imperial Rome. It was their job to protect the Roman Emperor and his household, a task for which they hold a somewhat ‘chequered’ record (especially when we focus in on the Praetorian Prefects). But what do we know about this unit’s origins? How did this powerful force become protectors of the Emperor and his household? What other functions did they serve? And how did they differ from the standard Roman legions in their structure? To talk through the rise of the Praetorian Guard, with a specific focus on the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, Tristan caught up with historian Lindsay Powell at Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex for the Ancients Podcast. Lindsay is the author of several books about the Early Roman Imperial Period. His latest book, Bar Kokhba: The Jew Who Defied Hadrian and Challenged the Might of Rome, is out now.
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Thomas Kendrick was at the very centre of British Intelligence operations throughout the first half of the twentieth century. He combined a public face of an English gentleman whilst privately masterminding MI6's spy networks throughout Europe. Perhaps his finest hour came in the run-up to the Second World War when stationed in Vienna as a British passport officer he issued thousands of visas and passports to Austrian Jews enabling an estimated 10,000 people to escape the coming Holocaust. Betrayed by a double agent in 1938 he survived an assassination attempt and was arrested by the Gestapo and interrogated before being expelled from Austria and returning to Britain. Once the Second World War broke out headed one of the most important intelligence operations of the war. Senior Nazi generals who had become POWs were installed in luxurious accommodation and allowed to speak freely whilst all the while being monitored on hidden microphones. The information they unwittingly revealed undoubtedly shortened the war and saved many thousands of lives. Historian Helen Fry returns to the podcast to tell Dan all about this extraordinary story that she has been researching for her new book Spymaster: The Man Who Saved MI6.
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Over a million Indian soldiers served during the First World War, but many of the records of the soldiers who fought valiantly for the Allied cause had been lost - hiding their stories from history. Until now. Discovered in a basement of a museum in Lahore, Pakistan, where they had been left unread for 97 years, these newly recovered documents have allowed historians to put the men of the Indian Army back into the story of the allied war effort.
To explain the significance of the records that have been found, Dan is joined by Amandeep Madra OBE. Amandeep is the co-author of five books about Indian history, Chair of the UK Punjab Heritage Association and has worked with the University of Greenwich to digitise the files. Amandeep and Dan discuss what the records contain and how they were discovered, some of the stories they have revealed and how this new information is allowing families across the world to shed light on the vital contribution and sacrifice made by their ancestors to the allied victory during the First World War.
The British Monarchy is a thread that has run throughout the history of Britain but over the centuries it has been a constantly evolving institution. From the warrior kings of early England steeped in violence to the largely symbolic constitutional monarch of today, Tracy Borman helps Dan chart how the monarchy has changed and what roles it continues to play. They discuss the best and worst of British Monarchs, why women seem to be better suited for this gargantuan job, her personal favourite ruler and what future kings and queens can learn from their predecessors.
Tracy Borman is an author, historian and broadcaster. Her latest book is called Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy.
Everyone who was alive at the time remembers the day President John F. Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas, Texas on the 22 November 1963. On this anniversary Dan gives a moment-by-moment account of the day that shocked the world and speaks to Jefferson Morley, a former Washington Post journalist and leading authority on the subject. They discuss the aftermath of the assassination and what the public was never told by the White House and the CIA. To this day, Jefferson is still fighting for the release of all of the classified documents about the JFK assassination, many of which are still being withheld. Archive courtesy of NBC. 'Measured Paces' and 'Unanswered Questions' composed by Kevin Macleod.
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When and why did we start keeping hamsters as pets? When was sign language first used in the UK? If you were planning a bank heist, which historical figures would you call on? These are just some of the burning historical questions that public historian and podcaster, Greg Jenner, is tackling in his new book, Ask A Historian: 50 Surprising Answers to Things You Always Wanted to Know.In this episode, Greg joins Dan to explain the motivations behind the book, how he sees the role of public history in society as well as reveal some of the more surprising questions he was asked.
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At the end of the World War One, around one million citizens of the British Empire had been lost, and the whereabouts of about half of these was unknown. Families could be waiting weeks, months or years to hear whether their loved ones were imprisoned, wounded, missing or dead, if they heard at all. This was the task of the searchers. In the years following the war, these volunteer investigators conducted 5 million interviews, finding answers for around 400 thousand families. Robert Sackville-West is on our sibling podcast, Warfare, to bring us the stories of those looking for news of their fathers, brothers and sons, and the evolution of the search to this day. Robert’s book ‘The Searchers: The Quest for the Lost of the First World War’ is out now.
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Hoaxes and magic were widespread in 18th century Britain. From a woman who claimed to birth rabbits, to a man who said he’d climb into a bottle in front of a live audience, many of the claims sound laughably unbelievable to us today. But at the time, these sorts of hoaxes were widely influential, even drawing in celebrities of the day such as Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Swift. This episode, Dan is joined by joined by historian and magician, Ian Keable, who details some of the most bamboozling hoaxes of the 18th century and why the public fell for them. Ian's book,The Century of Deception: The Birth of the Hoax in Eighteenth-Century England, is out now.
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During World War One, Britain and its empire mobilised soldiers on a hitherto unprecedented scale. That required a huge logistical effort to feed, equip, house and train them. No place reflects these efforts better than Salisbury Plains. Now mainly sleepy villages and farmland, these plains were once home to tens of thousands of men and women who descended on the camps to prepare for war. In this episode historian Margaret McKenzie, who spent the last 30 years studying the camps, takes Dan on a tour of the site helping understand the scale of what once stood there. Margaret sadly passed away a few weeks ago, so this episode is dedicated to her and all those who served at the camps with which she became so familiar through her research.
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This episode of the podcast comes from a show called ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ which is a modern history podcast inspired by the lyrics of the legend that is Billy Joel. In this episode, Dan chats with the wonderful Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce about the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, which took place in 1954 in Vietnam. If any place on Earth symbolises the end of the European Empire, it’s here.
If you want more of those episodes, go and look up the rest of the series right now. They’ve got loads of great episodes from Nixon, Eisenhower and Stalin to Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe. There’s a new episode out every Monday, so go and search for ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ and follow or subscribe now.
From the great battles such as Dunkirk, historical titans such Alexander the Great and historical oddities such as Henry VIII's enemas Dan speaks to author and historian Dominic Sandbrook about what it is that sparks a passion for history. They also discuss the challenges of writing and podcasting about history and Dominic's new series of books Adventures in Time which aim to bring the past alive for twenty-first century children, allowing them to discover the thrills and spills of history within a page-turning narrative.
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As the country remembers the sacrifice made by those men and women who have given their lives and health in serving the nation Dan is joined by Sir Max Hastings to examine the ever-changing face of warfare. His new book Soldiers: Great Stories of War and Peace examines not just the heroism of those who have fought wars over the centuries but also the suffering and squalor that conflict brings. Sir Max also reflects on his own experiences as a battlefield reporter in Vietnam and the Falklands, the effect those experiences had on him and why battlefields continue to fascinate him and the public.
Warning! This episode contains strong language and may not be suitable for children.
The Spanish infanta Catalina of Aragon was raised to be a Queen, betrothed at the age of three to the heir apparent of the English throne, Arthur Prince of Wales. Eight years after Arthur's death, she became the first of Henry VIII's six wives. Catalina's mother - Queen Isabella I of Castile - was the most influential person in her life. Witness at an early age the expulsion of Jews, the defeat of the Moors in Spain, and the triumphal return of Christopher Columbus, Catherine grew up to be an intelligent, highly literate, multi-lingual woman, devoted to her Catholic faith, and a popular, charismatic Queen. In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb discovers more about the early life of Catherine with two leading experts: Dr Theresa Earenfight, Professor of History at Seattle University and author of a forthcoming biography of Catherine, and Emma Cahill Marron, whose dissertation is focused on the Queen's role as a patron of the arts in Tudor England.
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Sebastian Faulks is a novelist who really needs no introduction, perhaps most famous for his novel Birdsong, he has written powerfully and poignantly about the impact of war on the human spirit. In this episode of the podcast, he joins Dan to talk about his newest novel Snow Country. Set in Austria in the aftermath of the First World War the novel serves as a perfect starting place to discuss how wars are remembered by those who took part and those whose lives were shaped by them. They explore how the experiences of veterans differed depending on whether they had experienced victory or defeat and how this influenced his decision to set the novel in Austria. They also discuss How Sebastian came to be fascinated by the First World War, why he chose to write about this period and the important role that fiction can play in connecting the general public to history.
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Boris Johnson recently stated that the fall of Rome was caused by 'uncontrolled migration' and the image of a mighty empire bought to its knees by hordes of barbarians from the east is certainly a powerful one. It is, however, not true and for many historians, even the idea of the "fall" of the empire is considered dubious. In the west, the empire dissolved into successor states that continued many elements of Roman bureaucracy and societal order. In the east, the empire became the Byzantine Empire and continued to rule up until 1453. The empire certainly did change but for a variety of reasons including the changing nature of power, new groups settling within its borders, environmental changes and conflicts both external and internal. Joining Dan to discuss this mighty subject and shed some light on the reality of the fall of Rome is Mark Humphries, Professor of Classics, Ancient History & Egyptology at Swansea University.
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The Berlin Wall was an icon of the Cold War and a physical embodiment of the divide between East and West. Its rise and fall was a microcosm of the conflict and its fall marked the beginning of a new post-Cold War world.
Today on the podcast Dan is joined by two eyewitnesses to the wall to hear first-hand its physical and psychological impact. First Dan speaks to Sir Robert Corbett. His military career was book-ended by the wall as his first command as a young officer in the Irish Guards was in Berlin during the 1960s and one of his last major commands before retiring was as the last Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin. He describes the tension and challenges of operating in Berlin and the ever-present possibility of conflict between the two sides. He also provides an eye-opening account of how the euphoric moment of the wall coming down was also a moment of grave danger and could have led to serious violence without his careful diplomacy.
Secondly, Dan is joined by Margit Hosseini. She grew up in the city and witnessed events of the 1950s and 60s as the wall went up before leaving to live in London. She remembers her experiences of what it was like to be surrounded by the wall as it went up and to witness family's, including her own, be divided by its ominous presence.
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Even after his overthrow and bloody death in 2011, Colonel Gaddafi still looms large over Libya but there is much more to the history of this important and often misunderstood country. It is the 16th largest country on Earth, its capital Tripoli is closer to London than Athens is and Britain's relationship with the country goes back to the 17th century and beyond. Over the centuries Libya has been an important trading partner and has been a battlefield across which Commonwealth forces battled during the Second World War. To set the Libya story in its proper historical context Dan is joined on the podcast by Rupert Wieloch. Rupert was a Senior British Military Commander during the Arab Spring and is the author of the upcoming book: Liberating Libya: British Diplomacy and War in the Desert. They discuss the relationship between Britain and Libya, why and how Colonel Gaddafi came to rule, how he was brought down and what the future holds for Libya.
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In AD132 began the bloody struggle over who would rule a nation. The clash of two ancient cultures was fought between two strong-willed leaders, Hadrian, the cosmopolitan ruler of the vast Roman Empire, and Shim’on, a Jewish military leader who some believed to be the ‘King Messiah’.
During the ‘Second Jewish War’ – the highly motivated Jewish militia sorely tested the highly trained professional Roman army. The rebels withstood the Roman onslaught for three-and-a-half years (AD132–136) and established an independent nation, headed by Shim’on as its president. The outcome of that David and Goliath contest was of great consequence, both for the people of Judaea and for Judaism itself.
Having journeyed across three continents to establish the facts, historical detective Lindsay Powell draws on archaeology, art, coins, inscriptions, militaria, as well as secular and religious documents, to detail the people and events at a crucial time in world history.
Author of Bar Kokhba: The Jew Who Defied Hadrian and Challenged the Might of Rome, Lindsay joins Dan to discuss who Shim’on (known today as ‘Bar Kokhba’) was, how Hadrian, the Roman emperor who built the famous Wall in northern Britain, responded to the challenge and how, in later ages, ‘Bar Kokhba’ became a hero for the Jews in the Diaspora.
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On 5 November 1605, an audacious plan to decapitate the British state was foiled when Guy Fawkes and nearly a ton of gunpowder were discovered in an undercroft beneath the House of Lords. The plan was to blow up King James I and the majority of the nation's religious and political leadership during the State Opening of Parliament and incite a Catholic uprising across the country. It was hatched by a group of disillusioned Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, in a bid to end Catholic persecution and install a monarchy friendly to what they believed to be the true faith. With the discovery of Guy Fawkes, the plot was foiled and many of its participants met bloody ends at the hands of the vengeful authorities. On the anniversary of the plot, better known as Guy Fawkes Night, Dan explains how and why the conspiracy came about, why it failed, what the impact of the plot was and why it has become so embedded in Britain's national identity.
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Five centuries before Christopher Columbus set foot in America, the Vikings had already crossed the Atlantic. Using new dating techniques, scientists studying timber buildings at L’Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Canada’s Newfoundland, have established the Norse settled in AD 1021, 471 years before Columbus’s first voyage. While it’s already known the Vikings landed in North America, exactly when they settled has remained an estimate, until now. Cat Jarman, world-leading Vikings expert and host of History Hit's sister podcast, Gone Medieval, joins Dan to speak to archaeologist Birgitta Wallace about this breakthrough research. Discover how a long-ago Solar storm provided vital information for the study, the significance of the date, and what's left to be discovered in the future. You can read more about the evidence here.
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At the start of the Second World War London was one of the largest and most important cities in the world, a centre of industry, finance and the heart of Britain's empire. It was also an irresistible target for the Luftwaffe and between 1940 and 1945 London would be mercilessly attacked by German aircraft and V-weapons. Thousands were killed and wounded and many parts of the city were left devastated by the bombing but ultimately the Nazi attempt to cut the head off the imperial snake failed. Today's guest on the podcast is historian Jerry White, Author of the upcoming book: The Battle of London, 1939-1945 - Endurance, Heroism and Frailty Under Fire. He and Dan discuss why London was so important to both sides in the conflict, the fears of the British public and government, the effect the bombing had on the British war effort and how the city was defended.
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It is said that money makes the world goes round and has done for millennia, but what exactly is money and where does it come from? To find out Dan is joined by Jacob Goldstein, American journalist, writer, podcast host and author of: Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing. They explore the concept and form of money from the first coins in the ancient world through the many booms and busts to the invention of stock exchanges, central banks and into the digitised world of today. Through this, we see that money is an ever-evolving concept and Dan and Jacob look at how it may continue to change into the future.
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George III ruled through an extraordinary period of revolutionary change, political upheaval, gigantic war and scientific, industrial and technological revolution. However, he is now most famous for being the king who lost America and for his mental illness. These two events are undoubtedly important parts of his reign but is George III perhaps the most underrated monarch in British History? To find out Dan spoke to historian Andrew Roberts biographer of Churchill, Napoleon and now George III. They examined the American Declaration of Independence to see whether George really was as tyrannical as it claims, what the reality of George's mental illness was and why he deserves to be remembered as one of Britain's great kings.
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Ghosts have inspired, fascinated and frightened us for centuries. The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating all the way back to pre-literate cultures. Whether we personally ‘believe’ in them or not, we have an awareness of ghosts and the mythologies surrounding them.
Dr Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum, has embarked on an ancient ghost hunt, scouring to unlock the secrets of the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians to breathe new life into the first ghost stories ever written. Responsible for the world's largest collection of cuneiform clay tablets, the oldest known form of writing which dates back to 3400BC, Irving gives us a full picture of the ancient Mesopotamian ghost experience. As one of only a handful of people left in the world that can read this ancient language, Irving has uncovered an extraordinarily rich seam of ancient spirit wisdom which has remained hidden for nearly 4000 years.
Author of the upcoming The First Ghosts, Irving joins Dan to explore what ghosts are, why the idea of them remains so powerful despite the lack of concrete evidence and how a belief in ghosts emerges as a key feature of humanity from its beginning.
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In his lifetime King Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, forged one of the largest empires in ancient history. But it was what happened to Alexander following his demise – his ‘life after death’ - which resulted in one of the great archaeological mysteries of the ancient Mediterranean. Following his death, aged just 32, his corpse became of prime importance for his former subordinates – a talismanic symbol of legitimacy during the tumultuous period that was the Wars of the Successors. Later still, the body and tomb of this great conqueror – placed right in the centre of ancient Alexandria – retained its importance. From Ptolemaic pharaohs to Roman emperors, Alexander’s tomb became a place of holy pilgrimage for many seeking power and prestige. For several centuries the tomb of this Macedonian ruler was one of the great attractions of the ancient Mediterranean. That was, however, until the end of the 4th century when all mention of this building, and the precious corpse housed within, disappeared. So what happened to Alexander’s tomb? And where might Alexander’s body be buried today? To talk through several theories surrounding one of ancient history’s great archaeological mysteries, Tristan from The Ancients chatted to Dr Chris Naunton.
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At the end of the American Civil War, thousands of African Americans ventured west to the frontier in a bid to achieve freedom and escape the prejudice they faced. Many of these frontiersmen became cowboys with up to 25 per cent of cowboys were in fact black. Whilst Westerns became big business in Hollywood this fact was largely been ignored by major film studios. Why is this? To find out Dan is joined for today's podcast by Tony Warner, a historian who runs Black History Walks in London and an expert on Black Westerns including the new Netflix film The Harder They Fall. He and Dan discuss the history of Black Westerns during the segregation era, the amazing real-life individuals that have inspired these films, the role of black cowboys on the frontier and why they have largely been ignored by history and Hollywood.
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For 16 hours between the 27 to 28 October 1961, the world held its breath as Soviet and US tanks faced each other down at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin and came very close to turning the Cold War hot. However, one of the most dramatic and dangerous showdowns of the cold war has been largely overshadowed by the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later which saw the two superpowers go head to head once more. To discuss how it was that tanks came to be deployed ready for battle at one of the most sensitive locations along the Iron Curtain Dan is joined by Iain MacGregor, author of Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth. Iain and Dan discuss how the confrontation was brought about by a trip to the opera, the political miscalculations that led the world to the brink of war and how the crisis was averted.
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We all think we know the story of Richard III and Henry VII, or do we? Richard III is often portrayed as a child-murdering usurper whose reign was brought to a bloody end by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth. It was a grudge match to decide who would become King of England, but how true is this story really? In this episode, we'll find out as we ask the big questions about Richard III and Henry VII. Did Richard kill the princes in the tower? Were the motives of Henry's supporters' honest ones? Who was the better king and why did they both end up so unpopular? And, how did these two men end up fighting each other for the crown?
Representing Richard III is Matt Lewis presenter of Gone Medieval, Chair of the Richard III Society and author of numerous books on Richard and the Wars of the Roses. Matt takes on Nathen Amin author of Henry VII and the Tudor Pretenders: Simnel, Warbeck And Warwick who represents Henry VII. They answer the big questions about these two controversial Monarchs and as you'll hear they might have more in common than you might think.
Watch out loyal servants of Napoleon, Sharpe is back! In this episode, Dan sits down with legendary author Bernard Cornwell to discuss the return of his most famous and loved character. Dan asks Bernard all the big questions and discovers how Sharpe originated from adversity, where his love of the Napoleonic period came from, what he thought of the TV adaptation and what else lies in store for his venerable hero.
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The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in American military history. They faced discrimination and segregation at home but in the skies of Europe, they became one of the most successful and feared fighter units as they escorted bombers on raids in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Germany.
As Dan discovers in this episode just becoming a Tuskegee Airmen was a dangerous business and several pilots were killed on training exercises in the USA. Two pilots went down over the waters of the Port Huron region during WWII. Flight Officer Nathaniel Rayburn died on Dec. 12, 1943, when he crashed into the St. Clair River near Algonac. Second Lt. Frank Moody died on April 11, 1944, when his plane crashed into Lake Huron. In this episode, we hear about a fascinating project to recover the wreckage of one of these downed planes and erect a memorial to honour those pilots who gave their lives whilst training to become Tuskegee Airmen. Dan speaks to Wayne Lusardi, State Underwater Archaeologist for Michigan and Erik Denson, Lead Instructor with Diving With a Purpose, about their important archaeological work.
You will also hear from Col Harry Stewart Jr one of the last surviving Tuskegee airmen. They discuss his experiences of dogfights in the skies over Europe during World War Two, the discrimination he and his colleagues faced, the progress that he has seen in his lifetime and what it was like to get back into the cockpit of a P-51 Mustang after 70 years.
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Serving on the front lines of the First World War, the homefront of the Second World War and as a community leader throughout his life, George Arthur Roberts was a truly inspirational figure. Yet, his amazing story is little known. After the outbreak of the First World War broke out he travelled from Trinidad to the UK and eventually joined the Middlesex Regiment. He saw considerable action at the Battle of Loos, the Dardanelles campaign and the Somme where his wounds forced him out of the war. A man of considerable bravery and a keen cricketer George was known for picking up and throwing enemy grenades back into their trenches. Too old to fight in the Second World War he became a firefighter serving in Southwark, London. In 1944 he was awarded the British Empire Medal for his work in the fire service and the community. That community work was equally impressive as whilst in the fire service he founded the Discussion and Education groups of the fire service. He was also one of the founder members of the League of Coloured Peoples, an influential civil rights organisation that looked after Britain's black community.
To say that he is an inspirational figure is an understatement and joining dan to talk about his extraordinary life Dan is joined by his great-granddaughter, Samantha Harding. She and Dan discuss the events of George's life, Samantha's own story of discovery as she uncovered his life and the vital legacy that figures such as George can have today.
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On 21 October 1805, A British fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson met the combined might of the French and Spanish fleets off the coast of Spain. Outnumbered, Nelson used innovative tactics to break up the allied fleet and ensure success but at great cost to his men and of course himself. It was a truly crushing defeat for the Franco-Spanish forces though. With the majority of their ships destroyed or captured it confirmed Britain's naval supremacy for decades to come. In this dramatic telling of one of the most famous battles in naval history, Dan brings to life the men, the commanders, the ships, and the tactics that enabled the British fleet to emerge as victors.
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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? Many of our assumptions about ancient societies stem from renaissance theories about how society should be organized and what civilisation is. Dan is joined by David Wengrow, Professor of Comparative Archaeology at University College London and co-author of The Dawn of Everything to challenge some of these assumptions and show that they were founded on critiques of European society. David shines a light on the great variety of ancient civilisations, the different models of society they offer and how that might influence us today.
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During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as the British Empire expanded across the globe an almost ubiquitous but often underappreciated commodity went with it; alcohol. The distillation, sale and drinking of booze played an essential role in trade, seafaring and colonial societies. But for many indigenous communities this came at a terrible price as, previously unfamiliar, distilled spirits wreaked havoc on their communities and reinforced the racial ideologies that legitimised imperialism. It is a more complicated story than this though and for some indigenous communities, alcohol was not ruinous instead becoming a vital source of income that enabled them to survive and in some instances flourish. For this episode, Dan is joined by Dr Deborah Toner, Associate Professor of History at the University of Leicester and author of Alcohol in the Age of Industry, Empire, and War, to uncover the central role that alcohol played in creating the British Empire.
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On 12 October 2021 World War Two veteran Victor Gregg passed away peacefully in his sleep just before his 102 birthday. He was part of a unique generation that with the passing of the years is sadly disappearing all too fast. Victor joined the army in 1937 and served and India and Palestine before the war. During the Second World War, he fought in the Western Desert before joining the Parachute Regiment. He was taken prisoner as the Allies retreated during the Battle of Arnhem, and was taken as a POW to Dresden, where he was alive during the Dresden firebombing. In this episode, we pay tribute to him by replaying the last interview at the time of his 100th birthday. He spoke to Dan about what he learned over his extraordinary life, his wartime experiences, and the profound impact they had upon how he saw the world.
You can also watch Out of the Inferno: Surviving Dresden, where on the 73rd anniversary of the firebombing of Dresden, Dan accompanied Victor, as he returned to the city for a historic meeting with Irene Uhlendorf, who was just 4 years old on the night of the bombing. Together they are able to talk about the horrors of that night and the effect that it has had on the rest of their lives.
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Operation Barbarossa saw a clash of arms between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union of unprecedented scale and savagery, but what was it really like to serve on the front lines of the Eastern Front? The historian Rob Schäfer has given History Hit exclusive access to the diaries of Lt. Friedrich Sander, a Panzer officer and one of the 3 million German troops involved in Operation Barbarossa. The diaries are brutal in their honesty openly describing the atrocities Sander was involved in and his opinions about Jews and the Soviet population. They also describe the horror of combat and his doubts about the cause, in whose name, he fights. In this episode, Rob describes how he came into possession of the diaries and why they offer such a unique insight into the mindset of someone fighting for the Wehrmacht.
At the end of this podcast, you will also hear extracts from the audiobook History Hit recently released based on Lt. Sander's diaries read by Stephen Erdman. Listen to The Barbarossa Diaries.
History Hit has also created what we believe to be the most historically accurate Operation Barbarossa documentary ever made with accurate footage and sound effects from the period which bring this titanic struggle to life. Watch part one of Barbarossa: The Lost Diaries.
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In 1791 the slaves of the French colony of Sant-Domingue rose up against their colonial masters and after a long and bloody struggle, defeated them to found the state of Haiti. Led by charismatic leaders such as Toussaint Louverture it was the only example of a successful slave revolution and the state that was founded was one free of slavery. It was a conflict that sucked in several competing empires and was defining moment in the history of the Atlantic World. Marlene Daut, Professor of African Diaspora Studies at the University of Virginia, joins Dan for this fascinating episode of the podcast. They explore the slave economy and the terrible conditions that led to the uprising, how the French Revolution acted as an inspiration for the revolutionaries, how the slaves were able to emerge victorious, and the consequences of this monumental moment in history.
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On 14 October 1066 the armies of William, the Duke of Normandy, and the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson clashed near Hastings in one of the most famous battles in history and one that would decide the fate of the English throne. We all know the outcome but how and why did the battle take place? To answer this question Dan returns with another explainer episode to put the battle in its proper context and explain how William was able to defeat Harold on that bloody day in 1066 to become King. You'll also hear clips from the archive as Historian Marc Morris and Professor Virginia Davis help set the scene for one of the most dramatic events in English history.
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On a cold February morning in 1554, Lady Jane Grey was beheaded for high treason. Named as King Edward VI as his successor, Queen Jane had reigned for just 13 tumultuous days before being imprisoned in the Tower, condemned and executed. In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to author and historian Nicola Tallis who reveals the moving, human story of an intelligent, independent and courageous young woman, forced onto the English throne by the great power players in the Tudor court.
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Dr Maurice Hilleman was a leading American microbiologist who specialised in vaccinology and immunology. He discovered nine vaccines that are routinely recommended for children today, rendering formerly devastating diseases practically forgotten. Considered by many to be the father of modern vaccines, Hilleman was directly involved in the development of most of the vaccines available today, including those for measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, Japanese encephalitis, pneumococcus, meningococcus and Haemophilus influenza B. His vaccines are estimated to save nearly 8 million lives a year. Despite Hilleman's many fundamental breakthroughs leading to arguably more lives saved than any other scientist in history, he has never been a household name.
Dan is joined by vaccine researcher, Paul A. Offit, who befriended Hilleman and, during the great man’s last months, interviewed him extensively about his life and career. Paul and Dan discuss Hilleman’s motivations and work ethic, his beginnings in working for the U.S. Military, the impact of ‘pro-disease’ activists and the genius behind the foundations for immunology.
In 1888 a series of brutal killings took place in Whitechapel, London which might be the most famous unsolved murders of all time. The case and the killer attracted a worldwide media frenzy like never before and the perpetrator nicknamed Jack the Ripper has gone down in infamy. But an obsession to identify the killer both then and now has meant that the victims of these terrible crimes have been largely forgotten. Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly all met their end at the hands of this monstrous killer and their lives deserve to be remembered.
Joining Dan to try and help put the victims back at the centre of this case is Hallie Rubenhold host of the new podcast Bad Women: Ripper Retold. Hallie has worked to explore in-depth the lives of the Ripper's victims and the issues that contributed to their deaths, such as homelessness, addiction, domestic violence, and prostitution.
In August 1942 the Allies launched a daring raid across the Channel to capture the port town of Dieppe and hold it for 24 hours. It ended in disaster and death with nearly two-thirds of the attackers killed, wounded or captured. In the aftermath, commanders were quick to try and justify the carnage claiming that the raid was necessary to learn lessons in advance of future large scale amphibious operations in Europe and to show the Soviets that the Western Allies were serious about opening a second front. But, as you'll hear in this podcast, this was a calamity that was all too predictable. Dan is joined by Patrick Bishop, author of Operation Jubilee - Dieppe, 1942: The Folly and the Sacrifice, to explore what went wrong during the ill-fated mission, whether any lessons were learned and the hard truth about the myths that surround Operation Jubilee.
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London's West End attracts people from across the world to its many theatres, restaurants and famous nightlife but how did this centre of pleasure come to be? Originally on the fringe of London from its very inception, it was the playground of the rich seeking to let their hair down. Many of these entertainments were far from wholesome though with freakshows, drink, drugs and sex rife amongst its theatres, music halls and clubs. There have been many attempts to control this hedonism most of which have failed miserably and even the World War's of the Twentieth Century couldn't stop the party. In this episode, Dan is joined by London historian Stephen Hoare to explore the evolution of Piccadilly and the West End.
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Their attacks of 11 September 2001 sparked a War on Terror which echoes loudly to this day, but where did Al Qaeda come from, how did their ideologies form and what role do they play in the world today? For this episode of the Warfare podcast, James spoke to Dr Afzal Ashraf, an expert in Al Qaeda's ideology and violent religious extremism. Dr Ashraf spent over 30 years in the UK Armed Forces as a senior officer and is a Senior Government Advisor.
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Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, Britain was a key player in the transportation of millions of enslaved Africans to the colonies. Their labour in often brutal conditions was a vital component in enriching Britain and turning it into a global superpower. The business of slavery did not just make plantation owners and other elites wealthy though, in fact, its reach touched every aspect and stratum of British society. From the money to found schools, to welsh cloth makers, publicans, chocolate makers to Sir Isaac Newton and the scientific revolution Britain truly was a slave society, even if those slaves were thousands of miles away in the Americas or the Caribbean. To explore the hidden history of slavery Dan is joined by Moya Lothian-McLean, a journalist and presenter of the fantastic Human Resources podcast which examines this issue. Moya and Dan discuss the role of slavery in British economics and society and also her very personal connection to this story as the descendent of both Black African Slaves and White slave owners or overseers.
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In the bitter winter of 1978-1979 petrol ran short, panic buying was rife, rubbish piled up in the streets and bodies went unburied as a wave of industrial action swept the UK; but what lessons might be learned as we face our own shortages of food and fuel? The disruption was in fact relatively short-lived but the Winter of Discontent has left a deep imprint on British social and political culture which we can still feel today. Historian Alwyn Turner joins the podcast to explain what caused this state of emergency, what lessons it could teach us now, its impact on the political landscape and why the 1970's weren't quite as grim as many remember.
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William Wallace is a legendary figure in Scottish history as one of the leaders of the First War of Scottish Independence. He led the Scots to a famous victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge before being defeated at the Battle of Falkirk and was eventually betrayed meeting a gruesome end in London in 1305. Dan is joined by Professor Tony Pollard for this episode to talk about one of the most famous and mythologised characters in Scottish history. They discuss the truth behind William Wallace, where he came from, his successes and failures and how he emerged as one of the key figures in the Scottish fight for freedom.
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Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry was one of the best tank regiments of the Second World War and was at the speartip of the British Army from the North Africa campaign to Northern Europe right up to the fall of the Third Reich in 1945. They saw an incredible amount of action as one of the first British units ashore on D-Day and were also the first British unit to fight on German soil in 1944. The regiment's story is also one of remarkable transformation reflecting the rapidly changing face of war. They started the war as a cavalry unit still mounted on chargers and ended it as the tank regiment as which they are perhaps best known. In this episode of the podcast, Dan is joined by the Legendary James Holland whose new book, Brothers in Arms: A Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to VE Day, charts the story of the regiment throughout this titanic conflict. James and Dan discuss the path of the regiment to become an armoured unit, the incredible bravery and stoicism of its men in the face of death and injury and what it was like to fight in a tank in Northern Europe during the Second World War.
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His 38 years as king make him one of the longest-ruling monarchs in English history, and yet he is remembered as unsuccessful, naive and overly harsh on his opponents. In this episode from our sibling podcast Gone Medieval, Levi Roach discusses the rule of Æthelred the Unready. Was he as much of a failure as his nickname suggests? And what does that nickname actually mean? Levi, from the University of Exeter, is the author of 'Æthelred the Unready'.
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James Bond is a character that has come to define a certain kind of Britishness but what, if any, role does 007 play in the real world of intelligence? Professor Christopher Andrew, the official historian of MI5, joins the podcast today and in his opinion, James Bond has been a surprisingly valuable asset to British intelligence over the last five decades. Indeed, the Bond brand has helped our security services to punch above their weight across the globe. Christopher and Dan also discuss the origins of the UK's security services, their ever-evolving role since their inception and whether Bond bears any resemblance to actual spying.
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James Bond is one of the most successful films and book franchises of all time and with the arrival of a new addition to the canon it seemed the perfect time to explore the history of this iconic character. To do this Dan is joined Matt Gourley who is a James bond superfan and host of the brilliant James Bonding podcast. They explore the origins of the character, how the films offer a reflection of society during different periods, some of the more troubling aspects of the character, Dan's family links to 007 and who is the ultimate Bond.
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In 1682 three women, Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles and Susannah Edwards, from the town of Bideford were tried and hanged as witches. They were convicted on flimsy evidence, including an incident where a magpie, supposedly a symbol of the devil, had spooked the wife of a local merchant. Indeed, the authorities at the time cynically allowed the trial to go ahead to avoid invoking the ire of the local population. The three women would be the last people to be executed for witchcraft in England and their deaths are an illustration of the swirling religious, political, class and social tensions of the seventeenth century. John Callow joins Dan for this episode of the podcast to tell the tale of the Bideford Witches and their fate. They discuss why accusations of witchcraft were so prevalent in this period, why women were the primary targets and what changed legally and socially in the following years that meant that these were the last women executed for witchcraft.
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Sir Ranulph Fiennes is possibly the most famous living explorer but he believes that the greatest ever polar explorer is Sir Ernest Shackleton. Although Shackleton's expeditions largely ended in failure and disaster his inspirational leadership, bravery and temperament have all been a key source of inspiration for Sir Ranulph during his many adventures. In this episode, Sir Ranulph joins Dan to talk about the incredible journey Shackleton and his men made to save themselves after the loss of their ship the Endurance to the Antarctic ice. Sir Ranulph also uses his similar experiences in the 'polar hell' of the antarctic to give a unique insight into Shackleton's life and work. He also guides Dan through his own life and what it takes to plan and execute a successful mission in the most extreme environment on Earth.
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When Edward VIII abdicated the throne in December 1936 his desire to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson was cited as the main cause but did his sympathy with Nazi Germany also play its part? Today's guest on the podcast author Andrew Lownie believes so and he goes as far as to say that Edward was actively intriguing with the Nazis to engineer his return as king should Britain be defeated. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor had made a well-publicized trip to Nazi Germany in 1937 and even met with Hitler. During the war, Edward was appointed as Governor of the Bahamas in order to keep him as far away as possible from the European theatre and to minimize the risk of him becoming a centre for Nazi intrigue. Andrew has scoured archives across the world and brings new evidence as to how deep the Duke of Windsor's ties with the Third Reich went.
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He was one of the greatest enemies the Romans ever faced. An excellent general and a larger-than-life figure, he led an army across the alps and dealt a series of crushing defeats upon the Romans on Italian soil. His achievements have become a thing of legend and his name has become immortalised. He was Hannibal Barca. Hannibal rests amongst antiquity's greatest generals, but how did he rise to become such a stellar commander, leading his men to incredible victories against the then dominant powerhouse in the Mediterranean? In this episode from our sibling podcast The Ancients, Dr Louis Rawlings, Dr Adrian Goldsworthy and Dr Eve MacDonald explore the impressive ascent of the Carthaginian general to the status of one of the most famous military leaders in antiquity.
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The Holocaust was perhaps the most infamous and traumatic event of the Twentieth century and it seared itself into the consciousness of the world but some survivors find themselves in the strange position of having no memory of the events which they lived through. As the years pass, our connection with the Holocaust fades with the passing of each survivor. Indeed many of the surviving witnesses to the Holocaust were children many of whom were too young to remember or understand what went on. This has often been a painful, bewildering experience and for many of these child survivors, it has led to a lifelong quest to seek understanding of and connection with the communities and family members they lost. Dr Rebecca Clifford, herself related to a childhood survivor, joins Dan to explain the research she has been conducting into the lives of childhood Holocaust survivors. She and Dan explore some of their stories, the huge impact the trauma has had on their lives, whether it's possible to find closure, Rebecca's own personal journey through this subject and how to make sense of our lives when we do not know where we come from.
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Sometimes referred to as the world's oldest profession sex workers have been part of human society for as long as recorded history, but how have societies viewed them through the ages? In the episode, Dan is joined by Dr Kate Lister to find out how the treatment of sex workers has changed, whether the Victorians were really prudes, what you might find in a Roman brothel, fleshy thighs and how conditions for sex workers could be improved today.
Dr Kate Lister is a lecturer in the School of Arts and Communication at Leeds Trinity University. Kate primarily researches the literary history of sex work and curates the online research project, Whores of Yore, an interdisciplinary digital archive for the study of historical sexuality. Her new book Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts: A History of Sex for Sale is published in October.
Warning! This episode contains adult themes and may not be suitable for younger listeners.
In August 2021 the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan for the second time capturing Kabul and ousting the American backed regime, but where do they come from and what does their return to power mean for the region? To find out more about the history of the Taliban and the impact of them re-conquering Afghanistan Dan is joined by Pakistani journalist and author Ahmed Rashid. Ahmed was the first journalist to meet the Taliban in 1994 and has spent much of his career writing about them and their rise to power. He brings his unique perspective about this much-feared group and to the podcast and explores with Dan their history, path to victory, governing style and the implications of their takeover both for the people of Afghanistan and for neighbouring countries.
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The title of Caesar has echoed down the ages as the pinnacle of absolute power and perhaps even tyranny. A single man at the head of a nation or empire with untouchable power. But how powerful were they really and why are they seen as an example to follow when many of the men who became Caesar met a bloody end? Dan is joined by the legendary classicist Mary Beard to explore the history of the first twelve Caesars. They discuss how these autocratic rulers have been portrayed throughout history, how the Roman Empire was really ruled and how their legacy still lives with us today.
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During World War One the 369th Infantry Regiment of the US Army gained a fearsome reputation. One of the most effective fighting units they spent more time in the frontline and suffered more casualties than any other American regiment. Given the nickname Men of Bronze by the French and the Hell-fighters by the Germans they were feared and respected in equal measure. The men of the 369th preferred, at the time, to be called the Black Rattlers and what set them apart from other units was that they were one of the first African-American regiments to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces. As African-Americans, these brave men were often denied the respect they deserved at home as America went through a period of intense racism and racial upheaval. In fact, it was only in August 2021 that the regiment was recognised for its extraordinary service when it was finally awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Dan is joined by James Taub Public Program Specialist at The National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas to explore the history of the Harlem Hellfighters. They discuss the racism black soldiers experience in the US Army at the time, the experiences of the Hellfighters in Europe, their reputation as fearsome soldiers and the cultural impact they had in France.
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A. C. Grayling is one of the foremost minds of his generation and his new book explores some of the biggest questions that face humanity. What do we know, how do we know it and what is left to find out? In this wide-ranging conversation, he and Dan attempt to tackle some of these important questions. They discuss the incredible progress humanity has made in the last century, how history informs and helps us understand our world and how much there is still to learn about our ancient past and beyond.
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King Henry VIII was deeply religious and started out as a staunch supporter of the Pope and the Roman Catholic church. But everything changed when Henry's need to produce a male successor led to his wanting to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. In this first of an occasional series of Explainer podcasts, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb offers everything you ever wanted to know about one of the most famous and far-reaching episodes in British history.
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As the Nazi war machine rampaged across Europe it did not just take territory and resources from its conquests but also many thousands of pieces of art and other antiquities. Stolen from both galleries and individual victims of Nazi crimes allied troops discovered hidden caches of priceless artworks throughout Europe. As the war had proceeded it had been recognised that these cultural treasures needed protection from the fighting and where necessary rescuing and returning to their rightful owners. This job fell the men and women of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA) often known as "Monuments Men". Around 400 strong this team of dedicated art historians and museum staff risked their lives on the frontlines in order to save some of the world's most precious cultural heritage.
To help tell the story of these brave men and women Dan is joined by Robert Edsel founder of the Monuments Men Foundation. Robert guides us through the formation of the MFAA, its role during and after the war and the ongoing going work by his foundation to continue their legacy and reunite works of art that remain missing with their rightful owners.
In the second half of the podcast, Dan speaks to Eric 'Randy' Schoenberg an American lawyer and genealogist, based in Los Angeles, California, specializing in legal cases related to the recovery of looted or stolen artworks, particularly those by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. Randy successfully sued the Austrian government on behalf of his client Maria Altmann and reclaiming five Gustav Klimt paintings that had been taken during the war. He talks about how he came to specialize in this aspect of the law, the case itself and the impact the return of the paintings had on both Maria's family and him.
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15 September marks Battle of Britain Day when the Luftwaffe sought a final decisive final battle over the skies of Britain with the RAF. In a day of costly fighting, nearly 60 German aircraft were shot down and over 100 aircrew lost. From this point onwards the Luftwaffe, unable to sustain such heavy casualties, would only attack at night and it became clear to German High Command that air superiority over Britain was out of reach. Two days later Hitler indefinitely postponed Operation Sealion the planned invasion of the British Isles effectively ending the invasion threat. To mark this anniversary we have gone back into our archive and dug out a very special podcast with Wing Commander Thomas Neil. Tom, who sadly passed away in 2018, was one of the few to whom so many owed so much, and he talks to Dan about his experiences in the Battle of Britain.
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In September 1952 Mahmood Hussein Mattan became the last to be hanged at Cardiff Prison, but Mahmood had in fact been framed by the police and 45 years later his conviction was quashed. Mahmood had been a merchant seaman who had ended up settling in Cardiff and marrying a Welsh woman called Laura Williams. They lived in the Tiger Bay district of Cardiff and had three children but in 1950 had separated. Mahmood had had a number of encounters with the police and had committed some minor offences such as small thefts. His vocal distrust of the police had made him unpopular with the local force though and when Lily Volpert, a Cardiff shopkeeper, was found murdered and her shop robbed they quickly turned to Mahmood. Despite a lack of any firm evidence linking him to the crime, he became the prime suspect. Poorly represented in court and facing a hostile jury he was convicted in July 1952 and sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was carried out three months later, but the case never truly went away. His family kept the fight alive for 45 years until 1998 when his case was the first to be reviewed by the newly created Criminal Cases Review Commission. His conviction was quickly quashed and his families fight for justice was finally over.
To discuss Mahmood's case author Nadifa Mohamed joins Dan for this episode of the podcast. Her novel The Fortune Men, which has been longlisted for the Booker Prize, is based on the case and she immersed herself in the case, Mahmoud's life and the history of Cardiff's multicultural Tiger Bay area to bring this story of injustice to life.
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Ragnor Lothbrook is a legendary Viking figure who straddled the line between myth and reality. His adventures and deeds appear in the Viking sagas, but there is little hard evidence for his existence and according to the different sagas he dies on multiple different occasions and in a variety of grisly ways. His sons including Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Björn Ironside, Ubbe and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye are undoubtedly real historical figures and themselves lived extraordinary lives. Was Ragnar really their father though or were these men trying to harness the power of legend by claiming descent from this great figure? To help explore that question Dan is joined by historian and author Justin Pollard. Amongst many other exciting projects, Justin was the historical advisor on the hit show Vikings which brought the story of Ragnar Lothbrok into the popular consciousness. Just and Dan discuss what evidence there is for the existence of Ragnar Lothbrok, the lives of his sons and how he goes about creating historical drama.
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The tragic events of 9/11 left thousands dead and injured and the impact of that loss is still being felt twenty years later by the families. It was also a day of extraordinary escapes as thousands more fled the twin towers after the planes hit. In this podcast, we both remember those people who died and also hear an extraordinary story of survival.
Dan is first joined by Jonathan Egan who lost his father, Michael, and aunt, Christine, during the attacks on 9/11. Whilst Jonathan is a New Yorker his father and aunt were from Hull, England. Michael and Christine were on the 100th floor of the South Tower when the plane struck and as his aunt attempted to escape his father made one last phone call home to say goodbye to his family. Jonathan tells Dan about his memories of that terrible day, how he dealt with his loss and the impact it has had on him and his family.
Secondly, in an extract from our sibling podcast, Warfare Joe Dittmar shares with James his story of surviving 9/11. On the morning of 11 September 2001, he was in a meeting on the 105th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when the plane struck. He was one of the only people to escape the tower from above the point of impact after locating the only remaining intact stairwell. Listen to the full interview with Joe here.
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On the morning of September 11th, 2001 terrorists flew planes into both the World Trade Centre towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington with a further plane crashing in Pennsylvania as the passengers onboard attempted to wrest control of the aircraft from the hijackers. This atrocity utterly changed the world leaving thousands dead and injured and launched the War on Terror.
Many people can remember where they were on that fateful day and for some, it was on the frontline of the attack. Thomas Von Essen was one of those people. A career firefighter in September 2001 he was the commissioner for the New York Fire Department. As commissioner, He played a key role in helping the city's fire chiefs attempt to coordinate their response to the planes hitting the towers. Although thousands sadly perished that day, thousands more were rescued by the selfless heroism of New York's firefighters and emergency services personnel. But, many of those emergency responders paid the ultimate price for their bravery. Tom and Dan speak about his memories of that morning, the pain of losing so many friends and colleagues, the pride he has in the commitment shown by his men and how some have turned the legacy of 9/11 into a cause for good.
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Between September 1940 and May 1941, the German Luftwaffe relentlessly pounded British cities with bombs in an attempt to force the British to surrender. Ultimately whilst killing thousands and causing extensive damage the bombing offensive failed. The morale of the British public was largely undimmed and war production was never seriously impacted. The Blitz has become a key part of the British national psyche with many celebrating the 'Blitz spirit' with people coming together and helping one another during the crisis. But, as with much of history, the reality was much messier and complex. Spivs and looters profited from the chaos, people explored new ideas and sexualities, and there were new opportunities for women. In this interview taken from our archive, Joshua Levine author of The Secret History of the Blitz discusses the myths and realities of the Blitz and the social and political changes it brought about.
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In October 1919 President Woodrow Wilson suffered a massive stroke leaving him paralyzed and partially blind. In the face of this crisis of leadership the First Lady, Edith Wilson stepped in to conceal the extent of his illness. Edith acted as his gatekeeper deciding whom Woodrow Wilson saw, what material he read and even taking decisions on his behalf and firing people. Her influence was so great that some people have described her as America’s secret first female President.
To help tell Edith's story and explore why she did what she did Dan is joined by Gonzalo Cordova and Travis Helwig. Gonzalo and Travis are the writers of the fantastic new narrative podcast Edith! from Crooked Media and QCODE. They discuss how they came to write the show, having to blur the lines between fact and fiction, the many intrigues that surrounded Edith Wilson and whether she really was the first female President.
With the release of the nuclear submarine TV series, Vigil, Dr Nick Ritchie, Senior Lecturer at the University of York and the UK’s leading expert on Trident, joins James for this episode of our sibling podcast Warfare. Nick gives us a step-by-step history on the multilayered missile system, which is said to act as deterrence. Earlier this year, Boris Johnson’s government agreed to increase the amount of nuclear weapons in the UK by around 40%, and it’s still unknown where the warheads would be stored if Scotland secure a second referendum and vote to leave the union. Hear why the UK first got nuclear weapons, whether they actually work as a deterrence, and find out the many challenges which lie ahead.
Nick’s book, A Nuclear Weapons-Free World?: Britain, Trident and the Challenges Ahead, is available now.
The Norman conquest of England in 1066 was one of the great milestones of English history but there were in fact many Norman invasions and their influence reached from Northern Europe through the Mediterranean and into the Middle East and North Africa. They were a phenomenon emerging in the tenth century but had disappeared by the middle of the thirteenth century. In the brief period though their influence was massive creating new kingdoms, re-shaping societies and leaving behind impressive architectural, linguistic and cultural influences. In this episode, Dan speaks to historian Trevor Rowley author of The Normans: The Conquest of Christendom about their origins, how and why they spread so far, what their legacy is and why their influence was so short-lived.
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Do the 21st Century and the Middle Ages really share that much in common? Climate change, pandemics, technological disruption, interconnected global trade and networks may all seem like modern phenomena but according to historian and author Dan Jones, they were very part of the Middles Ages as well. Examining a millennium of history Dan Jones guides History Hit's Dan Snow through a re-examination of the Middle Ages challenging the Eurocentric view of the period and questioning whether historians and history can ever be truly objective.
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Churchill is one of the great figures of history and this totemic figure is often cited as one of the greatest British figures of all time. However, whilst his achievement during the dark days of the Second World War is unquestionable, much of the rest of his career had much more to do with failure than success. Geoffrey Wheatcroft, journalist and author of Churchill's Shadow: An Astonishing Life and a Dangerous Legacy, joins Dan for this episode of the podcast. They discuss Geoffrey's radical reappraisal of Churchill's life and work and the myth that continues to shape our view of one of the most complex figures of the 20th Century.
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Over 55,500 men died flying with Bomber Command during World War Two; more than the number who serve in the Royal Air Force today. Flying at night over occupied Europe and battling German night fighters, anti-aircraft fire and mid-air collisions, they showed astonishing courage and resilience in the face of what often seemed to be insurmountable odds. On 25 July 1943, Flight Lieutenant Stevens flew in one of the deadliest bombing raids on Essen. The moment he returned home, he made a recording of himself reliving the events of that night. Here, for the first time, we bring together the voice of the 21-year-old and his present-day 96-year-old self, conversing across the years. With original recordings interwoven with a fascinating interview, Dan presents a vivid insight into the life and bravery of this remarkable man and the extraordinary men he flew with.
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On September 1 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland followed two days later by France and the United Kingdom declaring war on Germany and beginning the Second World War. This was the opening act in what would be the most devastating clash in human history. By its end Europe and much of Asia lay in ruins, tens of millions of people had been killed, wounded or displaced and the world order had been irrevocably altered. But, how did it start? In this episode, Dan delivers one of his monologues on how and why the Second World War came about. He examines both the immediate triggers and the big substructural forces that impelled humanity into another devastating conflict that continues to shape our world today.
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How different is battlefield archaeology compared to other disciplines? Do local legends ever help track down evidence in a field? And why are potato fields in particular sometimes problematic for archaeologists? In this episode of History Hit's Gone Medieval podcast Sam Wilson, a specialist in battlefield and conflict archaeology, joins Matt Lewis to talk through his specialist work and explain more about some of his incredible discoveries.
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Vaccines have become a subject of great controversy in recent months but the requirement to have them is far from new. Almost since the earliest examples of inoculation and vaccination, they have been a requirement for different parts of society. Dan is joined by Dr Lindsay Chervinsky, a historian of Early America, the presidency, and the government to explore how vaccinations have been used throughout the history of the United States. From George Washington inoculating the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, through the 1905 Supreme Court ruling mandating vaccines in the interest of public health and right up to the controversies of the modern-day.
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Over six decades John Simpson has been on the frontline of reporting bringing news from some of the most dangerous places on the planet to the television screens of millions of people. His work has opened the public's eyes to the terrible cost of conflict across the globe. Along the way, John has been arrested, harassed, beaten up, threatened and nearly killed on a number of occasions. He joins Dan on this podcast to talk about his life, his career, the therapy of writing, why he keeps working and how his new novel Our Friends in Beijing has been inspired by his experiences reporting in China.
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The SBS was formed out of the Commandos during the Second World War to help counter Nazi domination of Europe. This small unit made up of regulars as well as maverick volunteers took on some of the most dangerous missions of the Second World War. Most famously Operation Frankton, where a small team who became known as the 'Cockleshell Heroes' attacked Axis shipping in Bordeaux harbour. But perhaps their biggest contribution to the war effort came in the run-up to D-Day where SBS reconnoitred the landing beaches in Normandy bringing back vital information that helped shape Operation Overlord and undoubtedly save many lives.
Saul David is the author of SBS - Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History and had exclusive access to the SBS archives. He talks to Dan about how the unit came into operation, the oversized role they played in the war effort and the audacious missions the men of the SBS undertook during the war.
The industrial revolution began in Britain and became one of the most extraordinary economic miracles in human history but the next two centuries have seen many booms and busts and have been more to do with improvisation than planning. But, how should we think about Britain's economy, how did we get to where we are today and is Britain an overachiever or underachiever economically?
To help answer these questions and drill down into details of our economic history Dan is joined by Duncan Weldon. Duncan is economics correspondent of the Economist and has recently published his new book Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through: The surprising story of Britain's economy from boom to bust and back again.
On 28 August 1963 Martin Luther King Jr delivered his 'I have a dream' speech stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. to an audience of hundreds of thousands of people. The speech and King's life have been an inspiration to millions of people both in the United States and around the world in the fight for civil rights and equality. In this episode of the podcast, Dan is joined by Charles Woods, III, from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. They discuss Martin Luther King's life, struggles, successes and the enduring power of the words he delivered that day.
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In this episode from the archive, Roger Moorhouse discusses the Polish campaign of 1939 comprehensively, separating the myths from reality and outlining the abject horrors that the Poles suffered under the twin occupation of the Nazis and the Soviets.
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On 27 August 1896, the British Empire went to war with the Zanzibar Sultanate for approximately 38 minutes! It is the shortest war in history. It came about after the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini and his replacement by Sultan Khalid bin Barghash who favoured German interests in the region. With the commencement of hostilities, British warships bombarded the Sultan's palace cause extensive damage and over 500 casualties. Despite its brevity, the conflict is important as it marked the beginning of a major shift in the power dynamic between the industrialized West and the soon to be colonized world. To set the Anglo-Zanzibar war in its proper context Dan is joined by Dr Erik Gilbert from Arkansas State University. Erik explains what happened in those fateful minutes at the end of the nineteenth century, the importance of technology in the conflict and how it signalled the start of the Scramble for Africa.
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Most consider the Second World War to have been fought between 1939-1945 but, as you'll hear in this podcast, Richard Overy believes that the conflict was much broader than this. The Second World War was in fact the last gasp of global imperialism with Italy, Germany and Japan all seeking to build new empires through violent military means and at a terrible cost to the world. The defeat of the Axis powers in 1945 left the world in ruins and saw the end of territorial empires and marked a new era in global power. Rochard brings a new and fascinating approach to the context of the Second World War.
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Stretched along the north of the Hindu Kush mountain range and the south of the Oxus river, the history of the ancient region of Bactria envelops some of the most intriguing periods of the ancient world. The land, which now straddles parts of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, can be tracked through the Bronze Ages, the Persian Empire and the rule of Alexander the Great, Greco-Bactrian rule and the rule of the Kushites. To guide us through this history, Tristan from our sibling podcast The Ancients spoke to David Adams, the Australian photojournalist and documentary filmmaker. David has personally explored many of the archaeological sites of Bactria, he shares his experiences and explains how the evidence shows the impact of climate change on the societies who lived there.
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In August 1991 there was an attempted coup in the Soviet Union as communist hard-liners sought to re-establish the dominance of Soviet rule in Russia and its satellite states. The coup attempt collapsed after three days and it eventually led to the collapse of communism. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary on 24 August and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR suspended the activities of the party on 29 August. Following this, later former soviet states declared their independence which has radically reshaped the world in the decades since. To help understand the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its consequences Dan is joined by historian and holocaust survivor Peter Kenez.
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H. R. McMaster is both a soldier and a scholar and has served at the highest level in government as National Security Advisor to President Trump. He served in the US Army for more than 30 years achieving the rank of lieutenant general, he saw combat during the first Gulf War and later was a counterinsurgency advisor to General David Petraeus. He has a PhD from the University of North Carolina and examining the failures of leadership during the Vietnam War and he is now a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He joins Dan on today's podcast to bring his experience and knowledge from decades of public service to bear on some of the most challenging questions of our age. He and Dan discuss the failures of the Vietnam and Afghan wars, how to fight a successful insurgency campaign, the meaning of leadership and what it was like to work for Donald Trump.
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Between 1570 and 1630, there was intense persecution and thousands of executions of suspected witches in Lorraine, a small duchy on the borders of France and the Holy Roman Empire. In some cases, suspicious citizens waited decades to report their neighbours as witches. But why did they take so long to use the law to eliminate the supposedly dangerous figures who lived amongst them?
Robin Briggs - Emeritus Fellow at All Souls College Oxford - has delved into perhaps the richest surviving archive of witchcraft trials to be found in Europe. In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, he talks to Professor Suzannah Lipscomb about his conclusion that witchcraft was actually perceived as having strong therapeutic possibilities: once a person was identified as the cause of a sickness, they could be induced to take it off again.
As the Soviet Union reeled from the shock of the German invasion in 1941 it asked for aid from Britain and its allies and the arctic convoys was a key part of the response. Desperate to keep the Soviets in the war and fighting the Nazi war machine Winston Churchill agreed to deliver massive amounts of material aid. Massive naval and merchant fleet operations carried material through the frigid waters north of Norway from Britain to Murmansk. This was an extremely perilous journey though and one that Churchill described as “the worst in the world”. The weather was frequently abysmal with ships covered in ice or totally exposed by the midnight sun, the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine had almost constant access to the convoy route and some of Germany's most powerful surface units, as well as submarines, lay in wait for the convoys. But, despite the difficulties and setbacks, the bravery of the merchantmen and their naval counterparts enabled many millions of tonnes of vital war supplies to be delivered to the Soviet Union and help keep its war effort alive. Dan is joined by Nick Hewitt, Head of Collections and Research at The National Museum of the Royal Navy, to remember the vital work of the Arctic Convoys.
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History is vital for contextualising current events but as Professor Paul Miller argues in today's episode of the podcast it cannot tell us all we need to know about the present especially in the case of Afghanistan. Professor Miller has dedicated much of his working life to Afghanistan. He is an Afghan veteran, he worked for the CIA as an intelligence analyst and served on the National Security Committee for both President Bush and President Obama. He is currently Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He brings Dan up to speed on events in Afghanistan, why the country fell to the Taliban so quickly, why historical comparisons are not always as useful as they first seem and how a very different outcome might have been achieved.
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The collapse of the Afghan army and government and takeover by the Taliban has evoked many historical comparisons, but how valid are they? To find out Dan is joined by author, historian and friend of the podcast William Dalrymple to delve into the deeper history of Afghanistan. In particular, William and Dan discuss the First Afghan War which ended in one of the great catastrophes of British imperial history. In early 1842 a British force was slaughtered or died of exposure as they attempted to retreat from Kabul to Jalalabad. This defeat for the British remains a powerful symbol in Afghanistan even today. William explains what happened that terrible winter and how the events of Afghanistan's colonial past still influence its people and politics.
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Oliver Cromwell is the only English commoner to become head of state and is one of the most remarkable and controversial figures in history. Energised by his Puritan beliefs he came to dominate the movement to remove Charles I and would come to be Lord Protector ruling the British Isles from 1653 until his death in 1658. As a military commander, he was a natural leader but also absolutely ruthless. Without formal military training before the Civil War, became arguably the best cavalry commander of his generation. His conquest and pacification of Wales, Scotland and Ireland, in particular, was brutal and remains controversial. Professor Ronald Hutton from Bristol University is Dan's guest on today's episode of the podcast. Ronald has recently published The Making of Oliver Cromwell making him the perfect person to give us an insight into this complicated and impressive figure.
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In August 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie led a rebellion that brought the Jacobite cause closer to seizing the throne than almost any other. He had landed with only a handful of his most trusted supporters but a mixture of gold, charisma and old loyalties soon brought a large number of followers to his side as they attempted to overthrow the British crown. The rebellion grew in momentum with early successes on the battlefield and marched south reaching as far as Derby before turning back north. However, the noose around the Bonny Prince Charlie and the Jacobite rebels was tightening and in April 1746 they were decisively defeated by superior British forces at the Battle of Culloden. Guiding Dan through the 1745 uprising is Professor Murray Pittock from the University of Glasgow. Murray provides a comprehensive overview of what the Jacobites wanted, the events of the revolt and the fate of its leader Bonnie Prince Charlie.
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During the Second World War, a special commando unit was formed in Britain from Jewish refugees from Germany, Austria and other parts of occupied Europe. Many of the men who joined this unit had lost their families, their homes and, as you'll hear, had relatives imprisoned in concentration camps. Trained in advanced combat and counterintelligence they fought with a special zeal often volunteering for the most dangerous assignments. The risks these men took was enormous. If they were captured by the Nazis and had their true identities been discovered then their fate would certainly have been death. Leah Garrett is a professor at Hunter College and has recently published X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos Who Helped Defeat the Nazis. She explains how this unusual unit came to be formed, the often oversized impact they had on the battlefield and some of the incredible individual stories of heroism of the men of X Troop.
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In August 1521 after a last stand on the steps of their temple buildings, the Aztec defenders of Tenochtitlan surrendered to the Spanish forces of Hernán Cortés and his Mesoamerican allies. In the aftermath of the battle, the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan was sacked. The Aztec empire was a large and sophisticated one stretching at its height from the Pacific coast to the Gulf of Mexico. To talk about the fall of the Aztec Empire Dan is joined by Matthew Restall Director of Latin American Studies at Penn State University. Matthew has written extensively about the Spanish conquest of south and Central America. In this fascinating interview, he challenges some of the commonly held views on how Cortés was able to achieve this feat, how the fall of Tenochtitlan was not the end of the war and the myth of Spanish superiority.
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There were many attempts to escape over and under the Berlin Wall but Tunnel 29 was highly unusual for tunnelling into East Berlin rather than out to the West. Led by Joachim Rudolph, who had himself escaped to West Berlin in 1961, a group of students and refugees tunnelled into the eastern half of the city in an attempt to rescue friends and relatives. This was an extremely perilous mission with the risk of death ever present from the tunnel collapsing or the Stasi discovering their work. Even more bizarrely the whole endeavour was funded and documented by an American film crew as NBC bidding to win the ratings war back in the USA. To tell this heroic tale Dan is joined by broadcast journalist Helena Merriman. Helen presented and produced Tunnel 29 for the BBC and has written a book, Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall, all about this incredible escape.
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What does the price of wheat and global food supplies have to do with one of the greatest disasters in the history of warfare? Why was the decision made to send thousands of Allied troops in an attempt to free up the most heavily defended waterway in the world, the Dardanelles Straits? Historian and award-winning author Nicholas A Lambert joins James from our sibling podcast Warfare to talk us through the lead-up to Britain’s worst defeat in World War One, the catastrophic Gallipoli campaign in 1915. Find out why Prime Minister Henry Asquith and his senior advisers ordered the attacks in the first place and the failed operation’s legacy. Nicholas’ book, The War Lords and The Gallipoli Disaster, is available now.
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On 11 August 991 one of the most important anglo-Viking battles took place near Maldon in Essex. This clash was immortalised in one of the finest examples of early English poetry that tells the story of a heroic defeat in the face of the ferocious Viking invaders. To remember both the battle itself and the poem Dan is joined by Professor Levi Roach from the University of Exeter. They discuss what led to the battle, the tactics used by both sides, why the Vikings won, the consequences of the English defeat and why we should probably take the heroic tales told in the poem with a pinch of salt!
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The role of the royal mistress may, on the face of it, seem a simple position but in reality, there was a lot more to being a royal mistress than it might seem. Throughout the courts of Europe, the role of the royal mistress was often a semi formalised one and gave these women extraordinary influence and power. Joining Dan to discuss the importance of the mistress is Dr Linda Kiernan Knowles Adjunct Assistant Professor in History at Trinity College Dublin. They look particularly at the courts of Charles II and Louis XIV and how their respective mistresses controlled access to power, took part in political intrigue and caused great controversy both inside and outside of court.
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The second atomic strike on the city of Nagasaki is less well known than the one a few days earlier on Hiroshima, but was it more influential in forcing the Japanese to surrender? To find out who exactly ordered it and why Dan talked to Harvard's Frederik Logevall. He discusses the debates that rage between historians as to whether Nagasaki was necessary and how much pressure there was for a third bomb. On the anniversary of the strike, it is a conversation with powerful contemporary echoes.
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A Soviet double agent at the top of his game, a deadly game of cat and mouse with the KGB and one of the most daring escapes of the Cold War from the very heart of Moscow. In this archive episode, Dan talks to author Ben Macintyre about the life of Oleg Gordievsky and what might be the ultimate Cold War Spy story. Appalled by the brutality of the Soviet regime Gordievsky was recruited by MI6 whilst stationed in Copenhagen during the 1970s. For more than ten years he fed precious secrets to western intelligence agencies whilst rising up the ranks of the KGB eventually become the London station chief. Having been suddenly recalled to Moscow and following his drugging and interrogation it was time for Gordievsky to escape and so operation Operation Pimlico was launched.
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Approximately 1.35 billion people use it, either as a first or second language, so English and the way that we speak it has a daily impact on huge numbers of people. But how did the English language develop? In this episode from our sibling podcast Gone Medieval, Cat Jarman spoke to Eleanor Rye, an Associate Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of York. Using the present-day language, place names and dialects as evidence, Ellie shows us how English was impacted by a series of migrations.
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In the last 30 years, the internet has utterly changed the world in which we live and is now as vital as electricity in our daily lives. August 6, 1991, is the date given when the first website went live. Published by Tim Berners Lee at CERN it was a moment that would change the world but, as you'll hear in this podcast, that date is in fact not true. To explain what really happened and explore the history of the world wide web, how it works and the vitally important geopolitical issues that surround it Dan is joined by Dame Wendy Hall. Wendy is Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton and has recently published Four Internets: Data, Geopolitics, and the Governance of Cyberspace. Wendy was very much involved in the 1990s as the web was being created and knows the pioneers who launched this groundbreaking technology so is the perfect guest to help remember the birth of the internet.
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The discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at former Canadian residential schools have has led to a crisis of identity for the country as it comes to terms with the trauma of the past. For many, these discoveries fit into a pattern of discrimination and demographic replacement with the arrival of European settlers which could be described as genocide. In this episode, Dan speaks to Tracey Bear and Jim Miller about what happened to the indigenous people of Canada at the schools and what this means for modern Canadians if their country is, in fact, the product of Genocide?
Tracy Bear Nehiyaw iskwêw is a Cree woman from Montreal Lake First Nation in northern Saskatchewan and the Director of the Indigenous Women’s Resilience Project. She is one of the key authors of Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. You can learn more about the course here.
Jim Miller is a historian at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Miller is a nationally recognized historian who has studied the relationship between Canada's indigenous population and colonial settlers for decades including on the subjects of residential schools, so-called Indian treaties and law as it pertains to the indigenous people of Canada.
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On August 4, 1914, Britain declared war on Germany and entered the First World War. This was a conflict of unparalleled savagery with industrialized slaughter on a scale that the world had never seen before. To commemorate this important anniversary Dan guides us through what led Europe and the world to choose war in 1914. He explores some of the many different reasons for war from the miscalculations and misguided beliefs of European leaders to the structural causes such as the role of capitalism and imperialism that helped bring about the conflict. As well as unpacking the causes of the war he also looks at its consequences which we are still living with today.
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The Olympics are a sporting event like no other and in this episode, we celebrate two great British Olympians of the past Anita Neil and Hugh 'Jumbo' Edwards. These are two very different athletes from completely different backgrounds, but each highlights the Olympic spirit at its finest.
Firstly, Dan speaks to a British Olympic pioneer Anita Neil who was the first black woman to represent Great Britain at the games. Anita was an extraordinary sprinter who represented Great Britain at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and the 1972 games in Munich. Anita and Dan discuss he journey to the Olympics, her experiences there and the struggles she faced trying to compete at the highest level.
Then Dan speaks to Gavin Jamieson about the extraordinary life of Hugh 'Jumbo' Edwards. A legend in the sport of rowing he competed in the Oxford Cambridge boat race, won three races at the Henley Regatta and then went on to the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932 where he won two Olympic gold medals in the space of an hour; a record that stills stands today. During the Second World War, he joined the RAF and was a decorated pilot in Bomber Command and later in life became an innovative rowing coach.
Listen to our recent episode examing the history of the Olympics with Professor Martin Polley here.
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One aspect of India's independence that is often overlooked is the role of India's princely states; the Maharajas. During the Raj, these states had been semi-autonomous and not actually part of the British Empire. They did however rule with the permission of the British Government and were really puppet sovereign figures. However, when India got its independence after the Second World War these state's became a problem that had to be resolved for the new Indian state.
John Zubrzycki, author of The House of Jaipur: The Inside Story of India's Most Glamorous Royal Family, is an expert on what happened to these royal families. He joins the podcast today to explain the structure of these royal states, their relationships with each other and how they were brought into the republic of India sometimes using force. In particular, he tells the story of the Royal House of Jaipur and Maharaja Man Singh II and his wife Maharani Gayatri Devi who was India’s mid-century golden couple rubbing shoulders with the Windsor's and the Kennedy's. This is a story of the end of empire, political fights, wealth, fashion and celebrity.
In 1588 the English Navy defeated one of the greatest fleets ever assembled; the Spanish Armada. A week of running battles in the English Channel culminated in a major clash off the coast of the town of Gravelines (now in France) where the English used fire ships to score a crushing naval victory against the Spanish fleet. This is one of the most famous naval clashes in history but how was the Armada beaten?
Dan tells the story of this titanic naval clash where superior English seamanship, new ship designs and new ideas about fighting at sea paved the way for victory. He also explores the misconceptions about the role the weather played in the fighting; and whether in fact, it benefitted the Spanish possibly preventing an even greater disaster for them. Victory over the Armada became a founding myth of the Royal Navy and would inspire seafarers, naval commanders and political leaders for generations to come.
Earlier this week Alexander Samson joined the podcast for the first of two podcasts about the armada and the relationship between England and Spain. You can listen to that episode here.
Often known as ‘Britain’s first town’, Colchester is a city rich in ancient history and on 24 July 2021, a new exhibition will open at the Colchester Museum revealing more about some of its earliest Roman occupants. Called ‘Decoding the Roman Dead’, the exhibition focuses on cremations found in the area around Colchester dating to almost 2,000 years ago. Thanks to new scientific methods, the team have been able to analyse these burnt remains and find out some astonishing details about who these people were. From gender to pathology to where in the Roman Empire these people came from. To talk all about the new exhibition, and to shine a light on the wealth of information archaeologists can learn from ancient cremations, Tristan from our Sibling podcast The Ancients chatted to Dr Carolina Lima and Dr Glynn Davis. Carolina and Glynn are two of the curators of the exhibition.
To find out more, visit their website: https://colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/dtrd/
Just 17 years after Liverpool’s historic waterfront was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the city was stripped of its prestigious status.
The UN's heritage body said it made the decision because of “irreversible” damage to the city’s cultural value after years of development, including a planned £500m stadium for Everton football club. Historian and Liverpool local, Mike Royden, joins Dan on the podcast to talk us through the history of the city and its iconic waterfront, with its collection of quays, warehouses and grand shipping institutions built in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. They discuss how Liverpool grew to be one of the England’s busiest and richest ports, the affects of the Blitz, and what the future may look like for the area.
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This week in 1588 the Spanish Armada fought running battles in the Channel with the English Navy. It was sent by King Phillip of Spain who ruled half the world to crush Elizabeth Tudor the woman who ruled half an Island but would end in defeat and disaster for the Spanish. The background to this conflict was the growing Anglo-Spanish rivalry that had sprung up ever since the discovery of the New World and the English desire to obtain a slice of the huge wealth, power and influence that could be gained there. The reformation also played its part in pitting protestant England against Spain's Catholics. In the first of two programmes to remember the Armada Dan is joined by Alexander Samson who is a Reader in Early Modern Studies at University College London and has a special interest in Spanish history. Alexander and Dan discuss how this rivalry between England and Spain developed, how the two countries have a centuries-old trading connection, and why the Spanish Armada was far from the only armada!
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On this day in 1540, Thomas Cromwell was executed. On the same day Henry VIII married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. To mark the anniversary we've found an episode from the archives with author, historian and curator at Historic Royal Palaces, Tracy Borman.
Cromwell was a man who rose to be the most powerful member of Henry VIII's court, his Lord Privy Seal, Principal Secretary and Chancellor. He was a driving force behind the English Reformation and constitutional changes that emphasised the centrality of Parliament, but his current mighty reputation depends on the fictional trilogy of the genius novelist Hilary Mantel. In this episode, hear Dan and Tracy discuss the real Thomas Cromwell.
Tracy's book, Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant, is available now.
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Archaeology is not just about digging, it’s about understanding the human experience of existence.
In the space of a few weeks there have been many sad developments in archaeology in the UK. Sheffield University announced the closure of its world-renowned archaeology department, shortly before Liverpool’s waterfront was stripped of its UNESCO World Heritage status, which preceded the news that Stonehenge is also at risk. In this episode, Dan is joining the fight to save archaeology. He chats with TV presenter, archaeological scientist and lecturer at Newcastle University, Chloe Duckworth and Executive Director of the Council for British Archaeology, Neil Redfern, about the importance of the discipline. They discuss why archaeology matters, why it’s a good subject to study, and, in a world facing issues like a global pandemic and climate change, why put funding into digging up the past?
For more information on how you can campaign to save archaeology in the UK, head to: www.dig4arch.co.uk
The Pathfinders were ordinary men and women who transformed the efficiency of the Allies' air campaign over mainland Europe and helped deliver victory over Nazi Germany. Journalist and bestselling author Will Iredale joins Dan on the podcast to tell the incredible story of the team who transformed RAF Bomber Command. Find out how the air force was created, how bombing accuracy was improved, and how Pathfinders put their lives at risk to carry out the raids.
Will’s book, The Pathfinders: The Elite RAF Force that Turned the Tide of WWII, is out now and includes exclusive interviews with remaining survivors, personal diaries, previously classified records and never-before seen photographs.
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Democracy is in crisis around the world. Dr Robert Saunders, from Queen Mary University of London, is back on the podcast to discuss why it is under threat. From the changing media landscape, to technological advances and questionable electoral systems, hear why we are facing this global shift and what the future may hold. Are authoritarian regimes dealing with the world’s problems better? How have politicians changed over the years? And how do we refresh our democracies? Robert is currently researching a new history of democracy in Britain.
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Mary Ellis was a pioneering and courageous aviator who flew hundreds of fighters and bombers to Britain’s frontline airfields. She was one of the first women to fly Spitfires, heavy bombers and jet aircraft, blazing a trail for female pilots with her passion and skill. Mary sadly passed away aged 101 on this day three years ago, a short time after this interview with Dan was recorded. Hear Mary reminisce on the incredible feats she undertook as a spitfire pilot during World War Two in this fascinating interview from the History Hit archives.
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The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are finally here, after being delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. From Ancient Greece to when it was reborn in 1896, the tournament has nearly 3,000 years of history. Sports historian, Professor Martin Polley from De Monfort University, joins Dan on the podcast to tell the, sometimes surprising, story of the competition. How did it become the international sporting event it is today? How have the games affected global politics and diplomacy? And how is Shakespeare connected to its history?
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The relationship between Elizabeth I and Catherine de' Medici - the two most powerful Queens of their time - is one of the most intriguing and captivating stories of the 16th century.
In this edition of our sibling podcast Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Estelle Paranque about her new book Blood, Fire and Gold, which explores how these two formidable women wielded and negotiated power, and were united only in their dislike of Mary, Queen of Scots.
How did a young boy from Georgia become a merciless politician who shaped the Soviet Empire in his own brutal image? Historian and bestselling author, Simon Sebag Montifiore, is back on the podcast to talk to Dan about the rise of Joseph Stalin, a man who caused the death and suffering of tens of millions under his regime of terror. Find out how Stalin climbed to the top of Soviet politics to emerge as Lenin’s heir, and hear how his extreme insecurity and paranoia shaped the way he ruled.
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Accurate timekeeping is at the very root of all of the technological advances in the modern world, but how did it all begin? From Roman sundials to medieval water-clocks, people of all cultures have made and used clocks for thousands of years. Dan speaks to horologist, historian and former curator of timekeeping at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, David Rooney, about the importance of time, and what clocks can tell us about the history of human civilisation. David’s book, About Time: A History of Civilisation in Twelve Clocks, is out now.
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In the summer of 1518, one of the most bizarre afflictions in history struck the city of Strasburg; dancing mania. This epidemic of dancing spread, almost like a plague, through the population with many hundreds of people dancing wildly and seemingly uncontrollably often to the point of collapse and even death. Perhaps, even stranger is that the outbreak in Strasbourg is far from the only recorded incidence of this phenomenon. But what caused it? To help delve into this fascinating subject Dan is joined by Dr John Waller, Associate Professor of the History of Medicine and author of A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. John explains the atmosphere of fear and tension in Strasbourg in which the dancing mania took hold and how the power of superstition and belief can take the human mind and body in almost unbelievable directions.
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Robin Hood is one of the most famous legends of British history, but did he exist and if so who was he? Gareth Morgan, Learning Development Officer at Nottingham Castle, is just the man to help separate fact from fiction when it comes to this archetypal hero who robbed the rich to give to the poor. Gareth helps Dan discover some of the real-life figures which might have inspired Robin, what the story means both now and then and why it still remains so popular. They also talk about Robin's home Sherwood Forest, which may not be quite what many imagine it to be, and the newly renovated Nottingham Castle home of Robin's arch-nemesis the Sheriff of Nottingham.
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Saladin was one of the greatest Sultans of the middle ages, and the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. He famously defeated the Crusader army at the Battle of Hattin, and recaptured Jerusalem. The Christian armies of the west never recaptured the Holy City. Saladin's legacy still holds resonance across the middle-east today. In 1917, a French General supposedly marched up to Saladin's tomb in Damascus, kicked it and announced, "We're back," a story that would shape Arabic perceptions of the west in decades to come. In this archive episode, Dan is joined by Professor Jonathan Phillips an expert in the history of the crusades and the author of a biography of Saladin.
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Recent years have seen a spate of statue removals from the toppling of Confederate statues in the United States, the tearing down of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol and recently the removal of statues of Queen Victoria in Canada. Some have been taken down in an orderly manner and others torn down or defaced by activists. For some, the removal of statues is a powerful symbol of the desire for social justice and for remembering the wrongs of the past. For others, the removal of monuments is an attempt to erase history. It is certainly a subject that evokes very strong feelings.
The historian Alex von Tunzelmann is today's guest on the podcast. She is the perfect person to help unpick this emotive topic having just written a book on the subject called Fallen Idols: Twelve Statues That Made History. Dan and Alex discuss how and why statues are erected in the first place; how this is far from a new phenomenon; how, perhaps, we should deal with controversial statues and whether statues have had their day?
From spiral stairs to tunnels leading to pubs and brothels, to witch markings; join us as we find out the truth about medieval buildings. Matt Lewis, from our sibling podcast Gone Medieval, is accompanied by archaeologist and architectural historian James Wright to debunk the myths.
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In 1381 England was rocked by one of the most widespread popular uprisings of the medieval period; the Peasants' Revolt. Beginning in Essex in response to the overreaching demands of a local government official but unrest spread like wildfire across the south of England. Soon the rebels faced down the King, stormed the Tower of London, executed royal advisors, threatened the royal family and destroyed John of Gaunt's Palace. This was an uprising unprecedented in its scale and ferocity in England and its effects were felt for many years afterwards.
Today's podcast guests Adrian Bell and Helen Lacey who are part of The People of 1381 Project made up of a group of academics and historians taking a fresh look at the evidence surrounding the Peasants' Revolt. They take Dan through the revolt and the demands of the rebels and what new discoveries they have made about where it was happening and who was involved.
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By the summer of 1942 Malta had been under siege by Axis forces for over a year and the situation on the island was bleak with food and fuel almost exhausted. This vital allied foothold in the Mediterranean had to be held at all cost in order to prevent the collapse of the allied effort in North Africa where Rommel's forces were finding much success. In a desperate bid to prevent the loss of Malta, Winston Churchill ordered that a convoy like no other be dispatched to run the air and sea gauntlet in the Mediterranean. In August 1942 4 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 7 light cruisers, 32 destroyers, 11 submarines and a host of smaller vessels and aircraft accompanied 14 merchant ships as they attempted to battle their way to the beleaguered island fortress. The legendary Max Hastings joins Dan to tell the story of the incredible bravery and tenacity of the men who took part in Operation Pedestal.
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250 years ago today Captain James arrived back from one of the most remarkable voyages of exploration in the history of the world. The expedition took Cook and his crew through the Pacific making contact with the numerous island communities of that ocean and perhaps most famously being the first Europeans to make landfall on Australia. Whilst undoubtedly an act of skilful seamanship, this expedition would begin a process of colonisation that would have devastating consequences for indigenous communities and cultures throughout the Pacific region. In this episode, Dan is joined by the writer, historian and podcaster Peter Moore who has recently published his new book Endeavour: The Ship and the Attitude that Changed the World. This makes him the perfect person to explain the purpose of the expedition, its successes and failures and to give us an insight into what was going on aboard HMS Endeavour.
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11 July 1921 the truce that bought the Irish War of Independence came into effect. The negotiations that brought about the end of hostilities, between Irish representatives led by Éamon de Valera and Michael Collins and the British Government led by Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and would eventually lead to the breakaway of the 26 counties that make up the Republic of Ireland in early 1922. The peace was brought about as all sides in the conflict reached exhaustion but had they failed it could have lead to a significant escalation in the violence as the British Government attempted to pacify Ireland. Historian, author and podcaster Fin Dwyer joins Dan for this episode of the podcast. Fin takes Dan through the events of 100 years ago; the violence in Ireland, the divided opinions and loyalties on all sides, the end of the war and the beginning of negotiations.
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In this archive episode, David Berry joined Dan on the pod to discuss the history of tennis. From the birth of modern tennis in Victorian Britain to the present day, they talk about struggles around sexuality, gender, race and class that have transformed the nature of tennis and sport itself.
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When tobacco arrived in Britain in the 1560s, it was hailed as a "holy herb", a miracle cure to improve health and a catalyst for wit and creativity. The coming of coffee - "black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love" - in the mid-17th century, led to the establishment of coffee houses where debates flourished and innovations were born that helped to shape the modern world.
In this episode from our sibling podcast Not Just the Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Matthew Green - author of London: A Travel Guide Through Time - about how nicotine and caffeine changed the British way of life.
The history of Italy and England stretches back thousands of years well before Italy and England even existed as nations. As the two will meet in the European Championship final this Sunday it seemed like the perfect time to explore the shared history of these two people. From the Romans to the medieval period, the Renaissance, and through to the tumult of the 20th Century. Dan is joined by Francesco da Mosto and Valentina Caldari to explore what draws Italy and England together and to predict who will triumph in the European Championship final.
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After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, Japanese Americans were put in a terrible position in the USA. Many tens of thousands of Japanese Americans were interned in cruel conditions being classified as enemy aliens and held in suspicion of being agents for Japan. Despite this many thousands of young men, mostly second-generation Japanese Americans volunteered for service in the American Military. They served in all branches of the US military but the 442nd Infantry Regiment was formed almost exclusively from men of Japanese descent. This unit fought with distinction in Europe in the late stages of the Second World War and is the most highly decorated military unit of its size in American military history. Daniel James Brown is today's podcast guest and he has recently authored Facing The Mountain: The Forgotten Heroes of World War II all about this oft-forgotten aspect of the conflict. He and Dan discuss how the 422nd came into being, the experiences of some of the men of the unit, the prejudice faced by its soldiers, and the legacy of the Purple Heart Battalion.
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It is often the case that it is assumed that it was in ancient Greece and the eastern Mediterranean that was host to the foundation of European politics, culture, economics and engineering. But in fact, the development of sophisticated civilisations, writing cultures, complex technologies and sciences occurred over millennia in the fertile crescent in the ancient civilisations of Assyria, Sumer, Babylon and the Akkadian Empire. These are the crucible of our world today to champion this often-underappreciated part of human history Moudhy Al-Rashid an Assyriologist from Oxford University. She takes Dan through the history of this vitally important region, how and why writing developed, and why she thinks this part of history has often been neglected.
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In June 1953 Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, an American married couple with two young sons, were executed having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union. Julius was undoubtedly a spy but Ethel may well not have been. The evidence against her was shaky and was based on what has turned out to be a false statement given by her own brother. The trial was controversial at the time and remains so today and joining Dan to talk about the Rosenbergs is Anne Sebba. Anne is a lecturer, writer and journalist who has written a new biography of Ethel Rosenberg. She takes us through Ethel's life and trial and makes the case as to why, she believes, Ethel was not a spy and should not have been executed.
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D.H. Lawrence is best known for his work Lady Chatterley's Lover and the obscenity trial relating to the book's publication in the early 1960s. But Lawrence is in fact one of the most important British writers of the 20th century and there is much more to his work and story than Lady Chatterley. He was one of the first successful novelists from a working-class background, he wrote a number of other successful novels including The Rainbow and Women in Love as well as short stories, travelogues, poetry, history and even a school textbook. He was also a complicated and sometimes difficult character and a thorn in the side of the British writing establishment. To tell us about his all too short life Dan is joined by Frances Wilson who has recently written the first biography of Lawrence by a female author in thirty years.
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The legend of King Arthur has been reworked many times, but is there any historical truth behind the tales? Dr Miles Russell believes there is and in this episode, from our sibling podcast The Ancients, he highlights how elements of King Arthur’s story is derived from five key ancient figures. From British warlords that opposed the arrival of Julius Caesar to Roman emperors of Later Antiquity, Miles explores these individuals in ‘Arthur and the Kings of Britain: The Historical Truth Behind the Myths’.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis uncover the unexpected history of DANGER! Which is all about accidents in Tudor England, accident-prone children, the history of health and safety and the industrial revolution, stunt performers, Harold Lloyd and early cinema. It's also all about lion-taming and the history of bear attacks! Who knew!
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105 years ago the battle of the Somme raged on into its second day. 60,000 British casualties we recorded on its first day and by its close in November 1916 over a million men had been killed or wounded. It is the bloodiest battle in British military history and in Germany, the battle was described as the bloody field grave of the German army. It has become a byword for futile slaughter; but is that reputation deserved?
In this archive episode, Paul Reed a military historian, author and battlefield guide joins the podcast. Paul has immense knowledge of both the First and Second World Wars and guides Dan through the opening day of the battle on the 1 July and the following bloody weeks and months of conflict.
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis invite you all to indulge your sweet teeth with the unexpected history of JAM! Which is all about WW2, rationing and the Women's Institute (think Jam and Jerusalem); it's also all about seventeenth century recipes, empire, sugar, colonial trade and slavery! Who knew!
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100 years ago the Chinese Communist Party was founded and across the span of that century has become one of the most powerful organisations on the planet. Today, it is an economic powerhouse and a superpower challenger to the United States. Its origins were humble though with just a few members at its foundation. Indeed, the official anniversary date of 1 July was chosen by Chairman Mao years later as the real date remains a mystery. China saw an epic struggle through the 20th century both with external enemies and between its own people with the CCP emerging victorious in 1949. Following the communist victory, there were decades of Mao's rule which became increasingly erratic and led to the death of many millions during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural revolution. Following Mao's death, the country changed tack and started to move towards the China that we know today economically and politically. To help make sense of this tumultuous 100 years and where China stands today on the world stage Dan is joined by Richard McGregor a journalist and author and formerly the Beijing and Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times.
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In February 1882 the SS Dunedin departed New Zealand on a voyage that would revolutionise the way we eat and kickstart the globalisation of the world's food supply chain. Aboard were thousands of mutton, lamb and pig carcasses as well as 250 kegs of butter, hare, pheasant, turkey, chicken and 2226 sheep tongues. This cargo would be kept fresh in the ship's hold using a Bell-Coleman compression refrigeration machine and would mark the first time fresh goods had ever been transported over such a distance. However, the journey was far from plain sailing though as you will hear in this episode.
To tell the Dunedin's story and to celebrate the new digitisation project by Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s Heritage & Education Centre Dan is joined by Charlotte Ward and Max Wilson from the Foundation.
The Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s Heritage & Education Centre, the custodians to an archive collection of maritime, engineering, scientific, technological, social and economic history that stretches back to 1760. Their ship plan and survey report collection numbers a colossal 1.25 million records, for vessels as diverse as the Mauretania, Fullagar and Cutty Sark! It consists of survey reports, ship plans, certificates, correspondence and the weird and wonderfully unexpected. Currently, there are more than 600k of these records online and available for viewing right now by visiting their website hec.lrfoundation.org.uk.
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Much of Medieval history focuses on the kings, queens, bishops, and the nobility of the period, but what do we know about those people on the margins of society? Like today the elite made up only a small percentage of the population and the vast majority of the population of medieval Europe were peasants or craftspeople. There were other groups who were forced to the very edge of society such as sex workers, leppers, jews and immigrants. But as Elena Janega, today's guest on the podcast, has discovered there is a surprising amount to be discovered about these marginalised groups. What she has found calls into question many of our assumptions and preconceptions about life in the middle ages.
Eleanor Janega is a medieval historian specialising in social history. She is a lecturer at the London School of Economics, hosts the 'Going Medieval' series on History Hit TV and runs a popular blog of the same name on intersections between medieval history and pop culture.
Europe in 1914 was a tinderbox of imperial tensions and the spark that would light the conflagration would be the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But there is much more to this story than simply the murder of two royals on the street of Sarajevo. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was an often misunderstood figure seemingly hard and old fashioned. But in private he was a dedicated family man and husband who had married for love against the wishes of the Emporer and he and Sophie had endured snubs and humiliation at court because of it. He had travelled the world and hoped to reform the Austrian-Hungarian empire he was supposed to one day rule. Sue Woolmans, historian and author of The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Murder that Changed the World, joins the podcast to discuss the real Franz Ferdinand. She guides Dan through the life of Franz Ferdinand and the incompetence, bad luck and chance on the day that would lead to the death of the Archduke and begin a century of conflict.
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In the aftermath of World War II, amongst the shattered ruins of Berlin a new conflict was born, the Cold War. With the common purpose of defeating Nazi Germany gone the allied powers were soon no longer allies. Berlin had been divided before the end of the war at the Yalta Conference between the British, French, United States and Soviets. However, Berlin was deep in the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany and Stalin wished to wrest control of it from the other allied powers. The situation became so tense that it almost sparked another world war and the allies remained steadfast in their determination to hold onto their sectors of the city. This culminated in the Berlin Airlift where many thousands of tons of supplies were flown into the city daily to defy the Soviet blockade and keep its residents from starvation. The fantastic historian and writer Giles Milton is today's guest to discuss his new book Checkmate in Berlin which explores the history of Berlin in the immediate post-war period. Giles and Dan discuss how tensions between the former allies flared, the flourishing black market in Berlin at the time, how the British and Americans were able to pull off the extraordinary feat of the airlift and its consequences.
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Beginning with his birth in 1915 in Sierra Leone, the life of John Henry Smythe OBE MBE is almost unbelievable. From becoming a navigator in the RAF during the Second World War, to being held captive in a German POW camp, to being the Senior Officer making key decisions about the futures of the people aboard HMT Empire Windrush and becoming Attorney General for Sierra Leone; the twists and turns in this story are incredible. James from our sibling podcast Warfare was joined by John’s son, Eddy, and the BBC’s Tim Stokes to hear this account of life during and after the Second World War, in which we even get a glimpse of JFK.
Listen out for Eddy’s song, written in memory of his father, at the end of the episode. You can find the music video here.
Tim’s article can be found here.
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis uncover the unexpected history of TEENAGERS! Which is all about the lost generation in China during the Cultural Revolution and oral history, teenagers bedrooms and anthropology, twentieth-century US pop culture and high schools. Who knew!
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In 865 AD Britain was invaded by the Great Heathen Army an alliance of Scandanavian warriors determined to conquer the kingdoms of East Anglia, Northumbria, Merica and Wessex. Over the next few years, all of those kingdoms would fall to the Viking forces with the exception of Wessex. In May 878 Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Edington. However, despite this defeat, the Vikings did not leave, but rather reached an agreement with Alfred allowing them to retain control of much of the north and east of England in what would become known as the Danelaw. Professor Cat Jarman joins Dan as they travel across the country exploring the key sites of the Viking conquest and looking to discover what may still be to discover about the Great Heathen Army.
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John Dickie joins Dan from the History Hit Archive to discuss the international story of an organisation that now has 6 million members across the globe. Tracing the origins from local fraternities of stonemasons at the turn of the fifteenth century, John takes Dan on the freemasons' journey from Britain to America, Australia, Italy and India. Find out exactly what the freemasons are, how they have been perceived, and why they seem to attract so many conspiracy theories.
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Ben Rhodes has served at the very pinnacle of politics in his role as deputy national security adviser in Barack Obama's Whitehouse and seen what it takes to run a democracy and take the tough decisions that are needed. But since leaving the Oval Office the world has seen a slide towards populism, nationalism and even authoritarianism. But how can this descent into dangerous political waters be stopped? After leaving politics Ben spent three years travelling the world speaking to leaders, activists and dissidents across dozens of countries. His new book After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made documents those journeys and he speaks to Dan about what he discovered, the truths we have to face about our societies and how the United States can set an example for the world.
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On 22 June 1941 Hitler unleashed Operation Barbarossa the biggest military operation in human history. More than 3 million men of the Axis poured into the Soviet Union beginning a conflict, that even within the context of the Second World War, was unprecedented in both its scale and savagery. Operation Barbarossa began with unparalleled success for the Wehrmacht and its allies with millions of Soviet soldiers killed and captured in the opening months of this titanic struggle. But by the winter of 1941 and against all the odds the German war machine had been halted outside the gates of Moscow marking the beginning of the end for the Nazi regime. To better understand this enormous operation Dan is joined by the author and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby who has written a new book Barbarossa: How Hitler Lost the War. They discuss why Barbarossa was launched, the inhuman nature of the fighting and the horrific treatment of civilians and particularly the Jews, whether Barbarossa could have ever been successful and looking at the more human side behind the almost unbelievable scale of the fighting.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis invite you all to join them in uncovering the unexpected history of CLIQUES! Which is all about factions at the court of Henry VIII, and the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, the Cabal Ministry of Charles II, and the magic circle (including a magic teapot that will produce any beverage that you like!) It's also all about twentieth-century US pop culture and high schools, conspiracy theories and the French Revolution. Who knew!
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From the Neolithic period to the early 18th century Crannogs were a feature of Scottish, Welsh and Irish lakes and estuaries enabling a unique way of life. These unusual dwellings consisted of an artificial island constructed over and in the water. The Scottish Crannog Cente on Loch Tay had a wonderful reconstruction of a crannog however just over a week ago it was very sadly destroyed by fire in just a few minutes. Fran Houston, the curator at the Scottish Crannog Centre, is today's guest on the podcast. She explains what happened in the fire but also the history of crannogs, what they were used for, why they were present in our landscapes for so long and their plans to build not just one but three new crannogs!
You can out more information about the Scottish Crannog Centre by clicking here and you can make a donation to help with the rebuilding of their crannog via their JustGiving page.
The 1960s and early 1970s saw civil unrest and violence in the United States on a scale not seen since the civil war between black residents and the police but was this simply rioting or a revolution? Dan is joined by Elizabeth Hinton associate professor of history, African American studies, and law at Yale University and Yale Law School. She argues in her new book America on Fire that rather than being a series of criminal acts, as it was often portrayed, this violence was more akin to an uprising against an unjust and overreaching state. Elizabeth and Dan discuss the causes and consequences of these uprisings including the militarization of the police and the failure to address the fundamental social injustices which were the root causes of the unrest. This is a fascinating episode that addresses vital issues that remain extremely current.
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Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to the news headlines when the rosary she carried to her execution in 1587, was recently stolen from Arundel Castle. It's the latest chapter in the enduring story of this highly romanticised figure.
Mary reigned over Scotland for just over 24 years between December 1542 until her forced abdication. Considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many Catholics, Mary was seen as a threat to Queen Elizabeth I. In this episode from our sibling podcast Not Just the Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Kate Williams about Mary's tragic life, her disastrous marriages and the plots against Elizabeth that resulted in her execution.
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis uncover the utterly fascinating and genuinely unexpected history of GREED! Which is all about the seven deadly sins and Dante's Divine Comedy, Francis Bacon's Essay 'Of Riches', it's about feasting and Christmas at the court of Henry VIII, and the history of eating competitions! It's also all about Bernard Mandeville and bees, coffee drinking and Balzac. Who knew!
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206 years ago today, 60,000 men were slaughtered in the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon Bonaparte's French army was finally defeated by an almighty coalition of troops from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick and Nassau, led by the Duke of Wellington, and the Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blücher. In this archive episode Zack White, who set up Voices of the Battlefield, an oral history project featuring 41 readings of eyewitness testimony from the campaign, joins the podcast. Dan and Zack discuss the battle and hear accounts, ranging from a 10 year old triangle player remembering the chaos of the battlefield to Wellington's own remorse at the horrific bloodshed ], of what happened that fateful day.
If you want even more Waterloo content you can listen to The Battle of Waterloo with Peter Snow or watch History Hit's film Austerlitz: Napoleon's Greatest Victory about Napoleon's greatest victory ten years earlier.
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Winston Churchill's daughters Diana, Sarah, Marigold and Mary are often overshadowed by their father's extraordinary fame but they also lived fascinating lives and were often present at many of the seismic moments of history. Their lives were far from easy though. Marigold died at the age of two, Diana would suffer mental health problems and eventually committed suicide and Sarah wrestled with alcoholism. This is a story of a family at the very heart of political and social life and a story about what it's like to grow up as a child of greatness.
To help tell this story Rachel Trethewey, author of The Churchill Girls: The Story of Winston's Daughters, is today's guest on the podcast and she discusses their upbringing, their relationship with their parents, the role the daughters played in supporting Winston's career and what they each aspired to do with their own lives
For many people sending a postcard is an enjoyable part of any seaside trip but rather than just being a novelty they were once a vital form of communication and often the quickest way to contact your friends and relatives. Dan is joined by Chris Taft and Georgina Tomlinson from the postal museum where a new exhibition marking 151 years of the British postcard is being launched (it was meant to be the 150th exhibition last year!). Chris and Georgina talk us through the surprising history of postcards from their inception and rise to prominence, to the coded messages sometimes contained on them and the link home they provided not just for holidaymakers but for soldiers on the frontlines as well.
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The Anglo-Saxon period is vital for the formation of England and the UK as we know it but is a difficult era to fully understand. The departure of the Romans left a power vacuum that was filled by warlords with violence, foreign invasion, occupation and religious strife being endemic. But out of this turbulent period the foundation of what we now call England came into being. Dan is joined by Marc Morris one of the most distinguished medieval historians in the world and author of a new book called The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England. Marc guides us through these difficult centuries separating truth from legend and illuminating this dark period in history.
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After the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 London was on its knees with its population decimated and the heart of the city burnt out, but from the ashes, it would rise phoenix-like to become one of the world's dominant economic and cultural centres. Dan is joined by author Leo Hollis for a walking tour of London and they visit the key locations in London's flourishing after the tragedies of the 17th century. Along the way, they discuss how London was rebuilt, where the money came from to do it and the architectural ambitions of those involved. They also explore the life of Mary Davies, a relatively little known and tragic figure, who's life is absolutely central to the rebirth of the city. The land she inherited after the death of her father to the plague came to form what is today some of the most valuable real estate in the world. But this inheritance was a curse for her involving becoming a child bride, being kidnapped, declared mad and much shady dealing along the way.
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Gordon Brown stood at the pinnacle of UK politics for 13 years first as Chancellor of the Exchequer and the as Prime Minister but it is as a private citizen that he now seeks to set out and help solve some of the world's most pressing problems. In this episode, Dan speaks to Gordon Brown about his time as prime minister; the power he wielded and the limitations of even the highest political office. They also, discuss the global issues that humanity needs to address and Gordon's firm belief in the power of internationalism and the dangers of failing to work together.
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England holds the slightly unwanted title for the most appearances in the Euros without ever reaching a final, so why the excitement when it comes back around every four years?
Football journalist and podcaster Tom Fordyce joins Dan to chat about the history of the Euros, memorable moments, and what the future might have in store for the competition, which first took place in 1960.
They discuss World Cup comparisons, standout penalties throughout the years, underdogs and more.
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis uncover the utterly fascinating and genuinely unexpected history of POISON! Which is all about eighteenth-century shopkeepers, assassination attempts on Queen Elizabeth I, Roman women, and the history of Bread! It's also all about Venice and powdered diamonds, weedkiller and the history of horticulture! Who knew!
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Alexander the Great is one of the most famous generals and empire builders in history, but the story of his death is almost as remarkable as his life. Tristan Hughes host of the History Hit podcast The Ancients, and Alexander the Great superfan, joins Dan to tell the almost unbelievable tale of what happened after Alexander died. It is a titanic struggle for power and control over his empire that involves war, body snatching, extremely slow carriage chases and a thousand soldiers being eaten alive by crocodiles in the Nile.
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The Mary Rose, a Tudor warship in Henry VIII's navy, sank in the Solent on 19 July 1545 with the loss of most of her 415 strong crew. Recent developments in marine archaeology have enabled researchers to bring to light fascinating new evidence about the diversity of the crew. Dr Alex Hildred, the head of research at the Mary Rose Trust, is back on the podcast to discuss the cutting edge technology used, and the implications of this new discovery.
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The two Dans are back. And this time, they're talking all things crusades. In this rerun episode, Dan Jones provides his namesake host with a thrilling background to the series of holy wars that have come to define Medieval Europe.
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The Second World War is often depicted as a straight battle between good and evil but it was perhaps less straightforward than that. Whilst the Nazi regime was undoubtedly barbarous and deserved its fate the consequences of victory were not always the positive they are portrayed to be. Indeed for much of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, the end of the war leads to decades of military occupation and repression under the Soviet Regime. That regime was led by one man; Stalin. Dan is joined by Sean McMeekin, author of Stalin's War, who argues that it was Stalin who really shaped the conflict in order to achieve his own geopolitical aims.
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The superpower rivalry of the Cold War had many different fronts, space, the rice paddy fields of south-east Asia and even the operating theatre. The desire to push the envelope of human ingenuity led Dr Robert J. White to conduct a series of successful head transplants on monkies during the 1970s with the eventual aim of performing the procedure on a human patient. Dr Brandy Schillace, the author of Mr Humble and Dr Butcher, is today's guest on the podcast and she tells the almost unbelievable story of how close we came to seeing human head transplants take place.
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D-Day on 6 June 1944 saw the largest amphibious landing in history take place as more than 150,000 allied troops stormed five assault beaches in Normandy, attempting to break through Hitler's Atlantic Wall. One of the unsung heroes of that operation were the landing craft and their crews. Without whom there could have been no initial landing and that beachhead that created could not have been maintained. Landing Craft Tank were the backbone of the operation to put the Allies back on continental Europe. They brought thousands of tanks, vehicles and tons of supplies ashore on the beaches and allowing the men fighting inland to continue to push forward against stiff German resistance. In this episode of the podcast, Dan speaks with historian Stephen Fisher about his exciting new project which has led to the identification of two Landing Craft Tank that were sunk in Poole Harbour after the war as a breakwater. They discuss the role of these ships, their development, the often perilous conditions they faced in The Channel and how Stephen came to discover the identities of these vessels.
For more D-day content, such as the new film D-Day: Secrets of the Solent, subscribe to historyhit.tv. For a limited time, you can receive 50% off your first six months as a History Hit subscriber using the code dday.
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It was the scandal that shook the British political world to its core leading to ministerial resignations and helping to bring down a prime minister and cause the defeat of the Conservative party at the next general election. When John Profumo resigned as Minister for War after being exposed lying to parliament about his affair with the model Christine Keeler. The scandal sent shockwaves through the British press, people and establishment and was one of the defining scandals of the 1960s. Historian Richard Davenport-Hines joins Dan to discuss the events of the Profumo affair, what it says about society at the time and the impact of the scandal.
Subscribe to history this weekend using the code dday and receive 50% of your subscription for the first six months. Once subscribed you'll be able to listen to the History Hit's first audiobook The Profumo Affair: Lord Denning's Report
The Renaissance was a time of radical change in Europe with an explosion in the production of art, new methods of waging war, Europeans discovering the new world, the printing press and religious strife with reformation. At the centre of all this tumult was Italy which was made up of competing princely states squabbling and fighting for cultural as well political supremacy. Ultimately it is this period that would come to shape what we know as the Western World. To help better understand this enthralling period Dan is joined by the author Catherine Fletcher to explore the politics, art, warfare and the amazing characters that make up what we think of as the Rennaissance
The History Hit Book Club is the new way to enjoy reading books that spark rich conversations about history. Every month we’ll carefully select a history book to read and discuss with like-minded members. If you would like to join the new History Hit Bookclub and to find out the full terms and conditions click here.
The D-Day landings of June 6 1944 were the largest amphibious landing in the history of warfare, and are famed as a major turning point towards Allied victory. But they weren’t without planning and practice. In late April 1944, the Allies launched one of their trial runs, Exercise Tiger, off Slapton Sands in Devon. The aim was a closely choreographed landing, the result was a disaster. In this episode from our sibling podcast Warfare hear Dr Harry Bennett from the University of Plymouth discussing the players in this trial run, and how it became the Battle of Lyme Bay.
Watch The Lincolnshire Buffalo: With Dan Snowwhere Dan was given exclusive access to the WWII Buffalo LVT recently dug up in Crowland, Lincolnshire.
When we think of investment banking we think of high-risk trades, profit at any cost and big bonuses but there is an institution that sees it differently; Brown Brothers Harriman. Brown Brothers was founded in 1818 and is one of the oldest banks in the US. It has maintained its cautious ethos ever since and in a world of unforeseen but actually quite foreseen catastrophes it begs the question as to what do you want your banks and companies to be like. chasing 100x profits or slow and steady? Zachary Karabell joins Dan for the story of the bank that sacked its customers, in the 80s, which bears the institutional memory of ships cargoes lost, financial collapses, pandemics and busts.
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In this episode taken from our back catalogue Professor Paul Cartledge the concept which is the foundation stone of our political culture: democracy. Paul Cartledge is Professor of Greek Culture Emeritus University of Cambridge and author of many books, including, Democracy: A Life.
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On May 31 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, was torn apart by one of the worst instances of racialised violence in American history. In a period of great racial tension, the white population in Tulsa went on a rampage through the black neighbourhoods in the city killing innocent people, looting African-American businesses and burning whole blocks to the ground. They had been stirred up by a fake news story that wrongly accused a local black man of assaulting a young white woman in a lift. This wave of violence left many homeless, more than a thousand people were injured and over three hundred people were killed. However, this event has been little known as it was covered up with attempts being made to expunge it from the historical record. Thankfully, those attempts failed and knowledge of this horrific incident has been kept alive by the community, journalists and historians. One of those historians is Scott Elsworth who joins Dan in this episode to shed light on what happened in Tulsa on that terrible day and the ongoing work to deal with the painful legacy of these events.
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On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake at the age of 19. It is safe to say that few teenagers have had as big an impact on Anglo-French history as Joan of Arc. Joining the podcast to talk about this remarkable figure is the author and historian Juliet Barker making her podcast debut! She guides Dan through Joan's rise from an ordinary peasant to the figurehead of the French army, her remarkable strength of character her faith, her military role and ultimately her capture, trial and execution.
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The conflict between Israeli's and Palestinians is one that inflames strong emotions and opinions on all sides, but can a solution be found or is it an intractable one? In this episode of our series examing the Israel-Palestine struggle from different points of view, Dan is joined by historian Benny Morris for an Israeli perspective on the conflict that has wracked the region since the foundation of the Jewish state, the nature of Zionism, the demographics of the conflict and the many challenges to finding a solution to the conflict.
You can also listen to previous episodes in our series looking at the Israel-Palestine conflict A Palestinian View with Yara Hawari and A Jewish Perspective with Daniel Finkelstein
The legions of Rome were the nucleus of Rome’s military might for centuries. From campaigning in northern Scotland to the Persian Gulf, these devastating battalions extended and cemented Roman power. Yet of these legions there was one whose end is shrouded in mystery: the Ninth Legion. So what might have happened to this legion? Joining Tristan, from our sibling podcast The Ancients, is Dr Simon Elliott to talk through the theories surrounding the Ninth's disappearance. Simon has recently written a book all about the Ninth's disappearance, and in this podcast, he takes us through the various theories and evidence surrounding this mystery.
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In May 1941 Nazi Germany's most powerful warship and pride of the Kriegsmarine the Bismarck slipped out of harbour and made its way to hunt Allied merchant shipping in the Atlantic. Operation Rheinubung would be its first and last mission. Alerted to her presence and desperate to protect its Atlantic trade routes, the admiralty of the Royal Navy sent her best battleships, including the mighty HMS Hood to intercept the German sortie and sink Bismarck. This fateful encounter would lead to the obliteration of HMS Hood just minutes after engaging the Bismarck when a shell detonated one of her magazines. The rapid destruction of HMS Hood, which had been the pride of the Royal Navy, and mauling of the accompanying HMS Prince of Wales sealed Bismarck's fate. The Royal Navy launched an all-out effort to sink the mighty battleship at almost any cost. In this episode of the podcast, Dan with the help of archive interviews from veterans of the battle tells the story of this titanic clash of arms in the Atlantic.
If you would like more content on the story of the Bismarck then watch History Hit's dramatic new documentary Hunt the Bismarck.
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Born in Lyme Regis in 1799, Mary Anning was a pioneering palaeontologist and fossil collector whose story continues to inspire so many scientists to this day. The Jurassic Coast on the south coast of England is one of the richest locations for fossil hunting in the UK, if not in the world. During the early 19th century Mary Anning, and her brother Joseph, made a living discovering and selling fossils to tourists and scientists alike. Although uneducated and poor Mary's knowledge and skills became much sought after by palaeontologists of the period and she made some remarkable discoveries particularly around fossilised dinosaur poo! Despite her contribution to science Mary, as a woman and Dissenter, was often not given the credit she deserved in her lifetime. In this episode, Emma Bernard Curator of Palaeobiology, Natural History Museum, joins Dan to celebrate the life and achievements of this pioneering fossil hunter.
You can also watch History Hit's new film Mary Anning: The Forgotten Fossil Hunter
In May 1941, the Royal Navy pursued Nazi Germany's largest battleship, the Bismarck, in the greatest chase story in the history of naval warfare. Bismarck represented the single most important threat to the Royal Navy and the vital Atlantic convoys they sought to protect; her armoured protection had earned her the reputation of being unsinkable. Join Dan for this archive episode as the historian Angus Konstam takes him through a blow by blow account of Operation Rheinübung and the sinking of Bismarck.
Also, watch the brand new History Hit documentary Sink the Bismark
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis uncover the historical truth of the unexpected history of HONESTY! Which is all about Abraham Lincoln (Honest Abe) and shopkeeping, oath taking and the bible, US presidents (Franklin D. Roosevelt, Barack Obama and Joe Biden) and swearing in ceremonies, and honesty among schoolchildren! It's also all about truth serum, Pinnochio and George Washington! Who knew!
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Sir Jeremy Greenstock served as a diplomat from the 1960s to the well into the 21st century and is someone who has been in the room when some of the most momentous events of recent history have occurred. He served in British embassies all over the world, he was UK ambassador to the United Nations between 1998 and 2003 and was pivotal in the negotiations leading up to the Iraq invasion in March 2003. In the aftermath of that invasion, he was to Iraq as Special Envoy helping to coordinate and shape the reconstruction of the country. This is a fascinating conversation about the role of diplomats, about the world, Iraq, wielding power and ultimately about personalities.
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Martin Luther is one of the most extraordinary and consequential men of the last 500 years but was also a man keenly aware of his image and went to considerable efforts to craft how the world saw him. This affected how he was viewed both in his own life and centuries later in ours. Dan is joined by Oxford University's Regius Professor of History Lyndal Roper; she is one of the world's foremost experts on Luther and has recently published Living I Was Your Plague: Martin Luther's World and Legacy which explores this aspect of the man who shook Western Christendom to its very core.
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Eurovision is an annual extravaganza of European music and culture but what is its history and what role does it play? To help explore this subject Dan is joined by two men steeped in Eurviosion; TV and podcast critic Scotty Byran and Radio 1 DJ and Eurovision commentator Scott Mills. They describe what Eurovision means to them, some of the history of the competition, how the rest of Europe treat it much more seriously than the UK, why it still stands out in the era of streaming and, most importantly, which songs you should look out for this year.
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As part of our season of programmes looking at the Arab-Israeli conflict Lord Daniel Finklestein joins the podcast to discuss his perspective as a member of the Jewish diaspora. Daniel is a journalist and member of the House of Lords and in this episode, he shares with Dan his family's history before, during and after the holocaust and why this dark period of history is so important in shaping the current situation in Israel.
Listen to the previous episode in our series of programmes about the Israel-Palestine conflict: Israel and Palestine: A Palestinian View
On the morning of May 20, 1932, 34-year-old Earhart set off from Newfoundland, Canada in her bid to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. 15 hours later she landed in terrible weather in Northern Ireland having completed this momentous feat. In this archive episode, Dan is joined by Amelia Rose Earhart to discuss the life, numerous flying achievements and mysterious disappearance of her namesake and inspiration.
Amelia Rose Earhart is an American private pilot and reporter for an NBC affiliate in Denver, Colorado. Amelia is also an around the world pilot and keynote speaker.
In the first of two special podcasts, from our sibling podcast Not Just the Tudors, to mark the 485th anniversary of Anne Boleyn's death, Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the enduring fascination with Anne's life and demise.
Exploring the different perceptions of Anne and her re-creation through her many afterlives are authors Claire Ridgway and Natalie Grueninger, historian Dr. Stephanie Russo and art historian Roland Hui.
The second part of this Anne Boleyn special will be available wherever you get your podcasts on Thursday, May 20.
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis uncover the nail-bitingly unexpected history of ANXIETY! Which is all about phobias, anxious masculinity and seventeenth-century patriarchy, separation anxiety, Freud and the London Foundling Hospital! It's also all about Elizabeth I and her famous Tide letter to Mary I (replete with manuscript hatchings!), the cold war and anxiety about the economy, werewolves, and sharks! Who knew!
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Dan is joined by the wonderful Cat Jarman who, along with Matt Lewis, will be presenting History Hit's brand new podcast Gone Medieval. They discuss the medieval period, the new podcast, Dan and Cat's recent road trip and the exciting new Viking site that has been discovered. Plus there is a sample for the brilliant new podcast Gone Medieval.
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The Western Front in the First World War is a story of aristocratic generals sending ordinary men over the top to their deaths in futile frontal attacks against entrenched positions. Or is it? In this episode, Dan interviews the brilliant historian Nick Lloyd, author of The Western Front who tells a much more nuanced account of the Western Front. They talk about the myths and legends of these campaigns, the great leaps forward in technology between 1914-1918; and how the men in command, and those on the front line, desperately tried to grapple with the complexities of this unprecedently brutal war.
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History is essential to understanding the world around us and this couldn't be more true than in the case of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The recent flare-up of violence in Israel-Palestine has shown that without knowing the history stretching back thousands of years it is impossible to make sense of why these two peoples, the Jews and the Palestinian Arabs, claim this land as their own. In this first of a series of programmes exploring this struggle from both sides Dr Yara Hawari joins the podcast to discuss the more recent history from the ending of the British Mandate in 1948 to the present day.
Dr Yara Hawari is an academic, writer and political analyst. She finished her PhD in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter in 2018. She has since worked as Senior Analyst for Al Shabaka- a Palestinian think tank. She is also currently working on her first novella which will be published in October.
Malcolm Gladwell has sold millions of books and more recently become a podcasting titan and he joins Dan to talk about his most recent project The Bomber Mafia. The Bomber Mafia is about a group of military officers who came up with and transformed the concept of strategic bombing during the Second World War and after. In this episode, Dan and Malcolm talk about one of the leading proponents of airpower General Curtis LeMay who implemented a devastating bombing campaign against Japan during the Second World War. They also discuss what subjects which inspire Malcolm's curiosity and his love of audio storytelling.
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Following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003 British troops in Basra were confronted with a chaotic situation as looting and rioting took hold of the city and society collapsed. As the British soldiers attempted to deal with this situation, for which they were neither trained nor equipped, a young Iraqi man drowned in one of the many canals found in southern Iraq.
Joe McCleary and three other soldiers were accused of war crimes relating to the death of the young Iraqi man and subsequently arrested. After years of struggle and four different investigations, they were found innocent of all charges. In this episode, we'll be speaking to Will Yates, author of War Trials which tells the story of the men involved. We'll also hear from Joe McCleary about his experiences and the damage done to his mental health, prospects and family by the investigations following that tragic day in Iraq.
A group of service personnel and veterans falsely accused of war crimes in Iraq are currently crowdfunding to bring legal action against the Ministry of Defence. More information and the opportunity to donate to their campaign can be found here.
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A suave secret agent and fictional character turned household name and multi-billion dollar franchise: we all know James Bond. But what about the man behind him? In this episode, from. our sibling podcast Warfare hear about the people and places that inspired Ian Fleming as he wrote the stories of 007. Professor Klaus Dodds researches geopolitics and security, ice studies and the international governance of the Antarctic and the Arctic at Royal Holloway, but he is also an expert on Fleming and Bond. Listen as he discusses the influence of Fleming’s childhood, of his experiences during the Second World War and of his family's exploits.
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Being a working mother is now an entirely normal part of life but this was certainly not always the case and was often seen as a social ill in the past. Helen McCarthy, author of Double Lives: A History of Working Motherhood, joins Dan to help chart how the role of women in the workforce has changed over time and what impact the last year in lockdown has had on women, work, education and the structures of family's as a whole.
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Ken Burns and Lynn Novick are two of the most talented and inspiring history filmmakers on earth. Their works include the seminal The Civil War, Baseball and The Vietnam War all of which have been rightly celebrated around the world. Their latest project examines the life and work of Ernest Hemingway and gives an insight into the relationships and character of this complex and often difficult man. They discuss with Dan their film making process, what makes a good documentary series and what Hemingway's life can teach us about masculinity.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis with knowing smirks all over their self-satisfied faces uncover the unexpected history of SMUGNESS! Which is all about toxic insults, contemporary politics and the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID jab, the myth of the over-confident Icarus (he of the melting wings, depicted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder as pair of legs poking out of the sea), as well as about Schadenfreude, the joy of having someone's smugness punctured! It's also all about Napoleon (of course it is!), Nelson, Siegfried Sassoon's 'Suicide in the Trenches' and the horrors of trench warfare during WWI and the history of scrumping. Who knew!
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In this archive episode, Dan talks to Adam Zamoyski, a historian who has written a biography of Napoleon, about the early life and rise to power of one of the most remarkable men in history.
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On the 9 May 1671, Thomas Blood led his co-conspirators in a daring bid to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. Through a combination of trickery, guile and violence he was able to make off with Charles II's crown and some of the most important treasures in the kingdom. To help tell this astonishing tale, Sebastian Edwards, Deputy chief curator at Tower of London joins the podcast to explain how Blood nearly got away with the greatest heist of the 17th century.
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Betty Webb was heavily involved with the work going on at Bletchley Park. While she was not part of the code-breaking team, her work was invaluable to the success of Bletchley, and Dan talks to her about her life and wartime experiences.
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On 7 May 1915, the ocean liner RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland with more than half the passengers and crew being killed. Some of those lost were Americans and the sinking hardened opinion in the United States against Germany and marked the beginning of the process which led to the USA entering the First World War on the side of the allies. To mark the anniversary of the sinking Stephen Payne joins the podcast. Stephen is a British naval architect and worked on designing passenger ships for over 40 years and is an expert both in their construction and their history. He and Dan discuss the circumstances of the sinking, whether there was any justification for it and the effect it had on public opinion and naval policy.
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We know all about the battles of the Roman Empire: the opposing sides, their weapons and incentives. But if history is written by the winners, what happened if you lost? In this episode, Dr Jo Ball, battlefield archaeologist at the University of Liverpool, helps to fill in this gap. Jo takes us through the options of the victorious army; to release, kill or capture; and then discusses the treatment of those who fell into this last category. Listen as in this episode from our sibling podcast The Ancients Tristan and Jo explore the experiences of prisoners of war in Ancient Rome, how this might differ if those taken were also Roman, and how we know anything about them at all.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis uncover the unexpected history of GRANDPARENTS! Which is all about oral history, WW2 and sociability during lockdown, as well as twentieth-century New Zealand, memory and identity, national grandparents day, Elizabeth Freke and the tragic death of a grandson! It's also all about monarch's grandfathers, Chinese relatives as well as James Daybell's great, great, great, great, great.......great, great, great.....grandparents and the Norman Conquest. Who knew!
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Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston was a duchess who attracted scandal, a duchess who divided opinion, a duchess who refused to give up agency or accept her place in 18th century society and she was loathed and loved in equal measure. Maid of honour to Augusta, Princess of Wales, for over 20 years and an important figure in Hanoverian court and her exploits delighted and scandalised the press and the people. A first clandestine marriage to an Earl was followed by a second a second bigamous marriage to a duke almost bought her downfall. After a humiliating trial in Westminster Hall, she embarked on a Grand Tour of Europe, being welcomed by the Pope and Catherine the Great along the way. Author and journalist Catherine Ostler joins Dan to discuss one of the most intriguing, flawed and complex women of the 18th century.
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How much can a burial really tell us about our ancient past? Professor Alice Roberts is today's guest and, as her new book Ancestors demonstrates, old bones can speak to us across the centuries. Using new ancient DNA analysis techniques archaeologists are now able to uncover an unprecedented level of detail about the lives of our ancestors. Where they came from, what they ate, how they lived, what killed them and what their burials really mean. This is the story of unlocking the past of ancient Britain.
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Getting to the moon was no easy feat, no matter how confident Kennedy may have sounded in his famous 1961 speech. NASA built a team from the ground up, and there were plenty of moments where it seemed as if they weren't going to make it. Fong tells stories of just how close they came, and how risky it was. After all, it was hard to feel safe when a pen could go straight through the module. Kevin Fong is incredible. As Dan fawns in the podcast, he's part of the NHS emergency response team for major fatality incidents like terror attacks, he's an anaesthetist, he's a lecturer in physiology at UCL and an expert in space medicine.
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Take a deep dive into the remaking of the American Constitution and the 14th amendment created in the wake of the American Civil War. The 14th amendment formed a key part of addressing citizenship rights and equal protection under the law, particularly for former slaves. Comedian, writer and actor Larry Wilmore is executive producer and one of the stars of the six-part series Amend: The Fight For America which examines why the 14th amendment mattered at the time and continues to be of vital importance to American society today.
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Did Hitler shoot himself in the Führerbunker, or did he slip past the Soviets and escape to South America? There have been innumerable documentaries, newspaper articles and Twitter threads written by conspiracy theorists to back up the case for escape. Luke Daly Groves has made it his mission to take on the conspiracy theorists, and smash their arguments using the historical method. With the help of recently declassified MI5 files, previously unpublished sketches of Hitler's bunker and eyewitness accounts from intelligence officers, this made for a fascinating discussion. Enjoy. Warning: some strong language.
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Captain Cook has been celebrated, wrongly, as the first European to discover Australia but many now believe it is time to reappraise his legacy particularly in light of the devastating effect it had on the native Aboriginal people of Australia. Professor John Maynard is a Worimi man and Director of Aboriginal History at The Wollotuka Institute. He joins the podcast to explain what Cook's landing at Botany Bay meant for the Aboriginal people at the time and right through the generations to today and into the future. He believes it's time that we had an honest reckoning with Cook's legacy and that this is essential for reconciliation and creating a better way forward.
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When thinking about the 16th century the Tudor dynasty often comes to the fore, but the was so much more to this extraordinary period to be explored. In celebration of the launch of her new History Hit podcast, Professor Suzannah Lipscombe joins Dan to discuss all things Not Just the Tudors. This new podcast will look right across the 16th century including the Renaissance, the Aztecs, Henry VIII's wardrobe, werewolves and much, much more.
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The last major confrontation of the Second World War and the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific theatre, the Battle of Okinawa ended in Allied victory but with massive casualties on both sides. To take us through the battle James welcomed Saul David onto our sibling podcast Warfare. Saul is a professor of Military History at the University of Buckingham and author of Crucible of Hell. He and James explore the use of kamikaze pilots by the Japanese and of the Atomic bomb by the United States.
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German unification in 1871 immediately altered the balance of power in Europe and across the world, but what did its existence and expansion in the 19th and early 20th-century really mean? Katja Hoyer joins Dan in this follow-up episode to The Second Reich which examined the formation of Germany. This time round Katja and Dan tackle the internal politics of the Second Reich, the role of the Kaiser, German expansionism and colonialism and how the legacy of the German Empire can still be felt today.
If you want to listen to our podcast with the creators of the Oscar-winning film Colette the please click here.
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis shuffle the decks of history to deal us the unexpected history of CARDS! Which is all about The Prize Papers of the High Court of Admiralty, annotations, seventeenth-century political culture and the Popish Plot of 1678, fashionability, gaming and leisure as well as gambling and the threat to moral society. It's also all about money, Armada playing cards and the German printmaker Peter Flötner! Who knew!
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On April 26th 1986 reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded sending a vast plume of radioactive material into the atmosphere, but what was it like for ordinary people nearby? It was the worst nuclear accident to that point in history and the catastrophic response to that meltdown and the mishandling of the messages around the accident helped to hasten the end of the Soviet Union itself. In this episode, Dan is joined by Sophia Moskalenko who was ten at the time and living in Kyiv around 60 miles from the site of the accident. She movingly describes her life before the explosion, the trauma of the events afterwards and the long term effect on her mental and physical wellbeing.
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Ben Ferencz at 102 years old is the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials and a direct witness to the horrors of the Nazi death camps. Ben was born in Transylvania before emigrating to the United States with his family as a child to escape antisemitic persecution. He trained at Harvard Law School graduating in 1943 and served in the US army in the campaign to liberate western Europe. In 1945 at the end of the war he was assigned to a team charged with collecting evidence of war crimes during which he visited the death camps and saw first hand the appalling conditions there. He then became a prosecutor during the Nuremberg war crimes trials where his work focussed on the prosecution of the Einsatzgruppen death squads. His experiences during the war have led him to be a passionate, lifelong campaigner advocating for the international rule of law and helped found the international criminal courts in The Hague. In this episode, he shares his life experiences and how we all need to find ways to resolve our differences peacefully if we want to continue to see humanity flourish.
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Benvenuto Cellini was the bad boy of the Renaissance! His life was a story of murders, violence, war, the sack of cities, sodomy, imprisonment, religious conversion, prodigious artistic talent and writing one of the greatest artistic autobiographies of all time. Jerry Brotton, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London, has recently made a superb series for the BBC called The Essay, Blood and Bronze which charts the sometimes mad life of Cellini. He joins Dan to discuss Cellini's life, work and the mystery of a recently discovered Cellini painting.
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The attempt to create a new European Super League might have been short-lived with the attempt to form a breakaway competition collapsing in the face of widespread protests and denunciations from fans, but what led to this point? In this episode, Dan is joined by Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian Football Weekly and author of Inverting the Pyramid. Jonathan takes us from the origins of the sport over a hundred years ago through to the big business of the modern game. This historical perspective helps to shed light on what might have caused clubs to try and break away.
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In this archive episode, Dan visits the site of The Theatre, the 16th-century playhouse where some of Shakespeare's works were first performed, to investigate the archaeology with Heather Knight, Senior Archaeologist from the Museum of London Archaeology.
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A plague which affects people from across society, the mass exodus from city centres and numerous opinions on how best to stay well ... all familiar to people today, but also to the people of the 2nd century AD. In this fascinating chat with Dr Nick Summerton, from our sibling podcast The Ancients, we explore the causes and effects of the Antonine Plague, the guides to healthy living from Galen, Marcus Aurelius and Aristides, and whether there are overlaps with the current situation. Nick is a practicing doctor and is the author of ‘Greco-Roman Medicine and What it Can Teach Us Today', published by Pen & Sword.
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In the 18th century, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an aristocrat, courtier, brilliant beauty, intellectual, wife to the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and a sufferer from smallpox. It was during her time in Constantinople that she witnessed a procedure that would alter the course of her life; inoculation. Having inoculated her children she brought the practice back to Britain where she inoculated the offspring of the high and mighty including the daughters of the royal family. Jo Willet, TV producer and author of The Pioneering Life of Mary Wortley Montagu, joins Dan to explore the fascinating life of the 18th Century ‘It Girl’ turned public health pioneer.
Over the weekend there was a mix up with two of our episodes. If you want to go back and listen to the brilliant Diarmaid Ferriter discussing Irish independence then please click here.
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, Professor James Daybell and Dr Sam Willis lift the lid on the unexpected history of TEA! Which is all about seventeenth-century China and the history of medicine; wealth, display and female politeness, smuggling and the eighteenth-century novel. It's also all about neolithic archaeology, and the Cutty Sark! Who knew!
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Five years ago Tim Marshall wrote the international best selling book Prisoners of Geography which examined how our politics, demographics, our economies and societies are determined by geography. Tim was diplomatic editor at Sky News and has also worked for the BBC and LBC/IRN radio. He has reported from 40 countries and covered conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. He used his expertise and understanding in international affairs to look at the deep history of this planet both in Prisoners of Geography and in his latest book The Power of Geography where he explores further how our world is shaped by its geography.
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In the third episode of our series chronicling the history of British Prime Ministers we travel from one of the Most famous occupants of the office, Winston Churchill, right through to the current incumbent Boris Johnson and everyone in-between. For that Dan is joined by Iain Dale a well known broadcaster, podcaster, author and editor of the recent book The Prime Ministers. They discuss, amongst other things, the Second World War, the creation of the NHS, the, economic reforms of the 1980's, Brexit and how the office of Prime Minister has changed through the second half of the twentieth century to today.
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On 18th April 1949, the Republic of Ireland Act came into effect which saw Ireland become a republic and leave the Commonwealth. 2021 also marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the Irish War of independence. To help mark these important dates Diarmaid Ferriter, one of Ireland’s best-known historians and Professor of Modern Irish History at University College Dublin, joins Dan on the podcast. They examine the importance of these big anniversaries for Ireland not just in the past, but also in the present with Brexit and the possibility of Scottish independence on the horizon.
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In October 1962 the world came very close to annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the autumn of 1962, a U2 reconnaissance aircraft produced clear evidence that the Soviet Union and the Cuban authorities were building medium-range ballistic missile facilities on the island of Cuba and only around 100 miles from the coast of Florida. The resulting confrontation between the USA under JFK and the Soviet Union led by Nikita Khrushchev lasted just over a month and it's often considered to be the closest that the Cold War came to escalating to full-scale nuclear war. Serhii Plokhy, author of Nuclear Folly: A New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis, is Dan's guest on the podcast today. Serhii's research, using new archive material, has shown that during the crisis we came even closer than previously thought to the Cold War going hot.
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We often hear about the kings and queens of medieval England, but what was life like for the ordinary person? From knights to peasants to barbers, Dan Snow joins Dr Eleanor Janega to explore the many lives - and deaths - you could expect to find in Medieval England. This episode is taken from a youtube live event from our partner channel Timeline.
If you want to watch Eleanor's brilliant programme Going Medieval: Those Who Work for History Hit then click here.
During the changes and troubles of the 20th century, officials in Britain faced a huge question: how could they maintain imperial power? Dr Louis Halewood has been researching the troubles faced by British policymakers, and the efforts to maintain dominance with their dominions and allies as Pax Britannica came to a close. In this episode from our sibling podcast Warfare he speaks to James from the University of Plymouth about the development of British naval power, and explores the role of the United States in this emerging world.
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Sam Willis and James Daybell explore the history of FUTILITY! Who knew it was so interesting and important? From a digital analysis of written sources 1590-2019 to the First World War via Oscar Wilde, hard labour in Victorian prisons - breaking rocks, turning crank wheels, moving cannon balls - to the charge of the Light Brigade - you'll never think about futility the same way ever again. Guaranteed.
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The First World War saw unprecedented numbers of women enter the workplace and help pave the way for women to be given greater rights and responsibilities in their careers, or did it? The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919 was, on paper, a social revolution opening the doors to professions that previously women had been barred by law from entering. The reality was very different though and instead of being treated as equals they continued to experience discrimination and barriers to pursuing the careers they wanted and were qualified for. In this episode of the podcast, Dan is joined by Jane Robinson author of Ladies Can’t Climb Ladders to discuss some of the fascinating stories of the female pioneers trying to live, work and establish themselves in careers that had traditionally been closed to them.
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On April 12th 1961 the Soviet Union shocked the world by launching the first man into space; Yuri Gagarin. Strapped to the top of a gigantic ICBM Gagarin was blasted into space as the result of a highly secretive programme. This completely surprised those on the other side of the Iron Curtain and caused considerably fear in the West. However, this momentous achievement was in fact a stab in the dark for the Soviets. Lacking the funding and technology of their American adversaries it almost came to ruin on a number of occasions as we shall find out in this podcast. Dan is joined by Stephen Walker who is a brilliant storyteller, director and author of Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space to tell the thrilling story of the first human in space.
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Continuing our series looking at British Prime Ministers this episode tackles the period following the Battle of Waterloo all the way up to Winston Churchill. The brilliant Robert Saunders joins us to guide us through the nineteenth century and to discuss some of the most remarkable parliamentarians in history including Peel, Gladstone and Lloyd George. Robert is a Reader in Modern British History at Queen Mary University of London. He specialises in modern British history, from the early 19th century to the present, focusing particularly on political history and the history of ideas.
Listen to 300 years of British Prime Ministers: Part 1
Abandoned by his parents, exiled from his home, a veteran of Second World War battles, an author, the founder of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), this is the story of Prince Philip as you have never heard it before.
He was the longest-serving consort to a reigning British Monarch in history and the oldest-ever male member of the British Royal Family. Born in Corfu, Greece, in 1921 his family escaped a revolution soon after his birth eventually settling in Paris. He was educated in Scotland and after school went on to join the Royal Navy where he served with distinction on British warships during World War Two. He married Princess Elizabeth in 1947 and became a royal consort in 1952 after Elizabeth Ascended to the throne. As consort, he completed over 22,000 solo royal engagements and thousands more alongside Queen Elizabeth for whom he provided unshakeable support. He was a keen sportsman, helped to found the Worldwide Fund for Wildlife, was a patron of many charities and a sponsor of British Engineers and designers. Prince Philip was sometimes portrayed as insensitive and cold and he became known for his sometimes bizarre quips, but what was the real man like?
We talk to one of Britain’s best-known broadcasters, Gyles Brandreth, a personal friend of Prince Philip, and a leading historian of the royal family to mark the long life and career of the Queen’s husband. We'll also hear from renowned historian Sally Beddell Smith, author of bestselling biographies of Queen Elizabeth II.
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Between the 3rd century BC and the 1st century AD, the Xiongnu inhabited the area surrounding Mongolia. They influenced the later Hun Empire, and had connections with Ancient China and Persia, but what do we know about them? Bryan Miller has been investigating the society, hierarchy and expansion of the Xiongnu, and in this episode from our sibling podcast The Ancients he shares his findings from the archaeology and historical documents with Tristan. You can listen to the full episode here.
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When we think of the British Empire we often think of India, Pakistan, Singapore, Burma or perhaps South Africa but an often underrepresented part of the colonial picture is that of west Africa and specifically Nigeria. Now the most populous country in Africa Nigeria was created out of a diverse set of peoples and territories to suit the needs of the colonial administration. Max Siollun, author of What Britain Did to Nigeria: A Short History of Conquest and Rule, joins Dan to discuss the history of the British colonial project in Nigeria. Many of the themes will be familiar with the exploitation of resources, colonial violence and racism. They also explore how the ripples of the colonial rule continue to be felt in Nigeria shaping its society and politics to this day.
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In this fantastic episode Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell explore the history of snails....who knew they were so interesting! From snails as symbols of resistance in occupied France in the Second World War, to the history of snail collecting, and snails in underwear and handbags and fighting giant snails...you'll never think about snails the same way ever again. Guaranteed!
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Catherine the Great came from minor German nobility to become Empress of Russia and one of the most extraordinary women of the eighteenth century. Dan is joined today on the podcast by Hilde Hoogenboom, translator of Catherine the Great’s Memoirs https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/25280/the-memoirs-of-catherine-the-great-by-catherine-the-great/. Hilde is a literary historian who has delved deep into the archive material about Catherine, much of it written by Catherine herself, which details her thoughts about constitutions and how governments should be run. Hilda also helps bust some of the myths around Catherine's life and reign, in particular, the misogynistic rumours about her sex life which have persisted long after the end of her reign.
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In the aftermath of the First Gulf War, groups rose up against Saddam Hussein's regime in a bid to win independence from Baghdad with devastating results for those involved and in particular for the Kurds of Northern Iraq. The Iraqi army responded with deadly force leading to the displacement of millions and the creation of an enormous refugee crisis in Northern Iraq. By April of 1991 and led by the British government a coalition had been put together and launched Operation Haven. This involved coalition forces entering Northern Iraq and creating a safe zone that would allow Kurdish refugees to return home. In this episode, Dan is joined by General Andy Salmona who was one of the Royal Marines who spearheaded Operation Haven and protected the refugees from Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist forces. He is also joined by Nawroz is a Kurdish folk singer and former Peshmerga fighter whose singing voice is so powerful that it was considered a weapon of war and made him a wanted man. Nawroz and Andy now work together on projects promoting peace and international fraternity and this podcast was a chance for them to relay their experiences in Iraq 30 years ago and explain why their work together is so important.
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Our impressions of the Roaring 20s are a time of economic growth, social change and in some cases wild debauchery, but were the Roaring 20s really a thing and what were they really like? As lockdown restriction ease are we due another similar period a hundred years later? Professor Sarah Churchwell joins Dan on the podcast with the exciting possibility that we might all be in store for another period of wild socialising, but only when it's safe to do so!
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We're heading back to the Eighteenth century as 300 years ago Sir Robert Walpole became the first prime minister. In this first episode of our Prime Minister's season, Dan is Joined by Dr Hannah Grieg for a whirlwind tour of the eighteenth century's many Prime Ministers. From Sir Robert Walpole through William Pitt the younger through to Lord Liverpool they discuss the creation of the office, prime ministerial control of the House of Commons, conflicts with the king and how politics has changed from continuity to constant change.
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In the 1880s and 1890s Whitechapel, in London, become notorious for its violence especially towards women but what lessons can be drawn from this period for today? In this thought-provoking episode, Dan is joined by Dr Julia Laite for a walk around Whitechapel to explore some of the locations where these terrible crimes took place and the stories of the women involved. Julia shares her thoughts on why women at the time were so vulnerable to violent crime and how things have changed since the late Victorian period.
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In one of the most popular episodes from our archive, Dan is joined by Francesca Stavrakopoulou to discuss the history and myths that surround Easter. Francesca Stavrakopoulou is Professor of Hebrew Bible & Ancient Religion at Exeter University. Her research is primarily focused on ancient Israelite and Judahite religions, and portrayals of the religious past in the Hebrew Bible. She is interested in biblical traditions and religious practices most at odds with Western cultural preferences.
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The Atlantic Wall is one of the biggest construction projects in history a line of formidable defences stretching from the Pyrenees to the Norwegian Arctic but how effective was it? Dan speaks to James Rogers, host of our sibling podcast Warfare, about his recent History Hit documentary In Defence of the Reich: Hitler's Atlantic Wall. They discuss how and why the Atlantic Wall was built, Hitler's obsession with it, how effective it was and whether it could have ever been successful against an allied invasion.
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Today we take music for granted but humans have a unique relationship with the musical form which reaches back far into our ancient past. In this episode Dan is joined by Michael Spitzer, Professor of Music at the University of Liverpool and author of The Musical Human, to discuss the history of music. From the first ancient Greek melody we have been able to recreate; to the first scraps of music notations that are yet to be deciphered and what music has meant for our evolution as a species and how we interact with each other.
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On 19 August 1942, a six thousand strong combined Allied landing force took part in a raid on Dieppe, Northern France. Sixty-seven percent of these became casualties. The raid has gone down in history as a catastrophe conceived by Lord Mountbatten. With the help of 100,000 pages of classified British military files, however, David O’Keefe has uncovered a pinch mission undertaken at Dieppe, concealed by the raid, to steal one of the new German 4-rotor Enigma code machines. In this first of two episodes from our sibling podcast Warfare, David tells James about the main raid, undertaken in the majority by his fellow Canadians, and explains the evidence which supports the theory that this was a pinch raid, not just by opportunity, but by design.
Listen to part two of this podcast: The Enigma of Dieppe
30 years ago Maj. Gen. Greg "the beast" Feest dropped a bomb from his F-117 stealth bomber destroying an Iraqi command bunker which began the air war that would lead to the allied victory in the First Gulf War. He talks to Dan about this sortie and other experiences from over 800 hours of combat flying hours and his illustrious career in the USAF which led him to be head of safety including taking charge of its nuclear arsenal. Now retired, he also airs his robust views on how military power should be used and how politicians should get out of the military's way if they want to achieve success on the battlefield.
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This episode from our sibling podcast The Ancients is all about that hero of British folklore; Boudica. Her leadership of the Iceni in an uprising against the forces of the Roman Empire in around 60 AD is echoed around school classrooms. But what evidence do we have for her actions, appearance and eventual defeat? Caitlin Gillespie is the author of ‘Boudica: Warrior Woman of Roman Britain.’ In this first of two episodes, she speaks to Tristan about the sources that have helped us to find out more about this legendary woman.
Part 2: Boudica: Through Roman Eyes
This explosive episode is all about the effects of Icelandic volcanoes on us all. In 1783 a massive eruption of Lakagígar volcano nearly forced the abandonment of Iceland as 15 cubic kilometres of lava was blown into the air. The greatest single amount ever recorded. The effects of this eruption caused enormous death and destruction in Iceland but also led to the failure of crops across northern Europe causing the deaths of 25,000 Britains and helping to cause the French revolution. Whilst this latest eruption seems rather tame by comparison it gave Dan the perfect excuse to speak to Páll Einarsson, who works at the Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, about the history of Iceland's volcanoes and how their presence continues to be felt both in Iceland and around the world.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, discuss the fascinating and completely unexpected history of LEATHER! Which is all about the history of medieval birthing girdles (and 'bio-codicology!' - yes that is a term; the fabulous National Leather Collection and the quest to buy as many interesting items as you can for £5; it's about glove-making and William Shakespeare's father; and it's also all about Benjamin Franklin and the leather apron man and Samurai warriors! Who knew!
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The creation of the Suez Canal was the culmination of a dream stretching back to the pharaohs of connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, but why is it so important? Right now with the canal is blocked and more closely resembles a traffic jam rather than the vital trade artery connecting the trade and the Mediterranean basin with that of the Indian Ocean and Asia it is. The canal reduces the journey between the Arabian Sea and the North Atlantic by around 5000 miles saving the massive modern cargo vessels hundreds of thousands of dollars and tons of fuel by avoiding the long route around the Cape of Good Hope. This massive shortening of the route was even more vital in the days of sail and steam. On this podcast, Dan is joined by Zachary Karabel, author of Parting the desert: the creation of the Suez Canal; who discusses the history and construction of the canal, its lavish opening and how its existence led to imperialist expansion. Dan also talks to Kate Jamieson a maritime historian and part of the Operations team at MNG Maritime about the current implications of the closure.
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200 years ago the banner was raised which marked the beginning of the Greek War of Independence that would lead to their freedom from the Ottoman Empire. It was also a globally significant war as it is one of the first examples of a people fired up with nationalist sentiment rising up against a big transnational empire. It would act as an inspiration for nationalist movements across the world leading eventually to the destruction of those empires around the world. The Greek cause was championed around the world by the Greek diaspora and classicists and volunteers, including Lord Byron, flocked to join the Greek cause. Eventually, after several years of struggle the Great Powers intervened to ensure that Greece obtained its independence. Paschalis Kitromilides, editor of The Greek Revolution: A Critical Dictionary, joins Dan to talk about the war, its significance within Greece and the wider world and how the shockwaves sent out by the Greek Revolution are still being felt throughout the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
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In this episode from the back catalogue, Dr Bettany Hughes joins Dan to talk about her history of Istanbul which sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Dr. Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author, and broadcaster, who has devoted the last 25 years to the vibrant communication of the past. Her speciality is ancient and medieval history and culture. A Scholar at Oxford University she has taught at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and lectured at Cornell, Bristol, UCL, Maastricht, Utrecht and Manchester. She is a Tutor for Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education and a Research Fellow of King's College London. Her new book is entitled Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities.
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Every family has a history and delving into the history of one ordinary French family over three centuries provides a remarkable picture of deep social and economic changes. Accounts of the lives of the rich and powerful families of history are commonplace. We have all read about the Kennedy's, the Windsors or the Habsburgs but what about an ordinary family? Dan is joined by Emma Rothschild, Professor of History at Harvard University and herself a scion of the Rothschild family, who has set out to prove that any family, however ordinary can be just as fascinating. She chose at random Marie Aymard, an illiterate widow, who lived in the provincial town of Angoulême in southwestern France in 1764 and traced her family's history down five generations and it's quite a ride! This episode charts the history of the family, why Emma chose this subject matter and acts as a reminder that families are intriguing and complicated with an infinite number of different outcomes.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, clear their throats to pontificate about the unexpected history of RHYMING! Which is all about the history of the singing game and the transmission of dance songs across the centuries to children's playgrounds; it's about Renaissance verse, Petrarchan sonnets, Thomas Wyatt, the court of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and WWI; it's also all about Edward Lear and nonsense, Limericks and professional writing for a living! Who knew!
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Today's podcast is about French Resistance spies! Dan is joined by the author Roland Phillips who has uncovered the story of Mathilde Carré who was codenamed agent Victoire and nicknamed La Chatte & who spied for both the French Resistance & the Nazis. In this episode, Roland takes us through a fascinating tale of love, betrayal, espionage, patriotism and cynicism during the Second World War.
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Saint Helena is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. Nearly a thousand mile from the nearest piece of land, this recently created volcanic effusion is a wonder of geography and biodiversity. But it's also got a remarkable history. Napoleon was sent there after Waterloo. It was the safest place the British government could think of to imprison the most dangerous man in the world. In this episode, Dan goes to Napoleon's house, meets the remarkable man who has restored it and finds out about the last painful years of the Emperor's life. You can watch the documentary Dan made over on History Hit TV and find out more about the sites of Saint Helena on our website.
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Here in the UK, it's census time! Today, I'm joined on the podcast by one of the nations favourite family historians Dr Michala Hulme who certainly knows her way around a historical census. The first census was back in 1801 so we now have over 200 years of census information. We discuss why the census was first created, how the census can give us a real insight into how people lived their lives and how the census has changed and evolved over time. Please fill out your census as it provides vital information not just for the government, but most importantly for future historians to understand what was going on.
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In this episode taken from our archive, I talk to Dr Bill Frankland (19 March 1912 – 2 April 2020), a veteran of World War Two who lived through a Japanese prisoner of war camp and who also made important contributions to our understanding of allergies.
You can listen to part 2 of this podcast here.
Today, I am joined once again by Professor David Runciman to talk about the second series of his brilliant History of Ideas podcast. The series looks at some of the most important political thinkers of all time and tells us about their lives, their theories and why their thinking still matters. We discuss the series and look at the philosophies of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jeremy Bentham, Frederick Douglass, Friedrich Nietzsche and Rosa Luxemburg amongst others. It seems that these giant minds we wrestling with many of the same questions that we have today. How do we get better politics and who allowed these lunatics to run society?
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We all have a story about St Patrick's Day and our guest on the podcast today, Adrian Mulligan has a few. Adrian is an Associate Professor of Geography at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. We had a fascinating talk about the origins of St Patrick's day, Irish Nationalism, how it has become a global phenomenon, the Irish American experience and how it's celebration has been influenced by the Irish diaspora. Enjoy this wonderful episode and happy St Patrick's Day!
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On the 16th March 1968, the My Lai Massacre occurred in South Vietnam. 350-500 men, women, children and babies were brutally killed by US troops during a counterinsurgency operation. It was the worst war crime perpetrated by US forces during the Vietnam War.
To try and find out what made those men snap and commit those terrible crimes I spoke to Erik Villard a Historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Fort McNair, DC. He talks us through the events of that fateful day, why he believes it took place and how these shocking events continue to influence US military operations today.
Today's podcast is an episode taken from our sibling podcast The Ancients. In 4 BC, the Ides of March took on a new significance. Previously observed as the first full moon of the new year, the 15 March is today remembered as the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar. In this episode, Dr Emma Southon talks Tristan through the events leading up to the Caesar’s assassination: was he forewarned with omens in the days preceding his death? Who was involved in the plot and why did they want to kill him? Did Caesar really say 'et tu Brute?' And what of the more important 'other' Brutus? Emma tells the story of this momentous day.
Quick note: Caesar wasn't technically killed in the Senate House. He was killed in the senate meeting room, which at that time was held in the Curia of Pompey.
We also follow the theory that it was upon seeing Decimus Brutus, not Marcus Brutus, that Caesar gave up and stopped resisting his assassins. The debate continues!
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, cast their beady historical eyes on the unexpected history of BAD HABITS! Which is all about the history of intoxication, alcohol, tobacco and drugs, as well as the material culture of early modern women's consumption of tobacco (think the hidden political meanings of snuff boxes) and female agency; it's also all about gambling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's addicted detective, Sherlock Holmes, cocaine, heroine and the Vietnam War. Who knew!
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On the podcast today we have the legendary Linda Colley to talk all about her new book examining the phenomenon of written constitutions. From Corsica in 1755 onwards via the United States and into the modern world constitutions represent an attempt by people to write down and codify the laws that govern a state. We discuss how these important documents are, and continue to be, a powerful symbol of statehood; how they represent the cultures and literature of the time and how their increasing importance from the eighteenth century onwards is intimately connected with the gigantic new forms of warfare that arise in the period.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, don their wellies and splash around in the past to jump into the unexpected history of PUDDLES! Which is all about the history of child the play, the historical derivation of nursery rhymes, Sir Walter Ralegh (the romantic puddle-coverer), and the famous children's author and illustrator Shirley Hughes; it's also all about the Cornish mining landscape, pumping water out of mines to avoid puddles connected to the Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick, and of course the Taj Mahal. Who knew!
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The Vikings were one of the great exploring peoples of the past. They travelled east along the rivers to the Silk Road, they explored west across the seas to the United Kingdom, they settled Iceland and Greenland and famously reached North America. L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada has been identified as a Viking site, but it seems that this was only a staging post for longer journey's but where they were headed beyond this point we don't know. This leaves open the tantalising possibility of finding further Viking settlement in North America. Gordon Campbell, Emeritus Professor and Fellow in Renaissance Studies at the University of Leicester joins me on the podcast to discuss the Viking relationship with North America and whether we might one day find a missing settlement.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, strut their stuff on the catwalk of the past to strike a pose at the unexpected history of POSING! Which is all about seventeenth-century sartorial elegance and cutting a dash around town, as well as family paintings, photographs, and the history of the selfie. It's also all about Michelanglo's David and native Americans in the pictorial press. It's also all about the history of consumption and owning far too many pairs of gloves! Who knew!
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Throughout history homelessness has been given many names vagrancy, vagabonding, tramping. Indeed, homeless people have been seen in different lights. Sometimes portrayed as romantic heroes maintaining their freedom to roam and refusing to accept the yoke of a capitalist, settled society but also as an existential threat to order and property. I spoke to Professor of Contemporary British History Nick Crowson in this episode of the podcast who has spent much of his career studying homelessness. We explored how homelessness has been seen throughout history, his efforts to find out more about the individuals involved, how the homeless are labelled by the legal system here in the UK and how the 1824 Vagrancy Act remains in force.
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Vince Houghton joins me on the podcast today to talk about some of the weirdest and craziest ideas put forward during the twentieth century. We're talking exploding bats, sonic cats, aircraft carriers made of icebergs and detonating a nuclear missile on the moon just to show that you could do it! This is a really fun episode and as you'll hear many of these ideas came closer to becoming reality than you might think.
Vince Houghton is the historian and curator of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. He also is the host and creative director of the Museum's podcast, SpyCast, which reaches a national and international audience of over 2.5 million listeners each year.
In this archive episode, Dan Snow wrangles with a Python! He talks to comedy legend Michael Palin about his book, Erebus The Story of a Ship. The book tells the devastating true story of the Franklin expeditions to find the Northwest Passage, and how their history only slowly came to light.
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To help celebrate International Women's Day I am joined on the podcast by Tania Hershman, Ailsa Holland and Jo Bell founders of On This Day She. Women have often been deliberately written out of history with their accomplishments been credited to men. On This Day She sets out to redress this imbalance and give voice to women, from all different backgrounds, that have been left out of history. It includes the good, the bad and everything in-between with both well-known women as well as those you may never have heard of. It's a fascinating and brilliant project that shines a light on the contribution women have made to history and in this episode, we talk all about their new On This Day book.
Find their work @OnThisDayShe
I am joined by an absolute legend on the podcast today; Eddie the Eagle. He became an overnight sensation during the 1988 Winter Olympics as the first person to represent Great Britain in ski jumping since 1928. Although he finished last in both the 70 metres and the 90 metres he became a worldwide phenomenon due to his positive attitude and the extraordinary story of how he reached the games. He is one of the most zen people I have had the pleasure of interviewing and is just as happy plastering as appearing in the public eye. In this episode, we talk all about his Olympic adventure and Eddie shares with us some of his life wisdom.
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Nicholas Crane is a geographer, explorer, writer and broadcaster. He has written and presented four notable television series for BBC Two: Coast, Great British Journeys, Map Man and Town. The Making Of The British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present is out now.
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Today on the podcast we're going to talk all about the Renaissance. We have all heard of it as a reawakening, a rebirth of European culture but what truly was it and why was it so important and are we going through our own renaissance now? I wanted to really get under the skin of the Renaissance and find out what exactly happened in Italy in the 15th and 16th century. Joining me to do just that is Mary Hollingsworth who has written a book called Princes of the Renaissance about the people who became the artistic patrons in that period.
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Myanmar is currently experiencing one of its worst-ever periods of violence and civil unrest as the population protests against the recent military coup. Many protesters have been killed and injured and Aung San Suu Kyi is once again under house arrest. To help explain what is happening in Myanmar and put the events into context I am joined on the podcast by the filmmaker Alex Bescoby, who has spent much of his adult life working and living in Myanmar. We explore this complex issue and how the current unrest is related to its history, colonialism, the country's partition in 1947 as well as the subsequent coups, revolutions and more recently genocide that has followed.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, stroll elegantly and well-dressed around the archives to unravel the unexpected history of BUTTONS! Which is all about Robert Louis Stevenson, the outbreak of WWI, General John Joseph Pershing and American military uniforms, and Victorian clothing; it's also all about a conversation between Claude Levi-Strauss and Lucien Febvre and nothing less than 'bodily posture, the art of life and ways of integrating the world', as well as eighteenth-century industry, petitioning and changes in fashion. Who knew!
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Today's episode is from our brilliant sibling podcast The Ancients. Cheddar Man is the oldest almost complete skeleton of a Homo sapien ever found in Britain and, for this fantastic episode, Tristan spoke to the scientist who has drilled a (very small) hole in him. Dr Selina Brace is a biologist who works with ancient and degraded DNA. At the Natural History Museum in London, where Cheddar Man currently resides, Selina and her team have been able to examine this iconic skeleton’s genetic makeup and deduce from it more information about the evolution of our species, as well as the lifestyles and even appearances of Homo sapiens moving from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic era.
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Joining me on the podcast today are Alice Doyard and Anthony Giacchino to discuss their film Colette: The french resistance fighter confronting fascism which has been shortlisted for the Oscars 2021 in the Documentary Short category. The documentary tells the story of Colette Marin-Catherine who was part of the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France in the Second World War. 90-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine confronts her past by visiting for the first time the German concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora where her brother, also a resistance member, was killed. The trip opens old wounds and provides powerful lessons for us all even after the passing of so many years. Alice and Anthony talk about the process of meeting and working with Colette and what the project meant to them as filmmakers.
I would thoroughly recommend you watch this powerful piece of work and you can do so by clicking this link: http://theguardian.com/colette
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, rampage around the archives to trumpet the unexpected history of ELEPHANTS! Which is all about drunken US behemoths, eighteenth-century biological inquiry, pachyderms on stage, a newsworthy postmortems; it's also all about early twentieth-century museums, and the Duke of Devonshire. Who knew!
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In today's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Katherine Pangonis a historian specialising in the medieval world of the Mediterranean and Middle East. She has recently written a fantastic book about the powerful women who dared to rule in the Crusader States of Outremer following the First Crusade; something that was largely absent from other states of the period. We talk about how and why the phenomenon occurred, the rule of Queen Melisende and her granddaughter Queen Sibylla, the influence of these rulers on Eleanor of Aquitaine and how these powerful women have largely been ignored by history.
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On this day thirty years ago a ceasefire was declared bringing ground operations in the first Gulf War to an end. An overwhelmingly powerful coalition force had stormed across the desert driving Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait and concluding the ground campaign after only 100 hours of fighting. To commemorate this anniversary I am joined on the podcast by General Sir Rupert Smith who commanded the UK 1st Armoured Division during the conflict. We talk about his role during the war, the challenges of command and what we should understand about the changing nature of combat in the modern world.
General Sir Rupert Smith joined the army in the 1960s and served on deployments across the world including Africa, Arabia, the Caribbean, Europe, Malaysia and Northern Ireland where he was decorated for gallantry. In October 1990 he was promoted to Major-General and assumed commanded of the 1st Armoured Division as it was being deployed to the Gulf in anticipation of the war. This was the largest British armoured force deployed in action since the Second World War. After the Gulf War Sir Rupert went on to serve with distinction in Bosnia and wrote a book called The Utility of Force which remains essential reading in military circles.
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The 19th century saw the world in the grip of the industrial revolution, a firepower revolution on the battlefield and a communications revolution with the telegram. But there was another revolution happening at the same time; the medical revolution. This led to giant strides forward being made in the fields of public health, surgery and pharmaceuticals. Monica Walker, Curator at Old Operating Theatre Museum in London, joins me for Lockdown Learning this week to talk me through jus what happened in the 19th century to take medicine into a completely different realm.
Many thanks again to Simon Beale for creating this downloadable worksheet for students: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GQW0ql9LsuvQDB5PozNuZtIsepir5ByH/view
Today, we're talking about one of the great stories of American military history; The Doolittle Raid. In 1942 after the humiliation assault on Pearl Harbour and determined to show that America still had offensive capabilities the charismatic figure of James Doolittle came to President Rosevelt with the proposal to fly army bombers off aircraft carriers and attack Tokyo the capital of the Japanese Empire. Michel Paradis, the author of Last Mission to Tokyo, joins me not only to discuss the mission itself but also the fascinating story of the fight for justice for the Doolittle crews captured, tortured and killed by the Japanese.
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Leah Sottile joins me today to talk all about domestic terrorism and anti-government groups in the USA. In particular, we talk about the armed standoff between law enforcement and a group of ranchers led by Cliven Bundy in 2014 over the issue of grazing rights on public land. We examine what happened, why this case matters, how it is directly linked to the stoming of the Capitol and what it is about the history of the USA that motivates these groups.
Leah Sottile is a freelance journalist and writer based in Oregon and the host of the podcast Two Minutes Past Nine, produced with BBC Radio 4, and the series "Bundyville," made in collaboration with Longreads and Oregon Public Broadcasting.
In this episode taken from our archive, I headed out to Texas in 2016 to discuss the Battle of the Alamo and what its legacy means for modern Texas. I met with W. F. Strong, a famed historian of Texas, to wander around the city of San Antonio and get a deeper understanding of one of America's most famous battles.
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Helen Carr joins me today to discuss John of Gaunt: son of Edward III, younger brother to the Black Prince, uncle of Richard II and father of Henry IV. Not only was he the key intersecting ancestor around which the Plantagenet family split, but his other children also give us the Tudor dynasty. He is THE royal ancestor and one that many of us can trace our family trees back to. In this fascinating episode, Helen discusses his royal aspirations, his attempted conquest of parts of Spain, his role in the Peasants' Revolt and his experiences of the Black Death.
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In this episode taken from our archive, David Baddiel talks to Dan about the Second World War, Trump's Mussolini-isms, and why Jim Callaghan makes comedy difficult.
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Five years after the announcement of the Brexit referendum I am joined on the podcast by Robert Tombs, author of The Sovereign Isle: Britain In and Out of Europe, for a Brexit history showdown. In this thought-provoking conversation Robert, a fantastic historian absolutely steeped in European history sets out why he believes it was in the best interests of the UK to leave the European project.
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Today, I am joined by Cat Jarman bio-archaeologist and author of a new book all about how the Vikings spread east, often utilising the rivers of central and Eastern Europe, all the way into central Asia. These travels enabled them through trade, violence and settlement to plug themselves into that superhighway of the time, the Silk Road.
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In the winter of 1962-63, the UK experienced a different kind of lockdown as freezing temperatures and ten weeks of snow kept people trapped at home in one of the coldest winters on record. Today, I'm joined by Juliet Nicolson who was eight years old at the time and has written a book all about that bitterly cold winter. She argues that the big freeze not only reflected the threat of the cold war but also beneath the frozen surface new ideas were beginning to stir which would lead to the massive cultural and societal shifts of the 1960s.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, slither into the archives to capture the unexpected history of SNAKES! Which is all about fear and phobia, mythology (via Medusa, St Patrick, Jormungand, the Viking sea serpent and many more); it's also all about dreams and the US civil war, the Hopi Snake Dance, weaponizing venom for military uses, and also the invention of anti-venom. Who knew!
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Dramatically placed on a plateau with drops of 400m to the east and 90m to the west, Masada translates from Hebrew as fortress. It became just that when Herod the Great built a magnificent palace complex upon it between 37 and 31 BC, the remains of which are in fantastic shape today. But the site isn’t only notable for its connection to the bible-famed King of Judaea. Masada was also the stronghold of some of the survivors of a Jewish revolt and, in response, the locus of a Roman siege in the early 70s AD. For this first of two parts, Tristan, from our sibling podcast The Ancients, spoke to Jodi Magness from the University of North Carolina. Jodi co-directed the 1995 excavations of the Roman siege works at Masada, and in this episode, she tells Tristan about the archaeological findings at the site, many of which are still visible to the untrained eye.
Jodi is the author of 'Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth'.
Part 2, which focuses on the fall of Masada, the myths and the siege's legacy, is available here.
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We cover all the big topics on the podcast including weapons of mass destruction, climate change, great power rivalry and the struggle for democracy and many others, but today's podcast is all about the biggest subject of them all. Love.
Carol Dyhouse, Professor (Emeritus) of History at the University of Sussex, joins me to talk all about how portrayals of love in popular culture and in particular Disney princesses have influenced how people view love, romance and marriage and how those views have changed since the 1950s.
I am joined by Laurence Rees, the best selling author, who has met more people that had direct contact with both Hitler and Stalin than any other historian. In this episode, we delve into the differences and similarities of these two terrifying, brutal and ruthless megalomaniacs who did more than anyone else to shape the Twentieth Century and the world we live in today.
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In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, get all feel good and investigate the unexpected history of HUGS! Which is all about the science and psychology of hugging, babies and upbringing, greetings and the gendering of hugs, US Presidents and the politics of hugging; it's also all about free hugs, tree hugging and the Khejarli Massacre in September 1730. Who knew!
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Victor Gregg is a veteran of World War Two and the Dresden Bombings, and travelled with Dan to visit Dresden a couple of years ago for a documentary. In this episode, taken from our archive, Victor talks about what it was like to be in Dresden during the bombings, and the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) he suffered as a result of his wartime experiences.
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For Lockdown Learning this week I am joined by Dr Fabian Hilfrich, head of American History at Edinburgh University. He takes us through from the late 19th Century to the beginning of the 20th century when America rose to challenge the old European powers on the world stage. We cover subjects such as American imperialism, industrial development and wealth distribution, the impact of immigration, how America viewed itself on the world stage and the evolution of the constitution during this period.
Many thanks again to Simon Beale for creating this downloadable worksheet for students: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DOC7Qj3kxZ3iboMwIQ4xsCfYV0QZGLVZ/view
As the impeachment trial of Donald Trump got underway in the USA the 18th-century case of Warren Hastings, the former Governor-General of Bengal was cited as a precedent for someone being impeached after they had left office. But what happened to bring about Hastings' impeachment and why does this case matter now? I'm joined by best selling author, an expert on the East India Company and a rock star of 18th-century history William Dalrymple to find out.
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Journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera joins me on the podcast to talk about his latest book Empireland which examines how much of what we think of as Britain and British is owed to our imperial past. We compare notes on our own family's relationships to the British Empire imperial, me being British-Canadian and Sathnam being of Punjabi descent, and discuss how imperial history should be thought about and taught today.
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Today, I am joined by best-selling author Ken Follett to discuss his latest book The Evening and the Morning. We also talk about his love of history and the historical research involved with writing one of his novels, his method and how authors have to sometimes use creative license to fill in some of the underwear shaped gaps left in the historical record. This episode was recorded before the US election last year and Ken, a former journalist, also touches on his concerns for his previous occupation with the proliferation of fake news.
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In 1949 Mao Zedong led the Chinese Communist Party to victory in the long and bloody Chinese Civil War. The impact of this victory was felt not just within China itself, but globally throughout the Cold War and into the modern era. Today, the legacy of 1949 still resonates shaping the political and ideological landscape of China and how it perceives itself on the world stage. Graham Hutchings joins me to discuss the fateful events of 1949 and their impact and the looming possibility of conflict over the island of Taiwan.
Graham Hutchings is an Associate at the University of Oxford's China Centre and an Honorary Professor at University of Nottingham, UK. Having previously been Principal at Oxford Analytica and China Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph from 1987 to 1998 he is an expert on Chinese history, and the author of Modern China: A Companion to a Rising Power (2000). His latest book China 1949: Year of Revolution Hardcover is available now from Bloomsbury Press.
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, investigate the fascinating unexpected history of TONGUES! Which is all about licking earthenware and the tongue as an important archaeological tool, Mary Bateman and tongue collecting, the removal of tongues, it's also all about tongue twisters and the history of elocution, and the cultural politics of sticking out tongues, as a greeting, an act of aggression or rudeness, or even a gesture of flirtation. Who knew!
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The release of The Dig has brought the story of the Sutton Hoo dig to the forefront of people’s minds of late. The real hero of that story though is not the people involved but rather the stunning archaeology discovered in Suffolk as the Second World War loomed. Sue Brunning joins me on the podcast to talk all thing Sutton Hoo. The history of the excavation, who might have been buried at the heart of it and what it tells us about Early Medieval England.
Sue is an archaeologist specialising in Early Medieval material culture and is the curator of Early Medieval Europe Collections at the British Museum where many of the artefacts from Sutton Hoo are housed.
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, climb the rungs of the past to reach the unexpected history of LADDERS! Which is all about prehistoric cave art, the Crusades and the capture of Constantinople in 1204 (using flying ladders), lamp lighters in eighteenth-century Dublin; it's about accidents and superstition (falling off and walking under ladders); and it's about Ancient and medieval sieges, a attacking fortified castles with ladders; and of course it's all about the popular children's game snakes and ladders, which originated as India, known as Moksha Patam. Who knew!
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In this episode, originally released in 2018, Dan talks to actor, activist, and "part-time suffragette" Kate Willoughby about Emily Davison, the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, and what still needs to be done.
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For this episode of Lockdown Learning Professor Richard Toye joined me on the podcast to talk about the interwar period and answer the key questions of what caused the Second World War. We spoke about why the Treaty of Versailles was so harsh on Germany, why the League of Nations failed and the impact of the Wall Street Crash on global politics and how all these combined to help bring about the World War Two.
Many thanks again to Simon Beale for creating this downloadable worksheet for students:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cpEzgAYEOgleTRvh-J-tyz2k4MLUCTc8/view?usp=sharing
In this latest episode, the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, wade their way through the paperwork and bureaucracy of the past to action the unexpected history of MEETINGS! Which is all about campus novels of the twentieth century, state sponsored sabotage by the CIA's precursor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the history of secret meetings and the Ku Klux Klan, Nelson and naval warfare and the court of Elizabeth I. Who knew!
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Facebook was founded on the 4th of February 2004 and began as a tool to stay in touch with friends and family, but has ended up being a place where you can plan insurrectionist movements and anti-vax rallies. Today I am joined by American tech journalist Kara Swisher to talk about Facebook, social media and the history of tech and what the future holds for the industry.
Kara has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and is currently an opinion writer for The New York Times. She also co-founded the Recode conference. If you would like to hear more from Kara then she presents the Sway Podcast with the New York Times about power and influence. She also co-hosts Pivot with NYU Professor Scott Galloway offering sharp, unfiltered insights into the biggest stories in tech, business, and politics.
In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, stir the whey of history as they unwrap the unexpected history of CHEESE! Which is all about Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London of 1666, witches and magic (via fortune telling, love potions and malevolent acts with cheese!), Homer's Odyssey and a cheese-making cyclops, the Flemings, ethnic cleansing in the Middle Ages, the Peasants' Revolt in 1381 and lost knowledge! Who knew!
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In this episode of the podcast, I’m joined by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith, hosts of The Log Books podcast, to discuss the Aids pandemic of the 1980s and 1990s and the lessons that might be drawn for dealing with COVID-19.
We talk about the role of the media in creating negative press around HIV/AIDS and the direct impact that had on Thatcher's Government decision to bring in Section 28. We also discuss the role of many lesbians in supporting those with HIV and dying of AIDS - an area that is often overlooked.
If you would like more information on The Log Books podcast then please check out their website at https://www.thelogbooks.org/
Roughly two miles south of Hadrian’s Wall lie the remains of Roman Corbridge, the northernmost town of the Roman Empire. The site’s archaeology is unique. The remains highlight what was once a bustling town. As its centre was the high street. Covered walkways, street-side shops and an ornate fountain are just a few of the structures that we know were present along this central road, now known as the Stanegate. Metres away, however, you have the remains of very different structures surviving. Military buildings, ‘mini forts’ that were slotted into Corbridge’s bustling town landscape, when the legionaries returned here in the 2nd century. Though not on Hadrian’s Wall itself, this ancient cosmopolitan town had strong economic connections with those manning this frontier. It is a must-see site for anyone planning to visit Hadrian’s Wall.
A few months back, I was fortunate enough to visit Corbridge and be shown around the site by English Heritage curator Dr Frances McIntosh.
The full tour / documentary can be viewed on History Hit TV. Hadrian’s Wall: Settlement and Supply: https://access.historyhit.com/videos/settlement-and-supply
The site of Corbridge Roman Town is owned by English Heritage https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/corbridge-roman-town-hadrians-wall/
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In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, explore the fascinating history of UNCLES. From discussions of the Richard III and the Princes in the Tower to seventeenth-century kinship networks in the diary of Samuel Pepys and the personification of the US state in the figure of Uncle Sam, James and Sam rampage around history of uncles before settling on the fascinating history of the reign of Edward VI (1537-1553), who ascended to the throne of England in January 1547 aged only 9 years old. After discussions of the provisions in his father King Henry VIII's will, we look at the seizure of power by Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, brother of Queen Jane Seymour, who became the Duke of Somerset and appointed Protector. In this capacity he oversaw the government of the country, and we explore his personality, his policies and his ultimate fall from power. The demise of Protector Somerset was orchestrated by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who effectively took over power, and we discuss the nature of his rule and government. With Edward VI's untimely death from tuberculosis aged only 15, Northumberland subverts the succession and supports the accession of Lady Jane Grey to the throne, a plot that ultimately failed and for which he and the tragic Lady Jane were both executed. As always, there is a quiz at the end, and a writing task, based on Edward VI's Journal.
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Historian Michael Taylor joined me on the podcast to discuss the resistance of the British establishment to the ending of the slave trade.
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In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, tackle the expected history of FALCONS! Which is all about medieval and Tudor society, from Kings to knaves via The Book of Hawking, Hunting, and Blasing of Arms; it's also all about Barry Hines' 1968 novel, A Kestrel for a Knave, and it includes a SPECIAL INTERVIEW with Paul Manning, the falconer at Beaulieu, the first official falconer at the house from three centuries! This is living history - and the role of the falconer hasn't changed in over 700 years! Who knew!
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Sally Hoedel joined me on the podcast to talk about the turbulent life and career of Elvis Presley, King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
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In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, once again take to the skies to swoop upon the expected history of BIRDS! Which in this episode is all about it's also all about homing pigeons in WWI and WWII, the Dickin Medal and honouring of animals during the Second World War, including super pigeon hero William of Orange. It's also all about Viking culture, which fluttered with birds from the evidence of osteoarchaeology (the study of animal bones from archaeological sites) which shows us that birds were a common feature of the Viking diet; use of birds for navigation; and mythological birds, including perhaps the most famous birds in Norse legend, Huginn and Muninn, which perched on the shoulders of the god Odin, and flew all over the world gathering information for him. Who knew!
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Helen Rappaport, a specialist in Russian history, joined me on the podcast for the third episode of our lockdown learning series to talk about the Russian Revolution. We run through some key moments in the fall of the Romanovs.
Many thanks to Simon Beale for creating this downloadable pdf worksheet for students:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K9b4wZUKbagxobWBPlCOs3ZUuiLmzOj3/view
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In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, take to the skies to swoop upon the expected history of BIRDS! Which is all about the Battle of Waterloo and plumed helmets, costume feathers, hats, the American Ornithologists Union and cruelty to birds; it's also all about canary resuscitators, John Scott Haldane and the use of canaries down mines and in the trenches during the First World War. Who knew!
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Rebecca Simon joined me on the podcast to talk about the Golden Age of Piracy within the British-Atlantic world.
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In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, explore the fascinating history of BATHTUBS!. From discussions of the 'eureka' moment of Archimedes in Ancient Greece and the discovery of displacement and bathtubs in ships to H.L. Mencken's fictitious tales of bathtubs in the White House, Sam and James rampage around history of bathtubs before settling on the fascinating history of Prohibition in the1920 and 1930s in the USA until it was ended by President Roosevelt in 1933. It starts by looking at the production of bathtub liquor, before looking at why prohibition was introduced, the social problems caused by prohibition, and the rise of gangsters such as Al Capone. As always, at the end there is a quiz and a writing task to look at the effects of prohibition on American people!
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For Holocaust Memorial Day Dan talks to people who have experienced and survived genocide. Four guests from four different parts of the world. Sophie Masereka, Ruth Barnett, Kemal Pervanic, Sokphal Din all share their traumatic experiences. All of them lost their loved ones. All of them are brave enough to speak out, driven by the belief that memorialisation and education may stop the next genocide.
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In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, explore the fascinating history of LEAVING HOME. From discussions of seventeenth-century boys leaving home to attend school and university (and letters home to mothers), going off to war and travelling around the world to the exact opposite, staying at home, lockdown and being under house arrest, Sam and James rampage around history of leaving home before settling on the fascinating history of the Viking Invasions. It starts by looking at sources that describe Viking raids, before discussing who the Vikings were, when and where the invasions took place, and what motivated them to leave Scandinavia. As always, at the end there is a quiz and a task to produce your own map of the Viking invasions!
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Fergal Keane joined me on the podcast to talk about the profound influence the Irish have had on Britain over many centuries.
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In this episode, I was joined by journalist Ian Dunt, a well known a commentator on politics and on Brexit. Ian is host of the 'Oh God What Now' podcast and editor of politics.co.uk. We discuss his recent book which makes an impassioned defence of liberalism and tells its story, from its birth in the fight against absolute monarchy to the modern-day resistance against the new populism.
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In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, fathom the mind-numbingly difficult history of HACKING. From Guglielmo Marconi and magician and inventor Nevil Maskelyne, the history of Rene Carmille, who in 1943 was the first ethical hacker for sabotaging the computerization of data about French Jews during World War II to Joe "Joybubbles" Engressia, a blind 7-year-old boy with perfect pitch who was able to hack AT&T's telephonic system in 1957, Sam and James rampage around history of hacking before settling on the fascinating history of codebreaking during WW2. It starts by looking at an example of an encrypted German Codes, before discussing the intricacies of the Enigma machine, and early attempts by Polish codebreakers to crack the German codes. We then discuss, the role of Alfred Dillwyn "Dilly" Knox, Alan Turing and the team at Bletchley Park and the invention of the Bombe machine; the precise methods for cracking codes, and the impact of the course of the war on land, in the air and at sea. As always, at the end there is a quiz and a task to construct your own secret code, and send a message written it!
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Eric Thompson has had his finger literally on the nuclear button. He joined the Royal Navy submarine service in the early days of the Cold War. He served on WW2 era ships and submarine before ending his career as a senior officer on Britain's state of the art nuclear submarines. Each one armed with inter continental ballistic missiles with nuclear tips. He took Dan to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport to show him around one of the finest preserved submarines in the world, HMS Alliance. He told Dan how they kept the beer cold and why his main concern at sea was the toilet.
To watch an extended version of this interview, please check out our documentary now available at historyhit.tv. It's still January, so the code 'january' gets you a month for free and the next three months for 80% off the subscription of $/£ 5.99 per month.
BAFTA winning historian and Joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces Lucy Worsley takes Dan on a tour of Kensington Palace, one of the principle royal residences since 1689, and the childhood home of Queen Victoria.
In this week's Lockdown Learning episode, I was delighted to be joined by medieval historian Marc Morris. We discuss broad themes relating to the Middle Ages - what were they and which periods did they come in between. We ask whether many of the clichés about the Middle Ages are accurate.
Many thanks again to Simon Beale, who's put together a worksheet for students to fill out while listening to the episode. You can download it here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dwbcPc4qmHIfuIQImt4nfp1cPWfJSoFd/view?usp=sharing
Ella Al-Shamahi, explorer, paleoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist and stand-up comic, joined me on the podcast to talk about Amazon Civilisations.
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In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, investigate the flamboyant history of BLING. From the history of opulence, luxury and ostentation via subjects as wide-ranging as HIP HOP and the Palace of Versailles, Sam and James rampage around history of bling before settling on the fascinating history of Stuart clothing. It starts by looking at Samuel Pepys's diary and his attitudes to clothing, before considering Tudor Sumptuary laws in the sixteenth century, the attitudes of Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans towards dress, and the impact of the Restoration on costume. The episode also looks at how the Tudors and Stuarts would have washing their clothing. As always, at the end there is a quiz and a task to compile a timeline of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century costumes!
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Marissa Roth, Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist, joins me on the podcast to talk about her pictures of the 1992 LA riots and lifetime of war photography, especially dealing with women in war.
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This is fifth episode in our new micro history series - where we take an historic subject and try to demonstrate how it has a history in just 15-20 minutes!! And without just talking at supersonic speed. Think of it as the historicaI equivalent of speed chess or speed dating. In this fifth foray into historical brevity the histories of the unexpected duo of James Daybell and Sam Willis tackle the intriguing subject of FUN, which is inspired by their book on the VIKINGS. Taking that as their starting place, the boys tackle topics of the archaeology of fun, gaming pieces, the status of fun, drowning matches and pillow fights, the viking ball game and female fun, before tackling the subjects of fun rhymes and children's nonsense poems in Britain in the 1950s and wagers in the second half of the eighteenth century! Who knew?
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It’s a paradox for the ages, breaking news about people who lived and died thousands of years ago. This discovery is no different, because Adam Brumm and his team in Sulawesi have released their discovery of the oldest known art. The paintings on the Indonesian island are over 45,500 years old, and feature three pigs alongside the stencilled outlines of the hands of their prehistoric painter. Listen as Adam tells Tristan about his research on this beautiful island, how the pigs were discovered and what they can tell us about early people.
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On 18 January 1871 as the Siege of Paris raged a couple of miles away King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed Emperor of the German empire in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. It was the most dramatic possible beginning to a new imperial project in the heart of Europe. The German Empire was instantly a major power on the continent and quickly developed global ambitions. Dan talked to Katja Hoyer about the events leading up to its founding and what it meant for German and the world.
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In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, investigate the unnerving history of Rats. From the history of infestation, pets, the medieval tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin and the honoured position of rats in eastern culture, Sam and James rampage around history of rats before settling on the fascinating history of the Black Death. It looks at the three different forms of plague (Bubonic, Pneumonic and Septisemic) and their symptoms, before looking at descriptions of the plague in Messina from 1347, the spread of the plague from the Gobi dessert in Africa along trade routes to the east and in Europe. It also looks at how the plague was perceived by contemporaries, and the impact it had on society, the economy and culturally. As always, at the end there is a quiz and a couple of writing tasks, including writing a plague diary!
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In this special BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, return to the high street of history and navigate their way around the boutiques and emporia of the historical archives to rampage once again like a bull in a china shop for more frenzied discussion of the expected history of SHOPPING! Which is all about early modern gloves, his and hers consumption, sixteenth-century Italianate gentlemen, it's about proxy shopping, the haptic experience of retail, and the underbelly of Roman society (via dishonest shop keepers, predatory peddlars, dodgy Roman bars, and the dregs of society). Did we also mention that it's also all about.... buying and selling early modern gloves? Who knew!
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He's made history. Donald Trump has become the only President in US history to be impeached not once but twice. Three years ago Dan talked to Joshua Matz, an attorney and constitutional scholar in Washington DC and author of "To End a Presidency." He explained to Dan the history of impeachment and discussed how it works in practice. Not long after we all got a practical demonstration of impeachment and Joshua Matz played a key role. He served among the counsel for the impeachment and trial of President Trump. Following Trump's second impeachment we decided to re-release this podcast. Some of it has aged, but it has aged pretty well!
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We're very pleased to bring you this special 'Lockdown Learning' episode of the podcast, featuring the brilliant Dr Anna Whitelock on the Tudor period. Anna is Director of the London Centre for Public History and Heritage and head of history at Royal Holloway, she's written extensively on the Tudors and in this episode she gives us a general view right across the period.
Thank you also to Simon Beale, a history teacher in our community, who has put together the accompanying worksheet, you can download the PDF here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E4XPAhTiIRHnQsqEC6fqkEJSVk81ZWZO/view?usp=sharing
In this Homeschooling History episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, investigate the fascinating history of Sludge. From the history of travel, festivals and Saxon house-building, Sam and James rampage around history of sludge before settling on the fascinating history of the trenches in WWI. It looks at the failure of the Schlieffen Plan August-September 1914, the digging of trenches and the creation of the Western Front, the nature of trench warfare and life in the trenches!
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In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, hit the streets, and leisurely consider the expected history of SHOPPING! Which is all about ancient street vendors in Pompeii, peddlars, William Shakespeare's character Autolycus and The Winter's Tale, trade cards and the material culture of retail, extravagance and would you believe it.....early modern gloves! Who knew!
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Constitutional law and legal history scholar Carlton Larson talked to Dan during Christmas about treason in the American legal system. How is it defined in the US constitution and how has it been used by prosecutors over the centuries? The chat took place before the insurrection at the Capitol but we thought we would broadcast it anyway. We believe it has become even more relevant given the events of the last week.
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Tash Walker and Adam Zmith join me to talk about The Log Books Podcast, a history of LGBTQ+ life in the UK.
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In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, investigate the unexpected history of Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, and the Third Reich in Germany. After a rampage around the history of the Führer and Nazi Germany, Sam interviews leading expert on Hitler and the Third Reich, the wonderful Professor Frank McDonough, about his new book, The Hitler Years, Volume 2: Disaster 1940-1945 (2020).
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In 1814 a British expeditionary force landed in Maryland, marched on Washington, brushed aside an American army and stormed into the US capital. The British looted and burnt the Capitol, then moved on to the White House, ate President Madison's dinner and then torched the White House. Even members of the British force described it as 'barbaric.' Two hundred years later Peter Snow, Dan's dad, wrote an account of the raid. He seemed like the obvious guy to talk to as The Capitol was once again attacked this year.
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James and Sam tackle the fascinating history of BACKSTABBERS! From the politics of Tudor England to the assassination of Julius Caesar by Brutus, Sam and James rampage around history of backstabbing before settling on the fascinating history of the Bolsheviks seizure of power in October 1917, the leadership of Lenin, his testament, the rise of Joseph Stalin and the assassination of Leon Trotsky.
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Jamie Bartlett joined me on the podcast to talk about the history of the Bitcoin.
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This is fourth episode in our new micro history series - where we take an historic subject and try to demonstrate how it has a history in just 15-20 minutes!! And without just talking at supersonic speed. Think of it as the historicaI equivalent of speed chess or speed dating. In this third foray into historical brevity the histories of the unexpected duo of James Daybell and Sam Willis tackle the intriguing subject of KEYS, which is inspired by their book on the VIKINGS. Taking that as their starting place, the boys tackle topics of Viking power, control, access, the Viking housewife, treasure, weapons and symbolic female power before tackling the subjects of Exeter Cathedral, the Exeter Book and the keys of St Peter, as well as latchkey children and WWII! Who knew?
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James and Sam tackle the touching history of Ribbons in this homeschooling history episode! From the fashion, commemoration, funerals, war heroes and causes, Sam and James rampage around history of ribbons before settling on the moving history of the Foundling Hospital, founded by philanthropist Thomas Coram in 1739 on his return to London to care for and educate some of London’s most vulnerable citizens. Ribbons connect to the tokens left by mothers with their babies that they left in the care of the hospital. The episode also looks at the social problems faced in Victorian Britain.
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John Geddes joined the Parachute Regiment as a teenager in the late 1970s. Within a couple of years he was plunged into the Falklands War and the bloodiest battle the British Army had fought since the Korean War. In this podcast John talks to Dan about his experience in the army, his memories of the Battle of Goose Green and subsequent Falklands actions. His recollections are remarkable and sometimes harrowing.
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This is third episode in our new micro history series - where we take an historic subject and try to demonstrate how it has a history in just 15-20 minutes!! And without just talking at supersonic speed. Think of it as the historicaI equivalent of speed chess or speed dating. In this third foray into historical brevity the histories of the unexpected duo of James Daybell and Sam Willis tackle the artistic subject of FACES, which is inspired by their book on the TUDORS. Taking that as their starting place, the boys tackle topics of Tudor portraiture, royal portraits, Anne Boleyn, pregnancy portraits and ageing in the sixteenth century, before tackling the subjects of face masks and face coverings, both of which have a long and complex history! Who knew?
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Dan speaks to economic historian Adam Tooze for the tenth anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse in this special podcast.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
As an armed mob broke into the US Capitol, Dan talked long into the night to his friend and star blogger known only as the Angry Staff Officer. He is a serving officer in the US military and is unable to use his own name for broadcasting. During the course of a long conversation they talked about the American constitutional experiment, the history of insurrection in America, the battle of Gettysburg, the meaning of the word militia and, yes, Star Wars.
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James and Sam tackle the shocking history of BETRAYAL! From the Austrian army officer Alfred Redl who sold secrets about the Austrian army during WWI and British commander Paul Cole, who sold out the French Resistance during WWII to Judas Iscariot and his 30 pieces of silver, Sam and James rampage around history of betrayal before settling on the fascinating case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, two US citizens convicted of spying for the Russians, and revealing nuclear weapons secrets, which led to them being condemned to death in 1953.
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The length of time between the rule of Cleopatra and the erection of the Pyramids is the same as that between now and the birth of Jesus Christ. With that in mind, it is perhaps no surprise that some periods of Ancient Egypt fall beneath the radar. The Late Period of Ancient Egypt, however, is not without drama. These final centuries are characterised by repeated invasions and leadership by foreign rulers. Chris Naunton is an Egyptologist, writer and broadcaster. He spoke to Tristan about the influence of external forces on Ancient Egyptian society from the Third Intermediate Period through the Late Period. This included Libyan, Assyrian, Persian and, notably, an Ancients’ favourite, the Macedonian Alexander the Great.
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Jessica Dalton joined me on the podcast to talk about the history of the Inquisition. We discussed the Roman Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, and how religion and politics have clashed and intertwined in Europe since the fifteenth century.
Patricia Clavin, Niamh Gallagher and Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid joined me on the pod to discuss the history of the partition of Ireland.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Metal detectorist Kevin Duckett made a remarkable discovery in a field in Northamptonshire. At first he thought it was a bit of squashed tin foil. In fact it was a two-and-a-half inch jewel which experts believe could once have sat atop the Tudor crown of England. To entangle this mystery Leanda de Lisle comes back on the podcast to explain to Dan how this jewel made its way from royal diadem to a muddy field.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
This episode is the third of our History Legends podcasts, featuring Mary Beard.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Tristan Donovan joined me on the podcast to talk about the history of gaming.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
From the day he was found in a carrier bag on the steps of Guy's Hospital in London, Andy McNab has led an extraordinary life. As a teenage delinquent, Andy McNab kicked against society. As a young soldier he waged war against the IRA in the streets and fields of South Armagh. As a member of 22 SAS he was at the centre of covert operations for nine years – on five continents. During the Gulf War he commanded Bravo Two Zero, a patrol that, in the words of his commanding officer, 'will remain in regimental history for ever'. Awarded both the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and Military Medal (MM) during his military career, McNab was the British Army's most highly decorated serving soldier when he finally left the SAS. Since then Andy McNab has become one of the world’s best-selling writers, drawing on his insider knowledge and experience. As well as several non-fiction bestsellers including Bravo Two Zero, the biggest selling British work of military history, he is the author of the best-selling Nick Stone and Tom Buckingham thrillers. He has also written a number of books for children. Besides his writing work, he lectures to security and intelligence agencies in both the USA and UK, works in the film industry advising Hollywood on everything from covert procedure to training civilian actors to act like soldiers. He continues to be a spokesperson and fundraiser for both military and literacy charities.
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Part Two: a compilation of the best podcasts of 2020.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
80 years ago today the Second Great Fire of London was unleashed by sustained German bombing during one of the fiercest nights of the Blitz. On this podcast Dan goes on a tour around the City of London with Clive Harris looking at how Luftwaffe bombs reshaped the city. Dan also talks to Dr Tom Allbeson, a Lecturer at Cardiff University, about how the iconic photo of St Paul's was taken and how it became a symbol of Britain's war effort.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Eric Foner joined me on the podcast to talk about Reconstruction, the attempt to reimagine the American Republic following the Civil War.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Dan Snow is treated to a range of Dickensian Christmas delights courtesy of historian Pen Vogler, from mince pies to Charles Dickens' favourite punch.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Michael Wood joined me on the podcast to talk about his career as a historian.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
A compilation of the best podcasts of 2020. Part one highlights historians talking about history.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, get into the festive spirit once more, pack up the presents of the past and take you on a historical sleigh ride of archival inquiry to unwrap the expected history of REINDEER! Which is all about an 11,000 year-old sculpture of two swimming reindeer carved out of mammoth tusk, which shows the development of the human brain and ice-age art, maps and mapping, and reindeer knickers; it's also all about tension in the Russian Arctic, Reindeer Crusades, and of course the invention of Christmas crackers and the reindeer joke, for example 'How much does it cost Santa to park his sleigh and reindeer?', 'Nothing, it's on the house'. Who knew!
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Part Two of our special podcast mini series on the famous Christmas Truce. On Christmas Eve 1914 many sectors of the Western Front in France and Belgium fell silent. Troops from all sides put down their weapons and sang carols, exchanged gifts and buried their dead in No Man's Land. The following day the truce continued in many, but not all areas, and troops gathered in crowds between the lines. there may even have been a bit of a kick about. On this episode three distinguished historians, Peter Hart, Taff Gillingham and Rob Schaefer tell us about the events of the truce itself. We also hear extracts of letters and diaries from the men involved, including some broadcast here for the first time in English. This is the story of the Christmas Truce. It accompanies our most ambitious TV project yet on History Hit TV where with the help of specialist extras we dramatise the events of that Christmas in 1914.
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In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, int into the festive spirit and take you on a historical sleigh ride of archival inquiry to unwrap the expected history of REINDEER! Which is all about the invention of Father Christmas's reindeer in the anonymous poem 'Old Santeclaus with Much Delight' (1821), Clement C. Moore's 'Visit from St Nicholas', also known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' (1823), where he coined the names Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, and L. Frank Baum's story (he of Wizard of Oz fame) The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902) in which they are renamed as Flossie and Glossie, Racer and Pacer, Fearless and Peerless, Ready and Steady, Feckless and Speckless. Rudolph at this stage was nowhere to be seen, until his invention in 1939 by Robert L. May, ad man at the Montgomery Ward Retail store in Chicago, who wrote the 2-million selling book Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, which later led to the Gene Autry hit, which sold over 25,000,000 copies! The unexpected history of reindeer is also all about the Wild Sports of the World: A Boy's Book of Natural History and Adventure by James Greenwood (1862), and nineteenth-century pit traps! Who knew!
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On Christmas Eve 1914 many sectors of the Western Front in France and Belgium fell silent. Troops from all sides put down their weapons and sang carols, exchanged gifts and buried their dead in No Man's Land. The following day the truce continued in many, but not all areas, and troops gathered in crowds between the lines. there may even have been a bit of a kick about. This is part 1 of a two part Christmas podcast which explores the truce with three distinguished historians, Peter Hart, Taff Gillingham and Rob Schaefer. We also hear extracts of letters and diaries from the men involved, including some broadcast here for the first time in English. This is the story of the Christmas Truce. It accompanies our most ambitious TV project yet on History Hit TV where with the help of specialist extras we dramatise the events of that Christmas in 1914.
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This is the EIGTH of our special Christmas-themed micro-histories in which we will embrace the task of demonstrating how an unexpected subject not only has a history but is massively important and interesting - in just 15 minutes! We will start with a shared example and then have just five minutes each to make a case for an interesting history on that very unexpected subject. Contributions will be rigorously timed and you - dear listeners - will get to vote on SM on what YOU think was the most interesting fact you heard today.
Today’s topic is CARROTS - nothing quite says Christmas like carrots (we like ours with olive oil/butter, cumin seeds and honey). Yum! We are so used to Christmas of over-indulgence, extravagance and all the trimmings (maybe not this year!), but it was not always thus! During the World Wars with rationing imposed and the supply lines of the British Empire greatly reduced, such luxury Christmas treats were a pipe dream, and more humble ingredients had to be used. The carrot in particular, was much lauded as a versatile and plentiful foodstuff, so much so that during the Second World War a recipe booklet was produced with instructions for thrifty carrot-based dishes, including carrot soups, carrot savoury, carried croquettes, and what was known as a ‘War-and-Peace pudding’. An alternative to Christmas pudding this was made with carrots instead of mincemeat. First made in Canada during the Great War, it consisted of flour, breadcrumbs, suet, grated raw potato and carrot to bulk out the mixed dried fruit and spice – and note the lack of fortified spirits. So popular was this that many never went back to eating the richer, more exotic, variety. Who knew! Carrots are also all about medicine in the ancient and medieval world - you will never think of the humble carrot quite the same again - and they're also all about colour, Afghanistan, Albrecht Dürer and Pliny.
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On 19 December 1644 the English Parliament banned Christmas. EXACTLY 376 years later to the day, Boris Johnson announced that this year the celebration of Christmas would be radically curtailed due to the upsurge in Covid infections. This might be the only thing that Boris Johnson and the 17th Century Puritans have in common. On this podcast Dan meets Dr Rebecca Warren, an expert on the religious history of the 17th Century to find out about the banning of Christmas. Why it happened, and just how stringent was the enforcement?
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
This is the SEVENTH of our special Christmas-themed micro-histories in which we will embrace the task of demonstrating how an unexpected subject not only has a history but is massively important and interesting - in just 15 minutes! We will start with a shared example and then have just five minutes each to make a case for an interesting history on that very unexpected subject. Contributions will be rigorously timed and you - dear listeners - will get to vote on SM on what YOU think was the most interesting fact you heard today.
Today’s topic is OBSCENITY - nothing quite says Christmas like obscenity! Christmas was a time for subversion during the High Middle Ages and Renaissance when snowmen were regularly built as winter effigies. During the cold winter of 1510-11 the citizens of Brussels built around 110 individual snowmen around the city, depicting in snow folklore figures such unicorns and mermaids, religious and political themes, as well extreme sexual and even scatalogical imagery. One of the more sexualised sculptures could be found in Rozendal, the red light district of the city, which depicted a prostitute completely naked, with breasts and genitalia sculpted to attract attention, and a ‘dog...ensconced between her legs’. Of the more scatalogical, was a snow-cow that delivered ‘turds, farts and stinking’; a defecating centaur; a ‘manneken pis’ fountain depicting a small boy urinating into the mouth of a drinker; and finally a drunk drowning in his own excrement. These are a far cry from the ‘jolly happy soul’ that we know from the Frosty the Snowman song of 1950. Who knew! Obscenity is also all about name-calling on the streets in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Devon (especially in Bradninch!) and of course it's also all about puritanical attitudes in nineteenth-century America!
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In 218 BCE, Hannibal Barca's Carthaginian army, accompanied by horses and elephants, completed one of the most audacious military marches of ancient Mediterranean history. Setting off from southeast Spain, on their way they overcame a number of hostile Celtic tribes and traversed two major mountain ranges: the Pyrenees and then, most famously, the Alps. Battered and bruised Hannibal and his men eventually descended from the Alpine passes and arrived in Northern Italy at the end of 218 BC, where they soon clashed with the Roman legions awaiting them near the River Trebbia. This battle, fought on a snowy plain in freezing conditions, was the climax of the 218 BC campaign and the first of Hannibal's great victories against Rome.
From the outbreak of the Second Punic War to the Battle of the River Trebbia, in this two-part podcast Dr Louis Rawlings, Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at Cardiff University, dives into the events of 218 BC and the incredible leadership of Hannibal. In this first episode, Tristan and Louis discuss the background to Hannibal Barca's march to Italy, before focusing in on one of the greatest adventure stories from antiquity: Hannibal's crossing of the Alps.
This is the SIXTH of our special Christmas-themed micro-histories in which we will embrace the task of demonstrating how an unexpected subject not only has a history but is massively important and interesting - in just 15 minutes! We will start with a shared example and then have just five minutes each to make a case for an interesting history on that very unexpected subject. Contributions will be rigorously timed and you - dear listeners - will get to vote on SM on what YOU think was the most interesting fact you heard today.
Today’s topic is RIOTS - nothing quite says Christmas like riots! Riots are also of course all about!Christmas has often been about violence and rioting as much as it has sharing and caring. It is well known that Oliver Cromwell and puritans sought to abolish Christmas, which they viewed as a ‘Popish superstition’. One ordinance was passed by Parliament in June 1647 which threatened with punishment anyone who celebrated this festival. This ban did not go down well in all quarters, and in December 1647 many of the citizens of Canterbury defied it, taking to the streets to riot. The pamphlet Canterbury’s Christmas: Or A True Relation of the Insurrection in Canterbury on Christmas Last describes how shops that stayed open on this holy day were ransacked, the mayor, aldermen and constables attacked, and the sheriff knocked down, his head ‘fearfully broke, it was gods mercy his brains were not beat out’. In another example, this one in America in 1776 at the start of the American Revolutionary War, the rebel militia guarding the maritime route to Canada Fort Ticonderoga was a simmering pot of class and cultural rivalry exacerbated by cold and boredom. The extra alcohol of Christmas day saw it erupt into shocking violence as the soldiers turned on each other like hungry dogs. A recently-discovered personal account noted how Pennsylvania soldiers ‘armed with guns, bayonets and swords, [who] by force entered the tents and huts of [Massachusetts] officers and soldiers, dragging many out of doors naked and wounding them, robbing and plundering.’ Riots are also all about Mrs Thatcher (milk snatcher) and the infamous Poll Tax Riots of 1990, and of course they're also all about British rule in India, resentment, methods of protest and resistance, loyalty and servitude.
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This is the FIFTH of our special Christmas-themed micro-histories in which we will embrace the task of demonstrating how an unexpected subject not only has a history but is massively important and interesting - in just 15 minutes! We will start with a shared example and then have just five minutes each to make a case for an interesting history on that very unexpected subject. Contributions will be rigorously timed and you - dear listeners - will get to vote on SM on what YOU think was the most interesting fact you heard today.
Today’s topic is SPITE - nothing quite says Christmas like spite! Now you’re probably all thinking about sending Christmas cards or are in the middle of doing so. If you are you may just want to take note of the following. The custom of exchanging greetings cards during the festive season was a Victorian invention, with the first commercial card produced in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. From the 1870s onwards, the introduction of the halfpenny stamp made postage much more affordable, which boosted the popularity of sending cards for ordinary people. Many examples of nineteenth-century Christmas cards survive in collections of Victorian scrapbooks held in libraries around the country. Among the cheerful Yuletide messages many of which were distinctly secular, a number took on a more sinister spiteful note. Examples include an image of a dead robin, a child boiled in a teapot, a clown sneaking up on a policeman to assault him, grizzly looking snowmen and nothing quite says Merry Christmas as does a depiction of frog murder! Who knew! Spite is of course also all about poisoned pens letters throughout the ages, as well as Jack the Ripper, Victorian London and his female victims, Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.
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Ben Macintyre joined me on the podcast to talk about Ursula Kuczynski, one of the greatest spies of the 20th Century.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
This is the FOURTH of our special Christmas-themed micro-histories in which we will embrace the task of demonstrating how an unexpected subject not only has a history but is massively important and interesting - in just 15 minutes! We will start with a shared example and then have just five minutes each to make a case for an interesting history on that very unexpected subject. Contributions will be rigorously timed and you - dear listeners - will get to vote on SM on what YOU think was the most interesting fact you heard today.
Today’s topic is LUCKY FINDS - nothing quite says Christmas like serendipity! You may all be becoming slightly chimney obsessed as we are nearing the festive season - decorating fireplaces, hanging stockings - and we have talked in our microhistory episodes on Evil and shoes - about how chimneys are a way into the houses for evil beings but they are also remarkable historical archives: they often contain artefacts and documents that have been bricked in or lodged up the flu. Serendipity in this way has left us with one of the most interesting types of letters to be discovered in chimneys: children’s letters to Father Christmas. For historians, they are a joy. ‘I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee’ wrote the breathless Alfred or Hannah Howard in October 1911 before placing their letter in the fire. It started to burn before being picked up by a draft and whisked to safety on a tiny shelf inside the chimney of their house in Dublin. 81 years later it as discovered by a couple renovating their house. Such letters are magical because, not only do they record a list of material objects, but a child’s hopes and, sometimes, their fears. The lesson of all of this is never to take your chimney for granted: take a look inside – you just never know what you might find Who knew! Lucky finds are also of course all about the discovered of a long-lost John Donne poetry manuscript, and coins found while weeding in the garden dating from the age of HenryVIII carrying the initials of three of his wives, as well as rare finds of the Bible!
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The Christmas Truce was one of the most miraculous episodes in the history of warfare, and History Hit have a major new podcast and film dropping next week. Watch this space…
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Leila Hassan Howe and Amanda Kirton joined me on the podcast to talk about the history of the Black Power movement in Britain.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Today we remember the suffragettes as a peaceful movement, but in the years before the First World War, the WSPU launched one of the most shocking terrorist campaigns the British mainland has ever seen. Dan talks to Fern Riddell about Kitty Marion, one of the most militant suffragettes, and her struggles.
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James Holland joined me on the podcast to discuss the allied invasion of Sicily on the 10th July 1943.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Richard Reid joined me on the podcast to talk about the history of Ethiopia.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, take another flight into the historical stratosphere to talk about the expected history of WINGS! Which is all about Aerial combat in WWI, John Aidan Liddell, VC, William Blake and Paradise Lost, tree toppers, Hans Christian Anderson’s Christmas Tree!
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Mike Loades joined me on the podcast to talk about the history of dogs, and they are intertwined with human history.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, scale the heights of historical inquiry to uncover the expected history of WINGS! Which is all about biblical angels, the Christmas story, early modern angels and the Reformation, conservation and falcons, the Cottingley Fairies and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!
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This is the THIRD of our special Christmas-themed micro-histories in which we will embrace the task of demonstrating how an unexpected subject not only has a history but is massively important and interesting - in just 15 minutes! We will start with a shared example and then have just five minutes each to make a case for an interesting history on that very unexpected subject. Contributions will be rigorously timed and you - dear listeners - will get to vote on SM on what YOU think was the most interesting fact you heard today.
Today’s topic is SHOES - nothing quite says Christmas like shoes! - Shoes were not simply a noxious deterrent for evil sprites at Christmas time, but a precursor to the now customary stockings as receptacles for yuletide gifts. Earlier depictions of St Nicholas associate him with dropping gold coins down the chimney, which in sixteenth-century Holland similarly led to the tradition of children placing their shoes on the hearth on the eve of the Feast of St Nicholas, awaking in the morning to find them filled with present and sweets. In Italian folklore an old woman named Befana (sometimes referred to as the ‘Christmas Witch’) delivered gifts to children on the eve of Epiphany (6 January) slipping them into shoes left by the fireplace. These earlier chimney-related European traditions no doubt passed into usage in the US through patterns of migration: the spread of Christmas traditions is of course intimately linked with the spread of people around the globe.! Who knew! Shoes are of course all about the politics of sneakers, via the brilliant Public Enemy's 'politics of the sneaker pimps' track on their album He Got Game, and of course it's all about the French Revolution and the banishment of high heels! Who knew!
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At the beginning of 1940 Germany was at the pinnacle of its power. By May 1945 Hitler was dead and Germany had suffered a disastrous defeat. Hitler had failed to achieve his aim of making Germany a super power and had left her people to cope with the endless shame of the Holocaust. In this episode, I'm joined by Professor Frank McDonough, internationally renowned expert on the Third Reich, as well as actor Paul McGann, to discuss this dramatic change of fortune.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Padraic Scanlan joined me on the podcast to talk about how Britain rose to global power on the backs of enslaved workers. Modern Britain has inherited the legacies and contradictions of a liberal empire built on slavery. Modern capitalism and liberalism emphasise 'freedom' - for individuals and for markets - but are built on human bondage.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Chloe Hadjimatheou joined me on the podcast to talk about the death of James Le Mesurier, the man who co-founded the White Helmets, a Syrian civil defence force who filmed themselves pulling survivors and bodies from the rubble of bombed out buildings.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
This is the SECOND of our special Christmas-themed micro-histories in which we will embrace the task of demonstrating how an unexpected subject not only has a history but is massively important and interesting - in just 15 minutes! We will start with a shared example and then have just five minutes each to make a case for an interesting history on that very unexpected subject. Contributions will be rigorously timed and you - dear listeners - will get to vote on SM on what YOU think was the most interesting fact you heard today.
Today’s topic is EVIL - nothing quite says Christmas, as evil! - which is all about chimneys, European Folklore, Kallikantzaroi or Christmas Goblins, as well as witch bottles and the reign of Alexander III of Russia! Who knew!
‘I’m Spartacus!’ In the field of epic film making, the 1960 historical drama ‘Spartacus’, is legendary. Directed by Stanley Kibrick, adapted from the Howard Fast novel by Red Scare blacklisted screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, and starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov and Jean Simmons; it is a classic. But how much of the plot has emerged from the true story of a Thracian gladiator and slave who escaped his Roman captors and led an unsuccessful but impressive rebellion against their oppressors? How much of the film’s message was formed by the personalities involved in its creation, and the context in which it was made. In her own words, Dr Fiona Radford devoted years of her life to the man with the most memorable chin cleft in the world - Kirk Douglas, specifically as Spartacus. Her thesis traced the production history of this film, examining in particular the effect that the turbulent process had on the portrayal of female characters. Having taught at Macquarie University, ANU and the University of Sydney, she currently teaches history at secondary school level, and her conversation with Tristan in this episode is an eye-opener to 1950s film making as well as the legend of Spartacus.
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This is the FIRST of our special Christmas-themed micro-histories in which we will embrace the task of demonstrating how an unexpected subject not only has a history but is massively important and interesting - in just 15 minutes! We will start with a shared example and then have just five minutes each to make a case for an interesting history on that very unexpected subject. Contributions will be rigorously timed and you - dear listeners - will get to vote on SM on what YOU think was the most interesting fact you heard today.
Today’s topic is BAD LUCK - nothing quite says Christmas, as bad luck! - which is all about robins on Christmas cards, unlucky holly, passing a light between houses, childhood superstitions and the gold rush in America during the nineteenth century! Who knew!
Dan Hoyer and Peter Turchin joined me on the podcast to talk about the new transdisciplinary field of Cliodynamics, which uses the tools of complexity science and cultural evolution to study the dynamics of historical empires and modern nation-states.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Dan Snow and Kate Williams talk about the rise and fall of Mary Queen of Scots.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Sasha Swire joined me on the podcast to talk about her diary, written during the Cameron years. Her husband was an MP and junior minister at the time.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
This is second episode in our new micro history series - where we take an historic subject and try to demonstrate how it has a history in just 15-20 minutes!! And without just talking at supersonic speed. Think of it as the historicaI equivalent of speed chess or speed dating. In this second foray into historical brevity the histories of the unexpected duo of James Daybell and Sam Willis tackle the artistic subject of TATTOOS, which is inspired by their book on the Romans. Taking that as their starting place, the boys tackle topics of slavery, imperial power, civilisation and barbarians, before tackling the subjects of John Dee, dreams, alchemy and empire, as well as exploration, Christian missionaries in the nineteenth century, the legal history of skin, cultural sovereignty, imperialism and secret cultural survival. Who knew?
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In today's episode, I was joined by John Mullan, Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London. He has published extensively on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature, and is a wealth of knowledge on all things Dickens. We discuss the man himself and his writings, and the unique Victorian context in which inspired the great novelist.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected buddies, James and Sam, renew their explorations in the archives to investigate further the wonderfully pleasant expected history of FRIENDSHIP! Which is all about childhood memories, oral history and essays, pals battalions and WWI, Francis Bacon and Cicero, friendship albums at the British Library, as well as relations between nations and the Yalta Conference of 1945! Who knew!
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Kate Summerscale has written one of the Sunday Time books of the year exploring the world of poltergeists and ghosts in the build up to the Second World War. She came on the podcast to tell us all about Nandor Fodor – a Jewish-Hungarian refugee and chief ghost hunter for the International Institute for Psychical research in London. From New York to Croydon he used all the gadgets of modern technology to record, X-ray, tape and photograph ghosts.
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Rachel Holmes joined me on the podcast to discuss the life of British suffragette and socialist Sylvia Pankhurst. Sylvia found her voice fighting militantly for votes for women. The vote was just the beginning of her lifelong defence of human rights, from her early warnings of the rise of fascism in Europe, to her campaigning against racism and championing of the liberation struggles in Africa and India. Sylvia's adventures in America, Soviet Russia, Scandinavia, Europe and East Africa made her a true internationalist. She was one of the great minds of the modern era, engaging with political giants, including Churchill, Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, George Bernard Shaw, W.E.B. Du Bois and Haile Selassie.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, make their way through the archives to investigate the wonderfully pleasant expected history of FRIENDSHIP! Which is all about Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie and friendship at first sight; it's about diary-writing, letter-writing and the history of emotions, as well as bereavement, falling in love; it's about Francis Bacon, Cicero and political; as well as Penal Laws and the Catholics in eighteenth-century Ireland, and of course it's also all about the history of cycling clubs! Of course it is!
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Tom Bower joined me on the podcast to discuss the history and legacy of the Nuremberg Trials.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Charles King joined me on the podcast to talk about a group of cultural anthropologist who fundamentally transformed conceptions of 'normality' in the early twentieth century. We talked in particular about the work of Margaret Mead.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
The former Prime Minister has faced a renewed controversy as people are calling for his statues to be removed due to his racist views. We are joined by Professor Richard Toye and Dr Warren Dockter to discuss where his personal views and political policies collide.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
This is the launch of a new challenge! We’ve enjoyed so much our recent lengthier explorations of unexpected subjects in which one topic runs over two podcasts, such is the depth of our research! Nonetheless it raises the important question of whether or not we could do a micro history - take an historic subject and try to demonstrate how it has a history in just 15-20 minutes!! And without just talking at supersonic speed. In this first foray into historical brevity the histories of the unexpected duo of James Daybell and Sam Willis tackle the spine-tingling subject of CANNIBALISM, which is inspired by their book on the Tudors. Taking that as their starting place, the boys tackle topics including Shakespearean Theatre (with images cannibalism in Much Ado About Nothing, Coriolanus, The Tempest, and the Merchant of Venice), Michel de Montaigne's essay 'Of the Caniballes', travel to the New World, as well as Tudor medicine and eating 'mummy flesh'. We then look at a voyage made in 1884 by four men, who set sail from Southampton in a small yacht, the Mignonette, which they sailed to its new owner in Australia, and encountered real tragedy on the journey The episode ends with discussion of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People for Being a Burthen to their Parents or Country (1729), a satirical text that proposes the eating of babies as the solution to the economic problems in Ireland.
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Chris Bryant joined me on the podcast to tell the story of the gay British politicians who were among the very first to warn Britain about the danger of Hitler’s rise to power and the most vocal in demanding an end to the government’s policy of appeasement.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Pompeii is back in the news. An extraordinary new, touching discovery, found during the Great Pompeii Project of Professor Massimo Osanna and his team. Roughly 700 metres northwest of Pompeii, in the remains of a suburban Roman villa, archaeologists have unearthed the incredibly-preserved remains of two men, victims of the infamous eruption of Mount Vesuvius that occurred almost 2,000 years ago in 79 AD.
So what do we know about the eruption? What do we know about this terrible event that has left Pompeii with this astonishing legacy? Daisy Dunn came back on the show for this special, emergency podcast to talk through what we know about the eruption and those who witnessed it.
Daisy is the author of In The Shadow of Vesuvius: A Tale of Two Plinys. She has also appeared on the Ancients podcast earlier this year, talking about Rome’s most erotic poet Catullus.
Dan talks to Helen Castor about her book on Elizabeth I and the way she governed.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, continue their rampage through the past on their question to uncover the unexpected history of LOSERS! Which is all about The Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression, the American Dream, rugged individualism, and the concept of being unsuccessful (bankrupts, defeats, third-raters, good-for-nothings, flunkies, wastes-of-space, old bogies, loafers, has-been, failures and no-hopers), credit ratings, statues, commemoration, Black Lives Matter, Confederates and White Supremacy, and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; it’s also all about WW2, oral history and radical history, hidden voices, and history from below.
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Sarah Churchwell and Kathryn Gray joined me on the podcast to discuss the first Thanksgiving of 1621. They critique mythologies of Thanksgiving that have arisen from 19th century ideologues, to Reagan, to the present day, and reframe settler colonial narratives.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, scour the archives to uncover the unexpected history of LOSERS! Which is all about Donald Trump and the 2020 US Presidential Election, it’s about democracy, Jim Carey and Ace Ventura Pet Detective, Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, George H. W. Bush, John McCain, Etiquette in Defeat, Homer’s Iliad, Charles Dickens, workhouses and Oliver Twist, Presidential Concession Speeches (including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, honour in defeat, prisoners of war, the surrender at Yorktown, US War of Independence and General Cornwallis
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Sarah Lonsdale joined me on the podcast to tell the stories of radical women who challenged the status quo in the interwar years.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Pen Vogler joined me on the pod to discuss the origins of our eating habits and reveals how they are loaded with centuries of class prejudice.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Paul Offit is on the US Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel on vaccines. He talked Dan through the history of massive public vaccination programmes in the US, starting with the unprecedented campaign against Polio in 1955. During that vaccination 200,000 children were a form of the vaccine in which the live polio virus had not been sufficiently inactivated and 40,000 of them got polio leading to 10 deaths and 200 cases of paralysis. That 'Cutter Incident' led to the birth of a modern vaccine regulatory framework and far safer vaccines, although, as he points out, vaccines can only be pronounced truly safe when they have been put into enough humans for enough time. This was a fascinating discussion about a topic that could not be more central to the our conversation at present. And yes, Paul will be taking the vaccine.....
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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Al Worden was an American astronaut and engineer who was the Command Module Pilot for the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, re-hatch the unexpected history of MAGGOTS! Which is all about the American Civil War, Ancient and modern medicine, dangerous Sardinian delicacies, the circle of life, forgetful mothers-in-law and Amazonian plane crashes!
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Diarmaid Ferriter joined me on the podcast to talk about the events of Bloody Sunday on 21st November 1920, which marked a decisive turning-point in Irish history.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, hatch the unexpected history of MAGGOTS! Which is all about the American Civil War, Ancient and modern medicine, dangerous Sardinian delicacies, the circle of life, forgetful mothers-in-law and Amazonian plane crashes!
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Sidney Blumenthal joined me on the podcast to talk about the political life of Abraham Lincoln and what his legacy means today.
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Chris Naunton joined me on the podcast to talk about the work of the many people who contributed to our understanding of ancient Egypt.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Lewis Dartnell joined me on the podcast to talk about a theory that links the outcome of the US election to geology.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Gwrych Castle dominates the road into North Wales. A sprawling Victorian ruin on land that belonged to the same family for over 500 years. It is now famous in the UK as the Covid convenient set for "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here" which launched to huge audiences this weekend. But history fans will be more interested in the the remarkable story of the castle itself than the antics of the celebs in its shadow. From an illustrious stately home, and safe haven for dozens of child refugees it fell on hard times, was stripped for its materials and came close to complete collapse. The fact that it survives at all is thanks to one very remarkable young boy, Mark Baker. In this episode of the podcast Dan visits the castle and talks to Mark about the history, and how he saved it.
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June 1944: the SAS parachute deep into occupied France, to wreak havoc and bloody mayhem. In a country crawling with the enemy, their mission is to prevent Hitler from rushing his Panzer divisions to the D-Day beaches and driving the Allies back into the sea. Damien Lewis joined me on the podcast to tell the story of the SAS Band of Brothers.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
David McGrory joined me on the podcast to discuss Coventry’s Blitz. On the night of 14 November 1940, a Luftwaffe air raid devastated the city of Coventry.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Pete Brown used to advertise lager for a living, until he realised that writing books about beer was even more fun, and entailed drinking even more beer. He appears regularly on television as a beer expert, writes on beer for a variety of publications and is the author of Man Walks into a Pub and the award-winning travel book Three Sheets to the Wind. In this fascinating episode, he discusses the extraordinary history of beer and its rise to become one of the most popular drinks in the world.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
James Rebanks joined me on the podcast to tell the history of his family farm in the Lake District hills. This was part of an ancient agricultural landscape: a patchwork of crops and meadows, of pastures grazed with livestock, and hedgerows teeming with wildlife. We talk about how it has transformed over time.
If you want to get Christmas gifts for your history loving family, then we've got all sorts at historyhit.com/shop. King Tut face coverings, Lord Nelson hoodies, History Hit TV gift subscriptions... we've got it all. We're running a competition where you could win a £100 voucher to spend in the shop. To enter, you'll need to take a quiz about 20 facts from recent podcast episodes. Just go to historyhit.com/quiz to give it a go. Competition ends at midnight on Monday 16th November. Terms and conditions apply.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, return to get their hands dirty once more by exploring the unexpected history of INK! Which is all about elections and fraud, Ancient China, the personality of US Presidents, spies and the Cold War and who could forget Renaissance letter-writing!
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In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, get their hands dirty exploring the unexpected history of INK! Which is all about elections and fraud, Ancient China, the personality of US Presidents, spies and the Cold War and who could forget Renaissance letter-writing!
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100 years ago today, the Unknown Warrior, a common soldier and an unidentified casualty of war, was buried in Westminster Abbey with all the pomp and ceremony of an empire at its zenith. King George V looked on as 100 Victoria Cross bearers formed a guard of honour and the unknown solider was laid to rest. Joining me this Armistice Day is author and historian Juliet Nicolson. Her research has explored the repercussions of living in the shadow of the Great War and together we discuss the backstory of the Unknown Warrior.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Jean and Patricia Owtram were teenagers when the Second World War broke out. They both served in secret roles, one on the coast intercepting German naval signals, the other running intelligence agents from Cairo. Neither told the other what they had been up to until the 1970s! Now, in their late nineties they talked to me about their service and how they can still operate a Sten gun.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, reopen the medical textbooks of the past and diagnose the unexpected history of PATIENTS! Which is all about history from below, smells and noises, introspection, Samuel Pepys, Charles Darwin, architecture and Dr Chapman's spinal ice-bags.
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In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, open up the medical textbooks of the past and diagnose the unexpected history of PATIENTS! Which is all about history from below, smells and noises, introspection, Samuel Pepys, Charles Darwin, architecture and Dr Chapman's spinal ice-bags.
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John Watts never knew his father. He was conceived days before his father, Wing Commander Joseph Watts, was killed on a bombing mission over occupied Europe. He never knew that a bomber from his father's squadron was recovered and is being restored by the RAF museum in Cosford. Dan accompanied John to the museum for the emotional visit which he hoped would bring closure after 80 years of pain.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Lindsay Chervinsky joined me on the podcast to discuss the history of the US Cabinet. We also discussed the electoral college system and the Constitution.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Ed Caesar joined me on the podcast to tell the story of World War I veteran Maurice Wilson, Britain's most mysterious mountaineering legend.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Alexander the Great. One of the most recognisable names in history. In his short lifetime he conquered the mighty Persian Empire and marched his army as far as the Indus River Valley. But it is important to remember that Alexander’s achievements were only possible because of his father Philip. It was Philip who transformed the Kingdom of Macedon from a backward domain into the dominant power in the Central Mediterranean. It was Philip who reformed the army and created the force that would serve as the nucleus of Alexander’s famous victories. Both were extraordinary leaders. Both embodied a charismatic style of leadership that helped transform them into semi-legendary conquerors.
Adrian Goldsworthy joined Tristan (@ancientstristan) on the podcast to talk about Philip and Alexander. One of Britain’s most renowned ancient historians, Adrian has written countless books on ancient Rome, and is the author of Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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Fabian Hilfrich joined me on the podcast to talk about the US electoral college.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat joined me on the podcast to discuss what modern authoritarian leaders have in common and how they can be stopped. We discussed the strongman playbook from Mussolini to Putin, Johnson and Trump.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Professor George Dehner is a world environmental historian who examines the intersection of humans and disease in the modern era. We talked about the great flu pandemics of the later 20th Century, 1968 and 1976.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
1876 was a great pivot in US history. In the presidential election that year a record turn out and chaotic vote counts, particularly in Florida (!), saw a contested result. Civil war, so recently concluded, seemed imminent until Democrat and Republican grandees made a bargain. It would save the republic but at terrible cost. Joining us on the podcast is Professor Gary Gerstle, the Paul Mellon Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge. We discussed the momentous events of 1876-7, what they mean today and just how endangered is American democracy.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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Christian Lamb has had a remarkable life. The daughter of an admiral, she served in the navy during the war and went on to become an expert in horticultural history. Dan visited her the day after her 100th birthday to learn about her wartime experiences.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Nicola Tallis comes on the show to talk about the extraordinary Margaret Beaufort: 'Mother of the Tudors' and the ancestor of all subsequent royals.
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Angus Konstam joined me on the podcast to tell the dramatic story of HMS Hermione. In 1797, the British frigate was the site of the bloodiest mutiny in British naval history.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this bonus episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, once again clear their throats and continue to spitball about the unexpected history of SALIVA! Which is all about all about civilisation, politeness and Norbert Elias, chewing tobacco, tuberculosis, truth-telling, protecting from evil, women’s political movements, Charles Dickens and childhood beliefs and superstitions.!
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Ian Mortimer joined me on the podcast to take us back in time to the Regency period. It was a time of exuberance, thrills, frills and unchecked bad behaviour.
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Sudhir Hazareesingh joined me to discuss the life of Toussaint Louverture, a revolutionary leader who confronted the forces of slavery, settler colonialism, imperialism and racial hierarchy. The Haitian Revolution began in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue with a slave revolt in August 1791, and culminated a dozen years later in the proclamation of the world's first independent black state.
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In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, clear their throats and spitball on the unexpected history of SALIVA! Which is all about all about civilisation, politeness and Norbert Elias, chewing tobacco, tuberculosis, truth-telling, protecting from evil, women’s political movements, Charles Dickens and childhood beliefs and superstitions.!
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Two weeks before the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Richard Brookhiser joined me on the podcast to discuss Trump and presidential history.
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Bernard Cornwell joined me on the podcast to discuss his final book in the Last Kingdom series. War Lord is the epic story of how England was made.
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In this bonus episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, continue to get inside the unexpected history of HEADS! Which is all about politics, regicide, technology, ghost stories, wooden naval vessels, Anne Boleyn and Washington Irving!
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In October 42 BC the Roman Republic committed suicide. Near the town of Philippi in northern Greece the forces of Brutus and Cassius, the famous assassins of Julius Caesar and the last surviving cheerleaders of the Roman Republic, faced off against the armies of Marc Antony and young Octavian. Two separate battles were fought, the results of which decided the future direction of Rome. In this Ancients podcast, Tristan was joined by Steele Brand (@steele_brand) to talk through these all-important battles. From the background to Brutus’ pitiful demise Steele explains the final Roman attempts to restore the Republic and how they were ultimately squashed by a combination of political brilliance, suicidal blunders and outrageous luck. Steele is the author of ‘Killing for the Republic: Citizen Soldiers and the Roman Way of War’. Quick note: Lycia is a region in southwest Anatolia, on the Mediterranean coast.
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Joanna McCunn joined me on the podcast to discuss the history of some of Britain's oldest and strangest laws. From shooting Welshmen with longbows, to Oliver Cromwell banning mince pies, we also discussed 19th century policing and vagrancy acts.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, get inside the unexpected history of HEADS! Which is all about politics, regicide, technology, ghost stories, wooden naval vessels, Anne Boleyn and Washington Irving!
Priya Satia joined me on the podcast to discuss the dramatic consequences of writing history today as much as in the past. Against the backdrop of enduring global inequalities and debates about reparations and the legacy of empire, Satia offers us a hugely important and urgent moral voice.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson died at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Recently there has been considerable interest in Nelson's views on the slave trade and the plantation economy of the West Indies. A letter of Nelson's written months before his death in 1805 to the infamous Jamaican slave owner Simon Taylor, was published years after his death in attempt to stop the abolition of the slave trade as the matter was before Parliament. Martyn Downer joined me on the podcast to discuss key phrases in the letter that were forged before publication to make Nelson appear even more virulently opposed to the abolition of the slave trade.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Fernando Cervantes joined me on the podcast to reframe the story of the Spanish conquest of the New World, set against the political and intellectual landscape from which its main actors emerged.
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Claudio Saunt joined me on the podcast to discuss the United States' expulsion of Native Americans from the East to territories west of the Mississippi River. Justified as a humanitarian enterprise, the undertaking was to be systematic and rational, overseen by Washington’s small but growing bureaucracy. But as the policy unfolded over the next decade, thousands of Native Americans died under the federal government’s auspices, and thousands of others lost their possessions and homelands in an orgy of fraud, intimidation, and violence.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Dr Sue Black is a British computer scientist, academic and social entrepreneur. She has been instrumental in saving Bletchley Park, the World War II codebreaking site. Her book documenting this vital task is 'Saving Bletchley Park: How #SocialMedia Saved the Home of the WWII Codebreakers'.
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Olivette Otele joined me on the podcast to discuss the long African European heritage through the lives of individuals.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Shusma Malik joined me on the podcast to discuss the infamous Emperor Nero. He ruled nearly 2000 years ago, after taking over from his stepfather Claudius. Nero was a despotic ruler, enamoured in his own talents. His reign was characterised by tyranny and debauchery. To what extent is the commonly-held perception that Nero should be understood as the Antichrist figure in the Bible accurate? Join us to learn more about Nero's rise and his eventual expulsion from office, leading up to his death as a friendless man.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this BONUS episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, re-climb the majestic heights of the unexpected history of MOUNTAINS! Which is all about freedom, prejudice, vendetta, elephants, the New Deal, female travel writers and the absence of history!
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Emily Ward and Pragya Vohra talk about the history of the Viking invasion of 1066.
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In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, climb the majestic heights of the unexpected history of MOUNTAINS! Which is all about freedom, prejudice, vendetta, elephants, the New Deal, female travel writers and the absence of history!
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Marc Morris shows me around the Battlefield of Hastings.
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Sacha Coward joined me on the podcast to discuss queer history. We talked about Luisa Casati, Queen Anne, the Gay Liberation Front, and other stories of non-heteronormative relationships.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Simon Sebag Montefiore joined me on the podcast to talk about history's greatest speeches. From Martin Luther King Jr. to John Boyega, from Churchill to Trump, we also discuss British institutions and their link to Empire.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Robert Macfarlane joined me on the podcast to talk about his new book, Underland. We talked about cave communities in Cappadocia, underground bunkerism, the catacombs in Paris, and the worlds beneath our feet.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this episode BONUS EPISODE, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, tackle the rib-ticklingly fascinating subject of the history of LAUGHTER! Which is all about the Reformation, class differences, foreigners, poverty, politeness, awkwardness, the Tudor court, madness and breaking wind in front of Queen Elizabeth I!
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One of the Old Testament’s most compelling figures, King David was anointed as king of a united Israel, conquering Jerusalem and bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the city. First renowned for his musicianship and killing Goliath, David was feted by King Saul who then turned against him. But how did David rise to power and importance? Why was the capture of Jerusalem so significant? And how sure can we be that David actually existed? Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about this important but elusive figure to Steven McKenzie, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Old Testament at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Sir David Attenborough is an English veteran broadcaster and naturalist. He is best known for writing and presenting the nine Life series, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, which collectively form a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on the planet. He is also a former senior manager at the BBC, having served as controller of BBC Two and director of programming for BBC Television in the 1960s and 1970s. He is the only person to have won BAFTAs for programmes in each of black and white, colour, HD, and 3D. Attenborough is widely considered a national treasure in Britain. In 2002 he was named among the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide poll.
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Christine Kinealy joined me on this podcast to discuss the British government’s adverse policies during the Great Famine, and the effects these had on the Irish people.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, tackle the rib-ticklingly fascinating subject of the history of LAUGHTER! Which is all about the Reformation, class differences, foreigners, poverty, politeness, awkwardness, the Tudor court, madness and breaking wind in front of Queen Elizabeth I!
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101 years ago this week, President Woodrow Wilson suffered a serious stroke which left him prone to "disorders of emotion, impaired impulse control, and defective judgment." As President Trump confronts his own health crisis, I talked to John Milton Cooper, Jr., Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison about President Wilson.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Annina Van Neel showed me around Saint Helena, a small scrap of land in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This island is the most significant physical trace of the Transatlantic slave trade middle passage.
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Margaret MacMillan joined me on the podcast to discuss the ways in which war has influenced human society. We discussed how, in turn, changes in political organisation, technology, or ideologies have affected how and why we fight.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Helen Fry joined me on the podcast to talk about the thrilling history of MI9. The WWII organisation engineered the escape of Allied forces from behind enemy lines.
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John Darwin joined me on the podcast to discuss how steam power reshaped our cities and our seas, and forged a new world order.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Peter Stothard joined me on the podcast to discuss the assassination of Julius Caesar. Many men killed Julius Caesar. Only one man was determined to kill the killers. From the spring of 44 BC through one of the most dramatic and influential periods in history, Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, the future Emperor Augustus, exacted vengeance on the assassins of the Ides of March, not only on Brutus and Cassius, immortalised by Shakespeare, but all the others too, each with his own individual story.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Our stalwart Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, return for another instalment on the history of RUNNING AWAY! Which of course is all about the Glorious Revolution and James II, slavery and the underground railroad, the kinder transport, and the child’s game ‘Knock, Knock, Ginger!’.
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Michael Wood joined me on the podcast to talk about his new history of China. He takes a fresh look at Chinese history in the light of the current massive changes inside the country, and how its people and leaders see their place in the world, and its place on the world stage.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
By the first century BC, the nuisance of piracy had become a plague in the Mediterranean. The Romans dispatched Pompey who freed the way for the expansion of commerce and the Empire. But why was the Mediterranean so important to Rome? How did they go about ruling its waves? And how did they rid the sea of pirates? Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about this important stretch of water to Dr. James Corke-Webster at Kings College London.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Mustering all their bravery and courage, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, stand their historical ground and investigate the frankly fascinating and deeply moving history of RUNNING AWAY! Which of course is all about the Glorious Revolution and James II, slavery and the underground railroad, the kinder transport, and the child’s game ‘Knock, Knock, Ginger!’.
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Jonathan Waterlow joined me on the podcast to explore how ordinary people used political jokes to cope with and make sense of their lives under Stalinism in the 1930s.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Jill Lepore joined me on the podcast to discuss The Simulmatics Corporation. Founded in 1959, it mined data, targeted voters, accelerated news, manipulated consumers, destabilized politics, and disordered knowledge—decades before Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Cambridge Analytica.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this bonus episode, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, take a FURTHER MEATY bite out of the UTTERLY BIZARRE history of SHARKS! Which is all about power and status in ancient China, Pompeii, education, irrational fear, the Spanish Americas in the sixteenth century, and much much more….
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Natalie Haynes joined me on the podcast to retell the stories of remarkable women at the heart of Greek myths, from Medusa, Penelope, and Pandora, to the Amazons.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Charles Read joined me on the podcast to discuss the economic and political causes of the Great Famine. We discuss the British government’s economic policies that transferred responsibility onto Irish taxpayers. Within four years, 25% of Irish people died or emigrated.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, the Histories of the Unexpected duo, James and Sam, take a bite out of the frankly fascinating history of SHARKS! Which is all about power and status in ancient China, Pompeii, education, irrational fear, the Spanish Americas in the sixteenth century, and much much more….
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Dan Snow explores the Viking history of Lofoten, an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten is known for a distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Clare Mulley joined me on the podcast to talk about the extraordinary story of Krystyna Skarbek, who worked as a spy for the British Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Ever since his reign in the 9th century, Alfred the Great has been celebrated as one of the most accomplished of our kings. A learned and religious man who encouraged education, Alfred defended his lands against Viking invaders. But how did Alfred, King of Wessex become Alfred the Great? How effective was he in fighting the Vikings? And why did he burn those cakes? Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about this unforgettable king to historian Justin Pollard, author of Alfred the Great: The Man who made England.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Robert Harris joined me on the podcast to talk about Nazi Germany and the story of the V2 rocket.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Seb Falk joined me to discuss the science in the Middle Ages, or, according to his new book, 'The Light Ages'. They gave us the first universities, the first eyeglasses and the first mechanical clocks as medieval thinkers sought to understand the world around them, from the passing of the seasons to the stars in the sky.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Victoria Taylor is an aviation historian who is just completing her PhD in the Luftwaffe and its politicisation under the Nazis. She talked to me about how the Germans approached the Battle of Britain. Were they the mighty Goliath to Britain's David or were they in fact more evenly matched? And what on earth was the Luftwaffe's strategy for knocking Britain out of the war.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Dan delves into the history of unbelief - or rather, past people who didn't believe in God(s). He talks to Professor Tim Whitmarsh about Greek atheists (and indeed, about the creation of the term 'atheist'), and to Professor John Arnold about those who eschewed religious doctrine in the medieval era.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Comedian, historian, broadcaster Al Murray joins me on the podcast to discuss Arnhem. The British-Polish allied defeat at Arnhem took place in autumn 1944, 76 years ago this week.
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James and Sam come to grips with the shameful history of HUMILIATION! It's all to do with families, schools, Charles Dickens, the British Empire, medieval punishment, the Arab Spring, head shaving, WWII, the Irish War of Independence, corporal punishment and much, much more....
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In the aftermath of the Second World War, 850 delegates from 50 nations gathered in San Fransisco, determined to establish an organisation which would preserve peace and help build a better world. Over the last 75 years, the UN has committed itself to maintaining international peace and security, and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. But how did the UN come about? How effective has it been in maintaining peace in the world? And where might it have failed? Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about this important development in global affairs with the leading analyst of UN history and politics Professor Thomas Weiss of the City University of New York’s Graduate Center and Distinguished Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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80 years ago, in 15 September 1940, the Luftwaffe made a gigantic aerial assault on London in the belief that the Royal Air Force was down to its last few fighters. This, they hoped, would be the decisive clash that finished the RAF, and force Britain to the negotiating table or even pave the way for invasion. To mark this anniversary I went to Bentley Priory, the HQ of RAF Fighter Command, with historian Stephen Bungay. He more than anyone I know is able to describe exactly why the RAF won. A tale of technology, leadership, bravery and organisation. A version of this interview appears on History Hit TV.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I am joined on the podcast by a series of historians, writers and storytellers, to talk about the 400th anniversary of the journey of the Mayflower. Travelling from Southern England to North America in September 1620, we discuss why the settlers left, and we examine the contested legacy of the Mayflower for the descendants of North American communities.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Eleanor Janega joined me on the pod to discuss the educational institutions of the medieval period. We talk about student riots in Paris, the role of the clergy in universities, and the spaces of education designated for women.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Priya Atwal joined me on the pod to discuss the Sikh Empire, which stretched throughout northwestern India into Afghanistan and Tibet. We discuss the story of this empire’s spectacular rise and fall.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Tim Cook joined me on the pod to discuss how Canadian contributions are frequently overlooked or diminished in discussions of the War. Most major war histories are written by British or American authors, who give little credit to the Canadians as a separate fighting force.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Allen Arnold joined me on the pod to discuss the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. Located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in the city of St. Augustine, Florida, the fort was designed by the Spanish engineer Ignacio Daza. Construction began in 1672, 107 years after the city's founding by Spanish Admiral and conquistador Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, when Florida was part of the Spanish Empire. The fort's construction was ordered by Governor Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega after the destructive raid of the English privateer Robert Searles in 1668. Work proceeded under the administration of Guerra's successor, Manuel de Cendoya in 1671, and the first coquina stones were laid in 1672. The construction of the core of the current fortress was completed in 1695, though it would undergo many alterations and renovations over the centuries.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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James and Sam come to grips with the terrifying history of FEAR! And it's fascinating; it's all to do with childhood, death and disasters, war and warfare (via shrapnel, civilian bombardment and the nuclear threat), the Great Wall of China, bodies, highwaymen and pirates, terrorism and of course the fear of heights, and the lure of the void!
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Simon Hall joined me on the pod to talk about Fidel Castro’s trip to New York in September 1960. Based at Harlem’s Theresa Hotel, Castro met with a succession of political and cultural luminaries, including Malcolm X, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nikita Khrushchev, Amiri Baraka, and Allen Ginsberg. We discuss the coming together of revolutionaries embracing the politics of anti-imperialism, racial equality, and leftist revolution.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Genghis Khan was one of the most feared and most famous warrior kings in history. But how did he rise to power to become the Emperor of the Mongol Empire? How did he unite many of the nomadic tributes of North-East Asia, and then conquer most of Eurasia? Why is he considered a hero in modern-day post-Communist Mongolia? Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about this notorious figure to military historian Major Gordon Corrigan.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Fredrik Logevall joined me on the pod to discuss the life and legacy of John F. Kennedy. By the time of his assassination in 1963, John F. Kennedy stood at the helm of the greatest power the world had ever seen. Born in 1917 to a striving Irish-American family that had ascended the ranks of Boston's political machine, Kennedy was bred for public service and he rose meteorically to become America's youngest president.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
James Boyce joins me on the pod to discuss the indigenous population of the Fens of eastern England. Between the English Civil Wars and the mid-Victorian period, the Fens fought to preserve their homeland against an expanding empire. After centuries of resistance, their culture and community were destroyed, along with their wetland home – England’s last lowland wilderness. But this was no simple triumph of technology over nature – it was the consequence of a newly centralised and militarised state, which enriched the few while impoverishing the many.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Charles Spencer joined me on the pod to discuss the sinking of the White Ship on the 25th November 1120. It is one of the greatest disasters that England has ever suffered. Its repercussions changed English and European history for ever.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Selma Van De Perre joined me on the pod to talk about her life as a Dutch Jewish Resistance fighter during the Second World War. She joined the resistance under the pseudonym Margareta van der Kuit, and she forged documents and delivered them throughout the entire country. She escaped the Nazis on multiple occasions, but in July of 1944 she was betrayed and transported via Camp Vught to Ravensbrück. Unlike her sister and parents, she survived the horrors of the camp. During that time no one knew that she was Jewish, and no one knew her real name.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Commander Steve Foster relates the extraordinary story of one of the most audacious escape attempts of the Second World War.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
David Berry joined me on the pod to discuss a people’s history of tennis. From the birth of modern tennis in Victorian Britain to the present day, we talked about struggles around sexuality, gender, race and class that have transformed the nature of tennis and sport itself.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
On 5 November 1605, a planned assassination attempt on King James I was thwarted. While a group of English Catholics planned to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, the name of the man caught guarding the gunpowder became legendary – Guy Fawkes. But how and why did the gunpower plot come about? And why did Guy Fawkes become the most famous of the plotters? Rob Weinberg puts the big questions about this most famous of failed assassination attempts to Dr. Leonie James at the University of Kent.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
William Sitwell joined me on the pod to discuss the history of the restaurant. Tracing its earliest incarnations in the city of Pompeii, we discuss the events that shape the way we eat today.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
John Barton joined me on the pod to discuss the history of the Bible. Tracing its dissemination, translation and interpretation in Judaism and Christianity from Antiquity to the rise of modern biblical scholarship, Barton elucidates how meaning has both been drawn from the Bible and imposed upon it.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Jamie L.H. Goodall joined me on the pod to discuss pirates of the Chesapeake Bay. The story of Chesapeake pirates and patriots begins with a land dispute and ends with the untimely death of an oyster dredger at the hands of the Maryland Oyster Navy.
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In this episode Dan Snow is joined by Chris Wilson, Director of Experience Design at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Chris specialises in the Civil Rights Movement and has written about the intersection of non-violence with the self defence mentality of that time.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Francine Hirsch joined me on the pod to discuss the full story of the Nuremberg Trials, one in which the Soviet Union was a defining player.
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Duncan Clarke joined me on the pod to discuss Cecil Rhodes and the historiography of Zambesia from the San forward to the establishment of the Rhodesian state.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
From the 6th century BCE, philosophy was used to make sense of the world – including astronomy, mathematics, politics, ethics, metaphysics and aesthetics. But why did philosophy flourish in Greek culture? How were the great philosophers received in their own time? And how did it influence Islam, communism and even the theories of Sigmund Freud? Rob Weinberg puts the big questions about history’s biggest thinkers to Professor Angie Hobbs at the University of Sheffield.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Rebecca Wragg Sykes joined me on the pod to discuss our perception of the Neanderthals, which has undergone a metamorphosis since their discovery 150 years ago, from the losers of the human family tree to A-list hominins.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was joined by an award-winning investigative journalist, Ravi Somaiya, to discuss the mysterious death in 1961 of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld. Although Dag Hammarskjöld was called ‘the greatest statesman of our century’ by John F. Kennedy, his plane was shot down as he flew over The Congo. He was found dead with an Ace of Spades placed on the body. Ravi took me into the depths of this event and the remarkable consequences across the globe.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Suzannah Lipscomb joined me on the pod to discuss the history of magic, witchcraft and the occult. Examining the beliefs and suspicions from the ancient era to the modern world, we discussed everything from Japanese folklore to Indian witchcraft, looking at tarot cards, Norse magic and modern Wicca rituals.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
On 22nd August 1642, Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham marking the start of the English Civil War. It was the result of years of ongoing tensions which could no longer be resolved with diplomacy and negotiation. But what was Charles' role in this disastrous turn of events - tyrant or victim of bad timing? Lianda de Lisle joined me on the pod to review Charles' reign, discussing why and how various reputations have emerged.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was thrilled to be joined by Andrew Bayliss, a Senior Lecturer in Greek History at the University of Birmingham. He's an expert on Sparta and Ancient Greece, and he joined me on the pod to mark the 2,500th anniversary of the battle of Themopylae, when 300 Spartans battled the Persian army. We discussed whether the Spartans deserved the reputations they've developed, and dissected the plethora of myths with have emererged, of musclebound soldiers with long hair and red cloaks.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
John Dickie joined me on the pod to discuss the international story of an organisation which now has 6 million members across the globe. Tracing the origins from local fraternities of stonemasons at the turn of the fifteenth century, John took me on the freemasons' journey from Britain to America, Australia, Italy and India. We discussed exactly what the freemasons are, how they have been perceived, and why they seem to attract so many conspiracy theories.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In the Middle Ages, the Holy Land, as well as sites in Europe and around Britain became popular sites for pilgrimage. It was believed that praying at shrines or in front of holy relics could absolve you of your sins, cure your illnesses, or help you on the way to heaven. Why was pilgrimage so important in the Middle Ages? To find out, Rob Weinberg went to Canterbury Christ Church University to speak to Dr. Sheila Sweetinburgh.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
From Notre-Dame Cathedral to the Houses of Parliament, European architecture is indebted to the Muslim world. Diana Darke joined me on the pod to discuss how medieval crusaders, pilgrims and merchants encountered Arab Muslim culture on their way to the Holy Land. This early artistic interaction continued a long history of arrchitectural 'borrowing' and cultural exchange, including Sir Christopher Wren’s inspirations in the ‘Saracen’ style of Gothic architecture.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was thrilled to be joined by Simon Heffer, author of biographies on the historian and essayist Thomas Carlyle, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and of the British politician Enoch Powell. He's also written a series of books on the social history of Great Britain from the mid nineteenth century until the end of the First World War. Using this wealth of knowledge, Simon took me through the reality and impact off Britain in the First World War, one of the most terrible conflicts the world has ever seen.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
75 years ago today, on 15 August 1945, Victory over Japan Day marked the end of one of the most devastating episodes in British military history, and the final end of the Second World War. It's estimated there were 71,000 British and Commonwealth casualties of the war against Japan, and the deaths of more than 2.5 million Japanese civilians and military personnel. After a press conference at the White House on 14 August, where President Truman confirmed the rumours of an Allied victory over Japan, Clement Attlee remarked: "The last of our enemies is laid low." We've made a bumper edition of the pod to commemorate such a significant event. You'll here from Rana Mitta, Ashley Jackson and the UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Michael Puett is Professor of Chinese History at Harvard and has lectured widely at the world's leading universities. His course in Chinese philosophy is among the most popular at Harvard and in 2013 he was awarded a Harvard College Professorship for excellence in undergraduate teaching. In this pod we explored the remarkable challenges and achievements of Chinese philosophy.
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I was thrilled to be joined by H. W. Brands. He's authored 30 books on American history and his works have twice been selected as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. On the 70 year anniversary since the start of the Korean War, he took me through the remarkable course of events which saw an immense civilian death toll and the destruction of virtually all of Korea's major cities. Why has the commemorations of this bloodbath been somewhat overlooked, and how did it lay the groundwork for the politics we see today?
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Dan finds out what's going on with recent excavations at Vindolanda, one of the largest Roman forts near Hadrian's Wall. All manner of discoveries have been made, including the largest collection of Roman footwear found anywhere in the world.
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In 1597, King James VI of Scotland published a compendium on witchcraft called Daemonologie that laid down the kind of trial and punishment these practices merited. But why was there a witch craze in Europe? How were witch hunts triggered? Who were the victims? And why did witch trials spread to America? Rob Weinberg asks the big questions on this dark but fascinating period to Professor Miri Rubin of Queen Mary University of London.
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In this pod I was joined by two people who have played quite an important part in my life: my mum and dad (known to the rest of the world as Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan). Their latest book is a bold examination of world history, told through 50 of our most important documents. They have been sourced from collections of national archives, museums, libraries, and private collections across the globe. From this selection of 50, I asked for a selection of six to discuss in this episode, telling a story of our political, military, artistic, and scientific challenges and achievements.
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The second atomic strike on the city of Nagasaki is less well known than the one a few days earlier on Hiroshima, but was it more influential in forcing the Japanese to surrender? To find out who exactly ordered it and why I talked to Harvard's Frederik Logevall. He discusses the debates that rage between historians as to whether Nagasaki was necessary and how much pressure there was for a third bomb. On the 75th anniversary of the strike it is a conversation with powerful contemporary echoes.
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In this episode, Dan speaks to award-winning political correspondent and commentator, Svenja O'Donnell, about her remarkable grandmother's personal story of migration, sexual violence and murder during the fall of the Third Reich. Svenja's beautiful, aloof grandmother Inge never spoke about the past. All her family knew was that she had grown up in a city that no longer exists on any map: Königsberg in East Prussia, a footnote in history, a place that almost no one has heard of today. But when Svenja impulsively visited this windswept Baltic city, something unlocks in Inge and, finally, she begins to tell her story. Svenja retraced her grandmother's footsteps all over Europe and uncovered a desperately tragic secret that her grandmother had been keeping for sixty years. This remarkable story highlights the human side of the momentous tectonic shifts we speak about from history. 75 years ago this year millions of people, like Svenja's grandmother, were displaced in Europe, victims of terrible regimes and grueling conflict.
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The son of a former slave, Pertinax was the Roman Emperor who proved that no matter how lowly your birth, you could rise to the very top through hard work, grit and determination.This previously untold story brings a fascinating and important figure out of the shadows. A self made everyman, a man of principle and ambition, a role model respected by his contemporaries who styled himself on his philosophizing predecessor and sometime champion Marcus Aurelius, Pertinax's remarkable story offers a unique and panoramic insight into the late 2nd century AD Principate Empire.
In this episode, Dan is joined by historian, archaeologist and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent Dr Simon Elliott to explore Pertinax's extraordinary biography.
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On 6 August 1945, an American B29 bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Three days later, Nagasaki was at the receiving end of a second American A-bomb. Why did America decide to hit Japan with two atomic bombs? Why were these two cities the targets? What were the implications for ending World War II and starting the Cold War? History Hit’s Rob Weinberg puts the big questions about this seminal event to Kevin Ruane, Professor of Modern History at Canterbury Christ Church University.
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The common sailor was a crucial engine of British prosperity and expansion up until the Industrial Revolution. From exploring the South Seas with Cook to establishing the East India Company as a global corporation; from the sea battles that made Britain a superpower to the crisis of the 1797 mutinies; these "sons of the waves" affected the nation's prosperity with their calloused hand. Yet, while British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson, little attention has been paid to plain, "illiterate" seamen. Stephen Taylor, writer of maritime history and travel, challenges the perception of these sailors as a brutally punished, press ganged, anonymous group and reassesses a rich set of historical sources to illuminate their experiences. Dan and Stephen discuss ordinary seamen, far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs, who were proud and spirited, learned in their own fashion. They demonstrated robust opinions and the courage to challenge overweening authority, and stood out from their less adventurous compatriots.
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This week in 1914 saw the outbreak of the First World War. In this special episode from the archive, Margaret MacMillan talks to her nephew Dan about her seminal book 'The War That Ended Peace: The Road To 1914'. They discuss the importance of Storytelling to the historian's process, the ways in which political actors at the time viewed the relation between fate and choice, the role that masculine insecurity played in the build up to the war and also examine the construct of and myths surrounding nationalistic feeling in the pre-war years. They even consider the possibility of an alternate course of events that involved Britain not entering the war at all.
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In December 1915, some 135,000 allied troops, nearly 400 guns and 15,000 horses were collectively trapped in the bridgeheads at Anzac, Suvla and Helles. It was clear that the operation to seize control of Dardanelles and the Bosporus straits and capture Constantinople (now Istanbul) from the Turks, and thereby open a Black Sea supply route to Russia, had failed. With every day that passed the Turks moved up more guns, threatening to blast to pieces the flimsy piers, breakwaters and blockships that acted as makeshift harbours to feed and supply tens of thousands of men. And winter was coming. The evacuation plans were brilliant, but it was still a close-run thing. A spell of bad weather in the final days might have destroyed the flimsy piers, leaving thousands trapped helpless should the Turkish guns open up and their infantry swarm over No Man's Land.
Dan and historian Peter Hart discuss how the Gallipoli garrison escaped to fight another day. Peter Hart was an oral historian at the Imperial War Museum for almost 40 years, during that time he interviewed thousands of veterans. An internationally acknowledged expert on Gallipoli, he is uniquely well placed to tell this remarkable story.
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In early 1900, Rudyard Kipling, Mary Kingsley and Arthur Conan Doyle crossed paths in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War. Motivated in various ways by notions of duty, service, patriotism and jingoism, they were each shaped by the theatre of war. Sarah LeFanu joined me on the podcast to explore the cultural legacies, controversial reputations and influence on colonial policy of these three British writers.
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Norman Ohler joined me on the pod to discuss two remarkable lovers who led Germany's resistance against the Nazis. Harro Schulze-Boysen and Libertas Haas-Heye led a complex network of antifascists, which operated across Berlin's bohemian underworld. They infiltrated German intelligence leaked Nazi battle plans to the Allies, including the details of Hitler's surprise attack on the Soviet Union. But in a world where friend could be indistinguishable from foe, nothing could prepare Libertas and Harro for the ultimate betrayals they would suffer.
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Jessie Childs is an award-winning author, historian and expert on the Tudors. She joined me on the podcast to discuss this notorious family. What did people think of them at the time? Do they deserve their reputation - both good and bad? All in all, why are we so obsessed?
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Just after midnight on 30th 1945, the USS Indianapolis was sailing alone in the Philippine Sea when she was struck by two Japanese torpedoes, almost three hundred miles from land. She sank in 12 minutes. For the next five nights, nearly nine hundred men struggled with battle injuries, shark attacks, dehydration, insanity, and eventually each other. Sara Vladic is one of the world's leading experts on the USS Indianapolis, having met and interviewed 108 of the ship’s survivors. She joined me on the pod to recount this nightmarish event, revealing the grievous mistakes, extraordinary courage and unimaginable horror which surrounded it.
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Christina Lamb is Chief Foreign Correspondent at The Sunday Times and one of Britain’s leading foreign journalists. As well as working in combat zones for over thirty years, Christina's also a best selling author, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an honorary fellow of University College, Oxford and was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2013. So I was thrilled that she could find time to join me on the pod to discuss the topic of her latest book: rape as a weapon of war. Although there is a long and painful history of rape and war, Christina explained how it is increasingly used against thousands of women as part of barbaric military strategy. A warning - this podcast contains harrowing descriptions of sexual violence. But as Christina tells me, if these events are difficult for us to hear, they are far harder for those who have lived them to forget.
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Charlemagne was one of history’s most ruthless and ambitious warriors – King of the Franks, then King of the Lombards, conqueror of the Saxons, leading to the Pope crowning him Roman Emperor. But plenty of blood was spilled along the way. So how did Charlemagne manage to unite much of Europe? Why did the Pope crown him emperor? How did his legacy inspire Adolf Hitler? History Hit’s Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about this hugely influential figure to Dr. Sinead O’Sullivan of Queens University Belfast.
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"Their finest hour", "we shall fight on the beaches", "never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few". These words of Winston Churchill are synonymous with our idea of the British war effort during the darkest days of WWII. Richard Toye joined me on the podcast to take a closer look at these speeches. How many civilians would have actually heard Churchill's brilliant rhetoric, and what did they think of them? Why were they so compelling, both then and now? And perhaps most importantly, did they make any difference to the war effort?
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Kim Ghattas joined me on the podcast to explore how Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran - who were once allies and the twin pillars of US strategy in the area - became mortal enemies after the revolution of 1979. In a war of cultural supremacy, we discussed the nature of various groups using and distorting religion, suppressing cultural expression and encouragning sectarian violence. And how did events like Iran’s fatwa against author Salman Rushdie lay the groundwork for more recent troubles, including the birth of groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the rise of ISIS?
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For hundreds of years, monarchy has reigned as the dominant political model in Europe. But how has this system - where political life was shaped by the births, marriages and deaths of the ruling family - maintained such a strong grip for so long? How did these dynasties cope with female rule, child monarchs, mistresses or pretenders to the throne? How were names, numbering and the visual display of heraldry express an identity and cement loyalty? Robert Bartlett is Professor Emeritus at the University of St Andrews, and her joined see on the pod to untangle this complex web of internal rivalries and loyalties in the politics of the royal and imperial dynasties of Europe.
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SS Great Britain was the longest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854, and now resides in Bristol as a museum. She was the brainchild of Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York City. In this pod, I was taken on a tour around this remarkable feat of Victorian engineering to hear how Brunel's ingenuity transformed the world.
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I was delighted to be joined by Nicholas O'Shaughnessy, who took me through the remarkable rise of Adolf Hitler. Starting with his experience of the First World War, Nicholas took me through the events and turning points which turned a failed art student into one of the most powerful men in history. We discussed how the Beer Hall Putsch, the Wall Street Crash, the Article 48 Decree, the Reichstag Fire and the death of Hindenburg acting as stepping stones to Hitler's success. This podcast compliments our latest documentary on the Rise of Hitler, available now on History Hit TV.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
The Battle of Prokhorovka was one of the largest tank battles in military history. Taking place on the Eastern Front, it was fought on 12 July 1943 as part of the wider Battle of Kursk. Two elite SS divisions were obliterated, and about 300 panzers were destroyed as the Red Army began to turn the tide for Hitler. Prokhorovka has always been notorious, but British historian Ben Wheatley has challenged the traditional myths surrounding the battle by fine-combing through the evidence. He joined me on the pod to reveal his findings, and argue how it was impossible for the German's to have suffered the major losses which have been marked out in history books.
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Arguably the world’s greatest ever dramatist, after five and a half centuries William Shakespeare remains as popular as ever. But how did he became so famous? How did later authors boost his reputation? And why has Shakespeare stayed supreme above all other writers? Rob Weinberg asks the big questions to Jerry Brotton, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was thrilled to be joined on the podcast by the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian, Anne Applebaum. Anne's written extensively on Marxism–Leninism, the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe, and was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West. In this podcast we asked big questions about democracy - does it still appeal to us, and where does it stand in the modern world?
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I am very excited to be joined by Colonel Kevin W. Farrell, who spent over 30 years in uniform and commanded at the platoon, company, and battalion levels. He finished up in the army as the Chief of the Military History Division at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. I am fascinated to hear about how the modern army chooses to teach history to its future leaders. He acted as an advisor to the Afghan National Army and the commander of a 1,000-soldier combined arms battalion conducting extended combat operations in East Baghdad, Iraq. Kevin and I discussed how a deep understanding of military history and leadership theories can benefit military and civilian workers in all sorts of ways.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
10 years after the expulsion of the British, leading US figures including Washington, Hamilton and Jefferson came together to draw up plans for governing the world's newest country. But what should the role of a President be and how should American politics function? I was thrilled to be joined by Joanne B. Freeman, a professor of History and American studies at Yale University, to discuss this turning point of American politics.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Getting to the moon was no easy feat, no matter how confident Kennedy may have sounded in his famous 1961 speech. NASA built a team from the ground up, and there were plenty of moments where it seemed as if they weren't going to make it. After all, it was hard to feel safe when a pen could go straight through the module. Kevin Fong is part of the NHS emergency response team for major fatality incidents like terror attacks. He's also an anaesthetist, a lecturer in physiology at UCL and an expert in space medicine. He joined me on the podcast to explore our first moments on the surface of the moon.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In the February 1945, the U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met at an old Romanov palace in Crimea, which had once been enjoyed by Tsar Nicholas II and his family. Over eight days the 'Big Three' discussed and debated issues of vast international importance - such as the endgame of the war against Nazi Germany, the constitution of the United Nations, the price of Soviet entry into the war against Japan and the new borders of Poland. Diana Preston joined me on the podcast to discuss this remarkable event. She gave me an inside picture of eavesdropping amongst the delegates, the dwindling health of Churchill and Roosevelt, the laborious dinners with endless Russian toasts, and whether Yalta was really a turning point in 20th century history.
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Kenneth Baker is a British politician and a former Conservative MP who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major as Environment Secretary, Education Secretary, and Home Secretary. He joined me on the pod to examine the history of assassinations. From Julius Caesar to John F. Kennedy, and even the raid of Osama bin Laden's compound, Kenneth has used them to build up a clearer picture of assassination as a political tool. Is this an effective weapon which has changed the course of history forever, or is an assassination, in the words of Macbeth, "a poisoned chalice"?
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In the first century after his crucifixion, the teachings of Jesus quickly spread throughout the Greco-Roman world and his early followers often faced severe persecution. But how did people around the Mediterranean learn of Christ’s message? Why did it appeal to them? And how did Christianity change once it was adopted by the Roman Empire? Rob Weinberg puts the big questions about the growth and spread of Christianity to Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary University of London.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
When the First World War broke out, the suffragettes suspended their campaigning and joined the war effort. Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson headed out to France, setting up two small military hospitals - whilst battling fierce opposition on account of being women. But Flora and Louisa proved so effective that the War Ministry requested they returned to London and establish a hospital in a vast and derelict old workhouse in Covent Garden's Endell Street. The medical marvel which sprung up contained 573 beds, treated 26,000 wounded men over the next four years, and was staffed entirely by women. Wendy Moore joined me on the pod to tell this remarkable story, and discuss the legacy of these pioneering women.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
David Carpenter joined me on the podcast to examine one of England's most remarkable monarchs. Just nine years old when he came to the throne in 1216, David explains how Henry was pacific, conciliatory, and deeply religious. His rule was constrained by limits set by the Magna Carta and the emergence of parliament. We discussed the 'soft power' which maintained a steady peace, Henry's patron saint Edward the Confessor, and his building of the magnificent Westminster Abbey.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Anne Glenconner has been at the centre of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Anne spoke to me from the resplendent saloon at Holkham Hall to discuss her truly remarkable life - a story of drama, tragedy and royal secrets. A story she reflects on with a charming sense of humour and true British spirit.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was delighted to be joined by one of the most important people in the history world at the moment: Professor Vincent Gaffney. He is the leading archaeologist behind the recent discovery of a vast neolithic circle of deep shafts in Durrington, near Stonehenge. Vince took me through the thrills and surprises of his epic discovery and how it transforms our understanding of the stones themselves.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was thrilled to be joined on the podcast by the wonderful Simon Elliott. In this episode, Simon and I got to grips with the epic Roman Navy, and what it was doing on the shores of Britain. Enjoy!
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
More than 70 years after her death, Mata Hari is still a household name throughout the Western world. So who was this daughter of a Dutch hat-maker, who was executed for espionage after a secret trial during the darkest days of World War One? Julie Wheelwright joined me on the pod to guide me through the world of female espionage, the forces behind patriotic hysteria and the perpetuation of the idea of the seductive and dangerous temptress.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
The recorded story of Scotland begins with the arrival of the Romans in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. But how much further back can the history of Scotland be traced? Who were the Picts and the Gaels? And how did the Viking invasion unite them? Rob Weinberg asks the big how and why questions about the birth of Scotland to Dr. Alex Woolf, senior lecturer at the University of St Andrews.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was joinded by Dr Charlotte Riley, a feminist historian of 20th century Britain. Whilst lecturing on the Labour Party, decolonization, and overseas aid and development programmes, Charlotte has been an important voice in the debate surrounding the role of public statues. How do statues enhance or subvert our understanding of the past? Can we ever produce statues which don't jar with some ideas? In short, are they more trouble than they're worth?
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Alex Larman has struck gold. He discovered one of the rarest and most precious things in the history world: an unknown source which shines a bright new light on its subject. He uncovered brand new documents relating to an assassination attempt on Edward VIII in July 1936, by George McMahon. Alex took me through the documents he found and the story they tell. We also discussed the Edward's challenging upbringing, his possible Nazi sympathies, the tumult of the Abdication crisis and his famous relationship with Wallis Simpson.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
If you want to know anything about RMS Titanic, Tim Maltin's your man. He is one of the world’s leading experts on the Titanic and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of every nut and bolt secured in place in Belfast, and every moment of its terrifying submersion in the freezing waters of the Atlantic. Tim has recently chatted to me for our latest History Hit TV documentary, and his way of speaking was just so gripping that I had to invited him back to record a podcast. In this episode, Tim took me through every stage of this momentous event, from why this 'unsinkable' ship did indeed sink, to haunting eye witness accounts of the final minutes of that fatal maiden voyage.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Since the release of Alexander Lee's masterly new work on Niccolò Machiavelli, I just had to get him on the pod to hear about this infamous man directly from the expert. Alex revealed the man behind the myth - his father’s penury, abuse he suffered at a teacher’s hands, his chaotic love life, political triumphs and an eventual fall from grace. By delving into the Renaissance world swirling through the courts of Borgia popes and the dungeons of the Stinche prison, Alex has taken time tot review Machiavelli's invidious reputation. Was this man really as sinister as he is often thought to be? Might he have been a more sympathetic figure, prone to political mishaps and personal dramas? An individual who is perhaps easier to love than be feared.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Roger Moorhouse is an historian of the Third Reich and WW2, author of The Devils' Alliance, Killing Hitler & Berlin at War. He joined me on the podcast to discuss the worst maritime disaster in history: the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff in January 1945.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Germans soldiers called it Blitzkatarrh, British soldiers called it Flanders Grippe, but the 1918 pandemic was most commonly known as 'Spanish Flu'. Catherine Arnold is the author of 'Pandemic 1918', and she joined me on the pod to discuss this terrible disease. A disease where victims suffered haemorrhages from the lungs and nose, skin turning blue from lack of oxygen and choking to death from 'air hunger' as the lungs filled with blood and pus. As Catherine explains, communities across the world battled with the infection in different ways, sometimes confronted with whole swathes of disobedient citizens. Yet again, it seems looking into the past provides valuable guidance for our actions today.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
On 14 October 1066, Norman invaders led by Duke William of Normandy won a decisive victory over the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson. But why did William have a claim on the English throne? How did the Battle of Hastings unfold? And how did William the Conqueror change England forever? To answer the big questions about this decisive battle, Rob Weinberg talks to Professor Virginia Davis, of Queen Mary University of London.
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Dr Emma Liggins is an expert on Victorian Gothic literature. She joined me on the pod to examine how great female writers of the 19th century - such as Elizabeth Gaskell and the Brontes - responded to the impact of fatal diseases on their home lives. How did their literary perspective influence their views on contagion and quarantining? We also discussed Emma's work on haunted houses, and how the nightmarish terrors of a deadly fever distorted the domestic space.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In the second half of the twentieth century, western Europe was shaped by a revolutionary political force: democracy. Or at least that's what Professor Martin Conway has argued in his major new history. On this podcast, Martin - a teacher from my university days - interrogated the years following the Second World War. What provoked democratic revolution in the western half of Europe? How did this stable, durable, and remarkably uniform model of parliamentary democracy change society? And why did this democratic ascendancy drop away in the latter decades of the twentieth century?
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Anthony Ray Hinton was held on death row for 28 years. He was incorrectly convicted of the murders of two restaurant managers, John Davidson and Thomas Wayne Vasona, in 1985. He was released in 2015 after winning a new trial. In this podcast, Anthony and I walked and talked our way through the streets of Birmingham, Alambama. I was overwhelmed by his generosity of spirit, lack of animosity and determination to live a good life despite the fact that so many years were taken away from him.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was delighted to be joined by Keisha Blain, an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. She took me far into the past - years before Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks - to the roots of North America's long tradition of Civil Rights activism. We discussed how African American women played a central - albeit overlooked - role in leading this struggle, and what their legacy looks like today.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
70 years ago today, on 25th June 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea. The three-year conflict which followed took the lives of four million people including nearly 100,000 British troops. For many veterans, it is widely considered 'The Forgotten War'. So I was delighted to be joined by Arthur Teasdale, George Reed, Trevor John and Gerry Farmer, who shared their remarkable experiences in Korea, one of Britain's most deadly conflicts.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Rebecca Earle joined me on the pod to talk about spuds. She took me through the story of this starchy tuber's dramatic career, which has been at the heart of the development of the world we live in today. Jumping from an Enlightenment super-food, to symbol of the British Home Front and even a coercive tool in modern China, this unassuming root vegetable - rich in carbohydrates - has been quite the hot potato.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
We REFUSE to tell you what this episode is about. Shan't. Won't.
Ok Ok. We will.
It's about putting your foot down, saying NO, saying NEVER AGAIN. It's the history of mutiny, sedition, forcing change, adult disobedience, childhood disobedience - it's a theme we can all relate to, and James and Sam talk about it in relation to the Russian Revolution up to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917. Why was the Duma formed in 1906? How did representatives of the people even get to set foot in the Winter Palace during the reign of a monarch who steadfastly believed in his absolute power to rule any way that he wanted? How did they put so much pressure on this all powerful monarch that he actually stepped down from the throne? Well they refused to do what they were told - and they did it again, and again, and again.
In June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, opening up the Eastern Front in World War II – a campaign to which more forces were committed than in any other theatre of war in history. But why did Germany invade the Soviet Union? What did Stalin and Hitler think of each other? And how did the invasion impact on Germany’s eventual defeat? To find out the answers about this escalation in the Second World War, Charlie Mills spoke to Dr. Mario Draper at the University of Kent.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Simon Pearce, a genealogist from Ancestry.com, joined me on the podcast to reveal the secrets of uncovering family history. Delving into the records of my own grandfather, Simon explained the methods, challenges and excitements he faces on a day to day basis. We also discussed how technology might open up a wealth of information - changing the face of genealogy forever.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In November 1519, Hernando Cortés approached the capital of the Aztec kingdom and came face to face with its ruler, Moctezuma. The story which follows has been told countless times following a Spanish narrative. A key part of the story has been overlooked - until now. After being taught the Roman alphabet, the Native Americans used it to write detailed histories in their own language of Nahuatl. Camilla Townsend is a Professor of History at Rutgers University. For the first time, she has given these sources proper attention, providing a fresh take on our understanding of native Mexicans. She showed me how Moctezuma and his people were not just the exotic, bloody figures of European stereotypes and how the Mexica people did not simply capitulate to Spanish culture and colonization but realigned political allegiances, held new obligations and adopted unfamiliar technologies.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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I was thrilled to be joined again by one of our most popular guests, John Nichol. John shot to international prominence when he served in the first Gulf War. When his Tornado was shot down in 1991 he was captured, tortured and paraded on television provoking worldwide condemnation and leaving one of the enduring images of that war. Since then, John has become one of our most successful aviation historians, writing bestsellers such as 'Spitfire – A Very British Love Story'. His latest book explores the Avro Lancaster - described by Bomber Harris as his 'shining sword' and the 'greatest single factor in winning the war'. Carrying out offensive operations from the first day of the Second World War until the very last - more than five and a half years later - they flew nearly 300,000 sorties and dropped around a million tons of explosives. Of the 7,377 Lancasters built during the conflict, more than half were lost to enemy action or training accidents, and of the 125,000 men who served in Bomber Command, over 55,000 were killed. The figures are remarkable. But John also took me behind the statistics to uncover the human stories - truly unbelievable accounts of survival.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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Simon Sebag Montefiore joined me on the pod to discuss one of the most important cities in history. For the last 3000 years, its been hitting the headlines, and this pod was recorded just after Donald Trump announced that the USA would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Simon is the author of the incredible book 'Jerusalem: the biography'. He explained why the city is sacred to three religions and why it has so often found itself on the front line of the great conflicts that have shaped the history of the Middle East and the wider world.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Recorded in the aftermath of George Floyd's tragic death, with the Black Lives Matter movement in full flight, James and Sam turn their attention to the fascinating history of...STATUES! Currently the site of social conflict, who knew that statues had such an unexpected past. The history of clouds is all about Ancient Rome and the erasure of the past, ninth and tenth century Byzantium, relics in China, the Reformation throughout Europe, and much much more.....
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205 years ago today, 60,000 men were slaughtered in the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon Bonaparte's French army was finally defeated by an almighty coalition of troops from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick and Nassau, led by the Duke of Wellington, and the Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blücher. I was joined on the pod by Zack White, who has set up Voices of the Battlefield, an oral history project featuring 41 readings of eyewitness testimony from the campaign. In this podcast, we listened to these accounts, which ranged from a 10 year old triangle player remembering the chaos of the battlefield, to Wellington's own remorse at the horrific bloodshed.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
The Battle of Waterloo brought a generation of terrible warfare to a close, decisively ending the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. How did the Duke of Wellington defeat Napoleon? Why did Napoleon make a fatal blunder? And how did Waterloo shape convictions about Britain’s future role in the world? Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about this momentous battle to Dr Michael Rowe of Kings College London.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
An episode we can all identify with! It's about the history of being able to control your temper - it's about feet kicking, shouting, waving, stamping, WILD anger. James and Sam explore the various ways you can think about the history of anger before looking in particular at the rage of Henry II and how it impacted on his relationship with Thomas Beckett - once his close friend but who came to be murdered by knights in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.
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I was thrilled to be joined by Natalie Haynes. Natalie is the is the author of 'A Thousand Ships', a retelling of the Trojan War from an all-female perspective. In this podcast we discussed the classical accounts which have contributed to our modern understanding of that legendary war and its terrible aftermath. This was produced from one of our Zoom discussions, where History Hit TV subscribers joined the chat and were able to ask Natalie their burning questions.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
In this glorious summer of endless blue skies Sam and James turn their attention to the sky, and the fascinating history of...CLOUDS! Who knew they were so interesting? The history of clouds is all about Captain Cook and cannibalism, the devil, urine, nuclear war, invisible gases and cholera. Oh, and beetles and spiders.
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The Covid crisis has seen a huge deployment of UK armed forces personnel to assist the civilian government. Named Operation RESCRIPT it has seen soldiers, sailors and aviators fulfil a wide range of tasks. I wanted to get a sense of the different challenges that the forces face when operating on home soil, and whether their conventional training prepares them for these. As I was working on this podcast President Trump announced that he was considering ordering the army into action against protestors in American cities. Suddenly the whole issue of military-civilian relations seemed to be even more important. In this episode I talked first to Lieutenant General Tyrone Urch, the Standing Joint Commander who is in charge of carrying out any military aid to the civil authorities. Then I asked Robert Evans, head of the Army Historical Branch, about the historical context for today, be it disaster relief or law enforcement.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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When captured Nazi generals found themselves in Britain in the Second World War, they were probably surprised to be brought to a beautiful country house where they were wined and dined by a senior British aristocrat. But it was all a charade. For the skirting boards, the swings seats and the flower pots of this house were riddled with recording equipment. Unbeknown to the generals, every single conversation they had was bugged and an army of translators and transcribers worked away in the basement below. The 'senior British aristocrat' who they suspected had Nazi sympathies, was a fictitious character named after a whisky distillery, and the entire show was a genius plot by British Intelligence to squeeze out snippets of valuable information. Helen Fry joined me on the podcast to reveal the extent of this remarkable operation, and the military strategy which was altered as a result of careless comments.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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Catherine Belton joined me on the pod to discuss the remarkable story of Vladimir Putin's rise to power. After working from 2007-2013 as the Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times, Catherine's career has offered an exclusive insight into workings of Putin's Kremlin. Her new book 'Putin's People' is packed with interviews from key inside players, uncovering fascinating details about how Putin subverted Russia’s economy and legal system and extended the Kremlin's reach into the United States and Europe. It's a story of billions of dollars being siphoned out of state enterprises, murky networks of operatives and a suppression of independent voice.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I invited Kate Lister to join me after the enormous popularity of her last appearance on the pod. But this time we talked about how our sexual habits are both dulled and invigorated in unprecedented times - wars, plagues, pandemics. We discussed licentious widows who let loose during plagues, the separate brothels for British officers and soldiers, and how the lives of sex workers have been compromised in times of hardship. She also told me about sex in the coronavirus lockdown and the modern data on sending nudes ...
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Afua Hirsch is a writer, broadcaster, barrister and human rights development worker. She has previously worked as Social Affairs and Education Editor for Sky News and was also a correspondent for The Guardian. In this podcast we discussed Nelson's famous statue in Trafalgar Square and what place it has in central London.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
My guests this week were Marcus Collins and Peter Stearns. They've just released a wonderful new book, 'Why Study History?' - a guide for prospective students and parents to enthuse the reader and answer the crucial questions that a college prospectus might conveniently miss out. They joined me on the pod to examine the intellectual, economic and societal benefits of studying history. We discussed the humanities in relation to STEM subjects, the typical career trajectory of a history graduate and examined history's crucial role in civic studies.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Known as the Scourge of God, Attila the Hun was one of the greatest Barbarian rulers in history. Renowned for his brutality, sacking and pillaging the lands and cities he conquered, Attila became one of the most feared enemies of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. But how did Attila rally his people to take on the might of Rome and why was he so successful? As part of our new 'How and Why History' series, Rob Weinberg asks the big questions about this notorious figure to Professor Peter Heather of Kings College London.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
500 years ago this week marked the start of one of the most extraordinary diplomatic gatherings in history: The Field of the Cloth of Gold. In 1520, England and France - traditionally bitter rivals - sought to bring conflict to an end in a magnificent show of opulence and pageantry. Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France agreed to meet in a show of conviviality, to reinforce the European-wide 'Universal Peace.' Of course, they didn't pack light. Both kings brought a hefty entourage of almost their entire political nations. My guest this week is Glenn Richardson, who took me to the heart of this rich tapestry of Renaissance diplomacy. He explained the spectacle of sporting competitions and flowing fountains of wine, the care taken to ensure rivalries would not erupt again, and the important role played by women in managing the rivals courts.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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I was thrilled to be joined by David Runciman, Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and host of the widely acclaimed 'Talking Politics' podcast. Together we discussed how the great political thinkers of the past 400 years impacted the worlds they lived in, and whether they are still relevant today. David spoke about the the relationship between democracy and technology, the nature of political leadership and the trade-off between liberty and security. We also acknowledged how many ideas come out of moments of crisis - such as the current coronavirus pandemic - and what the future of political thought might look like.
You can listen to David's 'Talking Politics' podcast at these links:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/talking-politics-history-of-ideas/id1508992867
https://open.spotify.com/show/3gzuLQUZ5kMKBH4VcK5eR0
https://play.acast.com/s/history-of-ideas
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
I was joined by Giles Milton to learn about D-Day and find out what his research has uncovered about the untold stories of this landmark event.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was delighted to be joined by James Rogers - a war historian, fellow of the London School of Economics, and presenter of History Hit's Untold History series. One of James' films explores HM Factory Gretna, a munitions factory built by the Ministry of Munitions in response to the Shell Crisis of 1915. He told me about the fate of these factory workers - predominantly women - who laboured to produce cordite, an explosive described by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as 'Devil's Porridge'. We also discussed the overlooked story of German POWs in the south of England, and the legacy of their lives after the war.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
The protests on the streets of America are a product of 400 years of violence, slavery, coercion and injustice. I took a crash course with Harvard's Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad on the history that has led to this moment. He stripped me of my illusions about America but also explained why he is essentially optimistic.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was delighted to be joined by Caleb McDaniel, History professor and author of the Pulitzer prizewinning book, “Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America”. He told me the remarkable story of Henrietta Wood. Born into slavery in Kentucky, she was freed as an adult and worked as domestic worker. In 1853, her employers conspired to trick her into crossing the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, where she was recaptured and taken to work in the harrowing conditions of the Mississippi cotton fields. At the end of the Civil War, Wood was freed for the second time, where she sued her kidnapper for $20,000. Although she only received $2,500 (more than $60,000 today) it allowed her son, Arthur H. Simms, to buy a house in Chicago, and attend Union College of Law, now Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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According to John Evelyn, the great diarist, Charles II was ‘addicted to women’. Charles' court is infamous for tales of licentiousness and promiscuity, and I was thrilled to be joined by Linda Porter who introduced me to Charles' impressive list of mistresses. There was Frances Teresa Stuart, ‘the prettiest girl in the world’, Barbara Villiers, an ill-tempered courtier, ‘pretty, witty’ Nell Gwynn, Moll Davis, who bore the last of the king’s fifteen illegitimate children and Louise de Kéroualle, the French aristocrat – and spy for Louis XIV. Trapped in the middle of it all was Queen Catherine, the Portuguese princess, who was far from the childless, forlorn and humiliated figure we have come to imagine. Linda argues that she was likeable and resilient, and a leading cultural figure of the day.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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James and Sam get to grips with the history of BIG HEADS...it's all about a touch of arrogance, wanting to be seen to be in charge, securing your place in history...it allows us to think about all sorts of fascinating characters...Caesar, Napoleon, Robespierre, Cromwell and, of course, the Biggest Biggy McBighead of them all, Henry VIII.
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Neal Bascomb joined me on the podcast to tell a remarkable story of the fight against Hitler - on the Grand Prix racetrack. We delved into the high-speed world of the American heiress Lucy Schell, a motorsport obsessive and the top American driver in the Monte Carlo Rally. With the help of Rene Dreyfus, a brilliant racing driver who was banned from competing due to his Jewish heritage, Schell became the first woman to own and run a Grand Prix team. She brought Delahaye automobiles back from the brink of bankruptcy to take on Hitler’s Silver Arrow Grand Prix racers. We also discussed how motoring was integral to Hitler's grand plans for a militarised Germany, and how the success of individuals like Schell and Dreyfus was such a thorn in the side of Nazi doctrine.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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I was thrilled to be joined by Andrew Ziminski, a stonemason living and working in Somerset. He's just released his first book documenting the fascinating stories from three decades of hands-on experience working with the very building blocks of British history. In this episode, I heard about his work on a Stonehenge megalith, the restoration of Roman ruins in Bath, the stories of engine houses, mills and aqueducts of the Industrial Revolution, the problems facing Notre Dame, how St Paul's Cathedral is really a piece of Arabic architecture, and the wealth of history to be found in a humble medieval country church.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Dan meets some of the surviving Dunkirk veterans on the famous Little Ships which helped to rescue them from the beaches. The Little Ships of Dunkirk were 700 private boats that sailed from Ramsgate in England to Dunkirk in France between 26 May and 4 June 1940 as part of Operation Dynamo, helping to rescue more than 338,000 British and French soldiers who were trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk during the Second World War.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
80 years ago this week, one of the most extraordinary evacuations in military history was under way: 'The Miracle of Dunkirk'. But how, and why, did the Allies find themselves in such a dire position? On this podcast, I was joined by one of the great historians of the Second World War, Peter Caddick-Adams, who took me through The Fall of France and the Low Countries - one of the most catastrophic defeats in military history. In just a couple of weeks, the German army achieved what it had failed to achieve in four years of brutal fighting in The Great War. They had bypassed the Maginot Line and crossed the the River Meuse to encircle much of the Allied forces at the port of Dunkirk. Was it technology, doctrine, or careless mistakes which allowed this to happen? How did each side utilise these events in the propaganda war? We also discussed the remarkable circumstances troops found themselves in - many of whom were fighting and commanding in exactly the same positions as they had in the First Word War, two and a half decades previously.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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James and Sam come to grips with the elusive history of SHADOWS! And it's fascinating; It's all to do with the very structure of history itself, telling the time, Chinese Emperors, entertainment, advertising in 1950s America, messages from God, the soul, oh...and Aborigines.
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May 28, 1940: Major Akbar Khan of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps marches at the head of 299 soldiers along the beach at Dunkirk - the only Indians in the BEF in France and the only ones at Dunkirk. These men of the Indian Army, carrying their disabled imam, find their way to the East Mole and embark for England in the dead of night. On reaching Dover, they borrowed brass trays and started playing Punjabi folk music, upon which even "many British spectators joined in the dance." Where had they come from and why were they in France? And what happened to them after that? Ghee Bowman reveals in full, for the first time, the story of these soldiers, from their arrival in France on December 26, 1939 to their return at war's end to an India on the verge of partition. It is one of the war's hidden stories that casts fresh light on Britain and its empire.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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James and Sam tackle the history of things being SO NOT FAIR! From the French Revolution to the massacres of Aborigines and the theft of land from Native Americans to the Suffragettes Sam and James rampage around historical unfairness before settling on the Great Reform Act of 1832 and the subsequent People's Charter of 1838.
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The greatest threats we face are climate breakdown and pandemic disease. This was the assessment of security advisers before the Covid outbreak and the last few months have seen the stunning reality of this as the world lurches into a giant economic and political crisis. I am joined by Calder Walton, Director of Research of Harvard Kennedy School's Intelligence Project, to talk about whether there was a huge intelligence failure around the outbreak of the pandemic, but also whether our intelligence communities are properly organised to realistically evaluate the real nature of the threats to our societies. He also has a bold idea to help avoid a future recurrence ...
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
80 years ago, ships were gathering in Kent to begin the rescue of the British Expeditionary Force. Britain faced the prospect of the worst defeat in British military history and the loss of her entire military forces in Western Europe. Churchill called it "a colossal military disaster", admitting "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" seemed to perish. The subsequent evacuation is one of the most famous stories to emerge from the Second World War. Joshua Levine worked as the Historical Advisor for Christopher Nolan’s epic adventure movie set during the Dunkirk evacuation, and he joined me on the podcast to explain what really happened at the "Miracle of Dunkirk".
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Sam and James continue their fascinating history of BEARDS! They're all about the reformation, horror stories, health, surrealism, preachers and their stentorian tones....Who Knew?
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No man knew Adolf Hitler as intimately as his trusted physician, Theodoor Morell. As part of Hitler's inner social circle, he assisted the leader in virtually everything for the entire war years. His unconventional treatments were famed in Germany, and Hitler so trusted the 'miracle' prescriptions that trains were stopped to allow the doctor to deliver injections with a steady hand. I was joined by Professor Frank McDonough, an internationally acclaimed expert on the Third Reich, who revealed the concoction of drugs which electrified and maimed the erratic mind of Fuhrer.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
One of the greatest rulers of the 16th century was Akbar the Great, a man whose power and influence extended over much of the Indian subcontinent after he unified the vast Mughal state. But recently, Akbar's reputation has plummeted as modern India has examined the controversial aspects of his rule. Manimugdha S. Sharma is a Delhi-based journalist who joined me on the podcast to pick apart Akbar and the Mughal Empire. We discussed who Akbar was, how he rose to power and how there are still some lessons we can learn from this mighty ruler.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Henry VI came to the throne in exceptionally difficult circumstances. The untimely death of his warlike father, Henry V, placed the crown upon his head aged just 9 months. While England was in the ascendant in the Hundred Years' War in 1422, by the time he came of age his father's French conquests were disintegrating and the English nobility were locked in a dangerous struggle for power. In 1453, Henry suffered a complete mental collapse from which he never fully recovered, and then was used as a chess piece in the bloody Wars of the Roses which swept the country for the next 30 years. Lauren Johnson talks to Dan about the fascinating reign of Henry VI.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
Inspired by the beard-growing that was taken up by so many of us all in Coronavirus lockdown, Sam and James tackle the unexpected history of BEARDS...which is all about the Crimean War, Ottoman pirates and 'Turning Turk, Peter the Great, gas masks, and modernity in the seventeenth century! WHO KNEW!!!!
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Greg Jenner has given my children so many hours of happiness as the historical brains behind the Horrible History tv shows and movie, not to mention the Homeschool History podcast that it would have been grotesquely unfair not to have him on the show and talk about his new book on the history of celebrity. Greg has tried to define exactly what we mean by this title and suggests that it all began in the early 18th Century with the rise of a literate mass audience and the magazines and papers that catered to it. His suggestion of the first celebrity will surprise every one of you, but his stories about the people that we have thrown onto pedestals and then cast aside will amaze you. As i should know by now, nothing, nothing at all, is new in this world.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
It's a belief which has dictated the writings of Machiavelli and Hobbes, Freud and Dawkins - that humans are fundamentally selfish and governed by self-interest. But Rutger Bregman has made a convincing case that this simply isn't true. Starting off with a real version of The Lord of the Flies - where humans stranded on a desert island were driven by kindness and common responsibility - we took a deeper look at human beings through the lens of the past.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
It's a packed lunch of fun! James and Sam explore the extraordinary history of lunchboxes, which are all about the industrial revolution and nomads and Elizabeth I, before moving on to looking at lunchboxes in relation to WW1 and life in the trenches.
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In this podcast I was joined by Emma Butcher, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in English Literature at the University of Leicester. Emma took me on a fascinating journey through the Brontë siblings' reactions and interactions with the tumult of the early 19th century. We discussed the trauma experienced by soldiers returning from Napoleonic wars, contemporary ideas surrounding British Imperial ambitions, the rise of the military memoir as a literary genre, the landscape of Yorkshire as a source of inspiration and the siblings' own fantasy worlds of Angria and Gondal. It was a melting pot of ideas which would inspire some of the most popular literature in British history.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
It was an honour to be joined by Martyn Rady to discuss one of history's most thrilling families, the Habsburgs. Ruling for almost a millennium, their imperial vision was perhaps best realised in Emperor Frederick III's AEIOU motto: Austriae est imperare orbi universe, "Austria is destined to rule the world." Indeed, Frederick's descendants would extend their power into the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, Spain, the New World, and the Pacific, a dominion that Charles V called "the empire on which the sun never sets." Weathering religious warfare, revolution and all kinds of political storms, it drew to a close with the 1914 assassination of the Habsburg heir presumptive Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which of course, marked the start of another epochal chapter of history.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
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80 years ago this week, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain and his calamitous handling of the Norway campaign. On the same day, Adolf Hitler launched a monumental assault on Western Europe. It was the toughest first week in office a Prime Minister has ever faced. We're marking this historic event with a podcast from our archive - the entirety of which is available exclusively to History Hit subscribers. In this podcast, I visited the house of Churchill's biographer, Andrew Roberts, to look at some previously unseen historic material - a fascinating insight into the world of the great man.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was thrilled to be joined by the legendary Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford University and bestselling author of 'The Silk Roads: A New History of the World'. In this podcast we discussed the current crisis in a wider historical context, and Peter gave some fascinating insights. This podcast was the first of our live Zoom discussions between Dan, Peter and History Hit subscribers, who were invited to join the discussion at the end.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
I was delighted to be joined by Miri Rubin of Queen Mary University, London. In a terrific new book, Miri has scooped up a seemingly modern topic - migration - and settled it into the bustling town centres of medieval Europe. We discussed how these cities accommodated a plethora of languages, religions and occupations, and how some urban institutions took great care with the settlement of newcomers, working them into societal fabric to encourage economic growth. And of course, we chatted about how we could learn from our medieval ancestors to provide a fresh thinking on social exclusion in today's world.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1.
The Thirty Years War devastated seventeenth-century Europe. It killed nearly a quarter of all Germans and transformed the map of the modern world. Professor Peter Wilson of Oxford University took me on a whistle stop tour through these tumultuous years - from defenestrations in Prague, Westphalian sovereignty and how the soldiers of WWI remembered these events three centuries later.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. We have got our BEST EVER offer available at the moment. If you use the code 'VEDay' on sign up, you get 30 days free, then your first five months access will be just £1/€1/$1 - it's £5.99 a month after.
This special HOMESCHOOLING episode is about PLAYING CHICKEN! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of PLAYING CHICKEN, which is all Henry VIII's Great Matter, Appeasement prior to WWII, and the Crusades! Most of all though it's about THE CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS OF 1962 which saw a standoff between Khrushchev and Kennedy over stationing of nuclear weapons on the island of Cuba - just 160 kilometres off the coast of Florida!
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Coffee. Most of us are addicted. We need it on Monday mornings, post nights out, during nights out, in fact every morning. And afternoons. Augustine Sedgewick teaches history at the City University of New York. He has a new book out on how coffee reshaped the world as it became one of the most valuable commodities in history and our 'most popular drug.' He talked to me about the journey of coffee from its obscure beginnings in the Arabian peninsula and explained just how it has transformed our landscapes, physiologies, economy and the nature of work itself.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. We have got our BEST EVER offer available at the moment. If you use the code 'VEDay' on sign up, you get 30 days free, then your first five months access will be just £1/€1/$1 - it's £5.99 a month after.
This special HOMESCHOOLING episode is about SHARING! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of SHARING, which is all the Great Depression, the EU, the League of Nations, early modern marriage and working-class communities in Victorian London. Most of all though it's about KARL MARX and the COMMUNIST MANIFESTO and the abolition of private property and the redistribution of political power! "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!"
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For most of us, VE Day conjures up black and white images of carefree servicemen and women dancing and beaming in Trafalgar Square, of Churchill greeted by jubilant crowds in Whitehall, and of course, lots and lots of bunting. But was it really like this? In this podcast, you'll hear the speech given by Churchill from the Ministry of Health, cheered on by the boisterous crowd, an account by veteran Edward Toms about the drinking habits of the Soviets, and thoughts from two brilliant historians, Toby Haggith and Russell Miller.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. We have got our BEST EVER offer available at the moment. If you use the code 'VEDay' on sign up, you get 30 days free, then your first five months access will be just £1/€1/$1 - it's £5.99 a month after.
In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of VE Day, which is all about children, parties, memory, pens, disagreement, balconies and much, much more!
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The question of wars and how we remember them has always fascinated me. With WW1 we seem to remember the enormous, tragic loss of life - captured so beautifully by the likes of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. But WW2 seems to be more about stoicism, Spitfires and speeches. Lucy Noakes came on the podcast to discuss how our collective memory of WW2 and Churchill has changed through films, political campaigns, historians and present day agendas. We also chatted about what exactly we could learn from the 1940s, and how to apply those lessons to the challenges of today's world.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. We have got our BEST EVER offer available at the moment. If you use the code 'VEDay' on sign up, you get 30 days free, then your first five months access will be just £1/€1/$1 - it's £5.99 a month after.
In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of RAINBOWS (inspired by this symbol of hope during lockdown) which is all about Elizabeth I, the German Peasants' War, the Bible, Norse mythology, political alliances, Gilbert Baker, Harvey Milk and the Pride flag, and LGBTQ History and Heritage and much, much more!
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This episode is about DRESSING UP! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of DRESSING UP, which is all Count Leo Tolstoy, Carnival in Venice, the Maldon Grain Riots of 1629, and the Lord of Misrule. Most of all though it's about THE REBECCA RIOTS and TURNPIKE ROADS during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which greatly improved the quality of roads in Britain, but with social consequences!
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I have hooked up with the Timeline Channel on youtube to do History Hit Live three times a week. Sometimes I'll share the audio as a podcast on this feed. My chat with Clifford Williamson, lecturer at Bath Spa University and specialising in the History of Public Health, was fascinating. We talked about the widespread pandemics of the last 150 years and what we can learn from them when we look at the current COVID-19 outbreak. He also had some suggestions about what may change as a result of the crisis we are going through.
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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of INSULTS, which is all about duelling, 3500 BCE Babylonia, poison pen letters, and of course gloves! It's also all about Shakespeare, slander and name-calling in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Devon, and much, much more!
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Lara Maiklem has scoured banks of the Thames for over 15 years in pursuit of the objects that the fast moving river water unearths. The Thames is one of the longest and most varied archaeological site in the world. Previous generations have been dumping rubbish and losing valuables for thousands of years. Lara took me Mudlarking on a beautiful, bright, winter day and we found objects dating back as far as the Romans. The undoubted highlight for me was finding a coin from the 1750s. That helped turn me into a ferocious Mudlarker.
In this podcast Lara and I had a follow up chat and, BRILLIANTLY, it got interrupted when a courier picked up a bag of human bones. I know. You have to listen to believe.
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This episode is about HIDING, but with some serious consequences! James and Sam explore the Unexpected history of HIDING, which is all about Oak Trees (and the future King of England, Charles II), it's about keeping secrets, MARY QUEEN of SCOTS, but most of all it's about how CATHOLICS were treated in Elizabethan England, via PRIEST HOLES, which were used to hide priests sent to England from Europe who were hunted down by the Tudor State. LISTEN IF YOU DARE!
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The Unexpected History of PRESENTS is all about power and politics at the TUDOR COURT, diplomacy and showing off, and getting people to do exactly what you want. It's especially about FEUDALISM in Norman England, and the transfer of land to Barons and Knights in return for military service!
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Paul John Darran joined the army 1980. He was ninth generation of his family to do so. The story begins with his ancestor John Carberry joined the Tyrone militia in Ireland in 1795. He later transferred to the regular army and fought in the Peninsula with Wellington. he was killed during the notorious siege of Badajoz in 1812. Since then the family has served in every major British imperial conflict. One of them has been in uniform in nearly every single decade for 200 years. They have served from New Zealand to India and the Western Front. Waterloo, Kabul, Transvaal, Gallipoli, Ypres, Dunkirk, Palestine. Thanks so much to Paul for getting in touch and agreeing to come on the podcast.
This is their story.
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Who kew that BULLIES have a history! Well they do and it's FASCINATING. James and Sam explore the history of bullies across time and then focus on the Nazi Brownshirts and how they used their muscle to propel Hitler to power in the 1930s. The story is followed up to the Night of the Long Knives in 1934 when Hitler used his ultra-loyal personal bodyguard, the SS, to turn against the Brownshirts, ending their reign of terror.
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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of BREATH, which is all about halitosis, free diving, humanity and the soul, Harry Houdini, advertising and consumerism in 1950s America, mouth to mouth resuscitation and the Royal Humane Society and much, much more!
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In 1931, an enormous apartment building was completed in Moscow. Challenging the Kremlin for architectural supremacy on the Moskva River, it was the largest residential building in Europe, combining 505 furnished apartments with every modern luxury - a cinema, library, tennis court and shooting range.
But the residents of this monstrous tower block were no ordinary Russians. They were the top Communist officials - many of whom were taken from this building and destroyed in Stalin’s purges. Yuri Slezkine, a professor from the University of California, has trawled through the letters, diaries and interviews of these residents. He joins me on the pod to offer a fascinating glimpse into the heart of Soviet terror tactics.
For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV We have got a flash sale on at the moment for the next few days: Use code 'pod3' at checkout for your first month free and the following THREE months for just £/$1 per month.
Who knew that SUCKING UP had a history? Well it does, and it's all about the APPEASEMENT of Germany in an attempt to keep the peace before the outbreak of World War II. James and Sam brainstorm examples of sucking up from across history, focussing especially on Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler with discussion of the Anschluss that unified Austria and Germany, the Sudetenland and Munich agreement which promised 'peace in our time'. Was it all a matter of sucking up, or a clever way to buy time to prepare for a major global conflict?
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The history of things that go HORRIBLY WRONG. And there are TONS of them...from shipwrecks to international relationships and military campaigns. Sam and James explore this theme throughout history and with particular focus on the League of Nations inspired by Woodrow Wilson and set up in the aftermath of the First World War....to prevent anything like that ever happening again. Did it work? HELL NO. #EpicFail
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Who knew that Broken Promises have a history?! Well they do and it's FASCINATING, and James and Sam explore the wonderful of history of saying you're going to do ONE THING and then doing SOMETHING ELSE instead. SO ANNOYING. And they focus in particular on the promises that James VI and I made to Catholics, how he broke them...and how those broken promises led to Guy Fawkes stashing 36 barrels of gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament...the Gunpowder Plot!
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Globalisation. It's a word we often associate with the politics, society and economics of our own lifetimes. But Valerie Hansen, an esteemed professor of History at Yale, has argued that globalisation is embedded deep in the past. Whilst traditionally, historians have cited Columbus' 1492 voyage to America as a kick off point, Valerie pulls us way back to the year 1000. In this podcast, she reveals how international trade routes already linked the globe, with evidence such as the frozen textiles found in Greenland made of hairs from North American animals. This was a fascinating discussion, proving once again, how history can tell us so much about the contemporary world.
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Episode 16 in our Homeschooling series! This one's all about the history of Blame and wanting to say IT'S SO YOUR FAULT!! James and Sam explore the idea of blame in history and then focus on who was held responsible for the First World War, and the writing of the War Guilt clause in the Versailles Treaty.
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For soldiers of the Crimean War, perhaps the greatest adversary they faced was the Selimiye Barracks in Scutari, a makeshift hospital for wounded men. A lack of hygiene, medicine and compassion made this a living nightmare - if you didn't perish from your wounds, you would probably succumb to one of the mass infections which plagued the barracks. But one nurse changed all that, Florence Nightingale, who is commonly considered the founder of modern nursing. Professor Lynn McDonald took me through the incredible work of Nightingale, highlighting her importance as a social reformer and statistician. In light of the current world pandemic, we also discussed how Nightingale would have set out to combat the challenges of COVID-19.
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I was thrilled to have Mat McLachlan on the pod, one of Australia's foremost history presenters and writers. Using his encyclopaedic knowledge of Australian battlefields, Mat and I chatted about Australia's complex relationship with its past, and how this history is perceived and commemorated today.
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Did Hitler shoot himself in the Führerbunker, or did he slip past the Soviets and escape to South America? There have been innumerable documentaries, newspaper articles and twitter threads written by conspiracy theorists to back up the case for escape. Luke Daly Groves has made it his mission to take on the conspiracy theorists, and smash their arguments using historical method. With the help of recently declassified MI5 files, previously unpublished sketches of Hitler's bunker and eyewitness accounts of intelligence officers, this made for a fascinating discussion. Enjoy.
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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of THE KISS, which is all about Admiral Lord Nelson, WWI AND WWII, witchcraft, the devil and goats, the Reformation, voting in the 18th century England, poster girls, and the #metoo movement, and much, much more!
This fifteenth (yes, FIFTEENTH!) episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SLOBBERING and JAMES VI AND I! The Unexpected History of SLOBBERING is all about disease and insanity and the history of teething (rubbing rabbit brains into the gums of infants). James and Sam explore the fascinating history of the James VI and I through the subject of slobbering, inspired by Anthony Weldon's famous description of this Stuart monarch. Learn about James's experience as king of Scotland, his learning and writing, his penchant for favourites, royal finances, his relationship with parliament and the divine right of kings!
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In this podcast, Dan Snow is joined by Professor Mark Bailey, High Master of St Paul's School, London and Professor of Later Medieval History at the University of East Anglia to delve into the topic of The Black Death. They discuss how it emerged and spread throughout the world, what impact it had on society and how it would return every few decades over the 400 years that followed.
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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of BALCONIES, which is all about propaganda and politics, the assassination of Martin Luther King, eavesdropping on the royal family, it’s about Churchill, Hitler and Mussolini, the Globe Theatre (and the Lord's Room), popular misconceptions about Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, and of course it’s about the Italian spirit of community during lockdown and the global COVID-19 crisis!
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Sex. There's a lot of it about. We talk about war, chaos and atrocities on this podcast a lot although, thankfully, few of us have first hand experience of them. Yet we rarely talk sex. Which is odd. Sex is what got us here in the first place and nearly all of us will experience it in some form through our lives. I talked to Dr Kate Lister about the ways in which society dictates how sex is culturally understood and performed have varied significantly through the ages. Dr Lister runs the brilliant digital project Whores of Yore and has just written the brilliant Curious History of Sex. We chatted about why humans are the only creatures that stigmatise particular sexual practices, and sex remains a deeply divisive issue around the world. This was a fascinating chat.
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This fourteenth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores NAMES and THE DOMESDAY BOOK! The Unexpected History of NAMES is all about Viking Nicknames, titles for royalty and the aristocracy, it's about women being hidden from history (think the name-changing Bess of Hardwick), and Scandinavian linguistic dominance across Europe. James and Sam explore the fascinating history of the Domesday Book through the subject of names, including how it was made and why, what it was used for, and the process of collecting the information that went into it. What does it tell us about Norman England? And what does it leave out? Learn how to write your very own Domesday Survey of where you live!
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This thirteenth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SHOWOFFS and NORMAN CASTLES! The Unexpected History of showing off is all about world-famous historical showoffs, like Henry VIII, Hitler and Louis XIV, it's about the history of fashion (think outlandish gloves and tall hats), architecture and prodigy houses, lavish gifts and bling!, US consumerism in the 1950s and of course schadenfreude! James and Sam explore the fascinating history of Norman Castles through the subject of showing off, including the building of stone and wood castles, the strategic control of England by the Normans, and detailed discussion of Motte and Bailey Castles.
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I was thrilled to be joined by Mark Vincent, an expert in criminal subculture and prisoner society in Stalinist Labour camps. Mark has looked at thousands of journals, song collections, tattoo drawings and slang dictionaries to reveal a hidden side of Gulag daily life. In this podcast, he also explained how these criminal habits laid the foundations for the Russian mafia.
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This twelfth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SCABS and MEDIEVAL MEDICINE! The Unexpected History of scabs is all about a personal history of childhood, the Industrial Revolution, health and safety, the history of science and discovery, Elizabeth I and much much more. James and Sam explore the history of medieval medicine through the subject of scabs, including the causes of disease (including the four homours), the treatment of medieval everyday illnesses and emergence of anatomy.
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This eleventh episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SCARS and THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY! The Unexpected History of scars is all about personal history, West African tribes, Count Otto von Bismarck (the man who unified Germany!), Glasgow in the 1930s and much much more. James and Sam explore the history of slavery through the subject of scars, including the triangular trade, the abolition of slavery, and the famous image of the African American slave, Gordon or Whipped Peter.
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Dr Helen McCarthy, lecturer in modern British history at the University of Cambridge, joins Dan to discuss the complicated past of working motherhood. They consider how women have been excluded from the world of work as well as attempts to break into it, and how these developments have informed our views on gender, work and equality in Britain today.
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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of APPLAUSE, which is all about popularity in Ancient Rome, Stalinist Russia, babies, opera-going sophisticates, crowds and paying people to clap (or boo!), Henry James's failure as a playwright, and of course gratitude to the NHS and front line medical staff across the globe during the COVID19 crisis!
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This tenth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores ACCIDENTS and EVERYDAY LIFE IN TUDOR BRITAIN! The Unexpected History of accidents is all about personal history, world-famous accidents like the sinking of the Titanic, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster or Aberfan in 1966, heroism, health and safety, the Industrial Revolution and much much more. James and Sam explore the world of everyday life in Tudor Britain through the subject of accidents, including the history of childhood, coroners' records and the diary of John Dee.
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In this podcast I was joined by Margaret MacMillan, professor at St Antony's College, Oxford University and author of 'Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War'. We discussed the effects WWI had on the world, and how Europe began to rebuild in the years that followed.
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In this episode, Dan chats to British naval historian and maritime artist, Richard Endsor, about seventeenth century ship building. It was the developments of this period that would enable Britain to extend it's maritime reach across the oceans, eventually encompassing territory on every continent.
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I was joined by Kevin Fong, who took me through one of the most extraordinary stories in the history of exploration. Apollo 13 was the seventh crewed mission on the Apollo space programme, and their third attempt to land on the moon. But after an oxygen tank in the command module ignited early on in the mission, the three astronauts got much more than they bargained for. As each of the systems in the space craft began to shut down one after another over a course of four excruciating days, it seemed impossible they would come out alive.
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This ninth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores INVISIBILITY and Tudor Spies! The Unexpected History of invisibility is all about stealth technology and travelling under the radar, priest holes and hiding during WWII, Stalin's erasure of the past, being hidden from history, and of course spies, cryptography and the secret world of the Tudors. James and Sam explore the world of the Tudor spy, including the Babington Plot of 1586, and look out for recipes to make invisible ink and how to hide a secret letter inside an egg!
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Emily Brand has written a brilliant book about the Byrons. Not just the great romantic, poet and adventurer, George Gordon Byron, but his parents and grandparents who are equally as deserving of our attention. I loved this opportunity to delve into 18th Century British life. There are admirals, villains, heroines and lovers all over the place. One family give us an entree into a world different to ours yet tantalisingly similar.
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This eighth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores STENCH and Public Health in Victorian England. The Unexpected History of STENCH is all about personal hygiene and the marketing of smelling nice in 1950s USA; the holocaust and use of napalm during the Vietnam war, stinkiness in the medieval world, and of course nineteenth-century disease and public health. James and Sam explore discuss Public Health Reforms in Victorian Britain, including Edwin Chadwick's 1842 Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population, and look out for recipes to make your own stink bombs!
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In September 1918 David Lloyd George, the charismatic wartime Prime Minister, visited the city of Manchester, attended a vast public gathering and then collapsed. He spent the next week and a half confined to the Manchester Town Hall in a hastily assembled private hospital ward. He needed assistance breathing. His valet said it was touch and go as to whether he would survive. He did pull through but a vast number of his fellow Brits did not. The country was in the grip of an influenza pandemic, known as Spanish Influenza. It is interesting that Lloyd George was in Manchester because it was under the care of one of the most remarkable public health officials in British history, James Niven. His rapid response the pandemic, his insistence on a public information campaign and closing of mass gatherings meant that Manchester suffered fewer deaths than other big cities like London.
In this podcast I talk to Mark Honigsbaum who has written extensively about the Influenza and Niven. We talked about sick Prime Ministers and social distancing. Please check out Mark's podcast Going Viral for more on this and the historical resonances of the present crisis.
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In this episode the Histories of the Unexpected team of James Daybell and Sam Willis take on the topic of RABBITS - as an Easter Special! Now, of course, the UNEXPECTED history of loneliness is all about poaching and disputes over land; eighteenth-century England and Mary Toft who allegedly gave birth to rabbits (it was a hoax!); Aborigines and the Stolen Generation in Australia; mapping rabbit warrens in Devon; and bizarrely enough, dead cats soaked in aniseed. Intrigued? Well listen up
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This seventh episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores FIRE and the SPANISH ARMADA. The Unexpected History of FIRE takes us from the pre-historic invention of fire and its impact upon the world all the way to the global climate crisis and the wildfires that raged in Australia in early 2020. Fire is also all burning things: it's about Nazi burning of books, the Tudors burning Protestant martyrs; scorched earth tactics in warfare, and fireships and naval history. James and Sam explore the history of the Armada and the use of beacons to communicate during the Tudor period. Look out for Queen Elizabeth's famous Tilbury speech of 1588, and how to decode the symbolism and imagery of her Armada Portrait.
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Professor Frank Snowden is currently on lockdown in Rome, experiencing at first hand life in a pandemic. For years he has written about the great waves of disease that swept across the world in the past. Now he is experiencing one. I talked to him about what pandemics have done to us. How they have changed our societies, nudged us towards the present and whether this outbreak might refocus us to give previous pandemics the attention they deserve.
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This sixth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores DARKNESS and WWII and THE BLITZ. The Unexpected History of darkness is all about the not so 'dark' Dark Ages, the Winter of Discontent and blackouts, child labour during the Victorian period, coal mining and hidden histories. James and Sam explore discuss WWII, the Blitz, and air raids, including Morrison Shelters. Look out for instructions on how to be a historian by interviewing your grandparents about their lives - a great way to keep in touch with elderly and vulnerable people during lockdown!
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Our museums are full of stuff taken, bought, stolen and gifted from foreign countries. It feels like we face a reckoning. What shall we do with it?
I talked to two authors of new books that wrestle with this. Christopher Joll is a former soldier who deals specifically with the spoils of war, while Alice Proctor thinks more generally about all objects and where they are best placed and how best to interpret them.
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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of BOREDOM, which is all about British imperialism, travel, the armed forces, governors, sea voyages, Elizabethan gentlewomen, controlling the working classes in post WWII Canada!
Boredom is the root of all evil – the despairing refusal to be oneself. – Soren Kierkegaard
Unless a man has been taught what to do with success after getting it, the achievement of it must inevitably leave him a prey to boredom. – Bertrand Russell
The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. – Ellen Parr
Poison, swordplay and bloodshed. Shakespeare’s characters met their ends in a plethora of gruesome ways. But how realistic were they? And did they even shock audiences who lived in a time of plague, pestilence and public executions, a time when seeing a dead or dying body on the way home from the theatre were high. I was joined by the wonderful Dr Kathryn Harkup, a chemist and author, on a tumultuous journey through the most dramatic and memorable parts of Shakespeare’s work.
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In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of SOLITUDE, which is all about monasticism, pillars, ornamental hermits (and shoes), desert islands, and the Beatles!
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This fifth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SLIME and the Industrial Revolution. The Unexpected History of slime is all about the medical properties of snail slime, ectoplasm and Victorian spiritualists, the use of black slugs to lubricate hay carts in pre-Industrial society, and of course the Industrial Revolution. James and Sam explore discuss the major inventions of the period, including Stevenson's Rocket, and look out for recipes to make your own magnetic slime!
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The last great battle of the Second World War was fought on the island of Okinawa. After 83 blood-soaked days, almost a quarter of a million people lost their lives. The death toll included thousands of civilians lost to mass suicide - convinced to do so by Japanese propaganda. I invited Saul David on the podcast to tell me about this shocking - often overlooked - chapter of the Second World War. A chapter which was central to Truman’s decision to use the atomic bombs in August 1945.
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This episode features military historian Douglas Gill who has extensively researched the origins of the Spanish Influenza as it emerged in 1915 and 1916 in northern France. Douglas has worked alongside leading virologist, and previous guest on Dan's podcast, John Oxford, to track the initial cases of this particularly violent strain of influenza which would go on to kill millions of people across the globe.
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In this episode the Histories of the Unexpected team of James Daybell and Sam Willis take on the topic of LONELINESS! Inspired by the events of a global lockdown, an UNEXPECTED history of loneliness is all about widowhood, eighteenth-century shopkeepers, Queen Victoria, prisons, the Beatles, chairs, teenagers, old photographs and nostalgia!
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I was thrilled to have Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir on the pod. We talked about Viking women, old Norse-Icelandic sagas, mythology and poetry. Who were these Viking women who were champions on the battlefield, did they really exist, and is there much historic evidence? Jóhanna answered all these questions drawing upon the latest archaeological evidence. It seems the lives of Viking women were far more dynamic than we might imagine. Enjoy!
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Dr. Jamie Wood and Professor Niall Mackay at the University of York are mathematicians who love history. Sensible dudes. They released a paper which sent the rest of the history world into a meltdown when they tried to use the statistics of airframe losses from the Battle of Britain to test just how close Germany might have come to victory in the battle. Essentially (I think but then again I am totally innumerate) they tested what would happen if the loss ration on certain days had been replicated consistently. Anyway I wouldn't read my take on it, give it a listen and see if it makes sense to you. I loved these guys and I hope we get to work together again.
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We were delighted to have comedy royalty on the podcast. Omid Djalili talked to me about one of his earliest stage creations, first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1993. Over the next four years it was performed 109 times in 10 different countries. The backdrop of this epic storytelling piece was the tumultuous expectation for a Promised One in Persia in 1844. The claims made by a young merchant of Shiraz - who became known as the Bab - caused a revolution, and laid the foundations for the Baha'i Faith - which numbers some seven million followers around the world today. Omid, who grew up in an Iranian Baha'i family, gave a fascinating insight into his relationship with history, comedy and family. Enjoy.
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In this episode James and Sam explore the Unexpected History of SOAP, which is of course all about hazing, the British Royal Navy, profanities, marketing, the Spanish Flu, popular politics, freedom of speech, Speakers' Corner, and John Major's 'Soap Box' electioneering...and a little bit about coronavirus!
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This is the FOURTH in this special series of Histories of the Unexpected Episodes geared towards homeschooling, as the United Kingdom and much of the globe enters into lockdown, schools close, and the world begins a period of isolation and educated online and at home. Over the next few weeks, we will endeavour to record a series of history podcast episodes catering for kids, parents and teachers, with the intention of providing interesting history material readily available to anyone interested in history, and with access to a device capable of receiving a podcast, and with access to the internet. It is aimed at audiences from 8-108!
In this Histories of The Unexpected Homeschooling Episode FOUR, James offers A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK AT HISTORIES OF THE UNEXPECTED, uncovering the historical tricks of the trade that going into putting together each episode. Of interest to all, the episode also caters for sixth-formers, whose exams have been cancelled, to get them thinking about how historians interpret the past. As curriculum enrichment for all - whether you are university-history-degree-bound or not this essay teaches you the methods of: taxonomy; comparative and global history; object biography and the archaeology of things; historical causation (via G.R. Elton and Fernand Braudel), and micro history. There's something for everyone!!
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This is the THIRD in this special series of Histories of the Unexpected Episodes geared towards homeschooling, as the United Kingdom and much of the globe enters into lockdown, schools close, and the world begins a period of isolation and educated online and at home. Over the next few weeks, we will endeavour to record a series of history podcast episodes catering for kids, parents and teachers, with the intention of providing interesting history material readily available to anyone interested in history, and with access to a device capable of receiving a podcast, and with access to the internet. It is aimed at audiences from 8-108!
In this HoTU Homeschooling Episode, James offers VIA FATTENING DORMICE IN ANCIENT ROME and A PRECOCIOUS TUDOR SCHOOLBOY a trio of ideas for History projects for kids: 1. An oral history project for kids to interview grandparents. 2. How we used to live - making shoebox models of a room in a historic house. 3. Be a young Historian of the Unexpected - listen to one of our episodes to produce your own animation or podcast!
There are more historic artefacts on our ocean floor than there are in every museum in the world put together. Over thousands of years ships carrying every conceivable cargo have sunk in the rivers and oceans of the world. Protecting them is an enormous challenge.
Thankfully there are heroes out there who are taking on that challenge. In this episode I was lucky enough to talk to maritime archaeologist Jessica Berry, CEO of MAST (Maritime Archaeological Sea Trust) and her colleague Nick Wise. Nick is CEO of OceanMind. OceanMind is a not for profit which specialises in using the latest technology, unleashing the full potential of the latest AI from Microsoft.
Together their two organisations have now set up the Maritime Observatory. This will protect underwater heritage from illegal looting - people going down, and ripping off bits of wrecks. So what Microsoft AI, and OceanMind's technology, allows MAST to keep an eye on ships behaving suspiciously on the surface in areas of important maritime wreck and heritage sites.
All this means that wrecks can be looked after, war graves can be respected, in just the same way we should be looking after our vital fisheries and our maritime protected areas.
To learn more go to Microsoft.com/ai
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This is the SECOND in what promises to be a special series of Histories of the Unexpected Episodes geared towards homeschooling, as the United Kingdom and much of the globe enters into lockdown, schools close, and the world begins a period of isolation and educated online and at home. Over the next few weeks, we will endeavour to record a series of history podcast episodes catering for kids, parents and teachers, with the intention of providing interesting history material readily available to anyone interested in history, and with access to a device capable of receiving a podcast, and with access to the internet. It is aimed at audiences from 8-108!
In this HoTU Homeschooling Episode, James takes you VIA VIKING ZOMBIES, CORPSE DOORS and CARELESS TUDOR CHILDREN on a whistle-stop tour of the incredible digital resources easily available online line for making history exciting for kids: educational websites, and virtual tours round museums, including a fabulous 360 degree tour of the terrific Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford with its collection of SHRUNKEN HEADS.
Everyone is Thomas Cromwell obsessed at the moment. The man who rose to be the most powerful member of Henry VIII's court, his Lord Privy Seal, Principal Secretary and Chancellor. He was a driving force behind the English Reformation and constitutional changes that emphasised the centrality of Parliament, but his current mighty reputation depends on the fictional trilogy of the genius novelist Hilary Mantel. On this podcast I talk to another genius, Tracy Borman, historian and curator of Historic Royal Palaces, a biographer of Cromwell about the reality behind the literary legend.
For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about the bombing war featuring James Holland and other historians, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV We have got a special offer on at the moment - use code 'pod1' for a month free and the next month for just £/€/$1.
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This is the first in what promises to be a special series of Histories of the Unexpected Episodes geared towards homeschooling, as the United Kingdom and much of the globe enters into lockdown, schools close, and the world begins a period of isolation and educated online and at home. Over the next few weeks, we will endeavour to record a series of history podcast episodes catering for kids, parents and teachers, with the intention of providing interesting history material readily available to anyone interested in history, and with access to a device capable of receiving a podcast, and with access to the internet. It is aimed at audiences from 8-108!
In this first HoTU Homeschooling Episode, James introduces the idea behind the new mini-series, talks about the awakening of his own childhood interest in history, his experience over the last week or so of home-schooling his 8 and 10-year-old daughters, as well as the incredible resources easily available online line for making history exciting for kids: podcasts, virtual tours round museums, fabulous books, and brilliant websites, packed full of free resources.
The episode also launches the campaign to make our budding young historians interested in oral history, by encouraging kids to create their own history by interviewing their grandparents about their own lives, memories and reflections on their past. Not only is this a great way to capture the imagination of young kids, but also at a time when elderly people, such as grandparents are self-isolating this is the perfect way to encourage social contact online with groups of people who are alone and isolated. All you need is some kind of device for communicating, such as a phone, tablet or computer and away you go. Looking forward to hearing about all your stories. Stay tuned for many more ideas!
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Daniel Todman is a Professor of Modern History at Queen Mary. He has just published his epic study of how during the Second World War Britain fought back from near disaster to triumph. It opens with the fall fall of Singapore Feb 1942 and ends with Britain’s post war experiment in social democracy well underway.
Speaking to him amidst the Covid crisis was particularly fascinating. I was able to ask just why states are able to do and pay for in moments of extreme drama. Dan always encourages me to think differently about the past. This episode was certainly no exception.
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Great leaders? Industrial change? Revolutions? If you thought these were the things that shaped history, think again. Back by popular demand, I was thrilled to be joined by bestselling author Lewis Dartnell.
He explained how modern political and economic patterns correlate with events which happened not decades or centuries ago, but hundreds of millions of years before human civilisations existed. Pretty mind-blowing stuff.
Perhaps more relevant than ever in these uncertain and weird times, it’s never been more compelling to understand Earth’s impact on the shape of human civilisations. Enjoy.
For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about the bombing war featuring James Holland and other historians, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV We have got a special offer on at the moment- use code 'pod3' for a month free and the first THREE months for just £/€/$1 per month.
Join the award winning Histories of the Unexpected team as Sam and James turn their minds to the history of ANGER! It's all about Captain Cook, running amok, understanding anger, harnessing it, taking your anger out on art and other iconoclasm, boxing, suffragettes, and the most astonishingly rude letter you will ever have heard (or read) ever - and it's from the sixteenth century! And as always with an Unexpected episode there's a whole lot more....You'll never think about anger in the same way ever again. Guaranteed!
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Off the coast of the Gaza Strip fishermen have been discovering coins of extreme rarity and importance. They date from the brief reign of Alexander the Great in the Third Century BC.
Strangely, months later, a collection of very very similar coins were sold in a London auction house. What's the story here? Were they illegally trafficked? And what does that tell us about the antiquities found in some of the world's most troubled regions?
I talked to Sarah Saey a lead producer for the BBC who broke this story, and also to producer Hazem Balousha in Gaza itself. It is a fascinating piece of archaeological sleuthing that took me from the chaos following the death of Alexander to the modern antiquities trade....
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Dan chats with journalist and author Ed West about Ed's conservative views, which make him an anomaly among his peers. They explore why conservatives have lost almost every political argument since 1945, and why Ed worships on the altar of Edmund Burke.
In this episode, Dan meets New York Times journalist and writer Bari Weiss, who grew up near and attended the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsberg, Pensylvania. In 2018 this synagogue was the site of the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in American history. Dan and Bari delve into the long history of anti-Semitism, from 2nd century BCE to our modern era.
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Of all the clubs in the world, perhaps the most extraordinary is the Guinea Pig Club, a group of Second World War veterans that suffered terrible injuries and were then treated by pioneering surgeon Archibald McIndoe. Today there are only a handful left. Dan visits Jan Stangreciuk, one of the few surviving members, to hear his remarkable life story.
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Professor Paul Preston doesn’t pull his punches. His magisterial new history of modern Spain is called 'A People Betrayed'. He is the greatest living authority on Spain and he is not a fan of how that country had been governed. In this podcast he tells me a sorry story of corruption, war and brutality. And that's before the 20th Century even kicks off. This podcast, unusually, made me feel profoundly sad.
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Sam and James tackle the Unexpected history of contagion in this impromptu brain explosion recorded in the car! (so apologies for not ideal sound quality). It's all about catching infection in bags, infectious ideas, crazes, modern tech, fear, panic, experts, the Dance Macabre, and conspiracy! Timely and fascinating - it's one of the best episodes yet....
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I was thrilled to chat to Paul Morland, a historian who uses population to explain almost all the major global shifts and events of the last two centuries. Using the power of sheer numbers, Paul has the answer to all the big questions - why China is going to get old long before it gets rich, why Russia is heading for disaster and the future is African, and why fertility rates are plunging where we would least expect it.
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Sam and James continue their unexpected history of Darwin inspired by their visit to the Darwin archives at Shrewsbury School. Part 2 includes a fascinating interview with the archivist responsible for the MIND BLOWING library! It's all about rivalry and intermarriage, doodling, smells, and teeny tiny books!
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Professor John Oxford is a virologist. He is one of the world's leading experts on influenza.
He is a leader in the study of the great Influenza outbreak of 100 years ago that killed upwards of 50 million people around the world.
I talked to him today to ask him, what are the key lessons that we can learn from past outbreaks.
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Dominic Sandbrook is one of Britain’s most prolific historians, working his way through a series on Britain since the Second World War. His most recent book examines the pivotal early years of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. In this podcast, Dominic and I discuss the social change of the tumultuous 1980s, a decade of the personal computer, snooker, Spandau Ballet, the Falklands War, and of course, The Iron Lady.
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It came from Asia via the Middle East and Italy. But, says 17th Century historian, Rebecca Rideal, the parallels with the Black Death, The Plague, are not helpful.
It was great to catch up with Rebecca again on the podcast. She tells me what effect plague had on British people and society when it struck throughout the 17th Century. Her ultimate conclusion seems to be: be very very grateful that youre not living three hundred years ago.
Catch Rebecca and other wonderful historians on my new history channel, History Hit. There are also ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films. Please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod6' at checkout for six weeks free.
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Join James and Sam as they explore the unexpected history of Darwin! Inspired by a trip to Shrewsbury School (which Darwin attended) and a peek at their Darwin collection and astonishing library, we discover that Darwin's history is actually all about chopping boards, desks, childhood obsession, rivalry, cousins, apologies and mistakes!
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Rebecca Gibb is a Master of Wine. A ninja who can sniff out a Merlot from a Margaux at 50 paces. I know ABSOLUTELY nothing about wine other than I like drinking it. So we had a lot to talk about.
She has written a fascinating research paper on the riots that tore through the region of Champagne just before the First World War as the small wine growers rose up against the power of the big Champagne brands. This story has it all: invasive species, globalisation, climate crisis, superbrands, booze and artisanal production.
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The universe has always been there, kind of, but it took intelligent life on earth billions of years to start to grapple with its nature. Carolyn Collins Peterson is a science writer who charts the progress of astronomy through the observatories used throughout history, from the earliest such as Stonehenge, to places like Birr Castle with its Leviathan telescope used by Herschel.
As always the compressed timescale of the major discoveries in astronomy left me amazed. in just a few generations we have gone from squinting at the nearest celestial bodies to sending manmade objects beyond our solar system.
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George. Where did it all go wrong?
George Washington could have had a comfortable career as a loyal member of HIs Majesty's Virginia militia and colonial grandee. But no, he had to go and roll the dice.
I am thrilled in this episode to be talking to historian Alexis Coe about her new biography of Washington. She has a fresh take on the first President, but no less scholarly for that.
Young George Washington was raised by a struggling single mother, demanded military promotions, caused an international incident, and never backed down - even when his dysentery got so bad he had to ride with a cushion on his saddle. But after he married Martha, everything changed. Washington became the kind of man who named his dog Sweetlips and hated to leave home. He took up arms against the British only when there was no other way, though he lost more battles than he won.
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75 years ago this Spring, the aerial assault on Germany was reaching a crescendo as city after city was devastated by British and American bomber fleets. History Hit TV have just launched a major documentary to mark this anniversary featuring veterans and historians like Max Hastings and Victoria Taylor. In this podcast one of our contributors, the hugely popular James Holland, joins me to talk about why and how the bombing reached such catastrophic levels and whether it actually shortened the Second World War.
From the earliest days of the war when the RAF confined themselves to dropping propaganda leaflets to the murderous bombing on Pfrozheim in late February 1945 which utterly destroyed most of the medieval city and killed a third of its population, James talks me through what both sides hoped to achieve from aerial bombing and how they went about it.
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Dan made a stupid comment on twitter. Irish history twitter melted down. So we did a pod on why.
100 years ago the Irish War of Independence was being fought in Ireland as the UK government sought to keep Ireland within the Union while the Irish independence fighters seized control of much of the countryside.
Dan and Finn Dwyer, host of the Irish History Podcast, had a good chat about the war and why, under no circumstances at all, must you never ever refer to it as a civil war.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands. Dan went to meet four people who remember the war years on the islands and hear their experiences of occupation.
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Natalie Zemon Davis is a legend. One of the most influential and versatile contemporary historians. A pathbreaking scholar of early modern European social and cultural history, she has also explored the Mediterranean world as seen by Leo Africanus and the culture of slavery in Suriname.
She was born on 8 November 1928 and she is still working. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of History and Anthropology and Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto in Canada. Her work originally focused on France, but has since broadened to include other parts of Europe, North America, and the Caribbean. For example, Trickster Travels (2006) views Italy, Spain, Morocco and other parts of North Africa and West Africa through the lens of Leo Africanus's pioneering geography. It has appeared in four translations, with three more on the way.
She is a hero to many historians and academics, as "one of the greatest living historians", constantly asking new questions and taking on new challenges, the second female president of the American Historical Association (the first, Nellie Neilson, was in 1943) and someone who "has not lost the integrity and commitment to radical thought which marked her early career"
As a Canadian and a lover of history- this was a very special podcast for me.
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It's one of the best episodes ever! The amazing history of brothers and sisters - or the absence of them...Brother Sam and Brother James spend some time talking about the history of planks (what!!!) before cracking on with SIBLINGS! They're all about religion, William and Harry (and many other Royals), sibling rivalry, press manipulation, fake news, changing family relationships, loyalty, codes, honour, inheritance, primogeniture, the princes in the tower, favourites, education, and SO MUCH MORE. Listen to this and share it with your brothers and sisters!
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Annie Gray is a wonderful historian and broadcaster. Her latest project is a biography of the woman who cooked for Churchill. Georgina Landemare was one of the few people able to cope with the demands, eccentricities and public nudity that came with working for the Churchills. Where all the other servants came and went fairly rapidly, she remained in the family's service and helped Churchill through the war years, not just feeding him but helping his efforts to lead or cajole by providing sumptuous meals for him, his guests and subordinates.
I talked to Annie about what was like being a woman in domestic service in this period as well as the challenges of working for Winston.....
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Eamonn O'Keeffe is a young Oxford Researcher in the midst of a PhD. He stopped off in Wakefield Library to look at a journal Yorkshire farmer Matthew Tomlinson to see if the author had any opinions on the subject of his research: military music. Tomlinson did not. However what O'Keeffe found in the diary proved of infinitely greater interest to the general public than a passion for marching bands. In an entry for 1810 Tomlinson argues that homosexuality is natural. He therefore questioned the death penalty’s application for homosexual activity and sodomy. How can man punish what God has ordained? The announcement of the discovery went viral and I had to get him on the podcast. By chance I am also a big fan of 18th and early 19th Century military music so I got two for the price of one.
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Sam and James go back to the question of DEATH so much is there to explore! It's all about pickaxes, toads, wizards, witches, the Garter Principle King of Arms (great title), Elizabeth I's funeral procession, silk, false teeth, control, wardship, BODYSNATCHING, death as a business... It's a cracker of an episode even if we say so ourselves and it will haunt you forever. We hope...And it's much more life-affirming than you might suspect.
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We are a land animal. But millions of us have taken to the sea to live, fight, travel, eat, escape and seek fame and fortune. I am obsessed with the sea. On how humans have built ever more efficient and capable ships to exploit its riches and opportunities. This is an conversation I’ve been longing to have. David Abulafia has written massive, beautiful, scholarly books about the oceans and his most recent, The Boundless Sea, is a masterpiece.
He and I chatted about why and how humans have taken to the sea in ships and why what happens on the water affects politics, economics and societies on the land.
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This is the most remarkable father and son story I have ever come across.
We are still marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz here at History Hit and this time I am talking to historian Jeremy Dronfield about an astonishing true story of horror, love and impossible survival. In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholsterer in Vienna, was arrested by the Nazis. Along with his sixteen-year-old son Fritz, he was sent to Buchenwald in Germany, where a new concentration camp was being built.
They helped build Buchenwald, young Fritz learning construction skills which would help preserve him from extermination in the coming years. But it was his bond with his father that would ultimately keep them both alive. When the fifty-year-old Gustav was transferred to Auschwitz--a certain death sentence--Fritz was determined to go with him. His wiser friends tried to dissuade him--"If you want to keep living, you have to forget your father," one said. Instead Fritz pleaded for a place on the Auschwitz transport. "He is a true comrade," Gustav wrote in his secret diary, "always at my side. The boy is my greatest joy. We are inseparable."
Gustav kept his diary hidden throughout his six years in the death camps--even Fritz knew nothing of it.
We talked about this very rare diary, Fritz's own accounts, and other eyewitness testimony, and built a picture of this extraordinary father and son team.
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Toby Green has been fascinated by the history of West Africa for decades after he visited as a student and heard whispers of history that didn’t appear in text books. Years later he wrote ‘Fistful of Shells,’ a survey of West Africa and West-Central Africa before the slave trade, and the effect the arrival of Europeans had on those societies. I asked him about what we know about that history and how integrated this region was into the global economy. We also explored the impact of the slave trade on West Africa itself, how it turned the ruling elites against their populations which they now saw as fodder for slave traders.
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There is almost no end to the dark secrets that emerge from the smashed ruins of 1945 Europe. Dr Florian Huber has spent years researching the fascinating story of the epidemic of suicide that spread through Germany as they faced certain defeat in 1945. Some people committed suicide after suffering atrocities at the hands of the soviets, others because of the trauma of allied bombing and the destruction of the conflict around them. But many did so because they did not wish to live in a world without Nazism. Dr Huber has even interviewed people whose parents tried to kill them as young children. It is a dark secret in modern German society and his book provoked an outpouring of similar stories when it was published.
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In the 1930s Lady Lucy Houston was one of the richest women in England and a household name, notorious for her virulent criticisms of the government, but politics had been far from her mind when, as young Fanny Radmall, she had set out to conquer the world. Armed with only looks and self-confidence, she exploited the wealth and status of successive lovers to push her way into high society. Seeking influence in national politics, Lady Houston financed the first flight over Mount Everest, backed secret military research, and facilitated the development of the Spitfire aircraft. She even purchased a newspaper. Seeking to expose the Prime Minister as a Soviet agent and promote Edward VIII as England's dictator, Lucy was loved as a patriot but loathed as a troublemaker. Historian Teresa Crompton talks Dan through the life of a once famous woman, now totally forgotten.
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Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig are both Pulitzer Prize winning journalists at the Washington Post.
They've written a new book with yet more revelations from inside the Trump White House so Dan seized the opportunity to ask just how insane the whole thing is.
That's it really.
Join the Histories of the Unexpected team for a mad ramble through the history of...death. It's a creepy one alright. And you'll never think about death the same way ever again. Guaranteed.
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75 years ago this week Dresden, in Saxony, known as the ‘jewel box’ because of its stunning architecture was obliterated by British and American bombers. The flames reached almost a mile high. Around 25,000 people were thought to have been killed. The novelist Kurt Vonnegut was there. It was he who wrote that the smouldering landscape was like walking on the surface of the moon. Even in the immediate aftermath it was controversial. Churchill instantly appeared to regret it. The Nazi government dramatically inflated the death toll to cast themselves as much the victims of monstrous violence as the Jews, Slavs, Poles, Romany and other groups they had murdered on an industrial scale.
In this podcast Dan talks to Sinclair McKay about his new book about Dresden. They met in Coventry. A city also infamous for destruction from above during the Second World War. Today the two cities are twinned, united by the shock of firestorms delivered from above.
Was it a war crime? Was it necessary? Why did it happen? Dan asks Sinclair about one of the Second World War's most controversial moments.
Paul Lay, editor of History Today, has written a great book about the rise and fall of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate (1653–1659), England's sole experiment in republican government – and one of the most extraordinary but neglected periods in British history. Having won two civil wars, conquered Ireland and Scotland and seen off Charles II, in 1653 Oliver Cromwell assumed the title of 'Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. But, as Paul explained to Dan, crafting a lasting, stable and legitimate alternative to monarchy was a lot more complicated....
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'We are very very vulnerable' says the brilliant science author and journalist Laura Spinney.
Her fantastic book 'Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World' is a shocking account of the flu pandemic that killed tens of millions of people a century ago.
What was Spanish Flu and what lessons are there for us today? As the coronavirus sweeps across China this is a really important conversation about flu, anti-microbial resistance and whether we should be scared.
Derek Niemman and Noemie Lopian work together. Two people from very different backgrounds, they tour the world telling people about their family stories.
Author and writer Derek Niemann discovered only a few years ago that the grandfather he never knew had been an SS officer, in charge of slave labourers in the Nazi concentration camps.
Dr Noemie Lopian is the daughter of Holocaust survivors: at the age of 10, her mother had a Gestapo pistol pointed at her head. Her father survived four years of slave labour and concentration camps. Noemie translated herfather's gripping and deeply humane memoir of those years - The Long Night.
The crimes committed by and against their forebears have drawn Noemie and Derek to form a highly unusual and indeed possibly unique partnership. In 2019, Noemie and Derek began sharing their stories as a warning of the perils of extremism and to inspire greater understanding.
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75 years ago this spring a fascinating but forgotten battle was fought in the dying days of the Second World War. A group of Georgians rose up against their German overlords on the Dutch island of Texel. Thousands of Georgians served in the Soviet forces during World War II and among those who were captured, given the choice of “starve or fight”, some took up the German offer to don Wehrmacht uniforms.
When the opportunity arose, the Georgians took the decision to rise up and slaughter the Germans, seizing control of the island. In just a few hours, they massacred some 400 German officers using knives and bayonets to avoid raising the alarm.
Hitler urged retaliation and it wasn't until 12 days after war had ended that Canadian forces landed on the island and finally put an end to the slaughter. In this podcast Dan is joined by author Eric Lee to hear how he uncovered this little known story.
Max Eisen was only 15 when he and his family were taken from their Hungarian home to the infamous Auschwitz Concentration Camp during the Second World War. All of his relatives were killed; only Max survived to see VE Day and eventual liberation. 75 years on from being liberated, he talks about the unspeakable horrors he saw first hand, the heroic actions of courageous inmates during the Sonderkommando Revolt and how he survived.
How far did Roman culture and politics penetrate into Britain during the Roman occupation of Britannia?
Miles Russell, archaeologist and writer, argues that Britain wasn't as Romanised as has often been believed; in fact only the wealthy elite really emulated fashions from Rome. He highlights archaeological evidence which shows that the bulk of the population went on with their lives as best they could whilst the forts, towns and later villas were little bubbles of Roman culture having limited impact on wider society. Join Dan and Miles as they discuss.
Saul David - historian, broadcaster and author of several critically-acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction - comes on the show to discuss the most brutal and controversial British imperial conflict of the 19th century: the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.
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In May 1941, the Royal Navy pursued Nazi Germany's largest battleship, the Bismarck, in the greatest chase story in the history of naval warfare. Bismarck represented the single most important threat to the Royal Navy and the vital Atlantic convoys they sought to protect; her armoured protection had earned her the reputation of being unsinkable. Join Dan as the historian Angus Konstam takes him through a blow by blow account of Operation Rheinübung and the sinking of Bismarck.
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In 1940 the Polish resistance decided it needed to send an agent to Auschwitz concentration camp. They were desperate to find out what was going on in a place that even by that stage of the war had an evil reputation. Historian Jack Fairweather tells the story of Witold Pilecki the Pole who volunteered for the job. He smuggled out first accounts of the camp to the rest of the world. He chronicled its transition from a concentration camp for Polish political opponents to a factory of genocide.
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During the Second World War the Netherlands fell to advancing German forces in just a few hours. The Dutch found themselves under Nazi occupation. Many men and women resisted, which took many different forms. Recently the story emerged of three young women who chose a particularly dangerous way in which to strike back against the German occupiers.
In this podcast Dan talks to the writer Sophie Poldermans about Hannie Schaft and sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen. With astonishing bravery these three young women seduced high-ranking Nazi officers, lured them into the woods and killed them. They also provided Jewish children with safe houses and gathered vital intelligence for the resistance.
Sophie tells us their story.
The world faces a unique environmental challenge. The scale of response to this looming catastrophe can be overwhelming. But economist and activist Andrew Simms believes that history provides us with a guide. It can inspire us to see that we have overcome greater challenges than those we face now. It can encourage us to be bold and believe that the solution lies in our hands. Andrew co-founded the New Weather Institute and Green New Deal group and is a lover of history. In this podcast Andrew shares his thoughts with Dan on episodes in the past that we should be looking to, from the New Deal to the allied victory in the Second World War. He believes we "are capable of extraordinary things."
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In October 1942 the British launched a small raid on the Channel Island of Sark. A cast of characters who gave their colleague Ian Fleming ideas for a new secret agent character, James Bond, crept ashore and captured German prisoners. A scuffle broke out and two of them were killed. The commandos escaped with one prisoner and that might have been the end of it. When Hitler heard the news however he went ballistic and very shortly after issued his infamous Commando Order. Henceforth they were to be shot on sight. It was another ratcheting up of the ferocity, and criminality of the Nazi war effort. In this podcast Dan visits the Channel Islands. Meets a local expert and retraced the steps of the raid.
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In this podcast Dan talks to Golden Globe winning film maker Sam Mendes about his new World War One film 1917.
Based in part on an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes, it chronicles the story of two young British soldiers at the height of WWI during Spring 1917.
Sam Willis and James Daybell take on the UNEXPECTED history of TRUTH and LIES! It's all about the FBI, printing in Renaissance Italy, fake news, surveillance technologies, and Hollywood actress Jean Seberg, !
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In the 5th century BC the world's first super power, the Persian Empire, went to war against a ragtag collection of cities and statelets on its western frontier. It was the start of the Persian War. Thankfully for us this war was recorded in some detail by the world's first historian. Herodotus. Despite previous millenia of history in the ancient Near East, this historical record means that the Persian Wars feels recognisably modern. The attitudes and decisions of commanders are discernable. The course of the battles, traceable.
William Shepherd has written an engaging new account of the war. He took some time to sit down with Dan and explore the course of the war and why it still matters.
After the First World War the German Army was in crisis. Limited in the size and its equipment by the Versailles Treaty which ended the war, it was a shadow of the mighty force it had been in 1914. Help came from a surprising source. Soviet Russia.
Historian Ian Johnson explains to Dan how it was the Soviets who helped rebuild the German military machine before World War Two.
30% of Weimar Germany's defence spending took place in the USSR. 25% of German officers passed through camps in Soviet soil. This is the shocking conclusion reached by Ian Johnson who has trawled through the archives to understand just how much the German war machine owed to Soviet support. The cash strapped communists were happy to take German money in return for training areas, tank development labs and other activities banned by the Versailles Treaty.
The Soviets helped turn the Wehrmacht into a military machine that in 1941-2 came very close to toppling the Soviet state.
Matt Lodder is the world's leading expert on the history of tattoos. He has found evidence of people using ink or charcoal on their bodies stretching back thousands of years. He explodes myths at every turn. Tattoos were common long before Captain Cook allegedly imported them back from the Pacific in the 18th Century, and he demonstrates that they were never the exclusive preserve of marginalised subcultures, but actually adorned the bodies of royalty.
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'Northumbrian patriot' Dan Jackson, who has just written a book on the history of Northeast England and its people, comes on the podcast to talk about his native Northumberland.
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Roger Crowley is the author of the new book, Accursed Tower: The Crusaders' Last Battle for the Holy Land.
The city of Acre, powerfully fortified and richly provisioned, was the last crusader stronghold. When it fell in 1291, two hundred years of Christian crusading in the Holy Land came to a bloody end. Dan had a chat with Roger, which was a nice complement to his podcast with Dan Jones on the Crusades as a whole, earlier in the year.
Tony Blair, Julie McDowall the 'Atomic Hobo', Prof Mary Fulbrook, SAS veterans, Stephen Fry, Akala.... It has been a bumper year on the pod. We've heard why the British Army was doomed to failure in Helmand, what it was like arriving at Bletchley Park in the darkest days of the Second World War, why the 'cleverest man in Britain' doesn't think much of Magna Carta, what it was like when Hiroshima was destroyed,and why women had better sex under Communism. In case you were unlucky enough to miss any of these episodes: here is a year end mash up. Thanks for all your support in 2019. We'll do our best to ensure that 2020s conversations are even better.
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Damien Lewis tells us of the formation of the SAS.
In 1941 an alien-seeming object was captured in a death-defying dash by an RAF reconnaissance pilot flying a lone unarmed Spitfire across the French coast. Balanced upon the cliffs near Le Havre was what appeared to be a giant convex dish, directed across the Channel at the war-torn British coastline...
'Fiction should help us to understand the truth, not pervert it.'
Hugo Vickers talks to Dan about the hit TV show - The Crown.
Hugo's main gripe against The Crown is that 'it purports to represent real people, not fictional ones loosely based on real ones, and that whereas fiction can sometimes help us to understand the truth, in this case they twist the facts...
A recent study published in the science journal Nature tracked the emotional tone of books and newspapers over the past 200 years and suggested that Brits were happier in the 19th Century. This rang alarms at History Hit HQ. So we got Hannah Woods on the pod pronto to talk us through the reality of life in the 19th Century and whether they were happier than we are today.
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The Vikings have never lost their appeal to scholars and enthusiasts. Now Wayne Bartlett has written a great new survey of the Viking World from Newfoundland to Central Asia. Dan got him on the podcast to ask him the central questions of the Viking Age. What does Viking even mean? Why did they explode onto the world stage when they do? Are the myths true? What is their legacy?
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Christopher Tugendhat is a politician, journalist and businessman. For 50 years he has been collecting modern first editions of books, including many that he believes reflect and illuminate the British experience during the first sixty or so years of the 20th century. Looking for a way to distil and share the understanding of the period that he had gained from these books, he decided to use them to tell the story of modern Britain. In his book 'A History of Britain Through Books' he explores political and social change from 1900 to 1964 through the lens of literature.
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In 2018, UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson announced that all roles in the military would now be open to women. Although this marks a historic shift, officially allowing British women into combat roles, the presence of women on the front lines dates back to antiquity.
Dan met with Dr Julie Wheelwright, historian and author of Sisters in Arms about women on the battlefield. They talk about women like Maria Bochkareva, a private in the Tsar’s army and leader of the Women’s Battalion of Death in 1917; and Captain Flora Sandes, hero of the Serbian Army who toured Australia, thrilling her audiences with tales of bravery and patriotism.
And of course, Dan's favourite, Hannah Snell, an 18th Century woman who enlisted and fought alongside unsuspecting men in India.
Eleanor of Aquitaine is at least as responsible for the vast empire of the Plantagenets as her more celebrated husband, Henry II. Sara Cockerill has written a wonderful biography of Eleanor, placing her back at the centre of English medieval history where she belongs.
Sara and Dan discuss her long and remarkable life. Punctuated by periods of foreign adventure, imprisonment and the wielding of hard power.
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The English invented impeachment. The Founding Fathers of the American Republic settled on the impeachment process for restraining the chief executive in their ideal constitution. The USA looks set to impeach their President. Historian Paul Seaward explains where impeachment originated, how it has been used and why it is now well and truly extinct in the UK.
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Peaky Blinders: The Real Story
Dan talks to the well known social historian, broadcaster and author Professor Carl Chinn in this episode where the true history of Birmingham's most notorious gangs is revealed.
Dan talks to Sir Simon Jenkins about London, the settlement founded by the Romans, occupied by the Saxons, conquered by the Danes and ruled by the Normans. This changeful place became a medieval maze of alleys and courtyards, later to be chequered with grand estates of Georgian splendour. It swelled with industry and became the centre of the largest empire in history. And having risen from the rubble of the Blitz, it is now one of the greatest cities in the world.
From the prehistoric occupants of the Thames Valley to the preoccupied commuters of today, Simon Jenkins brings together the key events, individuals and trends in London's history to create a matchless portrait of the capital. He masterfully explains the battles that determined how London was conceived and built - and especially the perennial conflict between money and power.
Based in part on his experiences of and involvement in the events that shaped the post-war city, and with his trademark colour and authority, Jenkins shows above all how London has taken shape over more than two thousand years. Fascinating for locals and visitors alike, this is narrative history at its finest, from the most ardent protector of our heritage.
During the Second World War, from 1941 onwards, Stalin's Soviet Union was joined in a close but awkward coalition with the Western allies. Military aid and intelligence flowed to the Soviets but virtually no troops.
The exception was a small group of US airmen who were sent to Russia to set up an air operation to bomb targets in the Third Reich. This is the story of that unit. They called themselves the Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front and Harvard Professor Serhii Plokhii has uncovered new material which sheds light on their time in Stalin's Russia.
Charles Emmerson thinks the crucible of the modern world was not the 1960s but the tumultuous years at the end of the First World War and those that followed. This was when Communism and Fascism became mainstream movements. This was when the borders of the Middle East, and Eastern Europe were drawn up and fought over.
In this discussion he and Dan talk about how a shattered world came to terms with the aftermath of the First World War.
Historian Robert Saunders from Queen Mary University of London talks about the elections in the past that he feels have most resonance and parallels today.
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Something a little different... Total War: Three Kingdoms is the fastest selling real time strategy of all time, and based on the Wei, Shu, and Wu division of China in the 200s AD. This is an interview that talks about fact and fiction within gaming narratives and the historical research undertaken by games developers to give a realistic representation. It's also quite an unusual undertaking - Far Eastern history is not a major interest for western audiences so its fascinating to know why they picked this historical arena for their most advanced Total War title.
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Dan talks to Dr. Nicola Tallis about Margaret Beaufort.
Aged 13, Beaufort endured a traumatic childbirth that brought her close to death. Forced to give up her child, Beaufort remained steadfast in the face of adversity while she plotted to overthrow Richard III and secure the throne for her son.
Offering a fresh and personal perspective of this fascinating period, Uncrowned Queen explores the truth behind the myths and misconceptions surrounding Margaret and details how she became the most powerful woman in England – Queen in all but name.
Graham Faiella talks to Dan about legends and true tales from the Age of Sail. Cannibalism, pirates and mutiny.
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David Shariatmadari dives into the words we say. How did language come about, how and why do we use it?
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Alderney, like the rest of the Channel Islands, was occupied by German forces from 1940 to 1945. On Hitler's orders it was turned into a fortress, covered in concrete and steel fortifications. After liberation British forces dumped a vast amount of military hardware into a quarry which was then flooded. For 70 years it has remained there, hidden, forgotten..... Until now. To watch our documentary about the Islands of Guernsey please head to History Hit TV.
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Sam Willis and James Daybell take on the UNEXPECTED history of CLOTHING! It's all about social control, death, recycling and mending, nationalism, Venice, knights and maidens, the Crown Jewels, ostriches, Thomas Wolsey, and the rediscovery of a long lost dress that once belonged to Queen Elizabeth I of England!
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Austerlitz is one of Napoleon's greatest victories. Late in the season, at the end of a long and vulnerable supply line, deep into eastern Europe, Napoleon tempted the allied armies of Austria and Russia to attack his forces, on ground of his choosing, and inflicted on them a crushing defeat. Dan visited the battlefield for this podcast and accompanying History Hit TV tour, and he tells the story of the battle with help from historian Ian Castle author of Austerlitz: Napoleon and The Eagles of Europe.
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Professor Frank McDonough has just written a monumental history of the Third Reich. He is a world leading expert on the domestic side of Hitler's Germany. In this podcast Dan asks Frank why and how Hitler was able to establish and sustain his rule within Germany.
On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed the German Chancellor of a coalition government by President Hindenburg. Within a few months he had installed a dictatorship, jailing and killing his leftwing opponents, terrorising the rest of the population and driving Jews out of public life.
He embarked on a crash programme on militaristic Keynesianism, reviving the economy and achieving full employment through massive public works, vast armaments spending and the cancellations of foreign debts. After the grim years of the Great Depression, Germany seemed to have been reborn as a brutal and determined European power.
Over the course of the years from 1933 to 1939, Hitler won over most of the population to his vision of a renewed Reich. In these years of domestic triumph, cunning manoeuvres, pitting neighbouring powers against each other and biding his time, we see Hitler preparing for the moment that would realise his ambition. But what drove Hitler's success was also to be the fatal flaw of his regime: a relentless belief in war as the motor of greatness, a dream of vast conquests in Eastern Europe and an astonishingly fanatical racism.
Frank's book 'The Hitler Years' charts the rise and fall of the Third Reich under Hitler's hand.
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2019 marks 100 years since Nancy Astor, the first female MP in Britain, took her seat in the House of Commons. Rachel Reeves, long-serving Labour politician and author, speaks to Dan about the remarkable achievements of pioneering women of Westminster and how the challenges faced by today's cohort of female MPs differ from those faced by their predecessors.
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Award winning broadcaster, journalist and author Gaia Vince talks to Dan about why humans evolved. Not just biologically but in terms of our language, culture and relationships. This is a big, wide ranging conversation about how we came to be who we are over hundreds of thousands of years.
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Lord Jonathan Sumption is coming to the end of his magisterial multi-volume history of the Hundred Year's War. He believes it was essentially a French civil war into which the English and other external powers jumped into. In this podcast Jonathan talks Dan through the entire conflict, its causes, its course and its decisive conclusion.
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November 2019 marks the 500th anniversary of the meeting of Hernan Cortes and Aztec ruler Montezuma at the gates of the magnificent Aztec capital at Tenochitlan, now Mexico City. Caroline Dodds Pennock is a specialist in the Aztecs. She takes Dan on a whirlwind tour through the events of that extraordinary year and the gigantic impact of the Spanish conquest that followed.
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Ben Monro-Davies is a journalist who has interviewed all the surviving participants of the cabinet meeting in which Margaret Thatcher announced her decision to resign. He and Dan listen to the recordings, and chat about their significance, and the way Mrs Thatcher and others responded to her fall from power.
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There is no more misunderstood doctrine than anarchism. Dan sets off to tackle his own lack of understanding by talking to Ruth Kinna, a Professor of Political Theory at Loughborough University, about what anarchism's goals are, and why its so hard to characterise it.
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Sam Willis and James Daybell are inspired by the new film Judy and Punch to explore the fascinating history of puppets! They're all about noses, propaganda, domestic violence, totalitarian rule, mischief, squeaking, industrialisation and disease. Who knew?!!!
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Professor Mary Fulbrook's book Reckonings won the 2019 Wolfson History Prize for its unique approach to the Holocaust, and in particular, those who perpetrated the atrocities. Fulbrook claims that the West German justice process was far too lenient on many ex-Nazis, who had condemned thousands or even hundreds of thousands to their death. She talks to Dan about the justice process, and what drove people to commit war crimes, and what stopped people from resisting them.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered by Howard Carter almost 100 years ago, and a major new exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery takes a look at some of the treasures taken from his tomb, many of which are on tour for the first time. Dan gets Dr Tarek Al Awady to take him around the exhibition, discussing Tutankhamun's life and his legacy.
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The Allies seized the German fleet at the end of WW1 and it was held at Scapa Flow, in Orkney, until the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced. At least, that was the plan.
The German navy covertly scuttled their own boats under the noses of their captors, rendering the fleet useless, until one firm set out on a massive salvage operation to recover usable material from the boats. Ian Murray Taylor's grandfather was at the top of the operation, and he talks to Dan about the story of Scapa Flow.
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Producer: Kathrin Benöhr
Assistant Producer & Audio: Peter Curry
Inspired by Bonfire Night, Sam Willis and James Daybell explore the unexpected history of fire. It's all about communicating with fire, propaganda, speeches, hunting, exploring, Captain Cook, arrows, burning barrels, heresy, greed, Zoroastrianism, the rise of Islam, eternal flames, paisley, Dante's Inferno, treachery and Julius Caesar!
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Gary Lineker's grandfather was one of the 'D-Day Dodgers': men who fought in the Italian campaign, who were accused of missing the supposedly harder fighting in Normandy. Of course, this wasn't true. The Italian campaign was one of the hardest military campaigns of WW2, and Dan talks to Gary about his grandfather who fought in Italy. They also, unsurprisingly, talk about football.
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Dan talks to Richard van Emden about his new book - Missing: The Need for Closure After the Great War.
The backbone of the book is based on the best single story of WW1 that he has found in 35 years. It is the story of one woman’s relentless search for her missing son’s body. A story with incredible twists and turns.
Against the odds she finds him in 1923. Richard also looks at the bigger picture, ie how long should the nation search for its dead and the mistakes made identifying the dead when exhumation parties were under such intolerable pressure.
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The 9th November 1989 was one of the most significant dates in 20th century history. The Berlin Wall fell, changing the entire geopolitical situation and marking the start of the decline of Russia's world standing. Author Rory MacLean was present when the Wall fell, and he talks about the jubilation of the East Berliners, as well as what the fall of the Wall meant for Russians like Vladimir Putin.
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Dan chats to Tim Mohr, a Club DJ turned writer, who has a very different story of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Tim talks about East German punks, who opposed the oppressive DDR government with their music and their actions, and describes how many of them were arrested because what they stood for was totally antithetical to the government regime.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Inspired by Halloween and Bonfire Night, Sam and James discuss the unexpected history of blood and bones: it's all about prehistoric axes, mass graves, Viking armies, Tudor surgery, bear baiting, blood sports, how much it costs to make a human being, Ottomans, Italy, and eating human bone powder. So that's cannibalism too...
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British military historian Mark Simner tackles the Opium Wars, rarely taught in English schools, but taught ubiquitously in China. He explains the provenance of both conflicts, and explores some of the reasons why resentment still lingers to this day. The Opium Wars are a critical part of Chinese history, and vital to understanding the first half of the 20th century in China, and to some extent, modern-day China.
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David Andress delves into the French Revolution, explaining its causes, its outcomes, and how we should look at its historical legacy.
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The cleverest man in Britain weighs in on the state of our politics and the state of the British electoral system. Lord Sumption was a Justice of the Supreme Court, exceptionally sworn in straight from the bar, and he is also a historian of the Hundred Years War, having written a multi-volume history of the period.
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Adam Frankel worked in the Obama white house as a speech writer. His grandparents were holocaust survivors from eastern Europe.
His mother had profound mental health problems and he discovered that his father was not his father. in an effort to understand the roots of this he learned about what his grandparents had suffered and met with the world's leading experts on inherited trauma, how their experiences are continuing to impact their descendants today.
We also talked what it was like working for Obama
Mike Loades is a world leading expert on archery. He has shot traditional bows from Japan to Wales. His knowledge on the English and Welsh longbowmen at Agincourt is unparalleled.
In this podcast he explains why and how the battle was fought. He explains how the terrain, the mud, the longbow and the gritty battlefield leadership of English king Henry V was responsible for a crushing English victory. But he also explains that while the battle was a shattering defeat for France, its longterm consequences were limited.
Michael Stephens is a Research fellow at RUSI and an expert in the history of the Kurds and Kurdistan. He explains who, what and where the Kurds are and the role that they have played in the region over the past century.
He is followed by Hannah Lucinda Smith The Times Newspaper correspondent in Istanbul who has just written THE book on Erdogan. She explains why President Erdogan regards their expressions of national identity as an existential threat to the integrity of the Turkish state.
This podcast goes deep into the past of the Middle East, via the formation of modern Turkey in the 1920s to the present day and the electoral ambitions of the Turkish president.
The Battle of Brunanburh is one of the most important battles in British history.
It was fought in 937 between Æthelstan, King of England, and an alliance of Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Dublin; Constantine II, King of Scotland and Owain, King of Strathclyde.
English victory at the battle defined the political complexion of the British Isles. But until now no one has known where the battle was fought. Now a group of archaeologists have found a huge amount of battlefield detritus from around the 10th century.
History Hit gained EXCLUSIVE access to the dig this week.
Andrew Baines is the curator of HMS victory. First released on the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar this podcast tells the story of that decisive naval battle. He also reveals an exciting new acquisition for the museum.
HMS Victory, was Nelson's flagship at the battle. The three gundeck battleship was the world's most complex man made object. Andrew describes the awesome firepower of the ship and the horrors of battle as experienced by the men who fought on her and against her.
Sam and James explore the UNEXPECTED history of the Spanish Armada. It's all about collapsed expectation, flags, spies (as always), threat, fire, people not doing the right jobs, seasickness and lies.
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Margaret Thatcher is one of the most polarising political figures of British 20th Century history. After becoming the first female Prime Minister, she became the first post war PM to win three consecutive general elections. Charles Moore is a former editor of The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, and The Sunday Times, and the author of her official biography.
He was given unfettered access to her records, and conducted interviews with civil servants who were given permission to speak to him. Dan and Charles have a frank discussion about Thatcher, trying to make sense of the varying narratives told about her life.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Germanicus was one of the most popular and successful generals of the early Roman Principate. Step grandson of the Roman emperor Augustus, he died 2,000 years ago this month. His death has always been considered a mystery, with a possible conspiracy to poison him to keep him out of the imperial line of succession.
Dan talked to Lindsay Powell about Rome's difficult relationship with Germany, the attempted conquest and disastrous defeat at the hands of Varus, along with Germanicus' attempts to restore the Roman position.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Victor Gregg, was taken prisoner as the Allies retreated during the Battle of Arnhem, and was taken as a POW to Dresden, where he was alive during the Dresden firebombing. He tells Dan what he's learned over his extraordinary life, from his wartime experiences to how he looks at the world.
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Producer: Peter Curry
For the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, we revisit Marc Morris' brilliantly constructed narrative of the Battle of Hastings, and all of the build-up. Taking us from the sources of William, Harold and Harold's claims to the throne all the way to William's rule, Marc's account is as comprehensive as it is thrilling. From the archives.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Thomas Penn, author of the Winter King, has released a new comprehensive history of the Wars of the Roses, making the striking claim that we shouldn't view the Wars of the Roses as a conflict between two rival houses, but instead as a civil war inside the House of York.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Professor Andrew Hindmoor, head of Politics at the University of Sheffield, chats to Dan about the days that he thinks shaped Britain today. He talks about the notion of looking at specific days as a way of looking at history, and then talks about everything from Theresa May to Stephen Lawrence to the Premier League.
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Producer: Peter Curry
The Haitian Revolution caused a seismic shift in global politics. When a mixture of different groups on the French colony of Saint Domingue rose against the colonists, few expected the rebellion to succeed. However, under the leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitians became one of the few peoples to not only successfully rebel against their masters, but also to success in retaining control over the colony.
Dan talks to Dr Nicole Willson, an expert in the history of Haiti about the revolution and the key actors in the conflict.
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Producer: Peter Curry
In this episode, James interviews Miss Walsingham herself, Nadine Akkerman from Leiden University on her new book about seventeenth-century female spies, 'Invisible Agents'!
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Orlando Figes talks to Dan about social and technological developments and their relationship to cultural changes in the 19th century.
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James and Sam explain how you can think about the history of spies...it's all about honey, codes, eggs and invisibility!
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Dan talks to Greg Jenner about the history of celebrity and his role as historical advisor in the Horrible Histories film.
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Dan Jones tells the story of The Crusades from their 11th century origins to their relevance today.
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Tom Holland schools Dan on how Christianity dominates western values and ideas, even today among those who aspire to secularism. He shows about how many of our moral codes and ideas are Christian in origin, and how the changing status of the West in global politics could see a fundamental change in global values.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Sam spends a happy hour talking to the scientist Adam Rutherford about humans! The history of humans is all about - masks, ties, make-up, sea-otters, penguins, and whales playing the violin.
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William Dalrymple charts the rise of the East India Company, from the decline of the Mughals to alliance with powerful Indian bankers, as well as weighing in on some of the most important questions which have dogged the role of the British in India for generations.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dan talks to Frank Dikötter, an eminent professor on Chinese history, who has written a new book about dictators around the world. They discuss what dictators need to do to control power and whether there is anything different about the people who become dictators.
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Producer: Peter Curry
This podcast sees Dan jump out of an aircraft to relive the events of the landing back in 1944, while on the way we hear the testimonies of veterans who lived through the Battle of Arnhem. Dan also chats to the UK and US ambassadors to the Netherlands, as well as the Mayor of Arnhem.
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Producer: Peter Curry
These intercut interviews with historians James Holland and Paul Reed tell the story of the Battle of Arnhem. Both give poignant and occasionally lurid accounts of the battle, and both comment on the battle plans of Operation Market Garden and whether it should be considered a failure.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Estelle Paranque launches into a passioned explanation of Elizabeth I and how she masterfully handled the European powers of her day. She talks about French attempts to win her hand, her defence of the Huguenots, and handling the problem of the Spanish.
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Producer: Peter Curry
A story of bloodshed, tribal rivalries and a warrior class obsessed with and defined by the battlefield has emerged from the discovery of a burial site at Bamburgh Castle. Dan talks to both Paul and Edoardo about the latest archaeological work tell us about the history of Bamburgh, of the people who lived and fought at the castle, and the wider religious and political make-up of Anglo-Saxon Britain.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Garrett Graff has collected many of the oral testimonies about 9/11, collating archive material and conducting interviews with people who responded to events on the day. He tells Dan these stories, such as the couple of firefighter and World Trade Center employee who sought to find each other in the confusion, to that of a man who survived being buried under 220 stories of the World Trade Center.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Henry Hemming talks to Dan about the life of William Stevenson, a British operative who worked hard to pressure Roosevelt into declaring war on Nazi Germany, and ensuring that American troops were directed against German forces in mainland Europe. The tactics adopted were akin to those used today by troll farms in St Petersburg, and involved duplicitous and aggressive use of misinformation.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Angela Saini is a British science journalist and broadcaster, and she talks to Dan about the history of race science and eugenics, and they put the concept of race in a historical context.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Maud West, operated her own detective agency during the Golden Age of crime in the period after World War One. She used all manner of disguises and tactics to gather information for her clients and to subvert the expected roles for women in this period.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Frederick Taylor's work looks at the outbreak of World War Two, and he discusses whether the British people were ready for war. This discussion moves away from traditional debates over Chamberlain to the people of Britain and Germany, and their attitudes to war.
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Producer: Peter Curry
James and Sam explain how you can think about the history of humans...it's all about behaviour, art, hands, animals, hats...you'll never think about yourself in the same way ever again...GUARANTEED.
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Roger Moorhouse discusses the Polish campaign of 1939 comprehensively, separating the myths from reality and outlining the abject horrors that the Poles suffered under the twin occupation of the Nazis and the Soviets.
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Producer: Peter Curry
In this bonus interview with Julie McDowall, she talks Dan through exactly how the British government prepared for a worst case nuclear scenario. They discuss surviving the attack, the women who planned to provide jigsaws to the survivors and how Britain might remake itself in the aftermath of armageddon.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dr John Roobol discusses the fate of John Franklin and his crew, from how they suffered in the bitter conditions, to the crew members who resorted to cannibalism. John's work also looks into the Inuits, and how their testimony was largely ignored, as the Victorians were desperate to insist that no British explorers would ever resort to cannibalism.
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Producer: Peter Curry
James and Sam take time out before their show at Dartington Hall to explore its UNEXPECTED history: It's all about the history of wild swimming, accidents, hiding, subversion and the Knights Templar!
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Simon Reid-Henry attacks the traditional historiography of the Cold War, placing a much greater emphasis on the importance of the 1970s in shaping the rest of the Cold War and the period after it. He and Dan talk about the significance of the 1970s, and discuss how events then shape our lives now.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Martin Kemp, an emeritus professor at the University of Oxford, is one of the foremost experts on Leonardo Da Vinci. He has recently worked on a translation and collation of the Codex Leicester and he talks Dan through Leonardo's most interesting and prescient ideas.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Sam and James explore the extraordinary history of executions! It's all about judgement and seagulls - and obviously pirates and highwaymen, And cannibals. And fattening. And the law. And wheels and entrails. And encouragement. And speeches. And smiles, propaganda, entertainment and...the self. And poor old Lady Jane Grey.
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Duncan Weldon's new Radio 4 Series looks at the economics of the Second World War, and crucial they were in determining the outcome of the war. He joins Dan to talk about why no participants expected France to fall so quickly, and why Norway mattered economically.
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Producer: Peter Curry
The Peterloo Massacre was a critical moment in the reform movement at the start of the 19th century. Thousands of people gathered at St Peter's Fields near Manchester to protest for an expansion of the franchise. The local magistrates summoned yeomanry to dispel what they saw as a riot, but as they waded into the crowd to arrest the leaders, the protest quickly became a massacre, as the yeomanry used their sabres to force their way through the crowd.
Most accounts consider the repression that followed Peterloo meant that it had no impact on the pace of reform. However, Robert Poole, a Professor of History at the University of Central Lancashire, argues that this was a key turning point in the reform movement, and its legacy was integral in forcing concessions ten years later, when the radical movement re-emerged.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Celestina Olulode is a BBC reporter, who has spent a long time in Argentina researching why Argentina has a low black population compared to counterparts in South America such as Brazil. One reason is down to aggressive racial policies in the 19th century, but Celestina also discusses the things that black populations have given to Argentina, such as the tango.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dan talks to Ross Barnett, a scientist who has studied the extinction of megafauna across Britain and the world. They discuss the killing of the last wolf in Britain, whether that mosquito in Jurassic park could have really held dinosaur DNA and the ecological impact of the loss of British megafauna.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Sam and James take time out from preparing their live show at Beaminster to visit the local museum and discuss their latest discoveries. Beaminster? Well it's all about pronunciation, community, witches, punishment and, of course...deer.
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The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident near the town of Pripyat in 1986. Dan talks to Julie McDowall, an expert in all things nuclear, about the initial reaction to the blast, the impact it had on the firemen, and the fate of Belarus. They discuss how the legacy of Chernobyl damaged people's faith in the Soviet system, and the dogs left behind by official degree.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dan talks to Frank Close about Klaus Fuchs, who leaked nuclear secrets to the Soviets. He informed the Soviets that the Allies had a bomb, and in doing so, may have been responsible for saving many millions of lives. Close argues that once Stalin realised the ballistic capacity of the U.S. and the U.K., he may have realised a policy of aggression against the Western powers was not prudent.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dan talks to one of the foremost experts on the Reformation and discusses whether Iain Duncan Smith was right to draw parallels between Brexit and the 16th century split with Rome.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Sam and James continue their Unexpected History of Cricket with an interview of Vic Marks, England and Somerset spin bowler, author, journalist and legend of the BBC Test Match Special commentary team. It's all about cowmen, photos, memory, language and entertainers....
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Terry Deary, the creator of the Horrible Histories franchise, talks to Dan about communicating history effectively to young people, as well as the way the study of history has changed during his lifetime.
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Producer: Peter Curry
The discovery of the Prittlewell Prince has been lauded as the "UK's answer to Tutankhamun'. The remarkably complete discovery of an Anglo-Saxon prince's burial chamber has given us far more information about the period after the Romans left Britain.
Dan chats to two of the archaeologists and researchers who worked on the tomb, Sophie Jackson, a Director of Research and Engagement at MOLA, and Liz Barham, Senior Conservator at MOLA.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dan chats to the curators of a new exhibition at the Museum of London about London's lost rivers, finding out how they disappeared, how they shaped the city, and whether they can ever return.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dan picks up from where he and Professor Ali Ansari left off as they discuss the history of Iran in the 20th century. Ali Ansari breaks down the White Revolution, the Islamic Revolution and why western negotiators have struggled to agree terms about Iran's nuclear program in recent years.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Sam and James discuss the unexpected history of the Nazis. They're all about, motherhood, shame, medals, public speaking, architecture and cars....who knew?
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Mike Loades talks to Dan about bows of all shapes and sizes. He discusses Mongol fighting tactics, as well as the trope of certain nationalities being prolific with a bow, and whether Edward III really did ban football to force people to practice archery.
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Producer: Peter Curry
In this emergency podcast, Dan talks to Dr Andrew Blick about Boris Johnson's accession to the role of Prime Minister, the history of the UK's electoral system, and the role the monarchy has to play in the constitutional system.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Sarah Parcak talks to Dan about how advances in technology have enabled us to discover far more historical sites than we believed ever existed. She talks about drones and satellites and how they can read topography and vegetation to give us all new pictures of the world beneath our feet, and discusses her current work in Egypt.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dan talks to Kavita Puri, a BBC journalist and broadcaster, about the partition of India and its repercussions and consequences for the people it effected.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Audio: Oliver Nelken
Richard Sugg, author of a new book on real vampires, talks Dan through the weird world of supernatural bloodsuckers. Myths of Vampires have their roots in the condition of sleep paralysis and popular Enlightenment literature while being distinct to certain countries and cultures.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Audio: Oliver Nelken
Sam and James discuss the unexpected history of cricket! It's all about empire, sexism, national perceptions of history, slavery, violence and hurricanes...
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Dan and Roel Sterckx, Professor of Chinese History, Science, and Civilisation at Cambridge University, talk about the life of Confucius, his influence on ancient China and his relevance in today's world.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Audio: Oliver Nelken
Dan and Dr Prashant Kidambi talk about the dominance of Indian cricket team over recent years, as well as its humble origins. They discuss the relationship between cricket and the empire, as well as sport's role as a potent nationalistic force. Dr Prashant Kidambi is an Associate Professor in Colonial Urban History at the University of Leicester.
Producer: Peter Curry
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Dan talks to Daisy Dunn, a historian and classicist, about the lives of the two Plinys in the shadow of Vesuvius. The younger Pliny witnessed the eruption and would later write an account of the eruption. The elder Pliny, actually the uncle of the younger Pliny, would die in the blaze.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dan talks to military historian Andy Saunders about the Battle of Britain. What parts of the narrative have we got wrong? What parts have we got right? Also includes excerpts from Dan's interview with Wing Commander Thomas Neil, who sadly passed away about a year ago.
In June 1940 Nazi Germany overran France and forced the British army to evacuate at Dunkirk. Severely lacking in military equipment, Britain and its Empire now stood alone against Adolf Hitler's forces. To stand any chance of crossing the English Channel, Germany would have to crush the Royal Air Force and gain control of the skies during that summer. The Battle of Britain, the first major battle to be decided entirely by air power, had begun.
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Producer: Peter Curry
James and Sam explain why the Reformation - that schism in the Christian church in the sixteenth century that transformed the landscape of Europe - is actually all about fire, windows, bones and kissing!
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Tim Bouverie has a look at the old questions about appeasement. Was it right to appease Hitler in order to buy time to re-arm? Why did Chamberlain and Halifax not take action when the Rhineland was re-occupied, or during the Anschluss of 1938, or during the occupation of the Sudetenland?
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dr Chris Smith has written a fascinating new book about John Cairncross, one of the famous five Cambridge spies who infiltrated high positions in the British intelligence service and reported back to Russia. Kim Philby, the most famous of the spies, was almost in charge of MI6 before his associate was detected, and intelligence officers grew suspicious.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Wolfe Frank, who was the Chief Interpreter at the Nuremberg Trials, translating over a third of the six million words spoken, was one of the most interesting characters in the courtroom.
Historian Paul Hooley speaks to Dan about this man, who hated Hitler and had an idiosyncratic relationship with Göring. Göring once asked if he could be fed to Frank's dog instead of being hanged, before Frank retorted that the dog was fussy about his food.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Audio: Peter Curry and Aditya Chakravarty
James and I chat before our show at the Cambridge History Festival at the beautiful Wimpole Hall just outside of Cambridge. It's a beautiful country house built in the 1640s and it's all about...symmetry, ruins, yellow, windows, sitting down and standing up!
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A. C. Grayling discusses the complete history of philosophy, whether it is still possible to ask questions about our existence, and how we should frame those questions in light of those thinkers who have gone before.
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Producer: Peter Curry
In this episode Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell talk about the unexpected history pirates, which is all about authors, cross-dressing, ferocious women, childhood memory, beards and empire.
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Dan delves into the history of unbelief - or rather, past people who didn't believe in God(s). He talks to Professor Tim Whitmarsh about Greek atheists (and indeed, about the creation of the term 'atheist'), and to Professor John Arnold about those who eschewed religious doctrine in the medieval era.
This is a shortened version of a full length documentary about Unbelief on our channel, https://tv.historyhit.com/
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Producer: Nathaniel Tapley
Assistant Producer: Peter Curry
Audio: Pete Dennis, Peter Curry, and Aditya Chakravarty
Simon de Montfort was a member of the English peerage, who led opposition to King Henry III. He played a major role in the constitutional development of the country and remains an important figure in British history.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dan and bestselling author Madeleine Miller chat Greek myths and the Odyssey. They talk about Virgil, the Aenead, Patroclus and Agamemnon, and whether Dan should sacrifice his daughter to ensure prevailing winds.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Katie Hickman takes us on a tour of British India before 1900, looking at women and the lives they led. Highlights include a discussion of whether the arrival of women in India prompted a change in racial attitudes, and the arrival of a courtesan on Indian soil.
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Producer: Peter Curry
James and Sam launch their first Green Room podcast! Unexpected historical thoughts as they travel around the country's theatres and arts centres with their Histories of the Unexpected show...this one's about shopping lists and the history of lost fame...
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We revisit Dan's interview with Peter Snow to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, and learn more about this conflict which changed the face of Europe.
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Original 2015 Producer: Dan Morelle
Producer: Peter Curry
We celebrate our 500th podcast with a new look at fatherhood and a selection of the best moments from our podcast. We hear the testimony of survivors of genocide, Dan talks radical new historiography with Norman Ohler, and he commemorates the dead of World War One at the Menin Gate. Thank you for listening and here's to many more episodes.
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Producer & Music: Peter Curry
Sam Willis and James Daybell explore the unexpected history of the Tudors! Is it all about Henry VIII? Anne Boleyn? Hampton Court and the Mary Rose? Well yes, but it's also all about monsters, toilets, oranges, mirrors, the gift, windows, hats, the chair, bones, lists, fire, eyes, faces, bells, shrinking, accidents, fruit-eating, letter writing, cannibalism and rings!
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Just off the British coast is a sunken world that was once the hub of mesolithic Europe. Simon Fitch, a specialist in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Bradford, joins Dan to talk about the discovery and the part he played in making them.
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Producer: Peter Curry
1984 is one of the greatest books ever written, and continues to both haunt and inform public perceptions of totalitarianism. Dan talks to Dorian Lynskey, who has written a biography of this critical text, discussing Orwell's reasons for writing and 1984's relevance to the present day, as well as our own cognitive biases and the dangers of manipulation.
All of the books discussed in the History Hit podcast are available at History Hit books. We'd love it if you supported what we do by using our affiliate link: https://books.historyhit.com/
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Producer: Peter Curry
David Edgerton attacks outdated views of the British nation and the British Empire during the 20th century with his new book. He revitalises discussion about declinist views of empire, and challenges the idea that the new British nation was forged in World War Two by Britain's isolation.
All of the books discussed in the History Hit podcast are available at History Hit books. We'd love it if you supported what we do by using our affiliate link: https://books.historyhit.com/
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Producer: Peter Curry
James Holland lectures about D-Day, covering the planning and the myths; from Montgomery's planning to the casualty rate on Omaha beach. This tour de force tells you everything you need to know about D-Day as we commemorate the 75th anniversary.
All of the books discussed in the History Hit podcast are available at History Hit books. We'd love it if you supported what we do by using our affiliate link: https://books.historyhit.com/
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Producer: James Carson
Audio: Oliver Nelken & Peter Curry
James and Sam tackle the unexpected history of D-Day in tribute to the 75th anniversary the Normandy landings. It's all to do with the Cold War, 9/11, pockets, decoys, memory, prayers and the debts we owe to a generation of men and women.
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This episode focuses on tales of individual bravery at D-Day as we approach the 75th anniversary. Dan talks to two veterans, Bill Fitzgerald and George Skipper, as well as historian Stuart Robertson who has written a new book focusing on those who were rewarded for their exceptional valour during the D-Day operation.
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All of the books discussed in the History Hit podcast are available at History Hit books. We'd love it if you supported what we do by using our affiliate link: https://books.historyhit.com/
Producer: Peter Curry
James and Sam discuss the unexpected history of Writing! It's all about invention, revolutions, torture, injury, priorities, practicing, shadows, boxes, borders...and so much more! This episode includes an interview with Dr Peter Toth, the curator of the new Writing exhibition at the British Library.
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Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was also the longest serving Labour Prime Minister, spoke to Dan about the nature of political power - within party politics, government policy and Britain's role in the world stage. He also discusses the major challenges Britain faces in a changing world likely to be dominated by large population countries.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Many Burmese people resisted the Japanese occupation of their country in World War Two. Filmmaker Alex Bescoby has made a new film celebrating those who the Empire left behind, despite the hardships they endured to serve Britain during the war.
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All of the books discussed in the History Hit podcast are available at History Hit books. If you're interested in buying the book, we'd love it if you supported what we do by using our affiliate links at: https://books.historyhit.com/
Producer: Peter Curry
A compilation of some of our best History Hit episodes about D-Day to celebrate the upcoming 75th anniversary.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Sam and James tackle the unexpected history of the Romans! Yes, emperors, the development of civilisation and armies all have a fascinating history but so too do walls, tattoos, collecting, fattening, recycling, walking, poison, the kiss, posture, solar power, fish, benches, weaving, taming, shopping, wicked stepmothers, feet, inkwells, demonic possession...and even the number seven!
Odette Sansom, was the most highly decorated woman, and the most decorated spy of any gender during World War II. She was awarded both the George Cross and was appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. Her wartime exploits and later imprisonment by the Nazis were celebrated in the years after the war, but she has fallen out of the spotlight recently.
Larry Loftis has written a new book attempting to reinstate her as one of the most celebrated members of the Special Operations Executive, the British sabotage and espionage organisation.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Saladin was one of the greatest Sultans of the middle ages, and the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. He famously defeated the Crusader army at the Battle of Hattin, and recaptured Jerusalem. The Christian armies of the west never recaptured the Holy City. Saladin's legacy still holds resonance across the middle-east today. In 1917, a French General supposedly marched up to Saladin's tomb in Damascus, kicked it and announced, "We're back," a story that would shape Arabic perceptions of the west in decades to come.
Professor Jonathan Phillips is an expert in the history of the crusades and the author of a recent biography of Saladin.
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Producer: Peter Curry
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This Friday sees the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth. BAFTA winning historian and Joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces Lucy Worsley takes Dan on a tour of Kensington Palace, one of the principle royal residences since 1689, and the childhood home of Queen Victoria. The rooms of the royal residence are being renovated for a new exhibition opening to the public on the 200th anniversary of Victoria's birth.
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Producer: Natt Tapley and James Carson
Audio: Peter Curry
Henry VI came to the throne in exceptionally difficult circumstances. The untimely death of his warlike father, Henry V, placed the crown upon his head aged just 9 months. While England was in the ascendant in the Hundred Years' War in 1422, by the time he came of age his father's French conquests were disintegrating and the English nobility were locked in a dangerous struggle for power.
In 1453, Henry suffered a complete mental collapse from which he never fully recovered, and then was used as a chess piece in the bloody Wars of the Roses which swept the country for the next 30 years. Lauren Johnson talks to Dan about the fascinating reign of Henry VI.
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Producer: Peter Curry
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Join Sam and James as they talk about the unexpected history of shipwrecks - through the fabulous example of the Vasa, a Swedish ship that sank in 1628. It's all about gender bending hats, trousers that become dresses, sail ripping cannon balls and skeletons that change sex. Oh and the symptoms of shock and things simply...disappearing.
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Game of Thrones is, as you've definitely worked out by now, based heavily on the history of the Wars of the Roses. Famous for high levels of internecine violence and bloody warfare, Game of Thrones is deeply rooted in historical parallels. However, as Dan Jones (not Snow) explains to Dan (not Jon) Snow, George R. R. Martin didn't just draw inspiration from the Wars of the Roses, but from all manner of historical circumstances and people.
From mass murders in castles in Edinburgh, to mercenary companies, to Cixi, the Chinese Dowager Empress, Martin drew inspiration from all periods of history, and both Dans walk us through the many comparisons and similarities.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Victor Hugo was exiled to Guernsey by the regime of Napoleon III, and so wrote many of his most famous works on the island, like “Les Miserables”, in the only house he ever owned. Dan gets a tour of Hauteville House, where he wrote from Cédric Bail the assistant curator of the museum. You can find out more about Victor Hugo's life on Guernsey at this link: https://victorhugo.visitguernsey.com/
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Producer: Kathrin Benöhr
Audio: Peter Curry
Getting to the moon was no easy feat, no matter how confident Kennedy may have sounded in his famous 1961 speech. NASA built a team from the ground up, and there were plenty of moments where it seemed as if they weren't going to make it. Fong tells stories of just how close they came, and how risky it was. After all, it was hard to feel safe when a pen could go straight through the module.
Kevin Fong is incredible. As Dan fawns in the podcast, he's part of the NHS emergency response team for major fatality incidents like terror attacks, he's an anaesthetist, he's a lecturer in physiology at UCL and an expert in space medicine. He's currently running a podcast about the Apollo program, which is 50 years old this year, and Dan gets a sneak peek.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Sam and James discuss all of the unexpected aspects of WWII, which is all about rubble, carrots, blood, pockets, suicide, gates, Zen Buddhism, furniture, cancer, Mozart, King Arthur, cows, mothers, puppets, handkerchiefs, and much, much more! It's not just all about the Nazis, Churchill and the Battle of Britain...
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The 1960s were an exciting time. The pill was invented in 1961, and for women everywhere it meant a newfound set of sexual freedoms; no longer did sex have to remain within the confines of marriage. However, the 1960s have for too long been characterised wrongfully by a surface layer of glamour and nostalgia that normally shapes its depiction in the media.
While some loved the 1960s, many women were sexually objectified, and many were the victims of sexual assault. Virginia Nicholson, a brilliant historian of the 1950s, has tackled the 1960s, and brings some of her own personal experiences to bear. She talks to Dan to help explain some of the complexities of this decade, and to add nuance to our understanding of the 1960s.
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Producer: Peter Curry
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The Foundlings were children whose mothers were destitute or dead, and they were taken in by various philanthropic institutions. One such place, the Foundling Hospital, was founded in London in 1739 by Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children".
Initially, these children were supposed to become foot soldiers of the British Empire, which was desperately short on people willing to travel abroad, but often these men and women lived rich and varied lives. Helen Berry, Professor of British History at Newcastle University, tells Dan about her research into these children and one case study that she uncovered.
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Producer: Peter Curry
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Richard Sorge is one of the greatest spies in history. Famously he reported to Stalin that the Germans were going to invade Russia, and famously Stalin ignored him. He then reported that the Japanese weren't going to invade Russia, and this time, the Russians listened. Siberian troops were redeployed to the western front, and they may have saved Moscow from the Nazis.
Owen Matthews, a distinguished writer, historian and journalist, came on the podcast to talk about Richard Sorge's life, his spy network and just how exactly he knew that the Japanese weren't going to invade. From standing on tabletops singing "I love Stalin, Hitler is a bandit", to having an affair with his best source, Sorge lived a bizarre and brilliant life.
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Producer: Peter Curry
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James and Sam explore the UNEXPECTED history of the Vikings. Who knew that the Vikings are all about graffiti, break-ins, criminal profiling, colour, teeth, keys, birds, nicknames, saunas, silk, mischief, staffs and goading!
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Stephen Fry talks to Dan about the study of history, deadly sins, Blackadder, eddas, W. H. Auden, Philip Guedalla, Dorothy Parker, the internet, online trolls, R. W. Ketton Cremer and Felbrigg Hall, with a couple of minor detours along the way. Fry tackles the big questions, the small questions, and frequently just muses on his answers to the aforementioned questions. Enjoy this tour de Fry.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Professor Sarah Knott talks to Dan about the history of motherhood and childbirth. She hasn't taken a linear approach in her research, so her discussion of mothering adopts a broad approach, looking at a variety of cultures and time periods and how they approach one of the most fundamental human processes: reproduction.
Dan also weighs in on how fatherhood has changed, and the changing, and increasing role of men throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in the process of childbirth, and whether that is necessarily a good thing.
All of the books discussed in the History Hit podcast are available at History Hit books. If you're interested in buying the book, we'd love it if you supported what we do by using our affiliate links at: https://books.historyhit.com/
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Producer: Peter Curry
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King George V played a critical role in Britain's war effort during World War One, from the outbreak of war in 1914, until the King's Pilgrimage in May 1922, to visit cemeteries and memorials being constructed by the Imperial War Graves Commission. Alexandra Churchill has combed the Royal Archives to fully understand George's role in the war, including his frequent disputes with David Lloyd George. So bitter was this relationship, Lloyd George at one point attempted to place control of the British army under French commanders.
Famously, King George V had to change his family surname from Saxe-Coburg to Windsor during the war, but Alexandra Churchill also tells Dan about the names that were suggested, including one that suggested George's family were bastards.
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Producer: Peter Curry
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Babita Sharma is esteemed British broadcaster, and a presenter on BBC News and the BBC World News. In this episode, she takes us through a history of corner shops. Corner shops have been ever important in British society, as hubs of their communities, and places where people from all walks of life come together.
Babita's family ran a corner shop, and she talks about what that meant for her, her father's work ethic, and how her mum ended up playing therapist for many members of their community.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Clare Mulley chats to Dan about Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of Save the Children. Now 100 years old, Save the Children was initially founded in response to the plight of German and Austrian children during the blockade of Germany in the aftermath of World War One.
Eglantyne Jebb set out to raise funds to support these children, battling arrest and intense opposition for aiding the 'enemy'. She was ultimately able to turn Save the Children into the force it is today.
For a related documentary/short film/media to this podcast, Behind the Scenes: Les Rutherford is available to watch on History Hit TV. Use code 'pod3' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4.
Producer: Peter Curry
Peter Gurney had a prolific career as a bomb disposal expert, from defusing bombs during the Troubles, to addressing bomb scares outside Downing Street. He tells Dan his best stories, explains how he learned to defuse bombs and just how scared he was most of the time.
For a related documentary/short film/media to this podcast, Behind the Scenes: Les Rutherford is available to watch on History Hit TV. Use code 'pod4' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4.
Producer: Peter Curry
Dr Cat Jarman has made a significant set of discoveries about a Viking graveyard in Derbyshire, and Dan talks to her to find out if they might have found the skeleton of Ivar the Boneless.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Ralph Percy takes Dan on a walking tour of Alnwick Castle, exploring its sumptuous collections of art and furniture, as well as talking Dan through his family's turbulent and frequently violent history. Percy's antecedents include men like Henry Hotspur and Thomas Percy and they often found themselves on the wrong side of England's greatest monarchs.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Simon Winder's eclectic histories have ranged all over the Germanic countries, and he has concluded his Germania trilogy with Lotharingia, a book about the kingdom of Lothair, which was located mainly in the modern low countries, and stretched all the way to the Roman borderlands.
Lothair I, a grandson of Charlemagne ruled a kingdom sandwiched between the land that would become France under Charles the Bald, and the land that would become Germany under Louis the German.
Dan chats to Simon Winder about his tour of the region's eccentricities and how it served as the site of many bloody, protracted battles, from the War of the Spanish Succession to World War 1.
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Producer: Peter Curry
Dr Colleen Darnell talks to Dan about 'Tutmania', the phase of obsession with the uncovering of the tomb of Tutankhamun, as well as all things Egyptology.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dan talks to Jonathan Foyle in order to fully understand the history of the Notre-Dame cathedral, and how devastating this fire really is.
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Producer/Audio: Peter Curry
100 years ago, forces under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired upon on an assembled crowd of Indians, who had gathered in peaceful protest about the deportation of two national leaders. Dan talks to Kim Wagner in order to better understand the events that occurred, and to challenge many of the myths that have persisted about what occurred on the 13th April 1919.
If you're interested in Amritsar, you can listen to Anita Anand's podcast about the man who set out to avenge the massacre and who thus became almost a legendary figure in the Indian national story, on History Hit TV. Use code 'pod4' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4.
All of the books discussed in the History Hit podcast are available at History Hit books. We'd love it if you supported what we do by using our affiliate link: https://books.historyhit.com/
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
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Armand D'Angour, a renowned classical scholar, has found new sources that Socrates in fact received many of his ideas, particularly those about love, from a woman he had an affair with. This is a new look at a man often considered the father of western philosophy, and Dan talks to Armand in depth about the Greek proclivity for new ideas and the life of Socrates.
For more information about the Hellenic world, The Treasures of Athens and Olympia is available to watch on History Hit TV. Use code 'pod4' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4.
All of the books discussed in the History Hit podcast are available at History Hit books. We'd love it if you supported what we do by using our affiliate link: https://books.historyhit.com/
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Andrew Lambert has written a magisterial history of sea power states, and the tools and methods of control they used to exert influence. From the Athenians to the British, Lambert discusses the way that states became sea powers, as well as offering insights on whether sea powers can exist in the same way they used to, and how American and Chinese interactions with the sea might change in the future.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Udham Singh, legendary in India but barely known in the western world, was present when the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar was perpetrated. Legend has it he picked a clump of bloody soil and swore to avenge the massacre. Twenty-one years later, he walked into Caxton Hall in order to shoot Michael O'Dwyer, who was one of two men behind the murders. Dan talks to Anita Anand, who tells this compelling story in full.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Rutger Bregman, the Dutch historian who has been making waves at Davos, as well as irking the likes of Tucker Carlson in the states, chats to Dan about the economic ideas that he hopes will change the way we think about work. Rutger discusses universal basic income, shorter working weeks, and free borders, suggesting what the future of the world economy might look like were we to implement ideas that have been utilised in the past.
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For all the books mentioned in the podcast, check out: https://books.historyhit.com/
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Jonathan Fennell has written a new book discussing the 'citizen armies' that made up the core of the British and Commonwealth armies, and Dan talks to him to find out more.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
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Betty Webb was heavily involved with the work going on at Bletchley Park. While she was not part of the code-breaking team, her work was invaluable to the success of Bletchley, and Dan talks to her about her life and wartime experiences.
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If you'd like to find out more about the The People's Projects, or the great causes that they have supported, follow any of the links below:
https://www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk/
https://www.breadwinners.org.uk/
https://www.haircuts4homeless.com/
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Melvyn Bragg talks to Dan about a philosopher and a scholar in the 12th century. Abelard was one of the best known theologians of the medieval era, and his love affair with Héloïse, characterised famously by the letters that they sent to each other are legendary.
Such was the passion of their affair, Héloïse once wrote to Abelard, “If the Emperor Augustus were to ask me to be his wife and help him control the greatest empire in the world, I would think it more honourable to be your whore, than his wife.” Melvyn Bragg has dug into these letters, and he has written a novel based on their lives.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
With the release of At Eternity's Gate starring Willem Dafoe as Vincent Van Gogh, Dan set off to find someone who knows about Vincent Van Gogh. He found Martin Bailey, co-curator of the new Van Gogh museum at the Tate, which is devoted to Van Gogh's relationship with England. They chat about Van Gogh's works, his manias and his successes and failures.
The film is in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema now and we are thrilled to be partnering with Curzon for this special episode of the podcast.
You can find places to watch it here:
https://www.curzonartificialeye.com/at-eternitys-gate/?utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=at-eternitys-gate
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
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The Liberation Route Europe team are working to ensure that the end of World War Two is celebrated and that those who fell are justly commemorated. Rémi Praud, a member of the team, talks to Dan about remembering and commemoration.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dr Chris Laoutaris talked to Dan about Shakespeare and love at our History Hit Live event at the British academy. Their discussion doesn't just limit itself to love in the upstart crow's plays, but to his own personal affairs and sexual proclivities.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Rapper and intellectual Akala talks to Dan about the way historical narratives are created, maintained and then broken down. He discusses slavery and abolitionism, the need for Britain to do more to acknowledge its imperial history, and how his own experiences growing up were shaped by these narratives.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
In 1943, Grimsby was hit by a new type of weapon: butterfly bombs, also know as cluster bombs. James Rogers tells Dan about the terrifying experience of being attacked by cluster bombs, and how they've been used around the world since.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dan explores the HMS Caroline, the last ship that survived the Battle of Jutland and remains afloat. The team from the museum of the HMS Caroline and the man in charge of much of its restoration and maintenance take him around.
For a related documentary, check out the Lost Wrecks of Jutland on History Hit TV. Use code 'podTV' at checkout to get 20% off an annual subscription.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Suzannah Lipscomb's latest work unearths the lives of women in 16th and 17th century through a series of court sources that few have looked through. Dan talks to her about the ways in which these women were far more violent and aggressive than previously assumed, and the ways they fought for power in a patriarchal world.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dr Mike Martin famously critiqued the Ministry of Defence in 2014, who tried to prevent the publication of his book. The book was based on a series of conversations Martin had with the Afghan locals, as one of the few within the military who could speak pushtu. Dan talks to him about his problems with the way that the military is run, and how the conflict in Afghanistan may change in years to come.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
The Battle of Kohima was a critical part of the war fought between Britain and Japan during World War II. It acted as a turning point on the eastern front more generally, and Dan talks to Akiko MacDonald, the daughter of a Japanese soldier who fought in the battle and Richard Greenwood, a former England rugby captain who has done lots of work into researching the battle. The National Army Museum recently polled the Battle of Kohima as Britain's greatest battle.
For an accompanying documentary to this podcast, you can watch Imphal and Kohima: Britain's Greatest Battle
on History Hit TV. Use code 'pod4' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry & Felix Maynard
Suzie Grogan talks about the 'hidden illness' of World War One, now better known as shellshock or PTSD. Dan chats with her about the initial reception to cases of shellshock and how diagnoses changed as we understood the problem better over time.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Suzie Boniface discusses those who were harmed by the nuclear tests conducted by the British atom bomb, as controversy surrounds the first British atomic test in 1952, and the subsequent testing program. Those who worked on the sites were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation and they have never been compensated by the British government.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Every day, ten thousand Americans wrote to Obama. Jeanne Marie Laskas tells their story, and the profound impact that these letters had on the President.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Craig Bennett, current CEO of Friends of the Earth in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, talks to Dan about the situation, the positives we can glean from climate change right now, and the history of campaigning.
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Lipika Pelham talks to Dan about the Dutch Jewish community in Amsterdam, how the Sephardim Jews ended up there and what they endured during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
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In this episode, Helen Carr talks to Lindsey Fitzharris about Joseph Lister and the development of germ theory.
The new show on the History Hit network, Hidden Histories, sees Helen Carr exploring some of the country's hidden treasures. She and some of our finest historians scramble through the actual spaces where history happened. Whether she's visiting the whorehouses of Covent Garden, or retracing the steps of the Peasants Revolt, Helen and her guests are a delightful guide to the hidden histories that lie just off the beaten track.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
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Gandhi is a complex and sometimes controversial figure, so Dan chats to Ramachandra Guha to find out what shaped Gandhi's worldview and how his early life informed his actions.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
There are strips of rock in the United States that are accurate predictors of whether a county will turn Democrat, or Republican. Lewis Dartnell's latest project demonstrates how the earth has and continues to shape our politics and our history, and Dan chatted to him to discover more.
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Shashank Joshi explains the history of tension in the Kashmir province as conflict re-emerges between Pakistan and India.
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Producer: Natt Tapley
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Misha Glenny is the host of a radio show called The Invention of Britain and he discusses with Dan the development of Britain. Glenny explores the history of our relationships with Scotland, Wales and Ireland, as well as the no less tempestuous relationship with Europe.
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Why is the impression we have of Jack the Ripper's victims misleading? Hallie Rubenhold explains to Dan that the common conception of his victims as young sex-workers is mostly wrong, and discusses the actual sources we have about the lives of his victims.
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Arthur Spencer was a navigator during World War Two, completing two tours of operations with 97 Squadron at RAF Woodhall Spa and RAF Bourn. He was awarded the Légion d’Honneur for providing air support for the Resistance in Italy. Dan met him in his house to discuss the life during the war, the hardship of losing friends and whether he feels guilt about the bombings.
For a related documentary to this podcast, Lancaster Behind the Scenes: Les Rutherford is on History Hit TV. Use code 'pod4' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4. Use code 'pod4' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dan and Professor Marie Coleman get into the details of the border between Ireland and North Ireland. How did it come to be, how has it changed and why has it proved such a sticking point in Brexit negotiations?
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Producer: Natt Tapley
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Damien Lewis, expert on all things SAS, chats to Dan about one of the largest and yet mostly unknown SAS raids of the war.
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Max Hasting's new bestseller on Vietnam is out, and Dan met him to discuss Domino theory, whether it was possible for the US to win the war and the effect the war had on those who fought in it.
For a related short film to this podcast, US Army Helicopter Operations in South Vietnam is available to watch on History Hit TV. Use code 'pod4' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Tina Pepler, writer of the A Prince in the Tower history drama, based on the missing princes and the challengers to the throne in the early Tudor period, chats to Dan about the writing process and the challenges of writing a historical drama.
To listen to the Prince in the Tower audio drama, you can find the first part, A Prince in the Tower: The Pretender on History Hit TV. Use code 'pod4' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dan chats to Christer Petley about slavery, focusing on one particularly virulent slave-owner called Simon Taylor, one of the most powerful men in Jamaica in the 18th century.
For more information on slavery, Windrush, Empire and the Legacy of Slavery with David Lammy is available to listen to on History Hit TV. Use code 'pod4' at checkout to get a 30 day free trial and your first 4 months for £4/$4.
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Valentine's Day Special! Laura Doan discusses love and lesbianism during the war, from the way women were treated to popular reaction to lesbians in the media and elsewhere.
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Was The Great Escape as great as its name suggests? Guy Walters thinks otherwise, and argues that the mass breakout from Stalag Luft III actually helped the German war effort. Dan chats to him to find out more. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
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Did people have better sex under socialism? The answer is probably yes, and Dan talks to Kristen Ghodsee to find out why, also discussing why young people are having less sex and the Soviet approach to gender equality.
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Dan heads down to Portsmouth harbour to uncover lost wrecks buried in the mud with a team of marine specialists in history and archaeology. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
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What treasures lie in store in the shifting sands of the Valley of the Kings? Dan talks to Chris Naunton to discover where the tombs of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra might be. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to History Hit TV.
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Dan talks to Nicholas Walton about the role of Sir Stamford Raffles in the emergence of Singapore as one of the world's largest ports, and about the history of the country more generally, from the earliest days of Javanese agriculture to Singapore's involuntary independence. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to History Hit TV.
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What was it like in Stalag Luft 3? Dan talks to Air Commodore Charles Clarke, a prisoner-of-war during the Great Escape. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to History Hit TV.
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Audio: Peter Curry
Who was the greatest European ever? Dan talks to Lindsay Powell to find out. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to History Hit TV.
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In this episode, Dan presents an all-new kind of podcast, History Hit's first ever audio drama. Starring Iain Glen from Game of Thrones, and Geoffrey McGivern from Blackadder 3, it's a mystery full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing through theEpisodes 2, 3 & 4 are available on History Hit TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Director: Justin Hardy
Writer: Tina Pepler
Audio: Guy Dagul
CAST: Charlotte Emerson, Iain Glen, Geoffrey McGivern, Darren Strange, Philip Stevens, Justine Sweeten, & Nathaniel Tapley
Dan talks to Paul Stickler about a bizarre murder in the aftermath of the First World War. For more exclusive history interviews or documentaries, subscribe to History Hit TV.
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Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of the family. For more exclusive history documentaries & interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dan talks to Antony Beevor about Arnhem and Operation Market Garden. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to History Hit TV.
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Audio: Felix Maynard, Peter Curry & Pete Dennis
Dan talks to Adam Zamoyski, a historian who has recently written a new biography of Napoleon. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
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Dan talks to Dr Bill Frankland, a 106 year old veteran of World War II who lived through a Japanese prisoner of war camp and who also made important contributions to our understanding of allergies. Second of two episodes. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of Privacy. For more exclusive history documentaries & interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dan chatted to George Morton-Jack and Dr Priya Atwal about the neglected role of the Indian Army during World War One, and how they are working to shed new light on the vital role that these servicemen played. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dan talks to Dr Bill Frankland, a 106 year old veteran of World War II who lived through a Japanese prisoner of war camp and who also made important contributions to our understanding of allergies. First of two episodes. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dr Helen Farr is leading a team looking at prehistoric wrecks in the Black Sea. Dan chats to her about how the Black Sea's anaerobic waters have preserved ancient ships for many centuries, including a Greek ship very similar to one on an urn in the British Library. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dan chats to Volker Wiedermann, a German writer and literary critic, about the Bavarian Soviet Republic. The Republic, established in the aftermath of the First World War, was an unlikely formation and was quickly attacked from all sides, especially as it tried to propagate radical ideas about government. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
John Nichol is a former RAF Tornado Navigator who flew in the Gulf War. He was shot down and became a prisoner of war, and he is now an author. Dan talks to him on his new bestseller about the Spitfire, the plane that was critical to the RAF's efforts in the Battle of Britain and the Second World War, and they discuss why it occupies such a special place in British hearts. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
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Dan talks to Hirata San, a survivor of the Hiroshima attacks, and one of the few remaining survivors who speak English, about the Hiroshima bombing. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
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Audio: Peter Curry
Dan talks to the Head of Heritage for HS2, Helen Wass, as well as Mike Henderson, about the bodies discovered along the route of this infrastructure project, and what they can tell us about the past. Discover more history interviews and documentaries at History Hit TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of Secrets. For more exclusive history documentaries & interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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In 1819, a huge crowd gathered in St Peter's Fields, Manchester, to hear radical speakers demand democratic reform. Dozens were killed and many more were injured by the army and local militia in what became known as the Peterloo Massacre. Dan talks to Jacqueline Riding - historical adviser on the new film - about the importance of Peterloo, and what it means to us today. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to History Hit TV.
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Dan concludes fascinating talk with Sir Cedric Delves and Danny West about the involvement of the SAS in the Falklands War. For more explusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to History Hit TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Dan hears the incredible story of the SAS's involvement in the Falklands from the men who were actually there: Sir Cedric Delves and Danny West. For more exclusive history interviews & documentaries, subscribe to History Hit TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of Christmas in the second episode of this two part series. For more exclusive history documentaries & interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Peter Curry
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of Christmas in the first of this two part series. For more exclusive history documentaries & interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Audio: Peter Curry
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of eyes. For more exclusive history documentaries & interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Audio: Peter Curry
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell discuss the making of their live show.
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Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell discuss the unexpected history of Colour.
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Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell discuss the unexpected history of Hallowe'en.
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Audio: Felix Maynard
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell discuss the unexpected history of Trafalgar for the 218th anniversary of the battle. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Audio: Felix Maynard
Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell bring you up to speed with what's been going on at Unexpected Towers.
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Dr. Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of chimneys... live!
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Audio: Felix Maynard
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell continue to discuss the unexpected history of shrinking. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV
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Audio: Felix Maynard
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of accidents. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Audio: Pete Dennis
Of what would you like to hear the unexpected history? Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell explore various histories of the things they could talk about in future podcasts. For more exclusive history interviews & documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV
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Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of bells. For more exclusive history documentaries & interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell delve into the unexpected history of mothers. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the links in their minds as they discover the unexpected history of relics. For more unexpected documentaries & interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV
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Audio: Pete Dennis
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell discuss the unexpected history of shrinking. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV
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Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of the lean. For more exclusive history interviews & documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell discuss the unexpected history of Sam's new book "The Struggle for Sea Power" by talking about none of the things in Sam's new book "The Struggle for Sea Power". For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of childhood. For more exclusive interviews and documentaries subscribe to HistoryHIt.TV.
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Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell whisk you through the mysterious crannies in the unexpected history of pockets! For more exclusive interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV - a new kind of history channel.
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Theme tune: Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of eggs! For more exclusive interviews & documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell discover the unexpected history of nonsense! For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell expore the unexpected history of hats, titfers, chapeaux, and other head-coverings. For more exclusive interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV
Producer: Nathaniel Tapley for Hit Network
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Theme: Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of chairs. For more exclusive interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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On Valentine's Day, Dr Sam Willis & Professor James Daybell discuss the unexpected history of Love. For more exclusive history interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of recipes! For more exclusive interviews and documentaries, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV.
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Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell explore the unexpected history of Invasion! and TV history more generally. For more exclusive interviews and documentaries join HistoryHit.TV today for free!
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell discuss the unexpected history of the Histories of the Unexpected book
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Histories of the Unexpected Theme - Dan Morelle
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Sam Willis and James Daybell take us through the unexpected history of... paper
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Sam Willis & James Daybell take you the the fascinating, and entirely unexpected, history of lists... For more exclusive interviews and documentaries, sign up to HIstoryHit.TV. To subscribe, click here.
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Sam Willis & James Daybell reveal the unexpected history of snow... For more exclusive interviews and documentaries subscribe to HistoryHit.TV. Join us at historyh.it/unexpectepod
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Sam & James dig deep into the Unexpected History of Christmas. For more exclusive interviews and documentaries, signup to HistoryHit,TV, click here to subscribe.
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Theme tune: Dan Morelle
In a special live episode, Sam Willis & James Daybell explore the Unexpected History of Dust.For more exclusive history documentaries and interviews, subscribe to HistoryHit.TV here.
Producer: Dan Morelle
Audio: Pete Dennis
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook Producer & Histories of the Unexpected Theme - Dan Morelle Edit & Mix: Pete Dennis
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - TwitterFacebookProducer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - TwitterFacebookProducer - Dan Morelle
The Baths of Diocletian (Latin: Thermae Diocletiani, Italian: Terme di Diocleziano) were public baths in Rome, in what is now Italy. Named after emperor Diocletian and built from 298 to 306, they were the largest of the imperial baths. The project was originally commissioned by Maximian upon his return to Rome in the autumn of 298 and was continued after his and Diocletian's abdication under Constantius, father of Constantine.
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - TwitterFacebookProducer - Dan Morelle
Professor Catherine Merridale is an award-winning writer and historian, known for her acclaimed and pioneering books on Russian history. Her latest book, Lenin on the Train, is out now. She is also the author of Red Fortress: The Secret Heart of Russia’s History, which won the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize and the Wolfson History Prize in 2014. Her work has been translated into more than sixteen languages, and previous books have been shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and have also won the Royal Society of Literature’s Heinemann Prize. She also broadcasts about Russian politics, culture and current affairs. She is a Fellow of the British Academy.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2017.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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According to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the sea at Ostia. The island Isola Tiberina in the centre of Rome, between Trastevere and the ancient center, was the site of an important ancient ford and was later bridged. Legend says Rome's founders, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, were abandoned on its waters, where they were rescued by the she-wolf, Lupa.
The river marked the boundary between the lands of the Etruscans to the west, the Sabines to the east and the Latins to the south. Benito Mussolini, born in Romagna, adjusted the boundary between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, so that the springs of the Tiber would lie in Romagna.
The Tiber was critically important to Roman trade and commerce, as ships could reach as far as 100 kilometres (60 mi) upriver; there is evidence that it was used to ship grain from the Val Teverina as long ago as the 5th century BC. It was later used to ship stone, timber and foodstuffs to Rome.
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The Pantheon from Greek Πάνθειον Pantheion meaning "[temple] of every god") is a former Roman temple, now a church, in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). The present building was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD. He retained Agrippa's original inscription, which has confused its date of construction as the original Pantheon burnt down so it is not certain when the present one was built.
The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 142 feet (43 m).
It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a church dedicated to "St. Mary and the Martyrs" (Latin: Santa Maria ad Martyres) but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda". The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a state property, ruled by Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio; in 2013 it was visited by over 6 million people.
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The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum (Italian: Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the centre of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.
For centuries the Forum was the centre of day-to-day life in Rome: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches; and the nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million sightseers yearly.
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - TwitterFacebookProducer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - TwitterFacebookProducer - Dan Morelle
The Colosseum or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and sand, it is the largest amphitheatre ever built. The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in AD 72, and was completed in AD 80 under his successor and heir Titus. Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian (81–96). These three emperors are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named in Latin for its association with their family name (Flavius).
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I am a Roman archaeologist. I live in Rome Italy. Every day I experience history. I excavate, I teach, I livestream. I was actually awarded Periscoper of the year this year at the Shorty Awards. I look forward to exploring history underneath the pavements of Rome, throughout Italy, and throughout the Mediterranean with you. Follow me on Twitter @DariusAryaDigs
Produced by @DanMorelle
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - TwitterFacebookProducer - Dan Morelle
In the early days of World War II, London became the base of operations for the exiled leaders of occupied Europe. In their struggles against the mightiest military force in history, Britain become known as 'Last Hope Island’. In this episode, acclaimed historian Lynne Olson discusses her book and describes how the British and their European guests joined forces to restore order to a broken continent.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2017.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - TwitterFacebookProducer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - TwitterFacebookProducer - Dan Morelle
Recorded live at Powderham castle in May 2017.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Recorded live at the the 2017 Chalke Valley History Festival.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
James Heneage is a founder of the Chalke Valley History Festival and was founder of the Ottakar’s chain of bookshops which was sold to Waterstones in 2006. He is a former Chairman of the Cheltenham Literary Festival and a Booker Prize judge. www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Melvyn Bragg paints a colourful portrait of the 1381 violent uprising, the biggest armed rebellion against Church and State in English history.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
In this talk, best-selling author Robert Harris turns to one of the key scandals in French history, the Dreyfus Affair. Discussing this infamous miscarriage of justice that rocked France in the years before the first world war, he brings new insights to this world of secret service dealings, cover-ups and betrayal…
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Join us for our first ever live show in Plymouth on May 4th - find out more and buy tickets here.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
We had the privilege of having a complete 7-man crew who made up the different roles on a Lancaster bomber during the Second World War at Chalke Valley History Festival in 2015. George ‘Johnnie’ Johnson, Jo Lancaster, Frank Tilley, Hal Gardner, John de Hoop, Dave Fellowes, Steve Bethell were in discussion with Paul Beaver.
It was the chance to hear what it was like to fly over Nazi-occupied Europe, whether pilot, bomb- aimer, navigator, flight engineer, tail-gunner, radio operator or mid-upper gunner – and from men whose combined experience amounted to over 150 operations.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - TwitterFacebook Producer - Dan Morelle
Martin Brown is a published author, illustrator, and a translator of children’s books. His illustrations for the wildly successful series of Horrible Histories has made him a household name.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr. Anna Keay is the Director of the Landmark Trust. The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth is out now.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Sam Willis is a maritime historian, archaeologist, and broadcaster. He is the author of a number of books on maritime and naval history, including the Hearts of Oak trilogy and the Fighting Ships series. He has appeared in and presented numerous TV series, including Shipwrecks and Castles for BBC4 and Operation Grand Canyon for BBC2. He is a Visiting Fellow in Maritime and Naval History at the University of Plymouth, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Ian Hislop returned to the Festival to talk about ‘The Satirical Magazine and the History of Private Eye’. He discusses the importance of satire, both in the past and present, and the story behind Private Eye, from its beginnings to its ongoing role in ensuring the absurdities and pomposity in life continue to be exposed.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
The great scientist Alexander von Humboldt was one of the most famous men in Europe. He inspired princes and presidents, scientists and explorers with his spectacular adventures and discoveries. Rivers, mountain ranges, towns, a penguin and more are named after him and his ideas remain important today. Andrea Wulf not only won the 2015 Costa Prize, she is also an absolutely superb speaker.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Damian Lewis is an English actor and producer. He is known for portraying U.S. Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland (which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award), and U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, which also earned him a Golden Globe nomination. His performance as Henry VIII in Wolf Hall earned him his third Primetime Emmy nomination and fourth Golden Globe nomination. Lewis currently stars as hedge fund manager Bobby "Axe" Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
In the great tradition of story-telling, Tom Holland continues his annual recounting of the Greek Myths. This year, he turns to the tale of Jason and the Argonauts, an epic story of honour, adventure, dangerous women and a golden fleece. Told with wit, verve and passion, this magical tale of the first group of super-heroes will be a treat for all, whether young or old.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Having attended the commemorations in France for the 100th Anniversary of the start of the Somme as part of the BBC’s coverage, Dan Snow hurried back to the Chalke Valley to give his own thoughts and perspectives – not only on the battle itself, but also its enduring legacy and his own reflections on what he has witnessed in France two days earlier.
Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.
www.cvhf.org.uk.
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
This is a special episode to coincide with Sam's new 3-part TV series on BBC Four entitled Sword, Musket & Machine Gun - Britain's Armed History. If you're in the UK you can watch it on Thursday at 9pm or on iPlayer. Watch the trailer on YouTube.
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Art is the truest expression of the workings of the mind, free from learnt language. More than that, it is the visual expression of culture, politics, society, religion, emotion, zeitgeist, channelled through the brush, chisel, or hands of creative individuals. Understanding art allows us to understand history: to pin it with images, and pepper it with the faces, colours, drama and expression of its time.
This series is designed to give bite-sized insights into the world of Art History, bringing one image to life across 20 minutes through discussion with world experts, close visual analysis, and high-resolution images that will accompany the series. History is never far from view, so each image will be expanded to sit within the cultural and historical context that produced it.
Subscribe to Art Detective.
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!... Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! ...” (Dr Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 1956)
It can only be the Unexpected History of Christmas!
Let us once again join the Santa of Historical Skepticism, Professor James Daybell and the Charles Dickens of Christmas Past, Dr Sam Willis as they untangle the tinsel and unravel the lights to reveal the unexpected history of Christmas. Upon Santa’s sleigh, they will dash from medieval carousing to a Dickensian Christmas, and from racing crabs on Christmas Island in the 1950s to the Puritans and Christmas riots in Canterbury, 1647.
Like Christmas Elves they’ll assemble the links between rituals and traditions, Minst pies (not a typo) and celebrations, international date lines and land shy ravens. Listen out as James plays ‘guess the day an island was discovered,’ and Sam suggests one way to get two Christmases in one day. Oh, and whoever wrote the song about the three kings following the star, well they may need to rewrite, although it may not have quite the same rhyming style! “God bless us, everyone!” (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843)
“Good tidings we bring for you and your kin
We wish you a merry Christmas
And a happy New Year”
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook Producer - Dan Morelle
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Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
It’s our 10th episode!
So blow out the candles, cut the cake and make a wish!
You are cordially invited to join the Cultivator of Chronicles, Dr Sam Willis, and the Tim Peake of Time, Professor James Daybell as these history DJs get the unexpected history of the party started.
From garden parties to peripatetic English monarchs, from the vomiting ladies of the court of James I to the myth of the Roman Vomitorium, there’s much to celebrate as Sam and James make the links between Edvard Munch and wallflowers and bacchanalian excess and yelling at cider trees in an English orchard. And, of course, no real party could be complete without the furniture being trashed, or in the case of John Evelyn a much-prized 400ft long, 9ft high and 5ft wide, now no longer impenetrable hedge. Wow did those Russians know how to party! Keith Richards had his T.V. set, Keith Moon his exploding toilet, Aerosmith their chainsaw, and Peter the Great … a wheelbarrow.
“Here’s to thee, old apple...
Boxes, coffins, letter, houses, locks and more. Sam and James audio-google their way through the unexpected history of boxes.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, ~Shakespeare, Hamlet’s letter to Ophelia
But never doubt the unexpected historical links as the lieutenant of lifetimes, Professor James Daybell, and the investigator of intrigue, Dr Sam Willis, take the old post road from London to Dover. With a stop-off on Dartmoor, it’s then across the sea to Jamaica as they chart the material history of the letter. From statecraft to warfare, from love to diplomacy, join James and Sam as they uncover the unexpected history of letters. Need tips on how to hit just the right note with a letter to the mother-in- law? Listen out for how the Elizabethan gentlewoman Maria Thynne wrote to hers. You may well be inspired.
History, of course, can only be written if there is evidence on which to base it, and letters provide such rich testimony of the past in so many ways. What would history be, and what tales would remain untold if such vast hoards of letters had not...
Like a well-spring of historical facts, bubbling over with unexpected links, Dr Sam Willis, the maitre’d of museums, and Professor James Daybell, the inspector of eons, take you on another intoxicating ride through history. From Oliver Cromwell’s Navigation Act of 1651, the American Boys Handy Book and the culture of childhood, South American colonies, and early cancer cures, (and with a little help from Lady Luck) they’ll make the links for the history of the bubble.
How did the need to halt deforestation in the early seventeenth-century spur new technological developments which allowed the British to enjoy their cider fizzy? What does the price of tulip bulbs, which in the mid-1600s reached the equivalent of a modest house, and England’s war debt in the 1700s, have to do with the bubble?
If you have a sore throat listen carefully – for we may have a cure for that! ‘Fire burn and cauldron bubble…’
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPod Producer - Dan Morelle
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“There’s many a man hath more hair than wit”
But worry not for this is no Comedy of Errors and there’s certainly more to this unexpected history.
Let us join our host with the Cranium full of Chronicles, Professor James Daybell, and the Authority of the Archives, Dr Sam Willis as they bob and weave their way through the unexpected history of hair. From the Duke of Wellington and theories of Great Men in history, tonsures and ritual practices, to the political implications of French provocation at sea.
“Like quills upon the fretful porpentine”, they make the hair-raising links via the Bodleian Library, Romsey Abbey, and French ballrooms. It’s enough to turn one’s hair grey; for which P.G. Wodehouse suggests there is only one cure, the guillotine. Too drastic, how about this:
Roman ladies were supposed to use pigeon poo to lighten their hair, or there’s always the sixteenth century cure for baldness to consider … boiled slugs and honey anyone?
Dr Sam Willis -
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I call the Living I mourn the Dead I break the Lightning
(inscribed on the Great Bell of the Minster of Schaffhausen)
Join the Preacher of the Past, Dr Sam Willis and the Antidote to Antiquity, Professor James Daybell, as they steer their very own DeLorean through the unexpectedly charged history of lightning. It will be a high voltage flight from Nelson to Dickensian ghosts. Along the way, they will make the lightning flash links between American Independence, superstitious English sailors, Protestant winds and Nazi P.E kits.
Take a seat, for as Dickens himself said: ‘Bring in the bottled lightning, a clean tumbler and a corkscrew,’ for this unexpected history may get a little electrifying.This episode is all about the unexpected history of lightning. Which is all about American independence, and Horatio Nelson's front porch...
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell -
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All about power and politics, the perfumed glove as a political gift, the history of the hand, and the history of touch. It's also about explosions and the Japanese industrial revolution.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPdcst HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
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This episode is all about the unexpected history of smoke. Which is all about state craft and diplomacy. It's ritualised smoking of the peace pipe. And it's to do with smuggling and public execution.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPdcst HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
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Find out about the unexpected history of the orange, how it's linked to the the Gunpowder Plot, and other extraordinary historical connections.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPdcst HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Find out about the unexpected history of the window, how it's linked to the 30 years war, and other extraordinary historical connections.
Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillis Professor James Daybell - @JamesDaybell Follow the show's new Twitter: @UnexpectedPdcst HistoryHit Network - Twitter Facebook
Producer - Dan Morelle
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Surely there’s nothing unexpected about the past? About History? Aha, well Histories of the Unexpected adopts a new approach to exploring out past. Gone is the traditional linear plotting of battles, monarchs and political movements. Histories of the Unexpected argues that everything has a history.
The history of the itch, the history of crawling, the history of clouds or of lightning, or of zombies, or zebras or holes or perfume or rubbish all have fascinating histories of their own, histories that can change the way you think about the past and present.
Take the orange. We do not want to teach you who was the first to discover the orange, or grow it, or import it; we do not know who was the first to make orange juice. We want to tell you the unexpected history of the orange. We want to tell you how it was used to make secret ink and was instrumental in the Gunpowder Plot; we want to tell you how the history of the orange is actually about the invention of clinical trials, modern medicine and dogs.
We...
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