History Extra podcast
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History Extra podcast
Let us know what you want to hear on the HistoryExtra Podcast by completing this quick survey: https://immediateinsiders.com/uc/admin/2d3c/?a=1&b=3 The HistoryExtra podcast brings you gripping stories from the past and fascinating historical conversations with the world's leading historical expe...
Recent Episodes
2568 episodes
George Orwell's final chapter
Did you know that George Orwell only found national acclaim as an author in the final years of his life, as his health was worsening? Or that, with th...
Was Elizabeth II's reign a golden age?
When the late Queen acceded to the throne in 1952, Britain, though left bankrupt and reeling from the Second World War, was still a major global power...
Johannes Vermeer: life of the week
Johannes Vermeer is now regarded as one of the leading lights of the Dutch Golden Age, and indeed one of the greatest artists of all time. But in his...
When did Roman Britain really end?
How did England – and Englishness – emerge from the final days of Roman Britain? And what separated Englishness from Britishness? Emeritus professor N...
How the Vikings reshaped Anglo-Saxon England
Alfred the Great’s victory over the Vikings at the battle of Edington brought the campaign of the Great Heathen Army to an end – but it didn't conclud...
Preview: The surprising history of pizza
It's now among the world's most popular foods – but what do we know about the origins of pizza? Today on the HistoryExtra podcast, we're bringing you...
A short history of running
Why do people run marathons in their thousands these days? Carl Morris, in conversation with Dave Musgrove, traces the origins of running as a sport b...
Mary Beard on why the classics still matter
What's the role of the classical past in the modern day? In this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast, internationally renowned classicist Mary Beard r...
Elizabeth II: life of the week
This April marks the centenary of the birth of Elizabeth II. In this special episode of our Life of the Week series, historian Kate Williams guides Ch...
Retracing Eleanor of Castile's final journey
At the end of the 13th century, England was gripped by grief as news of the queen's death shook the nation. Eleanor of Castile's funeral procession fr...
How Alfred the Great saved the Anglo-Saxons from the Vikings
As the Viking Great Heathen Army advanced to the borders of Wessex, the conquest of Anglo-Saxon England appeared all but complete. In the third episod...
How to find a billion-dollar shipwreck
In 1708, the Spanish galleon San José was sunk by a British warship off the coast of Colombia, vanishing beneath the waves with a treasure trove of un...
A fantastical history of fairies
When picturing a fairy, you might imagine a childlike creature with wings. But this is a far more modern image than we might think. In this episode, M...
Aud the Deep-Minded: life of the week
It was the Vikings of northern Europe who first settled the harsh landscapes of Iceland in the ninth century. Most of the figures leading this movemen...
How Tudor London inspired literary genius
In the bustling streets of Elizabethan London, a vibrant community of writers helped shape the future of the English language and literature. From poe...
The rise of Alfred the Great
As the Viking Great Heathen Army refused to leave Anglo-Saxon England, the pressure mounted on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to respond, placing the future...
Stalin's murderous vendetta against Trotsky
Mexico City, August 1940: a study door closes, an ice axe is raised and the Bolshevik Revolution’s greatest exile meets his grisly end. But what led t...
A new take on the battle of Hastings
It's long been assumed that King Harold's English army arrived tired and in disarray at the battle of Hastings, having had to march over 200 miles fro...
Mrs Beeton: life of the week
Mrs Beeton is a name synonymous with 19th-century domesticity – most notably in connection with the iconic Book of Household Management. But who was t...
The battle of the Arctic: the overlooked crucible of WW2
The US and UK supplied the USSR with vast amounts of military materiel during the Second World War via the Arctic convoys. In this episode, Hugh Sebag...
How the Vikings pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink
During the latter decades of the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms faced an existential threat as Viking forces launched an assault on a scale n...
How to stay healthy in the Middle Ages
In reality, were medieval people dirty and covered in mud? What did they think were the healthiest things to eat? And how often did they think they sh...
Europe's Muslim history
From the magnificence of the Alhambra to the forgotten resting places of the Prophet Muhammad’s own relatives, Islam has long been a part of Europe’s...
Attila the Hun: life of the week
Few historical figures have reputations quite as diabolical as that of Attila the Hun. This nomadic leader pitched up on the edge of the Roman empire...
Captured by Barbary corsairs: an Englishwoman's extraordinary tale
In 1756, Elizabeth Marsh set sail from Gibraltar to Britain with the intention of meeting her fiancé. Instead, she was captured by Barbary corsairs –...
Was Elizabeth I's reign really a 'golden age'?
As Elizabeth I entered the final chapter of her reign, questions of ageing, succession, and legacy loomed large. In this final episode of our four-par...
Spy, hero, rebel, traitor: the story of Roger Casement
Rory Carroll unpacks the dramatic final years of Roger Casement – an Irish diplomat and nationalist whose tangled legacy includes heroism, betrayal, a...
The relentless rise of the mafia
The 20th century saw the mafia go global. Crime groups, from Japan's Yakuza to southern Italy's Camorra, capitalised on political chaos and mass migra...
Harriet Martineau: life of the week
Thinker, feminist, sociologist, campaigner: 19th-century writer Harriet Martineau was a pioneer and a radical across a huge range of areas, but it's v...
Sores, sweat and secretions: the pox in early modern London
With sinful associations and incredibly painful symptoms, the pox could be a damning diagnosis in the early modern period. In this episode, Olivia Wei...
Elizabeth’s enemies: plots, rivals and the Spanish Armada
Elizabeth I’s reign was defined by constant threat, both at home and abroad. In this third episode of our four-part Sunday Series on the Tudor monarch...
Britain and the looted African gold
In the 1870s, British troops invaded the African kingdom of Asante, razed its capital, prowled its palace and plundered its exquisite golden treasures...
The devastating Jewish revolt against the Roman empire
It was under the rule of the infamous emperor Nero that the Great Revolt, the first of the Jewish-Roman wars, began, sparking many decades of continuo...
Culture and conflict: a historical tour of Dublin
Ireland's capital may be famous today for its nightlife and literature, but it has experienced more than its fair share of conflict and oppression alo...
How Rasputin helped doom the Romanovs
The life of Grigori Rasputin, the Siberian peasant healer who wielded influence over the family of Russia’s last tsar, has fascinated the world for mo...
Elizabeth I: a woman in a man’s world
By 1559, Elizabeth I had secured the crown – but holding on to power would prove far more challenging. In this second episode of our four-part Sunday...
Life on the mean streets of 19th-century London
What can Charlie Chaplin's life tell us about the experiences of poor working-class people in 19th- and early 20th-century London? Quite a lot, it tur...
Trailblazers and troublemakers: women who made French history
Have women been relegated to the footnotes of French history? Katherine Pangonis – whose latest book is A History of France in 21 Women – tells Charlo...
Vladimir Lenin: life of the week
Few people had as much impact on the course of the 20th century as Vladimir Lenin – from his years as an émigré across the capitals of western Europe,...
Why Britons rejected fascism in the 1930s
The 1920s and 30s were golden decades for extremism. Across Europe, dictators including Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini goose-stepped their way into powe...