History Extra podcast

The History Extra podcast brings you gripping stories from the past and fascinating historical conversations with the world's leading historical experts.  

 

Produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine, History Extra is a free history podcast, with episodes released six times a week. Subscribe now for the real stories behind your favourite films, TV shows and period dramas, as well as compelling insights into lesser-known aspects of the past. 

 

We delve into global history stories spanning the ancient world right up to the modern day. You’ll hear deep dives into the lives of famous historical figures like Cleopatra, Anne Boleyn and Winston Churchill, and explorations of intriguing events from the past, such as the Salem witch trials, the battle of Waterloo and D-Day. 

 

Expect fresh takes on history, helping you get to grips with the latest research, as we explore everything from ancient Roman archaeology and Viking mythology to Renaissance royals and Tudor kings and queens. 

 

Our episodes touch on a wide range of historical eras – from the Normans and Saxons to the Stuarts, Victorians and the Regency period. We cover the most popular historical subjects, from the medieval world to the Second World War, but you’ll also hear conversations on lesser-known parts of our past, including black history and women’s history. 

 

Looking at the history behind today’s headlines, we consider the forces that have shaped today’s world, from the imposing empires that dominated continents, to the revolutions that brought them crashing down. We also examine the impact of conflict across the centuries, from the crusades of the Middle Ages and the battles of the ancient Egyptians to World War One, World War Two and the Cold War.  

 

Plus, we uncover the real history behind myths, legends and conspiracy theories, from the medieval murder mystery of the Princes in the Tower, to the assassination of JFK.  

 

Featuring interviews with notable historians including Mary Beard, Tracy Borman, James Holland and Dan Jones, we cover a range of social, political and military history, with the aim to start conversations about some of the most fascinating areas of the past. 

Unlock full access to HistoryExtra.com for 6 months for just 99p https://www.historyextra.com/join/

History
26
Conspiracy Revisited: The JFK assassination – O...
28 min
27
Clotilda: the last slave ship to America
Hannah Durkin tells the story of the survivors of Clotilda, the last ship to transport enslaved people from Africa to America
33 min
28
History behind the headlines: the Bengal famine
Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter are joined by journalist Kavita Puri to discuss her new series on the Bengal famine
37 min
29
Spying in the Troubles: the murky world of doub...
Henry Hemming explores how a huge intelligence operation was carried out in Northern Ireland by Britain's secret services during the Troubles
42 min
30
Welsh mythology: everything you wanted to know
Mark Rees answers listener questions on the extraordinary stories and mystical creatures found in Welsh legends and myth
48 min
31
Tying the knot: 500 years of wedded bliss and m...
Legal historian Rebecca Probert explores the history of marriage in England and Wales over the past 500 years
41 min
32
Conspiracy Revisited: The JFK assassination – 9...
39 min
33
The British empire's divisive legacy
Sathnam Sanghera considers how we can have a constructive national conversation about Britain’s imperial past
33 min
34
Saladin: life of the week
Jonathan Phillips details the astronomic rise of Saladin – who went head to head with crusading forces and was able to reclaim the holy city of Jerusalem
51 min
35
Back in the USSR: the Soviet Sixties
Robert Hornsby reveals how the 1960s was a defining, yet often overlooked, era in Soviet history
42 min
36
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: everything you wanted to ...
Joanna Story answers listener questions about the Anglo-Saxon kings and kingdoms
39 min
37
Dinosaurs: a Victorian obsession
Michael Taylor reveals how the discovery of dinosaur bones challenged ideas about natural history and religion in Victorian Britain
37 min
38
Tiger Tamer | 6. battling against Bovril
David Musgrove explores what the life of celebrity pedestrian Bob Carlisle can reveal about a Victorian revolution in athleticism, transport, advertising and consumer goods
30 min
39
How was Elizabeth I shaped by her childhood?
Dr Nicola Tallis looks back at Elizabeth I's youth to explore how the famous monarch's early years shaped her later life
24 min
40
Joan of Arc: life of the week
Anne Curry traces the story of Joan of Arc, the medieval peasant girl who took war-torn France by storm
50 min
41
Leftovers: how our ancestors battled food waste
Eleanor Barnett reveals how people in the past tackled food waste, from the Tudor almoner to the rag-and-bone man
26 min
42
WW1's eastern front: everything you wanted to know
Nick Lloyd answers listener questions on Germany and Austria-Hungary's bloody clash with the Russian empire from 1914–18
37 min
43
Eric 'Winkle' Brown: Britain's most extraordina...
Paul Beaver charts the remarkable life of Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown – a death-defying Second World War pilot
29 min
44
Tiger Tamer | 5. crazy about wheelbarrows
David Musgrove revisits the great wheelbarrow craze of 1886-7, alongside some of the strangest other crazes to grip Victorian Britain
24 min
45
Will the real Jesus please stand up?
Catherine Nixey reveals how the Christian story was transformed in its first few centuries
24 min
46
Mary Wollstonecraft: life of the week
Bee Rowlatt explores the life and legacy of 18th-century firebrand, feminist and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft
38 min
47
An obscenity trial that shocked Victorian Britain
Michael Meyer reveals how an 1877 court case revolving around birth control – and the fearless woman at the heart of it – scandalised the nation
35 min
48
The Capetians: everything you wanted to know
Justine Firnhaber-Baker answers listener questions on the long-standing and influential medieval French dynasty
52 min
49
Lothar II vs Theutberga: a marriage scandal tha...
The Carolingian king Lothar II was embroiled in a scandal that destroyed his reign and ended his kingdom – Professor Charles West shares the story
31 min
50
Tiger Tamer | 4. celebrity pedestrian
David Musgrove travels back to the jeopardy and exhilaration of the Victorian circus, to explore Bob Carlisle’s hair-raising career as a clown and tiger tamer
33 min