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
676
The cult of Freud: science, sex & psychoanalysis
Seamus O’Mahony tells the dramatic story of the intertwined lives of three 20th-century doctors: Sigmund Freud, Ernest Jones and Wilfred Trotter
43 min
677
Breastfeeding: a cultural history
From ancient baby bottles to the perceived moral dangers of wetnursing, Joanna Wolfarth investigates what we can learn from changing attitudes to breastfeeding through history
23 min
678
Heliogabalus: Rome’s scandalous emperor
Harry Sidebottom shares the sensational story of the notorious Roman emperor whose short time in power was packed with sex, violence and decadence
33 min
679
Interwar Britain: everything you wanted to know
Matt Houlbrook answers listener questions about British life in the 1920s and 1930s
52 min
680
Which LGBTQ+ histories get told – and which get...
To mark LGBT+ History Month, a panel of experts discuss the challenges and complexities of exploring sexuality across the centuries
41 min
681
From the Middle Ages to #MeToo: Chaucer’s Wife ...
Marion Turner introduces one of the most memorable and colourful figures of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath
40 min
682
Astonishing Æthelstan: Michael Wood on the 10th...
Michael Wood introduces listeners to the fascinating life of 10th-century ruler Æthelstan
26 min
683
Cleopatra’s triumphant daughter
Jane Draycott tells the little-known story of Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, and reveals how she turned a tragic inheritance into a triumphant reign
33 min
684
Marie Antoinette in her own words
Catriona Seth rexamines what Marie Antoinette’s letters can reveal about the life and character of the doomed Queen of France
30 min
685
The Romantics: everything you wanted to know
Daisy Hay answers listener questions on the rebellious literary movement whose members’ lives were as unconventional as their art
38 min
686
Fearless female voices of the Spanish Civil War
Sarah Watling shines a light on the remarkable women who joined the fight against General Franco – from political firebrands to bestselling authors
35 min
687
Why did the Ottoman empire implode?
Ryan Gingeras looks at why one of world history’s greatest powers collapsed a century ago
37 min
688
Was Shakespeare a snob?
Stephen Unwin unpicks Shakespeare’s complex portrayals of working people, asking how much these characters reflect the reality of living and working in Elizabethan England
25 min
689
Tudors in revolt: the Western Rising of 1549
Mark Stoyle follows the progress of the so-called “Prayer Book Rebellion”, and explores how this dramatic revolt almost changed the course of Tudor history
47 min
690
Female spies who forged the CIA
Nathalia Holt discusses four women who undertook life-threatening missions and harnessed crucial intelligence in the early days of the Central Intelligence Agency
30 min
691
Prehistoric cave art: everything you want to know
Paul Pettitt answers listener questions on what cave art can reveal about the palaeolithic era
47 min
692
A secret Nazi plot to kill the ‘Big Three’
Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch discuss the complex tale of a little-known Nazi plot to kill Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt during the 1943 summit in Tehran
34 min
693
Wild places & wild people: a short history of c...
Britain’s common land has often been considered a wild place for wild people – Professor Angus Winchester explains how it played a key role in local economies and communities
35 min
694
The forgotten years that forged Wales
Lloyd Bowen describes the ambiguities in Welsh identity and nationhood that arose in the decades following the Acts of Union in the early 16th century
49 min
695
How six women programmed the world’s first mode...
Kathy Kleiman reveals how six women helped create the world’s first modern computer
26 min
696
Tattoos: a 5,000 year history
Dr Matt Lodder explores 5,000 years of tattooing history – from Otzi the Iceman, to King Edward VII
35 min
697
Railway history: everything you wanted to know
Christian Wolmar answers listener questions on the history of the railways, from industrial innovation and early rail journeys to the transformative nature of train travel
43 min
698
Forgotten histories of the Holocaust
Dan Stone considers forgotten and misunderstood aspects of the Holocaust, from its international nature to the ways its horrors reverberated for decades afterward
51 min
699
An audacious kidnapping in 1970s Paris
Tom Sancton tracks the infamous kidnapping case of Baron Édouard-Jean Empain – from chopped-off fingers and police shootouts to the collapse of an industrial empire
38 min
700
Blood, sweat & marble: examining ancient bodies
Caroline Vout takes us under the dust covers and presents the flesh and blood realities of life in ancient bodies
32 min