HistoryExtra podcast
The HistoryExtra podcast brings you gripping stories from the past and fascinating historical conversations with the world's leading historical experts.
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801
Nicholas Winton: the 'British Schindler'
Edward Abel Smith discusses the story of Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of Jewish children from the Nazis by transporting them to safety in Britain
29 min
802
Conspiracy | 2. Was Pearl Harbor an inside job?
32 min
803
Ireland's tangled relationship with empire
Historian Jane Ohlmeyer reflects on Ireland's difficult relationship with imperialism in the early modern period
31 min
804
Life of the Week: Harold Godwinson (Harold II)
Caitlin Ellis explores the biography of the short-lived medieval king best known for getting an arrow to the eye at the battle of Hastings
27 min
805
Britain's long love affair with sport
From the brutality of medieval jousts to the mega-bucks of the Premier League, David Horspool reveals how sport has embedded itself in the fabric of British life
27 min
806
The Silk Road: everything you wanted to know
Sam Willis answers listener questions about the famous Silk Road, which revolutionised global trade hundreds of years ago
28 min
807
The Renaissance: an explosion of creativity
Art critic and writer Jonathan Jones revisits the artistic and intellectual curiosity that characterised the Renaissance
26 min
808
Conspiracy | 1. Was Elizabeth I a man?
22 min
809
Conspiracy | Series 2 Trailer
1 min
810
From the Mongols to the Huns: the nomads who do...
Kenneth Harl explains how the nomadic empires of the Eurasian steppes played a decisive role in world history
30 min
811
Life of the Week: Frederick Douglass
Clare Elliott discusses the life of the 19th-century abolitionist, orator and writer, who ran away from a life of slavery to join the fight for freedom
30 min
812
The hidden history of women in intelligence
Helen Fry introduces the women who secretly worked in wartime intelligence centres and behind enemy lines in the world wars
26 min
813
The Bloomsbury Group: everything you wanted to ...
Frances Spalding answers listener questions on the daring set of artists, writers and thinkers who shook up British culture in the early 20th century
32 min
814
'Madness' and the supernatural
Professor Owen Davies reveals why believing in the supernatural saw scores of patients admitted to asylums in the 19th century
27 min
815
Boston Tea Party | 5. A complex legacy
28 min
816
Why were the Romantics obsessed with Mount Vesu...
John Brewer investigates the Romantics' complex relationship with Mount Vesuvius, from being a prized travel destination to using the volcano as a political metaphor
24 min
817
Life of the Week: Stalin
Robert Service discusses Josef Stalin, from his humble origins as a would-be priest in a province of the Russian empire to his rise to the paranoid, murderous tyrant of the Soviet Union
42 min
818
James Longstreet: Confederate Judas
Elizabeth R Varon explores the remarkable story of James Longstreet, the Confederate general who embraced the Reconstruction era
38 min
819
Medieval popes: everything you wanted to know
Brett Whalen answers popular questions on the medieval papacy, from the exploits of anti-popes to an infamous trial of a pope's corpse
49 min
820
A history of song: from Schumann to Sting
John Potter charts the evolution of songs and songwriting over the past thousand years, covering medieval troubadours, English folk music and more
28 min
821
Boston Tea Party | 4. The crackdown
31 min
822
Aztec warfare
Caroline Dodds Pennock considers how warfare came to be a pivotal part of Aztec society, considering superstitious traditions, sacrifices and brutal methods of attack
39 min
823
History Behind the Headlines: Elections, ‘panda...
40 min
824
How spies shaped the modern world
Amanda Mason delves into the dark arts of modern spycraft and subterfuge
19 min
825
The Habsburgs: everything you wanted to know
Pieter Judson charts the tumultuous history of the Habsburgs, the European dynasty famed for their political machinations – and incestuous marriages
41 min