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
826
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
827
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
828
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
829
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
830
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
831
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
832
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
833
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
834
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
835
A journey along the Iron Curtain
Timothy Phillips talks us through his travels along the Iron Curtain, exploring what the border between east and west was like during the Cold War – and what’s happening there today
38 min
836
Fleeing revolution: Russians exiles in Paris
Helen Rappaport tells the stories of Russian intellectuals, aristocrats and artists who fled to Paris to begin new lives and escape the 1917 Russian Revolution
38 min
837
The history of atheism: everything you wanted t...
Alec Ryrie responds to your questions on the history of unbelief – from ancient atheist accusations to Reformation sceptics
46 min
838
How FDR transformed the US presidency
Iwan Morgan discusses how Franklin Delano Roosevelt redefined the role of American president between the Great Depression and the Second World War
48 min
839
Indigenous American travellers in Europe
Caroline Dodds Pennock reveals the stories of indigenous Americans who travelled to Europe following Columbus’s 1492 voyage
39 min
840
The PoWs who survived Nagasaki
John Willis shares the incredible story of the Allied prisoners of war who witnessed the nuclear attack that brought the Second World War to an end
30 min
841
Parachuting monkeys & volcanic eruptions: an ex...
Joanne Cormac revisits the eye-opening attractions of Surrey Zoo, and reveals what this spectacular pleasure park can tell us about the Victorian age
21 min
842
Curious cures for medieval maladies
James Freeman discusses a new project that’s investigating medieval medicinal recipes to uncover how people coped with illness and ailments
42 min
843
Jane Austen’s England: everything you wanted to...
From her relationship with royals to Regency attitudes towards female writers, Lizzie Rogers answers listener questions on the world in which Jane Austen wrote
34 min
844
Veggie Victorians
From meat-free banquets to political agitation, James Gregory delves into the colourful world of the Victorian vegetarian movement
39 min
845
An environmental history of big business
Dr Bart Elmore discusses his research into the environmental impacts of global capitalism through history, from plastic use to pesticides
29 min
846
Tools, temples & tower blocks: how wood has sha...
Max Adams reveals why the versatile material has been pivotal to the progress of civilisations across the globe: from the Somerset Levels to Japan
38 min
847
Weaponising food in the Third Reich
Lisa Pine discusses how food became intertwined with politics and ideology in the Third Reich, and reveals how the Nazis weaponised hunger as a tool of war
31 min
848
“A serial killer of civilisations”: a history o...
<p>From the Justinian plague to the fall of the Maya, climate change has been connected to many of history’s great catastrophes. Environmental journalist Eugene Linden speaks to Rhiannon Davies about the longer history of our relationship with the environment, and how the situation has snowballed since 1979. </p><br><p>(Ad) Eugene Linden is the author of Fire and Flood: A People's History of Climate Change, from 1979 to the Present (Penguin, 2022). Buy it now from Waterstones<a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=71026X1535947&amp;xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Ffire-and-flood%2Feugene-linden%2F9780241565551" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">:</a></p><p><a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=71026X1535947&amp;xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Ffire-and-flood%2Feugene-linden%2F9780241565551" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&amp;xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Ffire-and-flood%2Feugene-linden%2F97802415655</a>51</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
29 min
849
Life under Cromwell: everything you wanted to know
Ronald Hutton answers listener questions on one of the most turbulent periods in British history – Cromwell’s Protectorate
43 min
850
Oddball art: cannibals, hellscapes & flying monks
From kaleidoscopic hellscapes to portraits of cannibals, Edward Brooke-Hitching introduces some of the strangest creations in art history
33 min