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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History
926
Great Reputations: Oliver Cromwell
In the latest in our series charting the contested reputations of key historical figures, Ronald Hutton and Mark Stoyle debate the life and legacy of statesman, politician and military leader Oliver Cromwell
54 min
927
The secret club for radical New York women
Joanna Scutts discusses an underground club in the bohemian Greenwich Village that became a radical space for women to discuss issues ranging from suffrage to birth control
40 min
928
Margaret Cavendish: scandalous 17th-century writer
Francesca Peacock explores the life of Margaret Cavendish, a remarkable – and often scandalous – 17th-century writer
33 min
929
The triumph of Joan of Arc
Jonathan Sumption joins us to discuss the dramatic final stages and momentous legacy of the Hundred Years’ War
34 min
930
Rome v Carthage: everything you wanted to know
Philip Freeman answers listener questions on the dramatic battles between Rome and Carthage – two of the ancient world’s great powers
24 min
931
Tokyo’s devastating 1923 earthquake
Christopher Harding revisits the catastrophic earthquake that levelled much of Tokyo 100 years ago
26 min
932
US Civil Rights: legacy
How were 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests linked to the mid-century struggle for racial equality? Dr Adriane Lentz-Smith and Dr Kennetta Hammond Perry consider the tangled legacy of Civil Rights
30 min
933
On the trail of a Nazi war criminal
Gerald Posner shares his experiences of tracking down fugitive Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele in the decades after the Second World War
42 min
934
How did empire shape modern Britain?
Charlotte Lydia Riley argues that 20th-century Britain was shaped by an imperial mindset, even as its empire began to disintegrate
38 min
935
Why did medieval Europe become Christian?
Mark Pegg explores why Christianity came to dominate in Europe as the Roman empire disintegrated
37 min
936
The Mongols: everything you wanted to know
Nicholas Morton answers listener questions on the nomadic conquerors who changed the course of world history
51 min
937
The lost world of Dickens’ London
From grimy back alleys to debtors’ prisons, Lee Jackson guides listeners through some of the atmospheric London locations associated with Charles Dickens
28 min
938
US Civil Rights: Malcolm X’s assassination
In 1965 Malcolm X was shot dead in New York. Dr Clarence Lang and Dr Ashley Farmer explore the activist’s assassination, and his influence on Black Power
37 min
939
The miners’ strike: a view from the ground
Robert Gildea revisits the miners’ strike of 1984-85 from the perspective of the strikers and their supporters
31 min
940
California’s hidden history of slavery
Jean Pfaelzer reveals the various forms that slavery has taken in California over time, from Native Americans forced into indentured labour to girls trafficked into caged brothels
29 min
941
Letters from medieval England
Karen Smyth delves into the rich archive of the Paston family to reveal what the story of one aristocratic dynasty can tell us about love, life and death between the 14th and 18th centuries
40 min
942
New Zealand: everything you wanted to know
Professor James Belich answers listener questions on the history of New Zealand
54 min
943
Indian experiences in WW2
Diya Gupta explores the emotional responses of Indian soldiers and civilians to the Second World War
29 min
944
US Civil Rights: the 1964 Civil Rights Act
How successful was the 1964 Civil Rights Act? Dr Tomiko Nagin-Brown and Dr Rebecca Brueckmann explore the landmark legislation, as well as the case of the Little Rock Nine
35 min
945
Learning disabilities: an overlooked history
Lucy Delap explores the overlooked, often surprising, story of how people with learning disabilities found work in the first half of the 20th century
33 min
946
Secrets of ancient Chinese tombs
Professor Jessica Rawson delves into the story of ancient Chinese civilisation through an unusual avenue – its tombs
37 min
947
How forgers helped rescue Holocaust victims
Roger Moorhouse shares the story of the Lados Group, who forged and issued false documents to help thousands of Jews escape the Holocaust during the Second World War
34 min
948
Ancient Egyptian religion: everything you wante...
From animal-headed gods to the afterlife, Joyce Tyldesley answers listener questions about religion in ancient Egypt
52 min
949
Introducing HistoryExtra Long Reads
5 min
950
Did our ancestors really think the world was fl...
From Chinese cosmology to Victorian flat-earthers, James Hannam discusses humanity’s quest to determine the shape of our planet
26 min