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
1151
A forgotten witch hunt in New England
Malcolm Gaskill speaks about a little-known 1651 witchcraft case from Springfield, Massachusetts.
39 min
1152
Goods & globalisation: merchants in Tudor & Stu...
Edmond Smith reveals how a tightly-woven merchant community helped bring about the globalisation of England between 1550 and 1650.
32 min
1153
The Jacobites: everything you wanted to know
Murray Pittock answers listener questions on the Jacobites, and their attempts to restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne
42 min
1154
History’s greatest mysteries: what caused the m...
On several occasions from the 14th to 16th centuries, hundreds of people in central Europe began moving their bodies in a strange uncontrollable fashion – often for days on end. What was behind this unusual behaviour? In the final episode of this serie...
21 min
1155
History’s greatest mysteries: why did Mao’s cho...
Fifty years ago, in September 1971, Lin Biao boarded a flight out of the country, only to crash in the Mongolian desert shortly afterwards. Was this the result of an aborted coup on Lin’s part? And where exactly was his plane heading? In the latest in ...
37 min
1156
History’s greatest mysteries: was the Trojan Wa...
Thanks largely to Homer’s Iliad, the Trojan War is one of the most famous events in Greek mythology. But how much – if any – of the legend is actually true? In the latest in our series on history’s biggest conundrums, the author and classicist Daisy Du...
28 min
1157
History’s greatest mysteries: what happened to ...
The Ninth Legion of the Roman army was last recorded in York in around AD 107. After that it simply vanished from history. To this day no-one knows what caused the destruction of this elite army unit, although many theories have been put forward.
32 min
1158
History’s greatest mysteries: Agatha Christie d...
In December 1926, crime writer Agatha Christie left her home and vanished without a trace. When she was discovered 11 days later, Christie claimed to have no memory of what had happened. As part of our series on history’s greatest mysteries, Dominic Sa...
30 min
1159
The state of history in 2021
Anna Whitelock looks back on some key moments that made the historical headlines in 2021
32 min
1160
Christmas feasts: WW2 rationing & postwar absur...
Annie Gray looks back on festive food in the 20th century – from suspect dishes made under rationing to joyful postwar creations
27 min
1161
Thomas Kendrick: MI6 spymaster who helped win WW2
Helen Fry discusses British intelligence officer Thomas Kendrick, who helped swing the Second World War in favour of the Allies
37 min
1162
Pearl Harbor episode 5: Chaos unleashed
In the final episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Ellie Cawthorne speaks to Robert Lyman about the attack’s immediate aftermath and long term legacy, charting the chaos the Japanese offensive unleashed and tracing events through to th...
37 min
1163
The Stuart princess who could have deposed Char...
Rhiannon Davies speaks to Nadine Akkerman about a beloved – but now widely forgotten – Stuart princess
35 min
1164
Fascism: everything you wanted to know
Richard Bosworth answers listener questions on the authoritarian ideology that emerged in Italy a century ago
37 min
1165
Yugoslavia: the beginning of the end
Dejan Djokic revisits the brief 1991 war that saw Slovenia secure independence and helped set in motion the collapse of Yugoslavia
65 min
1166
Christmas feasts: Victorian merrymaking
From creepy greetings cards to booze-soaked tipsy cakes, Annie Gray guides us through festive feasting in the Victorian era
26 min
1167
Triumph against the odds: the 1821 Greek Revolu...
Mark Mazower explains how the Greeks secured an unlikely victory against the Ottoman empire in their 1820s fight for freedom.
34 min
1168
Pearl Harbor episode 4: The day of the attack
In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Ellie Cawthorne and Gavin Mortimer chart how the attack unfolded on 7 December 1941, sharing the stories and eyewitness accounts of those involved, from Japanese pilots and US navy pe...
32 min
1169
England’s last witches
John Callow discusses the tragic case of the Bideford witches, the last women in England to be executed for the crime of witchcraft
49 min
1170
Hadrian’s Wall: everything you wanted to know
As we approach the 1900th anniversary of the building of Hadrian’s Wall, Rob Collins answers listener questions on the Roman fortification.
61 min
1171
Animals in space: from Laika to jellyfish & tor...
Stephen Walker tells Rhiannon Davies about the history of animals in space, from fruit flies and monkeys to Laika the Soviet space dog
46 min
1172
Christmas feasts: Georgian elegance
Annie Gray transports us back to the glamorous dinner parties, dangerous parlour games and decadent desserts of Georgian christmas.
23 min
1173
How US-Russian relations fractured in the 1990s
Mary Sarotte reveals how US and Russian leaders squandered the opportunity to forge a lasting partnership at the dawn of the 1990s.
36 min
1174
Pearl Harbor episode 2: America on the eve of war
In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Dayna Barnes speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the United States in the years and months leading up to the attack. They discuss the American perspective on the disintegrating relationsh...
36 min
1175
Pearl Harbor episode 3: Countdown to the raid
In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Steve Twomey speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the immediate run-up to the attack, revealing how inch-perfect Japanese planning and complacent oversights by American military figures co...
41 min