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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1751
Elizabeth Barrett Browning: poet, activist, tra...
Fiona Sampson speaks about the extraordinary life of the Victorian poet, who battled chronic illness and family troubles to write ground-breaking poetry.
53 min
1752
Is “Blitz Spirit” a myth?
Ahead of their new BBC One documentary on the subject, Lucy Worsley, Joshua Levine and Yasmine Permaul discuss how Londoners really reacted to the devastating bombing raids
46 min
1753
Fatal accidents and violent injuries in the Mid...
Dr Jenna Dittmar, who has been studying medieval skeletons, reveals what her findings can tell us about injuries and violence in the era
34 min
1754
The Dissolution: everything you wanted to know
Dr Hugh Willmott responds to listener questions on Henry VIII’s suppression of the monasteries in the 16th century
52 min
1755
The forgotten mothers of civil rights leaders
Anna Malaika Tubbs shines a light on how Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and James Baldwin were influenced by their mothers.
43 min
1756
Sex, romance and rights: women's lives since 1950
Historian Carol Dyhouse talks about how women's lives, dreams and loves have transformed in the decades since 1950, from the advent of the pill to the impact of second-wave feminism.
58 min
1757
Victorian pet cemeteries: animals in the afterlife
In the 19th century, devoted pet-owners established Britain’s first pet cemeteries. Dr Eric Tourigny explains what they tell us about Victorian attitudes to animals
31 min
1758
How slavery fuelled the British empire
Padraic X Scanlan discusses how slavery fuelled the British empire and explores the complicated motivations of abolitionists
43 min
1759
17th-century London: a city shaped by catastrophe
Margarette Lincoln reveals how a century that saw plague, fire, revolution and civil war transformed England’s capital
29 min
1760
Medieval forgeries
Forgery was the dirty little secret of the Middle Ages. Levi Roach explains who counterfeited medieval manuscripts and why
30 min
1761
Daily life in ancient Egypt: everything you wan...
Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley responds to listener questions about everyday life in ancient Egypt, from governance to dental care and cat mummies.
60 min
1762
Novelist Kate Mosse on The City of Tears
Author Kate Mosse talks about her historical novel The City of Tears, which transports readers back to the Wars of Religion in 16th-century France
31 min
1763
The Dark Ages: a ‘black hole’ in Britain’s history
Max Adams pieces together the evidence to uncover what happened after the fall of Roman Britain.
42 min
1764
1962: London’s big freeze
Juliet Nicolson reveals how the frozen winter of 1962 helped change Britain for good.
35 min
1765
Edward I’s letters
Dr Kathleen Neal explains what we can learn about Edward I, the famously militaristic “Hammer of the Scots”, from his letters
46 min
1766
Cary Grant: from humble beginnings to Hollywood...
Mark Glancy reveals how Cary Grant made the journey from working-class Bristol lad to the most celebrated actor in Hollywood.
33 min
1767
Blitz spirit or broken morale?
Jeremy Crang investigates reports on British morale made during the Second World War and considers what they can tell us about the ‘Blitz spirit’
39 min
1768
The Black Death: everything you wanted to know
Professor John Hatcher answers listener questions about the medieval pandemic, and reflects on how the Covid-19 crisis might shape our understanding of the plague
61 min
1769
Why do we fight wars?
Margaret MacMillan gives a lecture on the reasons for conflict throughout history – and how warfare has shaped the human story.
37 min
1770
A guide to the Norse gods
From Thor to Odin, Carolyne Larrington discusses the legendary figures of Viking mythology
52 min
1771
The hunt for Caesar’s killers
Peter Stothard reveals how Julius Caesar’s assassination triggered a brutal power struggle, one that would transform ancient Rome.
41 min
1772
Werewolves of the ancient world
Daniel Ogden explores the origins of the werewolf legend in stories from ancient Greece and Rome.
23 min
1773
Rich vs poor in Regency Britain
Historian Ian Mortimer discusses how a vast chasm between rich and poor marked society in the early 19th century
34 min
1774
Spectacular discoveries at Sutton Hoo
Ahead of the release of the new film The Dig, Professor Martin Carver discusses the real story of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Ho
64 min
1775
The Persian empire: everything you wanted to know
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones responds to listener questions and popular internet search queries about one of the dominant powers of the ancient world, the Persian empire.
69 min