Dan Snow's History Hit

The Gay Men Who Took on Hitler

29 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Bryant joined me on the podcast to tell the story of the gay British politicians who were among the very first to warn Britain about the danger ...

Pompeii and the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius

28 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Pompeii is back in the news. An extraordinary new, touching discovery, found during the Great Pompeii Project of Professor Massimo Osanna and his team...

Elizabeth I with Helen Castor

27 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dan talks to Helen Castor about her book on Elizabeth I and the way she governed.Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history...

The First Thanksgiving

26 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Churchwell and Kathryn Gray joined me on the podcast to discuss the first Thanksgiving of 1621. They critique mythologies of Thanksgiving that h...

Rebel Women

25 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Lonsdale joined me on the podcast to tell the stories of radical women who challenged the status quo in the interwar years.Subscribe to History ...

Food, Class and Baking

24 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Pen Vogler joined me on the pod to discuss the origins of our eating habits and reveals how they are loaded with centuries of class prejudice.Subscrib...

Vaccine Roll Outs: Tragedy and Triumph

23 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Offit is on the US Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel on vaccines. He talked Dan through the history of massive public vaccination pro...

In Conversation with Astronaut Al Worden

22 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Al Worden was an American astronaut and engineer who was the Command Module Pilot for the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. He is one of only 24 people...

Bloody Sunday 100 Years On

21 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Diarmaid Ferriter joined me on the podcast to talk about the events of Bloody Sunday on 21st November 1920, which marked a decisive turning-point in I...

Abraham Lincoln with Sidney Blumenthal

19 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sidney Blumenthal joined me on the podcast to talk about the political life of Abraham Lincoln and what his legacy means today. Hosted on Acast. See...

The Pioneers of Egyptology

18 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Naunton joined me on the podcast to talk about the work of the many people who contributed to our understanding of ancient Egypt.Subscribe to Hi...

How Deep History Swung the US Election

17 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Lewis Dartnell joined me on the podcast to talk about a theory that links the outcome of the US election to geology.Subscribe to History Hit and you'l...

I’m a Celeb Special: Gwrych Castle

16 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Gwrych Castle dominates the road into North Wales. A sprawling Victorian ruin on land that belonged to the same family for over 500 years. It is now f...

SAS: Band of Brothers

15 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

June 1944: the SAS parachute deep into occupied France, to wreak havoc and bloody mayhem. In a country crawling with the enemy, their mission is to pr...

Coventry's Blitz

14 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

David McGrory joined me on the podcast to discuss Coventry’s Blitz. On the night of 14 November 1940, a Luftwaffe air raid devastated the city of Co...

The History of Beer with Pete Brown

13 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Pete Brown used to advertise lager for a living, until he realised that writing books about beer was even more fun, and entailed drinking even more be...

One Family, 600 Years of Farming in England's Lake District

12 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

James Rebanks joined me on the podcast to tell the history of his family farm in the Lake District hills. This was part of an ancient agricultural lan...

The Unknown Warrior

11 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

100 years ago today, the Unknown Warrior, a common soldier and an unidentified casualty of war, was buried in Westminster Abbey with all the pomp and ...

WW2's Special Ops Sisters

10 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jean and Patricia Owtram were teenagers when the Second World War broke out. They both served in secret roles, one on the coast intercepting German na...

Remembrance Sunday: In Search of My Father

08 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

John Watts never knew his father. He was conceived days before his father, Wing Commander Joseph Watts, was killed on a bombing mission over occupied ...

The US Cabinet

07 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Lindsay Chervinsky joined me on the podcast to discuss the history of the US Cabinet. We also discussed the electoral college system and the Constitut...

The Forgotten Hero of Everest

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Caesar joined me on the podcast to tell the story of World War I veteran Maurice Wilson, Britain's most mysterious mountaineering legend.Subscribe ...

Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors

05 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alexander the Great. One of the most recognisable names in history. In his short lifetime he conquered the mighty Persian Empire and marched his army ...

The Electoral College

04 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Fabian Hilfrich joined me on the podcast to talk about the US electoral college.Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history ...

Trump, Putin, Bolsanaro: The Return of The Strongman

03 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ruth Ben-Ghiat joined me on the podcast to discuss what modern authoritarian leaders have in common and how they can be stopped. We discussed the stro...

Hong Kong Flu

02 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor George Dehner is a world environmental historian who examines the intersection of humans and disease in the modern era. We talked about the ...

America's Contested Election

02 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

1876 was a great pivot in US history. In the presidential election that year a record turn out and chaotic vote counts, particularly in Florida (!), s...

WW2 Heroine Christian Lamb Turns 100

01 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Christian Lamb has had a remarkable life. The daughter of an admiral, she served in the navy during the war and went on to become an expert in horticu...

Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudors

30 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nicola Tallis comes on the show to talk about the extraordinary Margaret Beaufort: 'Mother of the Tudors' and the ancestor of all subsequent royals. ...

Mutiny on the Spanish Main

28 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Angus Konstam joined me on the podcast to tell the dramatic story of HMS Hermione. In 1797, the British frigate was the site of the bloodiest mutiny i...

Time Travel to Regency Britain with Ian Mortimer

27 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ian Mortimer joined me on the podcast to take us back in time to the Regency period. It was a time of exuberance, thrills, frills and unchecked bad be...

Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution

26 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sudhir Hazareesingh joined me to discuss the life of Toussaint Louverture, a revolutionary leader who confronted the forces of slavery, settler coloni...

Trump and Presidential History

25 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Two weeks before the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Richard Brookhiser joined me on the podcast to discuss Trump and presidential history. Hosted ...

War Lord with Bernard Cornwell

24 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Bernard Cornwell joined me on the podcast to discuss his final book in the Last Kingdom series. War Lord is the epic story of how England was made. ...

The Battle of Philippi: Death of the Roman Republic

23 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In October 42 BC the Roman Republic committed suicide. Near the town of Philippi in northern Greece the forces of Brutus and Cassius, the famous assas...

Britain's Oldest Laws

22 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Joanna McCunn joined me on the podcast to discuss the history of some of Britain's oldest and strangest laws. From shooting Welshmen with longbows, to...

Time's Monster with Priya Satia

21 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Priya Satia joined me on the podcast to discuss the dramatic consequences of writing history today as much as in the past. Against the backdrop of end...

Nelson and the Slave Trade

20 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson died at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Recently there has been considerable interest in Nelson's views on the slave tr...

The Conquistadores

19 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Fernando Cervantes joined me on the podcast to reframe the story of the Spanish conquest of the New World, set against the political and intellectual ...

The Expulsion of Native Americans

18 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Claudio Saunt joined me on the podcast to discuss the United States' expulsion of Native Americans from the East to territories west of the Mississipp...

Saving Bletchley Park with Sue Black

17 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Sue Black is a British computer scientist, academic and social entrepreneur. She has been instrumental in saving Bletchley Park, the World War II c...

African Europeans with Olivette Otele

16 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Olivette Otele joined me on the podcast to discuss the long African European heritage through the lives of individuals.Subscribe to History Hit and yo...

Nero

15 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Shusma Malik joined me on the podcast to discuss the infamous Emperor Nero. He ruled nearly 2000 years ago, after taking over from his stepfather Clau...

1066: Year of Invasions

13 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Emily Ward and Pragya Vohra talk about the history of the Viking invasion of 1066. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the Battlefield of Hastings with Marc Morris

13 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Marc Morris shows me around the Battlefield of Hastings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Queer History

12 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sacha Coward joined me on the podcast to discuss queer history. We talked about Luisa Casati, Queen Anne, the Gay Liberation Front, and other stories ...

History's Greatest Speeches with Simon Sebag Montefiore

11 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Sebag Montefiore joined me on the podcast to talk about history's greatest speeches. From Martin Luther King Jr. to John Boyega, from Churchill ...

Underland with Robert Macfarlane

10 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Macfarlane joined me on the podcast to talk about his new book, Underland. We talked about cave communities in Cappadocia, underground bunkeris...

How and Why History: King David

08 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

One of the Old Testament’s most compelling figures, King David was anointed as king of a united Israel, conquering Jerusalem and bringing the Ark of...

In Conversation with Sir David Attenborough

08 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sir David Attenborough is an English veteran broadcaster and naturalist. He is best known for writing and presenting the nine Life series, in conjunct...

Ireland's Great Famine: Counterpoint

07 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Christine Kinealy joined me on this podcast to discuss the British government’s adverse policies during the Great Famine, and the effects these had ...

A President Incapacitated: Woodrow Wilson's Stroke

06 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

101 years ago this week, President Woodrow Wilson suffered a serious stroke which left him prone to "disorders of emotion, impaired impulse control, a...

Asylum on Saint Helena

05 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Annina Van Neel showed me around Saint Helena, a small scrap of land in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This island is the most significant physical...

War with Margaret MacMillan

04 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Margaret MacMillan joined me on the podcast to discuss the ways in which war has influenced human society. We discussed how, in turn, changes in polit...

MI9: The Secret Service for Escape and Evasion

03 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Helen Fry joined me on the podcast to talk about the thrilling history of MI9. The WWII organisation engineered the escape of Allied forces from behin...

How Steam Power Remade the World

02 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

John Darwin joined me on the podcast to discuss how steam power reshaped our cities and our seas, and forged a new world order.Subscribe to History Hi...

The Hunt For The Killers Of Julius Caesar

01 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Stothard joined me on the podcast to discuss the assassination of Julius Caesar. Many men killed Julius Caesar. Only one man was determined to k...

History of China with Michael Wood

30 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Wood joined me on the podcast to talk about his new history of China. He takes a fresh look at Chinese history in the light of the current mas...

How and Why History: Rome and the Mediterranean

29 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

By the first century BC, the nuisance of piracy had become a plague in the Mediterranean. The Romans dispatched Pompey who freed the way for the expan...

Joking About Stalin

28 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan Waterlow joined me on the podcast to explore how ordinary people used political jokes to cope with and make sense of their lives under Stalin...

The Simulmatics Corporation

27 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jill Lepore joined me on the podcast to discuss The Simulmatics Corporation. Founded in 1959, it mined data, targeted voters, accelerated news, manipu...

Greek Myths

26 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Natalie Haynes joined me on the podcast to retell the stories of remarkable women at the heart of Greek myths, from Medusa, Penelope, and Pandora, to ...

The Great Famine

25 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Charles Read joined me on the podcast to discuss the economic and political causes of the Great Famine. We discuss the British government’s economic...

The Viking History of the Lofoten Archipelago

24 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dan Snow explores the Viking history of Lofoten, an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten is known for a d...

Krystyna Skarbek

23 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Clare Mulley joined me on the podcast to talk about the extraordinary story of Krystyna Skarbek, who worked as a spy for the British Special Operation...

How and Why History: Alfred the Great

22 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ever since his reign in the 9th century, Alfred the Great has been celebrated as one of the most accomplished of our kings. A learned and religio...

V2 with Robert Harris

21 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Harris joined me on the podcast to talk about Nazi Germany and the story of the V2 rocket.Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hun...

The Light Ages

20 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Seb Falk joined me to discuss the science in the Middle Ages, or, according to his new book, 'The Light Ages'. They gave us the first universities, th...

Battle of Britain: What Were the Germans Thinking?

19 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria Taylor is an aviation historian who is just completing her PhD in the Luftwaffe and its politicisation under the Nazis. She talked to me abou...

The History of Unbelief

18 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dan delves into the history of unbelief - or rather, past people who didn't believe in God(s). He talks to Professor Tim Whitmarsh about Greek atheist...

Arnhem, Satire, Bartending and Drums

17 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian, historian, broadcaster Al Murray joins me on the podcast to discuss Arnhem. The British-Polish allied defeat at Arnhem took place in autumn ...

How and Why History: The United Nations at 75

16 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the aftermath of the Second World War, 850 delegates from 50 nations gathered in San Fransisco, determined to establish an organisation which would...

Battle of Britain: Why the RAF Won

15 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

80 years ago, in 15 September 1940, the Luftwaffe made a gigantic aerial assault on London in the belief that the Royal Air Force was down to its last...

Mayflower 400

14 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I am joined on the podcast by a series of historians, writers and storytellers, to talk about the 400th anniversary of the journey of the Mayflower. T...

A Medieval Education

13 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Eleanor Janega joined me on the pod to discuss the educational institutions of the medieval period. We talk about student riots in Paris, the role of ...

The Sikh Empire

12 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Priya Atwal joined me on the pod to discuss the Sikh Empire, which stretched throughout northwestern India into Afghanistan and Tibet. We discuss the ...

The Forgotten Ally: Canada

11 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Cook joined me on the pod to discuss how Canadian contributions are frequently overlooked or diminished in discussions of the War. Most major war ...

Castillo de San Marcos

10 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Allen Arnold joined me on the pod to discuss the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. Located on the west...

When Fidel came to Harlem

09 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Hall joined me on the pod to talk about Fidel Castro’s trip to New York in September 1960. Based at Harlem’s Theresa Hotel, Castro met with ...

How and Why History: Genghis Khan

08 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Genghis Khan was one of the most feared and most famous warrior kings in history. But how did he rise to power to become the Emperor of the Mongol Emp...

John F. Kennedy

07 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Fredrik Logevall joined me on the pod to discuss the life and legacy of John F. Kennedy. By the time of his assassination in 1963, John F. Kennedy sto...

The Fens

06 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

James Boyce joins me on the pod to discuss the indigenous population of the Fens of eastern England. Between the English Civil Wars and the mid-Victor...

The White Ship

05 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Charles Spencer joined me on the pod to discuss the sinking of the White Ship on the 25th November 1120. It is one of the greatest disasters that Engl...

Selma Van De Perre

04 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Selma Van De Perre joined me on the pod to talk about her life as a Dutch Jewish Resistance fighter during the Second World War. She joined the r...

The Real Great Escape with Commander Steve Foster

03 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Commander Steve Foster relates the extraordinary story of one of the most audacious escape attempts of the Second World War.Subscribe to History Hit a...

A People's History of Tennis

02 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

David Berry joined me on the pod to discuss a people’s history of tennis. From the birth of modern tennis in Victorian Britain to the present day, w...

The Gunpowder Plot

01 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On 5 November 1605, a planned assassination attempt on King James I was thwarted. While a group of English Catholics planned to blow up the House of L...

The Restaurant

31 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

William Sitwell joined me on the pod to discuss the history of the restaurant. Tracing its earliest incarnations in the city of Pompeii, we discuss th...

The Bible

30 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

John Barton joined me on the pod to discuss the history of the Bible. Tracing its dissemination, translation and interpretation in Judaism and Christi...

Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay

29 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jamie L.H. Goodall joined me on the pod to discuss pirates of the Chesapeake Bay. The story of Chesapeake pirates and patriots begins with a land disp...

The Civil Rights Movement

28 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode Dan Snow is joined by Chris Wilson, Director of Experience Design at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Chris sp...

The Soviets at Nuremberg

27 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Francine Hirsch joined me on the pod to discuss the full story of the Nuremberg Trials, one in which the Soviet Union was a defining player.Subscribe ...

Cecil Rhodes

26 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Duncan Clarke joined me on the pod to discuss Cecil Rhodes and the historiography of Zambesia from the San forward to the establishment of the Rhodesi...

How and Why History: The Philosophers of Ancient Greece

25 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From the 6th century BCE, philosophy was used to make sense of the world – including astronomy, mathematics, politics, ethics, metaphysics and aesth...

The Neanderthals

25 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca Wragg Sykes joined me on the pod to discuss our perception of the Neanderthals, which has undergone a metamorphosis since their discovery 150 ...

Assassination and Coverups in The Cold War Congo

23 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I was joined by an award-winning investigative journalist, Ravi Somaiya, to discuss the mysterious death in 1961 of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskj...

Magic and Witchcraft

22 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Suzannah Lipscomb joined me on the pod to discuss the history of magic, witchcraft and the occult. Examining the beliefs and suspicions from the ancie...

Charles I Reconsidered

21 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On 22nd August 1642, Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham marking the start of the English Civil War. It was the result of years of ongoing ten...

The Spartans

20 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I was thrilled to be joined by Andrew Bayliss, a Senior Lecturer in Greek History at the University of Birmingham. He's an expert on Sparta and Ancien...

Freemasonry

19 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

John Dickie joined me on the pod to discuss the international story of an organisation which now has 6 million members across the globe. Tracing the o...