HistoryExtra podcast
Episodes
How to pull off a Georgian dinner party
03 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A dinner party in a beautifully decorated Georgian dining room might sound sophisticated, even romantic – but planning such events was not for the f...
The Black Death: a global contagion
02 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Black Death is remembered as one of the most devastating catastrophes in human history – a pandemic that swept across continents and killed mill...
George Orwell's final chapter
30 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that George Orwell only found national acclaim as an author in the final years of his life, as his health was worsening? Or that, with th...
Was Elizabeth II's reign a golden age?
28 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When the late Queen acceded to the throne in 1952, Britain, though left bankrupt and reeling from the Second World War, was still a major global power...
Johannes Vermeer: life of the week
27 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Johannes Vermeer is now regarded as one of the leading lights of the Dutch Golden Age, and indeed one of the greatest artists of all time. But in his ...
When did Roman Britain really end?
26 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How did England – and Englishness – emerge from the final days of Roman Britain? And what separated Englishness from Britishness? Emeritus profess...
How the Vikings reshaped Anglo-Saxon England
25 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Alfred the Great’s victory over the Vikings at the battle of Edington brought the campaign of the Great Heathen Army to an end – but it didn't con...
Preview: The surprising history of pizza
24 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It's now among the world's most popular foods – but what do we know about the origins of pizza? Today on the HistoryExtra podcast, we're bringing yo...
A short history of running
23 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Why do people run marathons in their thousands these days? Carl Morris, in conversation with Dave Musgrove, traces the origins of running as a sport b...
Mary Beard on why the classics still matter
21 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What's the role of the classical past in the modern day? In this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast, internationally renowned classicist Mary Beard r...
Elizabeth II: life of the week
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This April marks the centenary of the birth of Elizabeth II. In this special episode of our Life of the Week series, historian Kate Williams guides Ch...
Retracing Eleanor of Castile's final journey
19 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of the 13th century, England was gripped by grief as news of the queen's death shook the nation. Eleanor of Castile's funeral procession fr...
How Alfred the Great saved the Anglo-Saxons from the Vikings
18 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As the Viking Great Heathen Army advanced to the borders of Wessex, the conquest of Anglo-Saxon England appeared all but complete. In the third episod...
How to find a billion-dollar shipwreck
16 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1708, the Spanish galleon San José was sunk by a British warship off the coast of Colombia, vanishing beneath the waves with a treasure trove of u...
A fantastical history of fairies
14 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When picturing a fairy, you might imagine a childlike creature with wings. But this is a far more modern image than we might think. In this episode, M...
Aud the Deep-Minded: life of the week
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It was the Vikings of northern Europe who first settled the harsh landscapes of Iceland in the ninth century. Most of the figures leading this movemen...
How Tudor London inspired literary genius
12 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the bustling streets of Elizabethan London, a vibrant community of writers helped shape the future of the English language and literature. From poe...
The rise of Alfred the Great
11 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As the Viking Great Heathen Army refused to leave Anglo-Saxon England, the pressure mounted on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to respond, placing the future...
Stalin's murderous vendetta against Trotsky
09 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mexico City, August 1940: a study door closes, an ice axe is raised and the Bolshevik Revolution’s greatest exile meets his grisly end. But what led...
A new take on the battle of Hastings
07 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It's long been assumed that King Harold's English army arrived tired and in disarray at the battle of Hastings, having had to march over 200 miles fro...
Mrs Beeton: life of the week
06 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mrs Beeton is a name synonymous with 19th-century domesticity – most notably in connection with the iconic Book of Household Management. But who was...
The battle of the Arctic: the overlooked crucible of WW2
05 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The US and UK supplied the USSR with vast amounts of military materiel during the Second World War via the Arctic convoys. In this episode, Hugh Sebag...
How the Vikings pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink
04 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
During the latter decades of the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms faced an existential threat as Viking forces launched an assault on a scale n...
How to stay healthy in the Middle Ages
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In reality, were medieval people dirty and covered in mud? What did they think were the healthiest things to eat? And how often did they think they sh...
Europe's Muslim history
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From the magnificence of the Alhambra to the forgotten resting places of the Prophet Muhammad’s own relatives, Islam has long been a part of Europe’...
Attila the Hun: life of the week
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Few historical figures have reputations quite as diabolical as that of Attila the Hun. This nomadic leader pitched up on the edge of the Roman empire ...
Captured by Barbary corsairs: an Englishwoman's extraordinary tale
29 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1756, Elizabeth Marsh set sail from Gibraltar to Britain with the intention of meeting her fiancé. Instead, she was captured by Barbary corsairs –...
Was Elizabeth I's reign really a 'golden age'?
29 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As Elizabeth I entered the final chapter of her reign, questions of ageing, succession, and legacy loomed large. In this final episode of our four-par...
Spy, hero, rebel, traitor: the story of Roger Casement
27 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Rory Carroll unpacks the dramatic final years of Roger Casement – an Irish diplomat and nationalist whose tangled legacy includes heroism, betrayal,...
The relentless rise of the mafia
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The 20th century saw the mafia go global. Crime groups, from Japan's Yakuza to southern Italy's Camorra, capitalised on political chaos and mass migra...
Harriet Martineau: life of the week
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Thinker, feminist, sociologist, campaigner: 19th-century writer Harriet Martineau was a pioneer and a radical across a huge range of areas, but it's v...
Sores, sweat and secretions: the pox in early modern London
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
With sinful associations and incredibly painful symptoms, the pox could be a damning diagnosis in the early modern period. In this episode, Olivia Wei...
Elizabeth’s enemies: plots, rivals and the Spanish Armada
22 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth I’s reign was defined by constant threat, both at home and abroad. In this third episode of our four-part Sunday Series on the Tudor monar...
Britain and the looted African gold
20 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1870s, British troops invaded the African kingdom of Asante, razed its capital, prowled its palace and plundered its exquisite golden treasures...
The devastating Jewish revolt against the Roman empire
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It was under the rule of the infamous emperor Nero that the Great Revolt, the first of the Jewish-Roman wars, began, sparking many decades of continuo...
Culture and conflict: a historical tour of Dublin
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ireland's capital may be famous today for its nightlife and literature, but it has experienced more than its fair share of conflict and oppression alo...
How Rasputin helped doom the Romanovs
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The life of Grigori Rasputin, the Siberian peasant healer who wielded influence over the family of Russia’s last tsar, has fascinated the world for ...
Elizabeth I: a woman in a man’s world
15 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
By 1559, Elizabeth I had secured the crown – but holding on to power would prove far more challenging. In this second episode of our four-part Sunda...
Life on the mean streets of 19th-century London
13 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What can Charlie Chaplin's life tell us about the experiences of poor working-class people in 19th- and early 20th-century London? Quite a lot, it tur...
Trailblazers and troublemakers: women who made French history
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Have women been relegated to the footnotes of French history? Katherine Pangonis – whose latest book is A History of France in 21 Women – tells Ch...
Vladimir Lenin: life of the week
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Few people had as much impact on the course of the 20th century as Vladimir Lenin – from his years as an émigré across the capitals of western Eur...
Why Britons rejected fascism in the 1930s
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The 1920s and 30s were golden decades for extremism. Across Europe, dictators including Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini goose-stepped their way into powe...
Young Elizabeth I: the making of a queen
08 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth I is one of history's most iconic monarchs, but her path to the throne was anything but secure. In this first episode of our four-part Sunda...
A poetic history of England
06 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How can you do justice to the story of 1,300 years of English history? Through verse, according to cultural historian Catherine Clarke – whose lates...
The hidden history behind Mount Rushmore
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mount Rushmore is one of the most iconic images in US history – but its story is far more complex and controversial than that of a simple sculpture....
Juana Inés de la Cruz: life of the week
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
She led “a life that really, in many ways, shouldn't have been possible”. So says historian Paul Gillingham of Juana Inés de la Cruz. This 17th-c...
The forgotten wars that redefined Europe
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
While the crusades raged across the Holy Land in the southern Levant, the kingdoms of central and northern Europe were engaged in their own battle to ...
Does Magna Carta matter today?
01 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Politicians invoke it, activists wield it, and legal thinkers debate what it can offer the modern world. But what does Magna Carta really mean today? ...
Slavery in the Islamic world
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Slavery in the Islamic world has a diverse and controversial history. Speaking to Emily Briffett, historian and journalist Justin Marozzi explores som...
The real women behind Europe's greatest legends
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
National icons aren’t born – they’re engineered. But how were historical figures such as Joan of Arc and Isabella of Castile transformed into po...
Thomas Edison: life of the week
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Widely remembered as the ultimate American inventor, Edison’s greatest talent may have been for self-promotion. In this episode, historian Iwan Moru...
Following the footsteps of a WW2 prisoner of war
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Captured in Libya, imprisoned in Italy, and twice an escapee: historian Malcolm Gaskill's great-uncle Ralph's experiences of the Second World War were...
Magna Carta: why didn't King John keep his word?
22 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As King John was poised to press his seal into the wax of a document whose impact would reverberate for centuries, did he understand the ramifications...
How to be a Victorian
20 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Victorian period was a time of great economic, cultural and technological change. But what was it like to actually live through it? Speaking to Is...
"The streets will run with blood!": the uprising that shook Victorian Britain
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1838, a 6ft Cornishman going by the name of Sir William Courtenay led an insurrection in rural Kent. Courtenay claimed he was Jesus Christ – and ...
Pocahontas: life of the week
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Pocahontas's life is shrouded in myth – but how much of that lore is true? Speaking to Emily Briffett, historian Camilla Townsend brings us face to ...
The ruthless revolution that made Britain great
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The spinning jenny and steam power may be the textbook markers of the Industrial Revolution – but Edmond Smith argues the story starts earlier, and ...
The Magna Carta myth
15 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Magna Carta may be associated today with power, liberty and freedom – but those weren’t quite the concerns back in 1215. So what did the barons re...
Terrible puns and filthy limericks: the Victorian sense of humour
13 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Queen Victoria was – so legend has it – famously 'not amused'. But, as Dr Bob Nicholson reveals in this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast, the l...
What your hands say about you – according to history
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What do your hands reveal about you? Historian Alison Bashford joins Elinor Evans to explore the extraordinary history of how people have interpreted ...
Thomas More: life of the week
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas More is best remembered as a martyr and a saint, but the circumstances of his death were just one facet of his controversial life. Historian an...
Going on strike in ancient Rome
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Strikes and unions may seem like modern inventions, but they’ve existed for much longer than many of us realise. Historian Sarah E Bond talks to Jon...
Magna Carta: king v barons
08 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 13th century, England was a kingdom under pressure, as the challenges posed by King John’s reign had left the realm restless. By 1215, ...
Untold LGBTQ stories of the National Trust
06 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1895, when the National Trust was founded, homosexual acts of ‘gross indecency’ were still illegal in Britain. And yet, as Michael Hall reveals...
Why Greenwich is the home of time
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Why is a small observatory in south east London so important to the story of how we tell the time? Speaking to Elinor Evans, Emily Akkermans, Curator...
James Gillray: life of the week
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
James Gillray was one of Georgian Britain’s most ruthless satirists, using his prints to mock kings, politicians and generals, turning politics into...
Churchill and de Gaulle: a strange relationship
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After France fell in 1940, it was Charles de Gaulle who led the Free French forces against Nazi Germany and Vichy France. From the moment he assumed t...
Why Pompeii's tragedy still captivates us today
01 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried by ash spewed out of Vesuvius in AD 79, so too were their inhabitants, frozen in the moment of ...
The United States and Latin America: a turbulent history
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Has the United States always seen Latin America as its ‘backyard’? And when did influence tip into intervention? In this episode, Danny Bird is jo...
History's most mysterious manuscripts
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What do exploding bats and amphibious galleons have in common? They're both fascinating features of some of the world's most mysterious manuscripts, a...
Francisco Franco: life of the week
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emerging in the early 20th century as Europe's youngest general since Napoleon Bonaparte, Francisco Franco was destined to make waves. But how did thi...
How grim was life on Hitler's U-boats?
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"Statistically, they were on a suicide mission." That's Roger Moorhouse's assessment of the odds facing Hitler's U-boat crews in the final years of th...
How ancient Pompeii was rediscovered
25 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The buried Roman city of Pompeii was ‘discovered’ in the 16th century, but was it ever lost? In this penultimate episode of our four-part series, ...
Why Belgian agents risked their lives spying for Britain
23 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the chaotic opening months of the First World War, Britain's intelligence services were desperate to learn where the Germans would attack next. Ent...
How tanks redefined warfare
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From the mud-churned battlefields of the First World War to the high-stakes clashes of the Cold War, the tank has shaped the course of conflict like n...
Robert McNamara: life of the week
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Robert McNamara is best remembered as a key architect of the Vietnam War, a man who pushed for military escalation as thousands died on all sides of t...
The road to the Holocaust
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In his latest book, The Hitler Years: Holocaust 1933–1945, Frank McDonough offers a heart-rending year-by-year narrative of the Nazis' escalating pe...
The final days of Pompeii
18 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were wiped off the map within 24 hours of Vesuvius erupting, buried under volcanic debris that would entomb...
Life in the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the eyes of a German fighter pilot in the skies over English Channel in 1940, the Battle of Britain was as much a struggle of human endurance as it...
The hidden history of US immigration detention
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The roots of immigration detention in the US stretch back over a century. Speaking to Elinor Evans, historian Brianna Nofil explores how the US built ...
Emperor Hirohito: life of the week
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
While most of the other surviving Axis leaders were put on trial following the end of the Second World War, Japan's Emperor Hirohito never faced justi...
Secrets of the Romans' spectacular success
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How did a muddy settlement on the banks of the river Tiber grow into the greatest empire the world had ever seen? Who was the more diabolical: Caligul...
Before the volcano: life in ancient Pompeii
11 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In AD 79, Pompeii and Herculaneum were subsumed by the eruption of Vesuvius, buried and preserved under metres of volcanic ash. Today, they are among ...
How do you solve a problem like Napoleon?
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, it fell to Britain to maintain the balance of power in continental Europe – but how could a small island ma...
What does history teach us about protest?
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The past 12 months have seen protests around the world make headlines and dominate social media feeds. But how have such popular demonstrations change...
Hatshepsut: life of the week
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Hatshepsut is one of ancient Egypt’s most extraordinary figures: a pharaoh who deftly asserted her right to the throne, reigned over an era of prosp...
Tragedy and triumph: a 500-year history of Mexico
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The chaos of the Spanish conquest, the humiliation of military defeat to the United States, the disruption of the revolution… Mexican history is oft...
Jane Austen’s final chapter – and lasting legacy
04 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What does Austen’s later writing tell us about her changing ideas? And what factors contributed to her death? In this fourth and final episode of ou...
Prophetesses & she-preachers of the 17th century
02 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A prophetess who warned Oliver Cromwell against killing the king. A Yorkshire maidservant who gained an audience with the Ottoman Sultan. The religiou...
New Year's Eve, newts and Nessie: a history of British folklore
31 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why should you be careful about who's first through your door on New Year's Day? What led people to believe that newts and earwigs were responsible fo...
Augustus: life of the week
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
‘Evil genius’ is a phrase that could have been invented to describe Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Augustus butchered his way to power in th...
Inside the Viking battle of the genders
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What do we know for certain about Old Norse ideas about masculinity and femininity, and can Viking Age mythology provide any answers? In conversation ...
A house of one’s own: Jane Austen’s ‘golden years’
28 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was at Chawton House, a cottage in rural Hampshire, that Jane Austen experienced one of the most fruitful episodes of her writing career. In this t...
Æthelstan: the king who made England
26 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Æthelstan was crowned in Kingston upon Thames 1100 years ago, in AD 925. He went on to extend his authority far beyond his initial powerbase of Wesse...
Did the WW1 Christmas truce really happen?
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s one of the most romantic images of the First World War: British and German soldiers meeting in No Man’s Land on Christmas Day, 1914, for a sp...
Father Christmas: life of the week
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Father Christmas – or Santa Claus – is one of western culture’s most recognisable figures. But from his mysterious origins to quite how he ended...
When was the best time in English history to be alive?
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that Elizabethan Londoners were good kissers? That medieval drinkers used beer to fight off the flames of a raging inferno? And that Jane...
“I am to flirt my last”: Jane Austen’s twenties
21 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We might assume that Jane Austen led a quiet existence, writing dramatic plots instead of experiencing them herself – but that presumption is far fr...
The secret propaganda war against the Nazis
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In September 1939, an unlikely assortment of journalists, politicians, novelists and spies assembled in a Bedfordshire village and set about waging a ...
The many faces of James VI & I
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Historian Clare Jackson delves into the life and reputation of James VI & I – a king who, says Jackson, has a legacy that has been much refracted an...