HistoryExtra podcast

Before Windrush: Britain’s long relationship with the Caribbean

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Seventy-five years ago, on 22 June 1948, HMT Empire Windrush landed at Tilbury docks. The arrival of the ship is rightly remembered as a landmark mome...

Cornwall: a brief history

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What makes Cornwall different from the rest of England? Is it history or geography that sets the area apart? And how have the industries of fishing, m...

Franco’s Spain: paranoia, conspiracy & antisemitism

19 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What are the consequences when conspiracy theories, lies, and paranoia are combined with military might? Speaking with Danny Bird, Paul Preston discus...

The myth and memory of Waterloo

18 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why is Waterloo still a fixture in the story Britain tells about its national history, more than two centuries on from the battle itself? Speaking to ...

Coffee history: everything you wanted to know

17 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From Sufi mystics in 16th-century Yemen to hipster baristas in cities across the world today, the history of this caffeinated beverage is a long and f...

Caesar: Death of a Dictator Trailer

16 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On the Ides of March, 44 BC, the most famous Roman in history was murdered. Julius Caesar’s killers hoped to save the Republic, but in the end the...

Economies in meltdown: lessons from past financial crashes

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From the Wall Street Crash of 1929 to the global turmoil of 2008, financial crises have wrecked countless lives, businesses and economies. But have le...

Living through the Troubles

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Troubles is a chapter of history that many in Northern Ireland would rather forget, but 25 years on from the Good Friday Agreement, its legacy can...

What can we learn from the fall of Rome?

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What can the fall of Rome teach us about the decline of the west today? That’s the question at the centre of political economist John Rapley and his...

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: the overlooked bonds between mother & daughter

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since Elizabeth I was less than three years old when her mother was executed, it is often thought that Anne Boleyn had little influence on her life. S...

Fight like a man? Masculinity in WW2

11 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How were sexuality, gender roles, and attitudes to the body influenced by men’s experiences in the Second World War? That’s something explored in ...

Penal transportation to Australia: everything you wanted to know

10 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why did the British state decide to send criminals across the globe to Australia? Was it really as grim as you might expect to be one of those transpo...

Pregnancy & childbirth in the 19th century

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Despite motherhood being viewed as a fundamental part of a woman’s destiny during the 19th century, pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal experience a...

Historical echoes of the Ukraine war

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

More than a year in, the war between Russia and Ukraine has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, with repercussions on an international scale. It ...

Plato: the world’s greatest philosopher?

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

He learned from Socrates, taught Aristotle and is often described as the key figure in the history of philosophy. But what do we actually know about t...

How women helped sustain the slave trade

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Slavery was a system that pervaded life in the American South, and as historian Stephanie E Jones-Rogers reveals in her book They Were Her Property, w...

The fall and rise of Henry III

04 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

King Henry III was one of England’s longest reigning monarchs, but his time on the throne saw a long period of peace punctured by an extraordinary r...

The SAS in WW2: everything you wanted to know

03 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The SAS – or Special Air Service – is Britain’s elite special forces unit. Founded in the deserts of North Africa during the Second World War, i...

Plot or paranoia? The Amboyna conspiracy trial

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1623, at a Dutch fort on the remote island of Ambon, in modern-day Indonesia, a young Japanese mercenary was arrested for asking suspicious questio...

Messalina: sex, slander & scandal in imperial Rome

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Even in the ancient Roman world of ruthless politicking, suspicious deaths and high-stakes schemes, the scandalous reputation of Empress Valeria Messa...

Amazing archaeological discoveries that trounce Indiana Jones

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You may think that Indiana Jones created a swashbuckling vision of archaeology that only exists on the silver screen – but, in fact, real archaeolog...

Living the life of luxury with the Persians & Greeks

29 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Greek soldiers captured the royal command tent of the Persian king during the Greco-Persian wars, they were stunned by what they saw. Their might...

Simon Schama on how inoculation changed the world

28 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As the recent past will attest, the discovery of vaccines can not only save lives, but also change the course of human history. Speaking with Matt Elt...

Mountaineering on Everest: everything you want to know

27 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When were the first attempts to summit Mount Everest? Did Mallory really say he wanted to climb it just “because it’s there”? How did climbing e...

The History Extra podcast – tell us what you think

26 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’re always looking to improve, so it’s really important to us to give you a voice in what we do next. Are you listening during a commute, while ...

Is history too politicised?

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The relationship between politics and history has long been a fraught one – particularly in recent years, when concerns that a political agenda may ...

Six wives | 6. Katherine Parr

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Katherine Parr was not just the “survivor”. She was also a ground-breaking intellectual, passionate religious reformer and canny political player....

Battling the British empire

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The history of the British empire has often been told as the story of an all-conquering spread of British values and influence across the globe. But, ...

William the Conqueror’s invasion plans

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

William the Conqueror famously defeated King Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066. But in order to achieve this victory, he first had to get his a...

Did Black Death trigger the rise of Europe?

21 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Black Death unquestionably wrought a horrific death toll in the mid-14th century, but did it also sweep in social and cultural changes that eventu...

Chartism: everything you wanted to know

20 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The first half of the 19th century witnessed the rise of an extraordinary working-class campaign for political reform: Chartism. What made this moveme...

Three young queens: the unexpected bonds between Renaissance royals

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Before being scattered across different kingdoms, Catherine de’ Medici, Elisabeth de Valois and Mary, Queen of Scots spent many years of their forma...

Six wives | 5. Catherine Howard

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine Howard was a teenaged bride who captivated King Henry VIII, but was brought down by secrets from her past that refused to remain buried. In ...

Ramesses II: Egypt’s greatest pharaoh?

16 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ramesses II is the only pharaoh in history to be known as ‘the great’, but does he deserve that title? Was he the pharaoh in the Exodus story? And...

Tudor childhood: from dodging death to nursery rhymes

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Look at a Tudor family portrait, and you’ll often find children depicted like miniature adults, standing confidently alongside their parents in thei...

What can Richard I tell us about medieval masculinity?

14 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Was Richard I homosexual, and would it matter if he was? Although he was known to have shared a bed with the King of France, according to Dr Gabrielle...

Britain in the 1990s: everything you wanted to know

13 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It was the decade that saw the fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of Tony Blair and the landmark Good Friday Agreement. But what was behind the landsl...

Everyday life in East Germany

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The story of East Germany has been largely told in the context of Cold War geopolitics. But while the country may have been an ideological battlegroun...

Six wives | 4. Anne of Cleves

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Anne of Cleves is remembered as a comedy anecdote, a figure of mockery who repulsed King Henry VIII on first sight. But her reputation deserves to be ...

Why revolution engulfed 19th-century Europe

09 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1848, a tidal wave of revolution swept across Europe – from Sicily to Paris, Berlin to Vienna. But what sparked this cascade of unrest, and how c...

Keeping time: a watchmaker’s history

08 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today we take it for granted that we can meet friends at an agreed time, work a set amount of paid hours, or catch a train before it leaves. But so mu...

Native Americans: a new history

07 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For too long, argues Professor Ned Blackhawk, Indigenous people have been marginalised or viewed merely as passive participants in the history of the ...

Goths: everything you wanted to know

06 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What’s the difference between the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths? Why did the Goths have whole settlements devoted to the production of combs? And wer...

How (and how not) to stage a coronation

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The British monarchy is known for its pomp and pageantry, and a coronation is a big chance to show off. But with so much pressure to get time-honoured...

Six wives | 3. Jane Seymour

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jane Seymour has gone down in history as Henry VIII’s dream wife – the simpering spouse who couldn’t put a foot wrong. But the reality was much ...

Queen Charlotte: real history behind the new Bridgerton series

02 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tomorrow, period drama fans will be glued to their screens as Netflix releases their latest show set in the Bridgerton universe – Queen Charlotte: ...

Pomp & power: royal ceremonies through the centuries

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Later this week, royal ceremony and spectacle will be deployed in full force for the coronation of King Charles III. But this latest lavish display is...

WW2 the big questions: final stages of the conflict

30 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How risky were the D-Day landings? What sealed the downfall of Nazi Germany? And why did the US decide to drop atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? I...

Westminster Abbey: everything you wanted to know

29 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Westminster Abbey has hosted royal coronations since the medieval period, and the next monarch to be crowned there will be King Charles III. In our la...

How the Bristol bus boycott changed Britain

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This April marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Bristol bus boycott in 1963, a campaign to overturn a bar on black and Asian conductors ...

Six wives | 2. Anne Boleyn

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Harlot, feminist, witch, backstabber, icon, powerplayer, victim – in the centuries since her execution, Anne Boleyn has been branded all of these. B...

The Waco siege: an American tragedy

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Thirty years ago, a deadly standoff in Texas between a religious cult and the FBI hit the headlines around the United States. The story of leader Davi...

Shipwreck, scurvy & mutiny: the gruelling tale of HMS Wager

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In January 1742 a ramshackle boat washed up on the Brazilian coastline. Inside were 30 men, half starved and close to madness. Claiming to be survivor...

WW2 the big questions: the Holocaust

23 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How did the Nazis’ poisonous antisemitic rhetoric eventually culminate in the systematic mass-murder of millions? In the fourth episode of our five-...

Crusader states: everything you wanted to know

22 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After the fall of Jerusalem into Frankish hands in 1099 during the First Crusade, a string of new crusader states emerged, initiating Western rule in ...

How women were excluded from sport – and fought back

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Looking at sport history, it’s easy to get the impression that women’s involvement in sporting activities only began in the 1970s. However, as aut...

Six wives | 1. Catherine of Aragon

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine of Aragon’s 23-year-long marriage to King Henry VIII witnessed many twists and turns – triumph, tragedy, and, ultimately, betrayal. In e...

Æthelflæd: ‘Mother of the English’

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Æthelflæd was a successful and celebrated ruler of the Mercian peoples in the early 10th century, who enjoyed a period of great political prosperity...

Mindbending experiments: how drugs shaped modern science

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the 19th century, cannabis, cocaine and heroin were widely available over the counter at the local chemist. Respected scientists and doctors tested...

WW2 the big questions: the ‘Big Three’

16 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How instrumental was Churchill in Britain’s decision to stand against Hitler? What was it like to work with the consummate charmer President Rooseve...

Russian tsars: everything you wanted to know

15 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Who were the rulers of Russia prior to the 1917 Revolution? How accessible were they to the ordinary peoples of the Russian empire? How did a foreign-...

‘Black Douglas’: a not so dastardly bushranger?

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A dastardly bandit responsible for incredibly heinous crimes, or a runaway in search of his freedom? Meg Foster unravels the myth of “Black Douglas”...

The KGB’s secret war on the west

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The KGB would stop at virtually nothing in its attempts to spread chaos and confusion in the west throughout the Cold War. From honeytraps and smear c...

Century of chaos: people & power in the 1600s

11 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The 17th century was a turbulent time for England, overshadowed by a civil war, a coup and a regicide, not to mention the looming threats of terrorism...

What Norse poetry reveals about the Viking age

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What can Viking poetry reveal about the era in which it was written, and the people that wrote it? And why are ships, love and death some of its most ...

WW2 the big questions: the early years of the conflict

09 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why did Hitler make the fateful decision to invade Poland in 1939? How did Churchill turn defeat at Dunkirk into a victory on the home front? And why ...

Life in the trenches: everything you wanted to know

08 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What was it really like to live and fight in WW1 trench? Why was throwing your empty food tins into No Man’s Land a death sentence? And what was the...

Nuclear apocalypse in Britain

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If – or when – a nuclear bomb was dropped on Cold War Britain, the nation was primed to react fast. When the sirens sounded, children would run ho...

Wild urban spaces: a history

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years, discussions about sustainability and how we can create greener, more environmentally conscious urban spaces have been at the forefron...

Boudica’s rebellion: a blood-soaked blow to the Roman empire

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rome’s conquest of Britain in the first century AD was a brutal affair, as was the revolt against it led by Boudica. Duncan Mackay guides David Musg...

What did the Tudors wear?

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How many pieces of clothing did the average Tudor own? Did women in the 16th century have specialised maternity wear? And what was behind the fascinat...

WW2 the big questions: the build up

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the first episode of our podcast series The Big Questions of the Second World War, historian and broadcaster Laurence Rees explains some of the sho...

British castles: everything you wanted to know

01 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What was the interior design like in medieval castles? Why were so many of these fortresses built in Wales? And what was it like to live in one? In ou...

The mindset behind the Holocaust

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Holocaust is an event so vast and terrible it can often be hard to wrap our heads around it. But what motivated those who perpetrated horrific cri...

Grisly killings & mysterious motives: murder in early modern Britain

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s modern fascination with true crime is nothing new – our early modern ancestors also devoured sensational stories of brutal deaths and shoc...

The man who almost discovered the double helix

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Seventy years since James Watson and Francis Crick first revealed DNA’s double-helix structure, Dr Kersten Hall shares the story of the scientist wh...

Marriage, Middlemarch & male pseudonyms: George Eliot’s unconventional life

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

George Eliot is hailed as one of the greatest novelists of the 19th century. And in many ways the writer’s life was just as fascinating as her work....

George VI’s Nazi dilemma

26 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As the Second World War raged, King George VI faced not only a battle for the nation’s survival, but also for the royal family’s reputation. And t...

The Seven Years’ War: everything you wanted to know

26 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Indian subcontinent, North America, south-east Asia and continental Europe all saw vicious fighting in the 1750 and 1760s as part of a major confl...

Six Wives Trailer

25 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The story of Henry VIII’s six wives is a tale of political crisis and personal tragedy, sacrifice and survival, sex and death, scandal, love and bet...

Patriarchy’s long roots

24 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout history, have societies always been dominated by men? And how have patriarchal values shaped lives across centuries and continents? Histori...

Disciplining the “scum of the Earth”

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How did the British army keep order among troops and officers during the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century? And were the rank and file really ...

Women & the crusades: patronage, propaganda & prayer

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You might think that the crusades were a largely male enterprise. But while that may have been the case on the battlefield, it certainly wasn’t else...

Science & religion: a story of war or harmony?

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Although 19th-century thinkers promoted the narrative that Christianity and science have always been at each other’s throats, in reality, argues Nic...

The North: from Bede to Lowry

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From the glories of early medieval Northumbria to the urban powerhouses of the industrial revolution, northern England has long had an identity of its...

Paganism: everything you wanted to know

19 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What did ancient pagans actually believe? Why were they fascinated by the divinity of nature? And why did paganism capture the imagination of the Roma...

Eat for victory: WW2’s “British Restaurants”

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Canteen dining conjures up visions of plastic trays, hard benches and bowls of beige slop. But as the hardships of the Second World War began to bite,...

Madame Restell: the abortionist who shocked and fascinated 19th-century New York

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the 19th century, one businesswoman shocked, horrified and fascinated New York society more than any other. Madame Restell was a celebrity and self...

Medieval manuscripts: an enduring obsession

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For centuries, people have been dazzled by the illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. But how much do we know about the countless makers, collect...

Njinga: queen, warrior, diplomat

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Queen Njinga, the 17th-century ruler of Ndongo and Matamba, in modern-day Angola, established an impressive reputation for her skills as a warrior and...

Sirens, succubi & sex symbols: a history of female monsters

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From the dangers of childbirth to female sexuality, myths and legends about female monsters like mermaids and sirens can tell us a lot about different...

Britain’s WW2 home front: everything you wanted to know

12 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As the Second World War raged across the world, what was life like for those back home in Britain? How did families make it through the terror of bomb...

Treasure, heritage & returning artefacts

11 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Headlines have been made recently by proposed changes to the Treasure Act in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The changes would see more historica...

Satire & scandal: the printmakers who mocked Georgian society

10 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Women blown up like balloons about to burst; leaders carving up the globe like a plum pudding; a drunken, bloated prince sprawled surrounded by unpaid...

Elizabethan witchcraft: a trial that divided a community

09 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1580s, the remote Essex village of St Osyth was beset by poverty and social tensions – and when a servant accused her neighbour of witchcraft...

The Iraq War, 20 years on

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In March 2003, a coalition of troops from nations including the United States and the United Kingdom mounted an invasion of the Republic of Iraq, with...

Volcanoes & nuclear armageddon: humanity’s long relationship with nature

07 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For thousands of years, humans have been in thrall to climate – it has dictated the crops we grow, the water we drink and even the diseases to which...

Meeting the Mughals: England’s disastrous first embassy to India

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1616, when the first English embassy was installed in Mughal India, England was a minor player on the global stage rather than a leading actor. Nan...

Medieval women: everything you wanted to know

05 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What chores did medieval women have to get through each day? How could plucking your eyebrows in the Middle Ages land you in hell? And why did people ...

History’s greatest cities: Prague Trailer

04 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve just launched a brand-new podcast series, History’s greatest cities, offering the chance to roam the streets and sights of some of Europe’...