HistoryExtra podcast

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...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: life of the week

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mozart is celebrated for his musical genius – but how did he rise to such enduring fame? What inspired him, and who was the man beyond the concert h...

A short history of ghost hunting

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A spooky story during the Christmas season has become traditional – and the modern ghost story was invented by the Victorians, who embraced the supe...

Becoming Jane Austen

14 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What inspired the daughter of a rural reverend to write about eligible bachelors and drunken misadventure? In this first episode of our four-part seri...

Ghosts, gods & sea monsters: a supernatural history of the Atlantic

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For centuries, sailors crossing the Atlantic believed they were not alone – haunted by ghost ships, watched by mermaids, and stalked by sea monsters...

The summer that changed everything for the Kennedys

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Leigh Straw describes one pivotal summer in the life of the Kennedy family. With most of the family in their Cape Cod summer home, the summe...

Margaret Beaufort: life of the week

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Born in the tumultuous 15th century, Margaret Beaufort – mother of Henry VII – endured personal tragedy, dynastic danger, and the ever-shifting fo...

Idi Amin's willing helpers

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Idi Amin is 20th-century Africa’s most notorious ruler – a cartoonish tyrant who has been bracketed with the likes of Hitler and Stalin. And it’...

“You can’t kill and maim with impunity”: the powerful legacy of Nuremberg

07 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the 80 years since Nazi leaders stood in the dock, how has the international community sought to deal with war criminals around the globe? For this...

Assassins vs Templars

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Assassins and the Knights Templar are two of history’s most intriguing, enigmatic and legendary groups. While they may seem vastly different on ...

WW2's Tunisian campaign: the Stalingrad of Africa

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For the Allies it was an enormous triumph and for Nazi Germany it was another Stalingrad. But 80 years on, the battle for Tunisia is barely mentioned ...

Empress Matilda: life of the week

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the tumultuous aftermath of Henry I’s death, England was thrown into one of the most chaotic civil wars in its history – the Anarchy. At the he...

How warhorses transformed medieval England

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

William the Conqueror used them to devastating effect in 1066. Robert the Bruce worked out how to neutralise them. And when Richard III was knocked fr...

Did the Nazis get a fair trial?

30 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In October 1946, after a trial lasting almost a year, the Nazi leaders on the dock in Nuremberg received their verdicts. But what did the judges decid...

Forgotten female secret agents of WW2

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From sabotage operations to devastating betrayals, stories of the women of Special Operations Executive are some of the most incredible stories of the...

What causes cultures to decline and fall?

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The new BBC TV series Civilisations: Rise and Fall charts the decline of some of history's most famous cultures, from the Aztecs to the ancient Egypti...

Christopher Marlowe: life of the week

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From his possible espionage work for the Elizabethan state to his open flirtations with atheism and subversive sexual themes, the brief life of playwr...

Uprising: the Civil Wars untangled

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On 30 January 1649, Charles I was led on to a freshly erected scaffold outside Whitehall’s Banqueting House in London. Thousands of spectators watch...

The Nazis’ crimes laid bare

23 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When the Nazi leaders went on trial in Nuremberg from November 1945, the true horrors of their regime were exposed to the world. In the second episode...

What does Hitler’s DNA really tell us?

22 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A recent documentary drawing conclusions from new analysis of Adolf Hitler’s DNA has sparked headlines around the world. But how did the programme’...

Mutilated corpses and undead mothers-in-law: vampire epidemics through history

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Fears of the undead rising from their graves to cause trouble have recurred in societies around the globe throughout the centuries. But why was your m...

The problem with poo: a millennium of manure

19 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When did poo become a problem? Why was manure so important in the medieval economy? And why don't we have vacuum-powered sewers? All these questions –...

James Garfield: life of the week

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US president James Garfield's life is often overshadowed by his untimely death in 1881, as the second president to be assassinated in office. However,...

A new history of multicultural Britain

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As Britain's influence on the world around it grew throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, so too did the world influence Britain – and a key part o...

What should we do with the Nazis? The road to the Nuremberg Trials

16 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the end of the Second World War, the victorious Allies had to decide the fates of the surviving leaders of a regime that had initiated the bloodies...

Who stole the Tudor crown?

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On her deathbed Elizabeth I named the Scottish James VI as her successor, ensuring a smooth transition from the Tudor to Stuart monarchies. That, at l...

The librarian who stole KGB secrets

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When an elderly man with a battered suitcase walked into the British embassy in Vilnius in 1992, few could have guessed what he was about to hand over...

Nellie Bly: life of the week

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 19th century, when female reporters were largely confined to newspapers' society pages, Nellie Bly's daring investigations and headline-gr...

The improbable alliance that defeated Hitler

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

To what extent does the course of history turn on the force of individual personalities? It’s a question that looms large when examining the unlike...

Remember, remember: The legacy of the Gunpowder Plot

09 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

'Remember, remember the fifth of November…'. For more than 400 years, the Gunpowder Plot has been etched into Britain’s memory. In the final episo...

Five partitions that shaped South Asia

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you were to look down at South Asia from space at night, you would see a bright scar stretching more than 2,000 miles. This is the border between I...

Crystal balls & contacting angels: predicting the future in early modern England

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Eating the palpitating heart of a mole. Sleeping with a wolf's tooth under your pillow. Communicating with angels through a crystal ball. In the 16th ...

Giuseppe Garibaldi: life of the week

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

He led one of history's most celebrated guerrilla campaigns, showed remarkable political acumen, and drove aristocratic English women wild. Is it any ...

A day in the life of a gladiator

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If we were to step back in time on to the blood-soaked sand of the Roman gladiatorial arena, what would we uncover about society, power and entertainm...

What if the Gunpowder Plot had succeeded?

02 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We know the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 failed – but what if it hadn’t? What if Guy Fawkes had ignited the gunpowder under parliament, killing the king...

Bodies, bones & overflowing churchyards: a history of graveyards

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Burying the dead has never been a simple matter. Whether due to elaborate grave goods, unique burial rituals, or public health concerns, burial places...

Myspace and MTV: how will future historians study the 21st century?

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From social-media accounts to TV shows and video games, recent decades offer an enormous wealth of material for future historians to explore. But what...

Malcolm X: life of the week

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm X was one of the most influential – and, sometimes, divisive – figures of the civil rights movement in the United States, a political acti...

Ghosts, grief and the paranormal

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why are we so spooked – and yet so fascinated – by things that go bump in the night? And can science really prove that ghouls exist? Alice Vernon ...

How the Gunpowder Plot unravelled

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the autumn of 1605, Catholic conspirators believed they were about to strike a blow to the heart of the English state – but then a mysterious let...

Sex and sensationalism: a history of the tabloids

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tabloid journalists often get a bad press. From publishing libellous headlines to hacking celebrities’ phones, recent years have not exactly done mu...

11th-century Europe: not just the Norman Conquest

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When we think of Europe in the 11th century, one date stands out: 1066. However, as Professor Charles West explains, this was a century of great chang...

William Shakespeare: life of the week

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

William Shakespeare is one of history’s most famous names – but how much do we really know about the man himself? And how did his family, educatio...

Tudor life with Ruth Goodman

19 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What did ordinary Tudors eat and drink on a daily basis? How did they keep themselves clean without baths and showers? And what surprising beliefs did...

Who laid the fuse for the Gunpowder Plot?

18 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the autumn of 1605, Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes led a desperate band of Catholic gentlemen in one of history's most daring conspiracies. Having s...

Reagan's plan to 'make America great again'

16 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The phrase 'Make America Great Again' is indelibly associated with President Trump – yet a very similar version of the slogan – 'Let's Make Americ...

How enslaved people fought for freedom across the Atlantic

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From armed uprisings in the Caribbean to the hidden power of ritual, song and solidarity, the story of enslaved people’s resistance is far richer an...

Aneurin Bevan: life of the week

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aneurin Bevan's commitment to social justice led to the creation of the National Health Service in 1948 – one of the most ambitious social reforms i...

Bandits & blasphemers: crime in 17th century Scotland

12 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Which crimes were most common in Scotland in the 17th century – and what can those crimes reveal about society at the time? In today's episode, we'r...

The Normans: everything you wanted to know

11 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After five years we come to our final 'everything you wanted to know about' episodes. We revisit our first episode where Marc Morris, author of an acc...

How Julius Caesar's funeral drama fuelled the mob

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The assassination of Julius Caesar is one of the most infamous plots of the ancient world, but the dictator's death wasn't the only moment in his life...

The dark side of Samuel Pepys

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Samuel Pepys is well-known for his brilliantly evocative diary, which gives an unsurpassed insight into daily life in Restoration London. However, it ...

Margaret Tudor: life of the week

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Margaret Tudor was the daughter of a king, the sister of a king, and the wife of a king. But she was a political power player in her own right, carefu...

Britain's female slaveowners: the heiresses who made fortunes from enslavement

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Women's role as slaveowners is often overlooked – but, just like men, they both profited from and maintained the institution of slavery. Speaking to...

Roman homes: everything you wanted to know

04 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you could sneak a peek past the front door of a Roman home, what could you expect to find? Why was having a hole in your ceiling a clever feat of e...

Preview: Should historians be celebrities?

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Historian, author and broadcaster David Olusoga is among the famous faces to feature on new TV series The Celebrity Traitors, which launches in the UK...

Queer life in Georgian Britain

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There were many ways queer people in the Georgian era fought against social and legal restrictions to express their desire and convey their love for o...

Breaking news! How stories spread in early modern Europe

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you lived in 16th-century London, would you have any idea what was happening in Paris, Venice or Frankfurt? Well, yes, according to Joad Raymond Wr...

Robert Peel: life of the week

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

He established the Metropolitan police, became embroiled in years of bitter disputes over the Corn Laws, and was vilified for his political U-turns. D...

The German Peasants' War: a summer of fire and blood

28 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The German Peasants' War of 1524-5 was the largest popular uprising in western Europe before the French Revolution. Thousands flocked to its cause as ...

Art Deco: everything you wanted to know

27 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the interwar period, a movement emerged that brought together architecture, fashion, and even typography that echoed the hopes, anxieties and ambit...

America in Korea: a failed occupation?

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For three quarters of a century, the Korean peninsula has been divided between two very different regimes that are bitterly opposed to each other. But...

The real Miss Moneypennys: the secret history of Britain's female spies

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From cleaners to codebreakers, women’s contributions to the history of British intelligence have often gone unrecognised and forgotten. But in actua...

Andrew Carnegie: life of the week

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did a man who crushed unions in Gilded Age America come to see himself as humanity’s benefactor? Speaking to Elinor Evans, historian and biograp...

Wages for housework: the daring 1970s campaign that challenged women's roles

21 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1970s, a global group of feminist activists banded together with one demand: 'wages for housework'. Emily Callaci explores this campaign in her...

Ancient Roman theatre: everything you wanted to know

20 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who went to the theatre in ancient Rome – and what kind of spectacle would they have expected to see? And did the drama performed on stage reflect t...

Haiti's first and only king

18 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Born to an enslaved mother in the British Caribbean in the tumultuous, brutal world of the late 18th century, Henry Christoph's role in the Haitian Re...

How the Cold War made the modern world

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For most of the latter half of the 20th century, the world was frozen in a standoff. The Cold War era was defined by the ideological fissure between c...