HistoryExtra podcast
Episodes
Public vs private: history behind closed doors
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What's the difference between private and public life – and where should we draw the line between the two? Over the centuries, these boundaries have...
The rise of James VI & I: when Britain went global
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Was Elizabeth I holding England back from establishing itself upon the global stage? Speaking to James Osborne, Professor Anna Whitelock explores how ...
Papal elections and tariff troubles: history behind the headlines
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest episode of our monthly podcast series, regular panellists Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter are joined by Frank Trentmann to discuss the hist...
How the English took Manhattan
27 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How did the English take Manhattan from the Dutch in the 17th century without firing a single shot? Speaking to Elinor Evans, historian Russell Shorto...
Troubadours: everything you wanted to know
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Composing songs of courtly love and war in the High Middle Ages, the troubadours were the poet-musicians of western and southern Europe – especially...
The 93 penises of the Bayeux Tapestry
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Historians have counted lots of things in the Bayeux Tapestry – animals, ships, hands and plants. But nobody had counted the number of penises it co...
The great siege of Malta: Knights Hospitaller vs the Ottoman empire
22 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1565, the might of the Ottoman empire faced off against a few hundred Knights Hospitaller and their allies on the island of Malta. Th...
Joanna Plantagenet: life of the week
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Richard the Lionheart is well-known for his travels to distant lands, time on crusade, and wrangling with international politics… But, less well kno...
Suleyman the Magnificent's bid for world domination
20 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Henry VIII lorded it over England. Francis I dominated France. Charles V was the main man in central Europe. Yet arguably none was as powerful as Otto...
The Etruscans: everything you wanted to know
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lasting from the ninth century BC right up until Roman conquest in the first century BC, the Etruscans were a powerful ancient civilisation who inhabi...
Lexington and Concord: 250 years on
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On 19 April 1775, American militia and British regulars clashed at Lexington and Concord in what would become the first battles of the Revolutionary W...
The botanists of besieged Leningrad
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cut off from the outside world and with food and other essentials dwindling, it's estimated that upwards of one million people died. Yet throughout th...
The Brothers Grimm: life of the week
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From Snow White to Sleeping Beauty, the Brothers Grimm are best known for collecting and curating fairy tales. But, as Ann Schmiesing reveals, recordi...
Could the US have won the Vietnam war?
13 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When US forces entered Vietnam, the nation's leaders believed they could contain communism and secure victory. Instead, they found themselves trapped ...
The Teutonic Order: everything you wanted to know
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emerging from crusading endeavours in the Holy Land, the Teutonic Order was one of great military orders established in the 12th century. Its influenc...
The women's orchestra of Auschwitz
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amid the horrors of Auschwitz, a group of female musicians were forced to play for their lives. Author Anne Sebba joins Lauren Good to discuss this wo...
JFK: the man behind the myths
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
John F Kennedy remains one of America’s most iconic presidents – his life and untimely death wrapped in both mythology and conspiracy. But how muc...
Fulvia: life of the week
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
She super-charged Mark Antony's rise to power, whipped up gang violence, went to war with Octavian – and may, just may, have abused Cicero's decapit...
Simon Schama on the Holocaust
06 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Simon Schama is one of the world's leading historians, a bestselling author and a renowned documentary maker. In his latest documentary film, The ...
The 'Scramble for Africa': everything you wanted to know
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Between the 1870s and the First World War, European colonialists set their sights on the Africa, making territorial land grabs that consumed nearly th...
A Nazi in Chile: did an SS commander work for Pinochet?
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What connects a notorious Chilean dictator with an SS commander who played a key role in the Holocaust? This is the question at the heart of a book by...
Tariffs and trade wars: a history of economic warfare
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trade wars and tariffs have once again been making headlines in recent weeks, as US president Donald Trump's government adopts combative economic poli...
Funding cuts and culture wars: history behind the headlines
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest episode of our monthly series, Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter discuss recent headlines about funding cuts to history departments in the UK...
Why we shouldn't see museum artefacts as 'stolen'
30 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Debates about whether museum artefacts should be returned to the cultures that made them have made headlines several times in recent years. But histor...
The Belle Époque: everything you wanted to know
30 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Paris's Belle Époque – or 'Beautiful Era' – conjures up images of cafés, can-can dancers and sunny walks along the River Seine. But was life in ...
Body in the basement: Dr Crippen and the 'crime of the century'
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1910, music hall performer Belle Elmore went missing. Her husband Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen claimed Belle had gone to America to visit a dying relat...
The Philadelphia gun-runners who supplied the IRA
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1970s, as the Troubles divided Northern Ireland, hundreds of armalite guns were sent to the IRA from across the Atlantic. Reporter Ali Watkins ...
Thomas Becket: life of week
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Becket is probably medieval England's most famous martyr and saint – yet the circumstances of his life are overshadowed by his infamous feud ...
Why Africa's history is more than just the slave trade
24 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Has our focus on the impact of the transatlantic slave trade blinded us to the diversity and complexity of Africa's past? That's one of the arguments ...
The Great Stink: everything you wanted to know
23 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why, in the 1850s, was the excrement of thousands of people being deposited straight into the Thames? How lethal were Victorian London's cholera outbr...
Handel's Messiah: the scandalous birth of a classical masterpiece
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Even if you're not a fan of classical music, chances are you will have heard Handel's Messiah. Going behind the scenes of its creation, Charles King d...
Women killers of the early modern era
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From true crime pamphlets to reports from the scaffold, early modern Britain was gripped by tales of women who killed. But were these cases as common ...
Rosa Luxemburg: life of the week
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While the Suffragettes were fighting to win the vote, over in Germany, Rosa Luxemburg was focused on overthrowing the entire system. A committed Marxi...
Women's hidden role in religious reformation
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The histories of religious reformations across the globe have largely focused on men. But women were also integral to these major transformations. Spe...
The history of British homes: everything you wanted to know
16 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What was history's worst furnishing trend? Why, in 1953, were you more likely to own a television than a fridge? And how can you learn more about the ...
Wolfmen and amazons: why did the Greeks and Romans demonise their neighbours?
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fearsome Amazons. Men who turned into wolves. Tribes who never grew old. Ancient Greek and Roman sources are packed with extraordinary descriptions of...
Reform and rebellion in the reign of Henry III
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With accusations of favouritism, poor spending and unrealistic international plans, resentment against Henry III simmered among his barons throughout ...
Emily Hobhouse: life of the week
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pacifist. Humanitarian. Whistleblower. From humble roots growing up in Cornwall, Emily Hobhouse went on to challenge the societal issues of her day an...
Cheese-rolling, horse skulls & morris dancers: Britain's strange folk customs
10 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From green men and jolly horse skulls, to chasing cheese down hills and morris dancing, Britain has a rich tradition of folk customs. Some are strange...
Roman medicine: everything you wanted to know
09 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What were your chances of surviving illness in ancient Rome? How did the Roman army deal with ailments and injuries on the go? And in what way were th...
What's the state of women's history in 2025?
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is new research revealing about women's lives in the past? Does all women's history have to be feminist? And why do we need to be cautious about ...
Medieval murder mystery: who killed King James III?
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On 11 June 1488, King James III of Scotland was hunted down and slain as he fled the field of battle. And more than 500 years later, the identity of h...
Virginia Woolf: life of the week
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From To The Lighthouse to Mrs Dalloway, the writing of Virginia Woolf shook up literary norms and challenged societal ideas about what it meant to be ...
Medieval murders most foul
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How violent were towns and cities in the Middle Ages? And how did medieval citizens deal with cases of murder? Drawing on detailed coroner's reports, ...
The Assyrians: everything you wanted to know
02 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why were Assyrian armies so powerful? Did the Assyrians produce the ancient world's greatest cultural treasure? And what should we make of claims that...
King Leopold's elephant expedition: a story of colonialism in Congo
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1879, King Leopold of Belgium commissioned an expedition to transport Asian elephants from India to the African interior, with a vision of using th...
Introducing History's Greatest Battles | New Podcast
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Vicious civil wars. Gruelling sieges. Rebellious provinces, galling betrayals and tribes seeking revenge… Join us for the first series of History’...
What did the Romans wear?
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What did a Roman wear under their tunic? What was the best occasion to wear socks with sandals? And what might land you in trouble with the ancient Ro...
Frederick Barbarossa: life of the week
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Frederick Barbarossa has gone down in history as one of medieval Europe's most formidable rulers. He waged ruthless wars in Italy, clashed with the pa...
Sexuality on trial in colonial America
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1774, as Britain’s colonies in America teetered on the brink of revolution, one regiment was torn apart by the trials of a British army chaplain ...
Mining history: everything you wanted to know
23 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Historically, how much would a British miner have earned for a hard day's work? Did women and children also work underground? And why were canaries ta...
Bruisers and bare knuckles: the brutal world of Victorian boxing
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Men fighting pumas. Brutal prize-fights in sacred chapels. A pair of sisters who could pack a punch. In Victorian Britain, boxing offered up edge-of-y...
Did Britain really rule the waves?
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's often proclaimed that British sea power was at its pinnacle in the years following the French and Napoleonic wars. But was this really a time whe...
Jane Austen: life of the week
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Austen remains one of the most influential novelists in English literature. Her sharp social commentary, wit, and exploration of love, class, and...
The princess who fled Romanov Russia
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Born in 1781, Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld grew up in a world convulsed by the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. And her life proved ...
The Opium Wars: everything you wanted to know
16 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why did Britain go to war with China in the 19th century to protect the interests of drug dealers? Speaking with Elinor Evans, Stephen R Platt discuss...
Rome's most scandalous emperors
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How cruel was Caligula? How depraved was Tiberius? And how monstrous was Nero? The dark reputations of these emperors owe a great deal to the Roman wr...
The royal threesome that rocked Anglo-Saxon England
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the year 955, Eadwig became king of England – and, according to 10th-century sources, he celebrated in quite a salacious fashion. These stories c...
Are we celebrating the wrong Magna Carta?
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The history books tell us that Magna Carta was sealed on 15 June 1215. But, according to Professor David Carpenter, that's not actually the date we sh...
The forgotten JFK assassination plot
10 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In December 1960, as president-elect John F Kennedy made his way to church in Florida, a would-be assassin waited nearby, preparing to detonate a bomb...
The Indian Rebellion of 1857: everything you wanted to know
09 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What ignited resentment at British rule in India into outright violence? How brutal was British troops' suppression of the uprising? And how did the e...
From dinosaurs to Godzilla: a 15,000-year history of monsters
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What makes a monster, and why do they fascinate us? Dr Natalie Lawrence unravels 15,000 years of human storytelling through the tales of creatures lik...
How monasteries powered medieval Europe
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Monasteries and convents were a common sight throughout medieval Europe and beyond. But who were they for? What did they do? And how did religious lif...
Greenland, forest fires and presidential power: history behind the headlines
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Historians Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter look at the shifting dynamics of presidential power and discuss the history behind President Trump's stated de...
George Villiers: from royal favourite to enemy number one
03 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, had charm and political ambition by the bucketload – and his rise as a favourite of King James I and VI in ...
Extinct animals: everything you wanted to know
02 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From the depths of the Ice Age to the 20th century, why – and how – have species gone extinct? And are humans always to blame? In conversation wit...
Agony and ecstasy: the lives of mystics
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From medieval mystic Julian of Norwich to countercultural figures of the 1960s, various individuals down the centuries have felt they have access to s...
How medicine became a moneymaker
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How did we go from sharing homegrown cures free of charge to buying medicine from strangers on the open market? This transition is more complex than y...
Carolingians in crisis: the medieval civil war that shaped Europe
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
History is full of dysfunctional families, but few more so than the Carolingian ruling clan. The empire was at the height of its power under renowned ...
Charles Dickens: life of the week
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Charles Dickens is one of the most famous figures in literary history. But, there's lots about the author that you might not know, from his obsessive ...
Murder in WW2 London
27 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In September 1940, the German Luftwaffe began raining bombs on British cities, causing death and destruction on a scale never before seen. But, in the...
British TV history: everything you wanted to know
26 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From early shows that looked as if they were filmed "in a heavy and persistent shower of rain" to today's multi-platform streaming world, the history ...
The big questions of the Holocaust
25 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How did the Nazis’ poisonous antisemitic rhetoric eventually culminate in the systematic mass-murder of millions? Speaking to Rachel Dinning back in...
Happiness: history of an emotion
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The word 'happiness' came into common usage in around the 17th century, but the concept has a much longer history. So how have people conceptualised h...
The 1453 fall of Constantinople: capturing the Byzantine capital
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1453, the once grand and formidable city of Constantinople fell to the hands of the Ottoman Turks – bringing over a millennium of Byzantine rule ...
Inside the mind of the Third Reich
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What drives people to commit atrocities? Few periods in history confront this question as starkly as the rise of the Nazis, whose crimes stand as a ch...
Sacagawea: life of the week
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sacagawea is remembered in US history as the Shoshone Native American woman who acted as interpreter to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the early 19th...
Women's bodies: an unreliable history
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The history of women's bodies is far from simple. Female anatomy and the ideas surrounding it – from breastfeeding to virginity – still cause cont...
Ancient Mesopotamia: everything you wanted to know
19 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Do you know your Sumerians from your Babylonians and your Akkadians? All these civilisations formed part of the story of ancient Mesopotamia, where ci...
Who moulded Winston Churchill?
18 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Later this week marks 60 years since the death of Winston Churchill, on 24 January 1965. So we thought it would be interesting to bring back this epis...
Elizabethan London: a multicultural melting pot
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
London today is a bustling, multicultural city. But what about in the past? Emily Briffett spoke to Dr John Gallagher to find out more about the vibra...
Strange stories of medieval saints
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What can Saint Augustine tell us about attitudes to grief in the Middle Ages? What made women steer clear of the shrine of Saint Cuthbert? And why did...
What is the greatest historical movie of all time?
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What makes a great historical movie? An accurate portrayal of a period, a nostalgic look back at the past, or simply a ripping yarn? Well, on our webs...
Nell Gwyn: life of the week
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nell Gwyn epitomised the wild spirit of the Restoration era. An orange-seller turned actress, turned royal mistress of King Charles II, she hustled he...
How pigs caused a stink in medieval England
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
They attacked children. They exhumed dead bodies. They were even thought to be in league with the devil. And yet, despite this long list of misdemeano...
The Hanseatic League: everything you wanted to know
12 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Hanseatic League was often compared to a crocodile, because it was a shadowy, somewhat sinister entity that kept its true intentions concealed. He...
Secret forceps & pig bladders: medical objects through time
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What was it like to undergo an operation in a world with no anaesthetic? How was the stethoscope invented? And when did surgeons first operate on a hu...
How Roman roads transformed Europe
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
They spanned a continent, offered a conduit for soldiers and pilgrims alike – and may not have been as straight as legend suggests. Roman roads play...
Hotel Lux: the guesthouse of world revolution
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
History is often told through the epic struggles of famous personalities or grand movements. Yet sometimes the voices of ordinary people break through...
Introducing History's Greatest Scandals | New Podcast
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Poisoned sweets. Criminal misdeeds. And a sex scandal involving… the prime-minister. Listen to HistoryExtra's new podcast History’s Greatest Scan...
Susan B Anthony: life of the week
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The name Susan B Anthony is inextricable from any history of the American movement for women's suffrage. Yet the life of the woman herself can be obsc...
How the compass became a political weapon
06 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why did early Islamic cartographers place south at the top of their maps? Who invented the magnetic compass? And why has 'the west' become an intensel...
Medieval towns: everything you wanted to know
05 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What was it like to live in a British town or city in the Middle Ages? Were they filthy hotbeds of crime and violence? How often did fires break out? ...
Harold Wilson: the rock 'n' roll prime minister
03 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Harold Wilson is as central to the story of sixties Britain as the Beatles, Profumo and miniskirts. Admirers applauded the social reforms he introduce...
Who is buried at Sutton Hoo?
02 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Sutton Hoo ship burial is one of the most famous discoveries in British archaeological history. But who is actually buried there? Or perhaps a bet...
Sex and Christianity: 2,000 years of love and fury
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What were Jesus's views on sex? Why did so many Christians choose a life of celibacy? Has the church ever been tolerant of homosexuality? These are so...
Catherine the Great: life of the week
31 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Catherine the Great stands out from the rulers of Imperial Russia – a 'philosopher empress' whose wit, political savvy, and unyielding ambition tran...
The Second Norman Conquest
30 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
William of Normandy famously invaded England in 1066 – but, he didn't quite conquer it all. In fact, the duty of leading a second assault was left t...
The Carolingians: everything you wanted to know
29 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The early medieval Carolingian empire played a crucial role in the development of Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Though the dynasty itself was not...
The SAS in WW2: everything you wanted to know
28 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Series two of SAS Rogue Heroes hits our screens later this week, so we're bringing you an episode to get you up to scratch on the WW2 escapades of Bri...