The History Podcast

Introducing Everything Is Fake (And Nobody Cares)

18 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Jamie Bartlett asks why, in so many parts of modern life, fakery is no longer punished - it's rewarded. And why so many of us seem strangely unbothere...

Two Nottingham Lads: 4. Last Days in the Donbas

14 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

After a show trial in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Aiden Aslin has been sentenced to death. He endures months on death row, where his days are fil...

Two Nottingham Lads: 3. Six Weeks in Mariupol

07 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine begins in February 2022, and Aiden Aslin finds himself fighting on the frontline. After a desperate retreat towards...

Two Nottingham Lads: 2. Damascus to Donetsk

31 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aiden Aslin and Graham Philips take very different routes to get to that prison in Donetsk in 2022 – but their journeys cemented their destinies in ...

Two Nottingham Lads: 1. From One Nottingham Man to Another

24 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donetsk, April 2022. Two men find themselves face to face in a prison building. One is a prisoner of war, captured fighting for Ukraine. The other is ...

Two Nottingham Lads: Trailer

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aiden Aslin from Nottingham had been fighting for Ukraine since 2018. Graham Phillips, from the same British city, was a self-styled ‘independent jo...

The Arrest: 5. The Arrest

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Augusto Pinochet is woken by his nurse around midnight and a few minutes later finds a handful of British police officers at the foot of his bed, with...

The Arrest: 4. The Warrant

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When the Spanish judge pursuing Augusto Pinochet learns the dictator is about to leave London - for the safety of Chile - much sooner than expected, h...

The Arrest: 3. The Judge

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Augusto Pinochet won't be in London for much longer, so the lawyer leading the case against the dictator needs to act fast if he is to secure the help...

The Arrest: 2. The Disappeared

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When diplomat Carmelo Soria doesn't come home from work in July 1976 his wife, Laura, fears the worst. Augusto Pinochet has been in power in Chile for...

The Arrest: 1. The Lawyer

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As Augusto Pinochet recovers from minor surgery in London in October 1998, a lawyer for his victims races to seize an unlikely opportunity to bring th...

The Arrest: Trailer

27 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Augusto Pinochet visits London for minor surgery, a small team of lawyers races to seize an unlikely chance to catch the Chilean dictator and, pe...

The House at Number 48: 10. The Last Eisner

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Eisners prized art work, Eisenwalzwerk, depicting a huge steel factory, was stolen under the Nazis. "Eisenwalzwerk," Antony says, "is the ultima...

The House at Number 48: 9. The Inheritance

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We meet the descendants of Martin Hartig who are still living in the House at Number 48 today. How much of their family's past did they know about? ...

The House at Number 48: 8. The Gift

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After 80 years since losing a huge and grand property in Germany which used to belonged to his family, Antony sets off to confront the people who now ...

The House at Number 48: 7. Finding The Money

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Antony tries to find out what became of his family's business empire and properties. To help him he hires a brilliant young researcher, Yana Slovona....

The House at Number 48: 6. Spa Town

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In July 1939, industrialist Rudolph Eisner, his wife Hildegard and their two young children arrive in the small port city of Harwich in England. Life...

The House at Number 48: 5. The Final Ticket

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Antony Easton's relatives, the Eisners were one of the richest Jewish families in Berlin. The patriarch, Rudolph Eisner, has done everything he possi...

The House at Number 48: 4. The Silver Arrow

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the net closes in on the Eisners, Antony's grandfather, Rudolph, has come up with an ingenious plan to save his family and their business empire. ...

The House at Number 48: 3. The Eisners

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Antony Easton begins to investigate his family's history. What he finds astonishes him: his relatives were owners of a huge steel empire worth billi...

The House at Number 48: 2. The Secret Suitcase

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the death of his enigmatic and distant father, Antony Easton finally gets to go through his Dad's secret suitcase: "This was his life," Antony ...

The House at Number 48: 1. Made in Britain

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Antony Easton’s enigmatic father passes away, he goes through his Dad's suitcase, filled with cryptic clues: neatly stacked German money, a fa...

The House at Number 48: Trailer

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Antony Easton’s enigmatic and distant father passes away, he begins sorting through suitcase filled with cryptic clues.Neatly stacked German mo...

The Magnificent O'Connors: 6. Undermine, Explain or Accept

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ragnar and the family try to understand what the confession from the basement means. Is it the truth? Or was it just another story that Jimmy spun? De...

The Magnificent O'Connors: 5. Shame the Devil

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 1995, a mysterious man phones the O’Connors. He wants to get something off his chest. Sensing something potentially huge, Nemone secretly records...

The Magnificent O'Connors: 4. The Rise and Fall of Jimmy O'Connor

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The fortunes of the O’Connors flip almost overnight. Nemone is no longer allowed to practice law, even after appealing to the highest authority, the...

The Magnificent O'Connors: 3. The Murderer and the Silk

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jimmy is saved from the hangman’s noose with just hours to spare. With his sentenced commuted to life in penal servitude, he sets out to pass the ti...

The Magnificent O'Connors: 2. The Murder of Donk Ambridge

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jimmy O’Connor was a small-time thief, making the most of the opportunities war torn London presented to him. How did he end up in a condemned cell ...

The Magnificent O'Connors: 1. The Saturday Girl

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In order to unspool a family saga that has lasted over 80 years, Ragnar heads back to where it all began. He starts with the story of his mum, Nemone ...

The Magnificent O'Connors: Trailer

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For 80 years, the O'Connors have battled what they believe to be a miscarriage of justice. Small time criminal Jimmy O'Connor was arrested for the mur...

The Fort: 10. Mathew

18 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A gruelling, emotional mission draws to a close. In the aftermath of the operation and recovery at Jugroom Fort, the risks and rewards are analysed, b...

The Fort: 9. Warrior

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Under pressure and under fire, the team are faced with the task of returning Lance Corporal Mathew Ford to base. As exhaustion sets in and the clock t...

The Fort: 8. Bullet Magnet

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The bomber has created an enormous dust storm at The Fort. Disorientated and under enemy fire, the team rush headlong from the grounded Apaches which ...

The Fort: 7. In the Zone

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Precariously positioned on the side of two Apache attack helicopters Dave, Chris, Colin and Gary are flying straight into danger. Apaches are absolute...

The Fort: 6. Call Sign: Ugly

14 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For Apache helicopter pilots Tom O'Malley and Ed Macy - the mission has changed. Their new objective is to prevent the stricken Lance Corporal Mathew ...

The Fort: 5. The Dirty Dash

11 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Overwhelmed by enemy fire, Zulu Company have marshalled their casualties from the "killing ground" and staged a hurried withdrawal.Last to leave, Comp...

The Fort: 4. The Break-in

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Royal Marines Commandos have launched their ground assault on Jugroom Fort.A jagged, v-shaped hole has been blasted into its side, and fresh from ...

The Fort: 3. Killing Ground

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The story of Jugroom Fort takes a step back in time to the eve of battle. January 2007. The battle-hardened Royal Marines of Zulu Company assemble ahe...

The Fort: 2. Everyone Volunteered

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces. Many are speaking for the first time. A Royal Marines raid on a Taliban str...

The Fort: 1. The Plan

07 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Afghanistan, January 2007. It's a piece of military daring that went down in history: Three Royal Marines and a Royal Engineer hold on to the side of ...

The Fort: Trailer

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For the first time, commanders, soldiers and pilots who served in Afghanistan tell their story of the gruelling assault on Jugroom Fort - and an aston...

The Second Map: 3. The Battered Suitcase

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As people back home partied in the streets, celebrating victory in Europe in May 1945, war wasn’t over for the many thousands of soldiers and civili...

The Second Map: 2. The Secrets in the Safe

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Episode 2 of The Second Map, the war against Japan enters a new phase. Some of the most significant battles of the Second World War were fought on ...

The Second Map: 1. Bonnie Laddie

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We all know the heroic story of Britain fighting the Nazis in World War Two. But what’s less well-known in popular memory is the war on the Asian fr...

The Second Map: Trailer

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We may know about Pearl Harbor and how the war against Japan ended with the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But in popular memory, what ...

Half-Life: 8. A Fracture

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this final episode, Joe follows the opening of a public memorial and engages with a private reckoning.Written and presented by Joe Dunthorne (based...

Half-Life: 7. The City Forgets

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Munich, Joe traces a very different side to his family history, events that were left out of his great-grandfather’s memoir.Written and presented...

Half-Life: 6. Tranquility

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the war, Joe's great-grandfather attempts to build a new life in the United States where his mental health begins to deteriorate.Written and pre...

Half-Life: 5. The Road Through the Mountains

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A letter from Joe’s great-grandfather, leads him to the east of Turkey and the story of a massacre, kept silent for many yearsWritten and presented ...

Half-Life: 4. Young Republic

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Joe follows in his great-grandfather's footsteps to Turkey where he was employed, it seems, making gas masks.Written and presented by Joe Dunthorne Pr...

Half-Life: 3. Lost

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Joe's research into his great-grandfather's work takes him to Ammendorf, south of Berlin - one of the key sites of Nazi Germany's chemical weapons pro...

Half-Life: 2. The Quiet Town by the River

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dangers lurk beneath the soil, in the town where Joe's great-grandfather worked.Written and presented by Joe Dunthorne Produced by Eleanor McDowall Mu...

Half-Life: 1. Daughter of Radium

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Drawn to a family legend about his German-Jewish family’s dramatic escape from Nazi Germany in 1936, the writer Joe Dunthorne accidentally discovers...

Half-Life: Trailer

01 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Drawn to a family legend about his German-Jewish family’s dramatic escape from Nazi Germany in 1936, the writer Joe Dunthorne accidentally discovers...

Invisible Hands: 6. There Is No Alternative

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2006 an Australian investment bank bought Thames Water – Britain’s biggest water company. Everything went well for a bit. And then people start...

Invisible Hands: 5. The Lucky Gambler

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

James Goldsmith was a billionaire tycoon who thrived in the free-market revolution. He was a corporate raider who conquered both the City of London an...

Invisible Hands: 4. The Big Bang

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thatcher and her capitalist dreamers' next big gamble was a radical shake-up of London’s financial sector. They called it Big Bang. Seemingly overni...

Invisible Hands: 3. Selling The Silver

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A young banker sits in front of a book full of balance sheets. Boring work. But he has come to a realisation. And it’s a realisation that will, in a...

Invisible Hands: 2. The Mad Monk

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A man throws up in a taxi on his way to an interview. He is nervous because he is about to make an argument. It’s an argument that would change poli...

Invisible Hands: 1. The Chicken Farmer

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A fighter pilot watches his brother plunge to his death in the Second World War. Grief-stricken, he vows to fight until his dying day for the cause of...

Invisible Hands: Trailer

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

David Dimbleby traces the history of a hidden force that changed Britain - the free market revolution - and the invisible hands that shaped it.It star...

The Lucan Obsession: 10. The Final Act?

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Alex trawls through Lord Lucan’s belongings from his speedily abandoned flat. She finds incriminating books where he’s torn out pages on how to ki...

The Lucan Obsession: 9. A Race Across the World

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our interest in Lord Lucan could have petered out after the inquest. But people start to spot him all over the world. Could he really have escaped th...

The Lucan Obsession: 8. Speculation and Suspicion

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The nation was spellbound by the inquest into Sandra Rivett’s death.For the press the story was a dream. A tale of the aristocracy, gambling, debt a...

The Lucan Obsession: 7. The Investigation

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Police traipsed through 46 Lower Belgrave St on the night of Sandra Rivett’s murder, but did they contaminate the evidence?The police files are stil...

The Lucan Obsession: 6. The Golden Hour

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sandra Rivett lying dead in the basement, Lucan must decide whether to face the police or run. And so begins the second mystery that has made thi...

The Lucan Obsession: 5. The Tinderbox House

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Many relationships have tricky patches, with couples struggling for money or over the children. But there’s a spark in this story that takes us from...

The Lucan Obsession: 4. Searching for Lady Lucan

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The press portrayed Lady Lucan as a perfect victim: a tiny, fragile woman, attacked by a cruel and vengeful man. Lord Lucan’s friends said she was a...

The Lucan Obsession: 3. Lucky Lucan

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lord Lucan raced powerboats through the English Channel, drove an Aston Martin around the Grand Canyon and completed the Cresta Run at Saint-Moritz. T...

The Lucan Obsession: 2. Death In Belgravia

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What really happened on the night of 7th November 1974 when Sandra Rivett was murdered? Young reporter Bob Strange sneaked into the hallway at the Luc...

The Lucan Obsession: 1. The Double Mystery

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One winter's night, 50 years ago, a crime took place that obsessed the nation. Lord Lucan is said to have killed the family nanny, attacked his wife a...

The Lucan Obsession: Trailer

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One winter's night, 50 years ago, a crime took place that obsessed the nation.Lord Lucan is said to have killed the family nanny, attacked his wife an...

The Brighton Bomb: 10. No Penny for the Pat

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Remember remember the 5th of November. The Gunpowder Plot has been seared into centuries of British popular history. Why have the events of October 19...

The Brighton Bomb: 9. Performance

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you get right down to it, everything in life is a matter of timing.Any other evening, a knock at the door would put Patrick Magee on alert. As ch...

The Brighton Bomb: 8. A Hotel Too Far

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Spring 1985, six months on from the bomb at Brighton’s Grand Hotel that killed five men and women in town for the Conservative Party conference and ...

The Brighton Bomb: 7. Fight Them on the Beaches

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Patrick Magee plays mouse to the cat of the Southern Irish police, acting on a tip-off from their colleagues in the North. He escapes back to Great Br...

The Brighton Bomb: 6. Out of the Rubble

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's the day after one of the most shocking terror attacks in British history - a timebomb hidden in the Brighton hotel where the Prime Minister, Marg...

The Brighton Bomb: 5. 2:54am

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The IRA’s Patrick Magee has left a bomb, under a bath, in room 629 of the Brighton’s Grand Hotel. It’s timed to go off in three weeks, three day...

The Brighton Bomb: 4. It's Going to Happen

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you get right down to it, everything in life is a matter of timing. It's the night of 17 September 1984. The guest in room 629 of Brighton’s ...

The Brighton Bomb: 3. England Teams

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The bomb is set for 12 October 1984 - but the IRA have been building to this for decadesIt's the night of 17 September 1984. The guest in room 629 of ...

The Brighton Bomb: 2. The Man Who Wasn't Walsh

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The clock – the long-delay timer – nobody is meant to hear is counting down to 2.54am on the 12th October, 1984.It's attached to a bomb, behind th...

The Brighton Bomb: 1. A Matter of Timing

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you get right down to it, everything in life is a matter of timing.The clock that propels this story went unheard for three weeks, three days, si...

The Brighton Bomb: Trailer

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Glenn Patterson investigates the IRA bomb that attempted to kill Margaret Thatcher.

Escape from the Maze: 10. Mothballed

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Can Northern Ireland ever Escape from the Maze...?Across 10 twisting and turning episodes, Carlo Gebler navigates a path through the disturbing inside...

Escape from the Maze: 9. Ripples in the Water

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The government inquiry into the escape is about to have deadly consequences...Across 10 twisting and turning episodes, Carlo Gebler navigates a path t...

Escape from the Maze: 8. Break for the Border

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As more escapees are recaptured, no amount of effort can hide the state's humiliation... Across 10 twisting and turning episodes, Carlo Gebler navigat...

Escape from the Maze: 7. A Question of Faith

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The IRA tells a mother they must take away her 12-year-old son...Across 10 twisting and turning episodes, Carlo Gebler navigates a path through the di...

Escape from the Maze: 6. A Sea of Screws

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Knowing they have strength in numbers, the Prison Officers seize their chance...Across 10 twisting and turning episodes, Carlo Gebler navigates a path...

Escape from the Maze: 5. Freedom's Gate

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The prisoner's are flying blind as they encounter the biggest obstacle to the escape... Across 10 twisting and turning episodes, Carlo Gebler navigate...

Escape from the Maze: 4. The Incident

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A forensically planned sequence of events is about to be triggered...Across 10 twisting and turning episodes, Carlo Gebler navigates a path through th...

Escape from the Maze: 3. Toast

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

IRA inmates gather a key piece of intelligence and a charm offensive begins on the wings...Across 10 twisting and turning episodes, Carlo Gebler navig...

Escape from the Maze: 2. Thinking Big

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The British government wants a line to be drawn but the IRA has sensed an opportunity... Across 10 twisting and turning episodes, Carlo Gebler navigat...

Escape from the Maze: 1. H is for Hatred

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eight prison blocks of hatred shaped like the letter 'H'...It's supposed to be escape proof - the most secure prison in western Europe. The IRA is goi...

D-Day: The Last Voices: 1. The Big Secret

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

D-Day: The Last Voices brings together a rich collection of historical audio testimonies recorded with those who fought in the invasion of Normandy, a...