Podcast Episodes

The Picts: Rulers of the North

Episode 586

Tristan Hughes journeys up to windswept Scotland to uncover the secrets of the Picts — fierce warriors, skilled artisans, enemies of Rome and rulers of the North.

In this special episode of The Ancien…

Published on 7 hours ago

The Permian Extinction: When Life Nearly Died

Episode 584

It was the biggest mass extinction event in Earth’s history. 250 million years ago, a 252 million years ago, Earth faced its deadliest crisis. 97% of all life was wiped out in the Permian Extinction …

Published on 3 days, 7 hours ago

541 AD: The Worst Year in History

Episode 583

Was this the worst year in human history? Bubonic plague sweeps across the Mediterranean. The sun vanishes behind volcanic ash. Crops fail, famine bites, and the Roman empire lurches towards collapse…

Published on 1 week ago

Fall of the Sumerians

Episode 582

Tristan Hughes continues our special series on Great Disasters, journeying back to ancient Mesopotamia with Dr Paul Collins to explore the fall of the Sumerians.

4,000 years ago, the great cities of S…

Published on 1 week, 3 days ago

The Minoan Eruption: Bronze Age Cataclysm

Episode 581

More than 3,500 years ago, a massive volcanic eruption devastated Thera - modern day Santorini - engulfing the Bronze Age world in ash and fire. Entire landscapes were buried, ash darkened the skies,…

Published on 2 weeks ago

How Greece Shaped Rome with Mary Beard

Episode 580

Professor Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins join Tristan in this episode all about Greece and Rome - the two greatest civilisations of classical antiquity.

How did the Romans borrow, adapt, and sometim…

Published on 2 weeks, 3 days ago

The Sumerians

Episode 579

More than 5,000 years ago, in what is today southern Iraq, one of the world’s first civilisations emerged. A civilisation often credited with the invention of writing, the wheel and cities. The Sumer…

Published on 3 weeks ago

The Sea Peoples

Episode 578

Tristan Hughes sits down with Professor Eric Cline to explore the enigmatic Sea Peoples, often blamed for the catastrophic Bronze Age collapse over 3,000 years ago.

Together they explore surviving sou…

Published on 3 weeks, 3 days ago

Origins of Homo Sapiens

Episode 577

Where do we come from? The origins of modern humans stretch back hundreds of thousands of years, and new discoveries are reshaping how we understand our species’ story. 

In this episode, recorded on l…

Published on 4 weeks ago

Ashurbanipal: The Last Great King of Assyria

Episode 576

Known as the 'King of the World' and the last great king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal bestrode the ancient Mesopotamian world as a warrior but also a scholar, ruling the great Assyrian empire at the heig…

Published on 1 month ago