Podcast Episodes

1. Wars of the Roses: England Divided

Episode 1531

This is the first episode in a two-part series on the brutal, three-decade-long civil war that tore England in two. Today, we explore the complex allegiances, rivalries, and personalities that made i…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

The Origins of Halloween

Episode 1530

Pumpkins, trick or treating and ghost stories are what we associate with Halloween, but what about turnips, fairies and a fortune-telling cake? Dan and hosts of History Hit’s After Dark podcast Antho…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

The Great Napoleonic Escape

Episode 1529

Lieutenant Charles Hare was a young British naval officer who made an extraordinarily elaborate escape from a French prisoner-of-war camp during the Napoleonic Wars... with the help of his English Te…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

The Hunt for the Endurance Shipwreck

Episode 1528

In 2022 Dan was part of the international expedition that went in search of Shackleton's lost shipwreck Endurance in the Weddell Sea in Antarctica; what they discovered on the sea floor was more extr…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Tom Crean: The Unsung Irish Hero of the Antarctic

Episode 1527

He was one of the last men to see Antarctic Explorer Robert Scott alive and was Shackleton's right-hand man on the Endurance expedition. So why don't more people know the name Tom Crean? He was a ste…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Ernest Shackleton

Episode 1526

Dan charts the life, successes and failures of the charismatic and chaotic Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. In late 1914, Shackleton led 27 men on a voyage to cross the Antarctic. But what shoul…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Scotland & England's Union

Episode 1524

The union between the nations of Great Britain goes back to 1707. On each side of the border, statesmen started to realise that a closer relationship offered solutions to problems both countries were…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Scotland's Disastrous Attempt at Empire

Episode 1523

In the late 17th century, Scotland tried to establish a colony in Panama - and it all went horribly wrong.

In July 1698, a fleet of five ships departed from the Firth of Forth with some 1,200 people o…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Robert the Bruce, King of Scots

Episode 1522

Robert the Bruce is best remembered as a rebel king, and for good reason. He was an unrelenting thorn in the side of any English monarch with ambitions to subdue Scotland. His heroics at the decisive…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Rise of the Medici

Episode 1521

The House of Medici ruthlessly wielded control of Florence for nearly 300 years. Through financial and political machinations, they transformed the city into a cultural powerhouse and the epicentre o…

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago