Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchMatilda of Scotland: the queen behind the veil
Episode 25
Matilda of Scotland, wife of Henry I, did perhaps more than any other figure to bridge the chasm between the Anglo-Saxons and their Norman conquerors…
2 years, 8 months ago
The Boston Tea Party
Episode 24
The Boston Tea Party is often cited as a model of peaceful civil protest. But, as Elinor Evans reveals in today's Long Read, on the 250th anniversary…
2 years, 8 months ago
Race across the Atlantic: 1969's wackiest escapade
Episode 23
In 1969, everyone from Prince Michael of Kent to Billy Butlin competed in a dash between London and New York aboard tandems, sedan chairs and jump je…
2 years, 8 months ago
The A to B of medieval travel
Episode 22
From dodging deceitful street hustlers and menacing bandits to dealing with the looming threat of food poisoning, sea sickness and even death, mediev…
2 years, 8 months ago
The Munich beer hall putsch: a botched coup?
Episode 21
From the mid-1920s, Adolf Hitler saw a dramatic transformation in the eyes of the German public – from the buffoon who had botched a coup, to a true …
2 years, 8 months ago
Cartoon Century: Disney at 100
Episode 20
As the Walt Disney Company celebrates its centenary, it seems a fitting time to reflect on the legacy of the iconic House of Mouse. In this Long Read…
2 years, 9 months ago
The crusade against the odds
Episode 19
Powerful foes, chronic starvation, hostile landscapes – the First Crusade, an 11th-century armed pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem, overcame s…
2 years, 9 months ago
The hellish WW2 battle for Italy
Episode 18
The Allied invasion of Italy in 1943 was envisaged as a swift push on Rome. Yet, as James Holland explains in today’s long read, by the end of the ye…
2 years, 9 months ago
The siege of Calais: a medieval Stalingrad?
Episode 17
Edward III’s siege of Calais was a pivotal moment in the Hundred Years’ War. In today’s long read, Dan Jones argues that it bears comparison with one…
2 years, 10 months ago
Empire on the brink
Episode 16
In September 1923, the British empire reached its maximum territorial extent – a staggering 460 million people lived within its borders. Yet just as …
2 years, 10 months ago