Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchA poetic history of England
Episode 2490
How can you do justice to the story of 1,300 years of English history? Through verse, according to cultural historian Catherine Clarke – whose latest…
4 months, 2 weeks ago
The hidden history behind Mount Rushmore
Episode 2489
Mount Rushmore is one of the most iconic images in US history – but its story is far more complex and controversial than that of a simple sculpture. …
4 months, 2 weeks ago
Juana Inés de la Cruz: life of the week
Episode 2488
She led “a life that really, in many ways, shouldn't have been possible”. So says historian Paul Gillingham of Juana Inés de la Cruz. This 17th-centu…
4 months, 2 weeks ago
The forgotten wars that redefined Europe
Episode 2487
While the crusades raged across the Holy Land in the southern Levant, the kingdoms of central and northern Europe were engaged in their own battle to…
4 months, 2 weeks ago
Does Magna Carta matter today?
Episode 2486
Politicians invoke it, activists wield it, and legal thinkers debate what it can offer the modern world. But what does Magna Carta really mean today?…
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Slavery in the Islamic world
Episode 2485
Slavery in the Islamic world has a diverse and controversial history. Speaking to Emily Briffett, historian and journalist Justin Marozzi explores so…
4 months, 3 weeks ago
The real women behind Europe's greatest legends
Episode 2484
National icons aren’t born – they’re engineered. But how were historical figures such as Joan of Arc and Isabella of Castile transformed into politic…
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Thomas Edison: life of the week
Episode 2483
Widely remembered as the ultimate American inventor, Edison’s greatest talent may have been for self-promotion. In this episode, historian Iwan Morus…
4 months, 4 weeks ago
Following the footsteps of a WW2 prisoner of war
Episode 2482
Captured in Libya, imprisoned in Italy, and twice an escapee: historian Malcolm Gaskill's great-uncle Ralph's experiences of the Second World War wer…
4 months, 4 weeks ago
Magna Carta: why didn't King John keep his word?
Episode 2481
As King John was poised to press his seal into the wax of a document whose impact would reverberate for centuries, did he understand the ramification…
5 months ago