Podcast Episodes

Trailblazers and troublemakers: women who made French history

Episode 2494

Have women been relegated to the footnotes of French history? Katherine Pangonis – whose latest book is A History of France in 21 Women – tells Charl…

2 weeks ago

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Vladimir Lenin: life of the week

Episode 2493

Few people had as much impact on the course of the 20th century as Vladimir Lenin – from his years as an émigré across the capitals of western Europe…

2 weeks, 1 day ago

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Why Britons rejected fascism in the 1930s

Episode 2492

The 1920s and 30s were golden decades for extremism. Across Europe, dictators including Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini goose-stepped their way into pow…

2 weeks, 2 days ago

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Young Elizabeth I: the making of a queen

Episode 2491

Elizabeth I is one of history's most iconic monarchs, but her path to the throne was anything but secure. In this first episode of our four-part Sund…

2 weeks, 3 days ago

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A 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…

2 weeks, 5 days ago

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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. …

3 weeks ago

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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…

3 weeks, 1 day ago

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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…

3 weeks, 2 days ago

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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?…

3 weeks, 3 days ago

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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…

3 weeks, 5 days ago

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