Podcast Episodes

The big questions of the Holocaust

How did the Nazis’ poisonous antisemitic rhetoric eventually culminate in the systematic mass-murder of millions? Speaking to Rachel Dinning back in 2023, historian Laurence Rees charts the course of…

Published on 11 months ago

Happiness: history of an emotion

Episode 2199

The word 'happiness' came into common usage in around the 17th century, but the concept has a much longer history. So how have people conceptualised happiness over time – and how have they sought to …

Published on 11 months, 1 week ago

The 1453 fall of Constantinople: capturing the Byzantine capital

Episode 2198

In 1453, the once grand and formidable city of Constantinople fell to the hands of the Ottoman Turks – bringing over a millennium of Byzantine rule to a dramatic close, and heralding the rise of the …

Published on 11 months, 1 week ago

Inside the mind of the Third Reich

Episode 2197

What drives people to commit atrocities? Few periods in history confront this question as starkly as the rise of the Nazis, whose crimes stand as a chilling testament to humanity’s capacity for darkn…

Published on 11 months, 1 week ago

Sacagawea: life of the week

Episode 2196

Sacagawea is remembered in US history as the Shoshone Native American woman who acted as interpreter to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the early 19th-century mission to chart territory in the Americ…

Published on 11 months, 1 week ago

Women's bodies: an unreliable history

Episode 2195

The history of women's bodies is far from simple. Female anatomy and the ideas surrounding it – from breastfeeding to virginity – still cause contention today. From the surprising original Pandora my…

Published on 11 months, 1 week ago

Ancient Mesopotamia: everything you wanted to know

Episode 2194

Do you know your Sumerians from your Babylonians and your Akkadians? All these civilisations formed part of the story of ancient Mesopotamia, where city states were formed, writing flourished, the wh…

Published on 11 months, 1 week ago

Who moulded Winston Churchill?

Later this week marks 60 years since the death of Winston Churchill, on 24 January 1965. So we thought it would be interesting to bring back this episode with Professor David Reynolds from 2023. In i…

Published on 11 months, 1 week ago

Elizabethan London: a multicultural melting pot

Episode 2193

London today is a bustling, multicultural city. But what about in the past? Emily Briffett spoke to Dr John Gallagher to find out more about the vibrant and exciting melting pot of languages and cult…

Published on 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Strange stories of medieval saints

Episode 2192

What can Saint Augustine tell us about attitudes to grief in the Middle Ages? What made women steer clear of the shrine of Saint Cuthbert? And why did pilgrims bring gifts of wax to the dead saint Wi…

Published on 11 months, 2 weeks ago