Podcast Episodes

History Behind the Headlines: political memoirs, fuel and access to nature

Episode 2119

In the latest episode of our monthly series charting the past behind the present, Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter explore the history of political memoirs, Britain's changing energy supplies across the …

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Tudor spymaster: the secret machinations of Robert Cecil

Episode 2118

Late Tudor England was a dangerous place, with plots both at home and abroad, and no certainty about who was going to succeed the ageing queen, Elizabeth I. Into this perilous world stepped Robert Ce…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

The Korean War: everything you wanted to know

Episode 2117

On today's Everything You Wanted to Know episode, we're covering the Korean War, exploring how the nation came to be divided in two, what the impact of fighting was on the peninsular's civilian popul…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Roman slavery: a brutal life in the ancient empire

Episode 2116

How many slaves were there in the Roman empire? Were they cruelly treated, or could they sometimes go on to win fame, fortune and freedom? And how often did they – like Spartacus –rebel? Here, in con…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

1066: the battle for England | 4. the long and violent Norman Conquest

Episode 2115

William of Normandy’s victory at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066 was far from the end of the Norman Conquest of England. It took many years, and putting down no small amount of rebellion, for …

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Imperial spectacle: inside Britain's 1924 'Empire Exhibition'

Episode 2114

A century ago, in 1924, the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley opened its doors, receiving as many as 27 million visits over two years. It was a grand declaration of an empire at its territorial he…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

John Milton: life of the week

Episode 2113

Across the 65 years of his life, writer John Milton packed a lot in: poet, polemicist, political operator – engaging with ideas that often challenged the status quo. In today's Life of the Week episo…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Why did people kill for Hitler?

Episode 2112

Why were so many Germans prepared to participate in the crimes of the Third Reich? It's a question that has exercised historians and the wider public for decades, and now, in his new book, Hitler's P…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

The Cathars: everything you wanted to know

Episode 2111

Denounced as heretics by the Catholic church, the Cathars were a offshoot Christian movement which emerged in southern Europe during the 12th century. But what was it about their beliefs that was so …

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Black British History: everything you wanted to know

October is Black History Month here in the UK. But how far back does the story of black people in Britain stretch - and what evidence do we have about their experiences? Speaking to Charlotte Hodgman…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago