Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchTom Holland on Rome’s golden age
Episode 1706
As history shows, ruling a vast empire is no mean feat. But in the second century AD the Romans seemed to be able to manage it with relative ease. Th…
3 years ago
Big questions of the Crimean War: into the Valley of Death
Episode 1705
You may be familiar with Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade, which famously – though not entirely accurately – describes the …
3 years ago
Why Britain fell in love with the NHS
Episode 1704
July 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of Britain’s National Health Service: an institution which has come to occupy a unique place in British life sin…
3 years ago
From mysterious knitting needles to strange silhouettes: recreating historical clothing
Episode 1703
How do you begin to recreate clothing from the past? What are the most tricky historical fashions to get right? And how important is accuracy in all …
3 years ago
Life on Britain’s WW1 home front
Episode 1702
What was it like to be a child on Britain’s First World War home front? Just how effective was Britain in producing the mammoth amount of materials r…
3 years ago
The Franco-Prussian war: everything you wanted to know
Episode 1701
The Franco-Prussian War was a short, if bitter conflict. Prussia would emerge as a clear winner in a matter of months – but the consequences of the c…
3 years ago
How the Age of Revolutions rocked the Royal Navy
Episode 1700
In the late 18th-century, Britain was catapulted into war with Republican France. At the same time, it was also grappling with the tumult of the Age …
3 years ago
Big questions of the Crimean War: the build up
Episode 1699
The Crimean War of 1853 to 1856 saw an alliance led by Britain and France challenge Russian expansion. But why did the fighting break out, and can it…
3 years ago
The Georgian Bank of England: a day in the life
Episode 1698
Just how rich were Georgian bankers? What did they eat for lunch? And could they be described as “virtuous”? Speaking with Rob Attar, Professor Anne …
3 years ago
How germs shaped human history
Episode 1697
As recent history has shown us, human societies can prove surprisingly frail in the face of a tiny, yet powerful force: the microbes that cause infec…
3 years ago