HistoryExtra podcast
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The HistoryExtra podcast brings you gripping stories from the past and fascinating historical conversations with the world's leading historical experts.
HistoryExtra is a free history podcast, with episodes released six times a week. Subscribe now for the real stories behind your favourite films, TV shows and period dramas, as well as compelling insights into lesser-known aspects of the past.
We delve into global history stories spanning the ancient world right up to the modern day. You’ll hear deep dives into the lives of famous historical figures like Cleopatra, Anne Boleyn and Winston Churchill, and explorations of intriguing events from the past, such as the Salem witch trials, the battle of Waterloo and D-Day.
Expect fresh takes on history, helping you get to grips with the latest research, as we explore everything from ancient Roman archaeology and Viking mythology to Renaissance royals and Tudor kings and queens.
Our episodes touch on a wide range of historical eras – from the Normans and Saxons to the Stuarts, Victorians and the Regency period. We cover the most popular historical subjects, from the medieval world to the Second World War, but you’ll also hear conversations on lesser-known parts of our past, including black history and women’s history.
Looking at the history behind today’s headlines, we consider the forces that have shaped today’s world, from the imposing empires that dominated continents, to the revolutions that brought them crashing down. We also examine the impact of conflict across the centuries, from the crusades of the Middle Ages and the battles of the ancient Egyptians to World War One, World War Two and the Cold War.
Plus, we uncover the real history behind myths, legends and conspiracy theories, from the medieval murder mystery of the Princes in the Tower, to the assassination of JFK.
Featuring interviews with notable historians including Mary Beard, Tracy Borman, James Holland and Dan Jones, we cover a range of social, political and military history, with the aim to start conversations about some of the most fascinating areas of the past.
Unlock full access to HistoryExtra.com for 6 months for just 99p https://www.historyextra.com/join/
HistoryExtra is a free history podcast, with episodes released six times a week. Subscribe now for the real stories behind your favourite films, TV shows and period dramas, as well as compelling insights into lesser-known aspects of the past.
We delve into global history stories spanning the ancient world right up to the modern day. You’ll hear deep dives into the lives of famous historical figures like Cleopatra, Anne Boleyn and Winston Churchill, and explorations of intriguing events from the past, such as the Salem witch trials, the battle of Waterloo and D-Day.
Expect fresh takes on history, helping you get to grips with the latest research, as we explore everything from ancient Roman archaeology and Viking mythology to Renaissance royals and Tudor kings and queens.
Our episodes touch on a wide range of historical eras – from the Normans and Saxons to the Stuarts, Victorians and the Regency period. We cover the most popular historical subjects, from the medieval world to the Second World War, but you’ll also hear conversations on lesser-known parts of our past, including black history and women’s history.
Looking at the history behind today’s headlines, we consider the forces that have shaped today’s world, from the imposing empires that dominated continents, to the revolutions that brought them crashing down. We also examine the impact of conflict across the centuries, from the crusades of the Middle Ages and the battles of the ancient Egyptians to World War One, World War Two and the Cold War.
Plus, we uncover the real history behind myths, legends and conspiracy theories, from the medieval murder mystery of the Princes in the Tower, to the assassination of JFK.
Featuring interviews with notable historians including Mary Beard, Tracy Borman, James Holland and Dan Jones, we cover a range of social, political and military history, with the aim to start conversations about some of the most fascinating areas of the past.
Unlock full access to HistoryExtra.com for 6 months for just 99p https://www.historyextra.com/join/
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 20, 2026 • 40min
Britain and the looted African gold
Barnaby Phillips, historian and author of The African Kingdom of Gold, explores the 19th-century Ashanti kingdom and the fate of its looted gold. He discusses Ashanti craftsmanship, the 1873–74 British campaign and palace plunder. The conversation follows long restitution efforts, shifting international momentum and the 2024 homecoming of sacred regalia.
17 snips
Mar 18, 2026 • 48min
The devastating Jewish revolt against the Roman empire
Barry Strauss, Cornell historian and author of Jews vs. Rome, brings ancient warfare and politics to life. He traces the sparks and battles of the Great Revolt, the siege and destruction of the Second Temple, rebel strategies and fatal divisions. He also explores Rome’s harsh reprisals, the long aftermath and how Jewish identity endured.
Mar 17, 2026 • 1h 6min
Culture and conflict: a historical tour of Dublin
Gillian O'Brien, historian of Irish history and Dublin's past, guides a lively tour of the city's turbulent and cultural history. She traces Viking roots, Norman power shifts, and the Pale's legacy. She sketches Georgian grandeur beside tenement poverty, famine effects, nationalist struggles, civil war scars, and modern Celtic Tiger reinvention. She ends with top sites and seaside tips.
9 snips
Mar 16, 2026 • 44min
How Rasputin helped doom the Romanovs
Antony Beevor, bestselling historian of 20th-century warfare, probes the life of Grigori Rasputin from Siberian peasant to court power broker. He explores Rasputin’s magnetic contradictions, his hold over Nicholas II and Alexandra, the scandals and scandals’ political ripple effects, and the chaotic assassination that symbolised a collapsing regime.
8 snips
Mar 15, 2026 • 35min
Elizabeth I: a woman in a man’s world
Nicola Tallis, historian and Tudor specialist, illuminates Elizabeth I’s tumultuous early reign. She describes the coronation spectacle and the urgent work of stabilizing a divided, anxious nation. She outlines questions of legitimacy, the politics of marriage negotiations, key advisors like Cecil and Dudley, and how Elizabeth crafted the Virgin Queen persona to secure authority.
6 snips
Mar 13, 2026 • 36min
Life on the mean streets of 19th-century London
Jacqueline Riding, historian of British life and author of Hard Streets, explores 19th-century Lambeth and Walworth through the lens of Charlie Chaplin and his neighbors. She traces rural-to-urban migration, the realities of poor working-class living, gendered labor and survival strategies. Short personal stories and street entertainments bring the grit and small joys of hard streets to life.
Mar 11, 2026 • 35min
Trailblazers and troublemakers: women who made French history
Katherine Pangonis, a medieval historian and author of A History of France in 21 Women, reframes French history through overlooked women. She explains why women were sidelined, how she picked 21 illuminating lives, and spotlights figures from Christine de Pizan to Josephine Baker. The conversation also covers sources, gender expression, and the tricky legacies of celebrated women.
24 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 1h 1min
Vladimir Lenin: life of the week
Lara Douds, historian and author who studies Lenin’s government, explores Lenin’s radical shift from émigré intellectual to revolutionary leader. Short takes cover his formative traumas, turn to Marxism, key texts and party tactics. The conversation moves through the 1917 return, state-building, civil war measures, the NEP, his declining health and the contested legacy that endures today.
14 snips
Mar 9, 2026 • 31min
Why Britons rejected fascism in the 1930s
Alwyn Turner, senior lecturer and author on 20th-century Britain, offers lively analysis of why Britain avoided 1930s fascism. He spotlights improving living standards and cheap leisure, grassroots groups like the Women’s Institute, the BBC and film neutrality, the stabilising role of monarchy, and cultural touchstones such as the Lambeth Walk. Short, vivid takes on how everyday life undercut extremism.
Mar 8, 2026 • 35min
Young Elizabeth I: the making of a queen
Dr Nicola Tallis, historian and author of 16th-century English history, explores Elizabeth I’s turbulent childhood and family politics. Short scenes cover her fall from succession after Anne Boleyn’s execution, the influence of Catherine Parr, her education and talents, tense ties with siblings, imprisonment and near-execution, and the fraught road that led her to the throne.
