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/
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/
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 13, 2023 • 29min
Blindness: a cultural history
As far back as the archaeological record takes us, we can find evidence of blind people. But the experiences of those people – and the ways they were seen by others – have always been hugely shaped by the historical context they lived in. Writer and broadcaster Selina Mills joins Ellie Cawthorne to explore the forces that have affected the lives of blind people through the centuries – from religious ideas and mythical tropes, to Braille and schools for blind children.(Ad) Selina Mills is the author of Life Unseen: A Story of Blindness (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023). Buy it now from Amazon:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Unseen-Blindness-Selina-Mills/dp/1848856903/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ULR6FUNNHV94&keywords=selina+mills&qid=1687263768&s=books&sprefix=selina+mills%2Cstripbooks%2C56&sr=1-1&tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histbotyThe HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
13 snips
Jul 12, 2023 • 44min
Big questions of the Crimean War: aftermath and legacy
From advances in weaponry and warships to the use of telegraphs and photography, the Crimean War produced a whole host of innovations. In the final episode of our three-part series exploring the conflict, Professor Andrew Lambert takes Rachel Dinning through some of the key innovations that came out of the Crimean War. Plus, they consider some of the main misconceptions about the conflict, as well as the parallels with the Russia-Ukraine war today.The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 11, 2023 • 30min
Kate Mosse on pirate women & Huguenot refugees
Writer Kate Mosse shares the historical inspirations behind her latest novel, The Ghost Ship, which takes readers across the high seas from 17th-century France and Amsterdam to the Canary Islands. Speaking to Elinor Evans, she also discusses the real female pirates that inspired her story and her own personal connection to the Huguenot refugees who fled from the French Catholic government during the Wars of Religion.(Ad) Kate Mosse is the author of The Ghost Ship (Pan Macmillan, 2023). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fthe-ghost-ship%2Fkate-mosse%2F2928377183936The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 10, 2023 • 34min
How did medieval people tell the time?
It would be easy to assume that before the invention of the modern clock, people didn’t have a very sophisticated sense of time – they rose with the sun, and went to bed when it got dark. But, according to Gillian Adler and Paul Strohm, medieval society’s timekeeping was, in fact, far more complex. Speaking with Emily Briffett, they delve into medieval ideas about time, from human life cycles to the ages (and end) of the world.(Ad) Gillian Adler and Paul Strohm are the authors of Alle Thyng Hath Tyme: Time and Medieval Life (Reaktion, 2023). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Falle-thyng-hath-tyme%2Fgillian-adler%2Fpaul-strohm%2F9781789146790 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 9, 2023 • 40min
Lost civilisations of the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean coastline is strewn with the remnants of lost civilisations. From Tyre and Carthage, to Ravenna, Syracuse and Antioch, Katherine Pangonis revisits the lengthy, and sometimes legendary, pasts of five historical capitals of the region, and highlights some of the defining moments in their stories. Speaking with Emily Briffett, she also reveals why we have romanticised the fading civilisations of the Mediterranean for so long.(Ad) Katherine Pangonis is the author of Twilight Cities: Lost Capitals of the Mediterranean (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2023). Buy it now from Amazon:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twilight-Cities-Lost-Capitals-Mediterranean/dp/1474614116/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histbotyThe HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History M Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 8, 2023 • 42min
1980s Britain: everything you wanted to know
Lucy Robinson responds to your questions on Britain in the decade of Thatcherism, Live Aid, Bananarama and the rise of the yuppie It was the decade in which the Aids pandemic transformed our relationship with sex and sexuality, MTV transformed the way we consume music, Princess Diana transformed the relationship between royalty and the media and Margaret Thatcher transformed the political landscape. In our latest Everything you wanted to know episode, Spencer Mizen puts listener questions on 1980s Britain to historian and author Lucy Robinson. (Ad) Lucy Robinson is the author of Now That's What I Call a History of the 1980s: Pop Culture and Politics in the Decade That Shaped Modern Britain (Manchester University Press, 2023). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thats-What-Call-History-1980s/dp/1526167255/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histbotyThe HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 6, 2023 • 37min
Tom Holland on Rome’s golden age
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. This was the golden age of Ancient Rome, or “Pax Romana”, where peace and prosperity was said to have prevailed across the Mediterranean world. So, how did the Romans do it? Speaking with Rob Attar, historian, author and podcaster Tom Holland considers just this – from the fall of Nero to the reign of Hadrian.(Ad) Tom Holland is the author of Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age (Little Brown, 2023). Buy it now from Waterstones:http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=164&awinaffid=489797&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fpax%2Ftom-holland%2F9780349146164&clickref=historyextra-social-histboty Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
16 snips
Jul 5, 2023 • 46min
Big questions of the Crimean War: into the Valley of Death
You may be familiar with Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade, which famously – though not entirely accurately – describes the events of the 1854 battle of Balaclava, a key clash in the Crimean War. But how much do you know about the first confrontation along the Danube or the fierce fight to take Sevastopol? In this second episode of this new series charting the key moments in the Crimean War, Professor Andrew Lambert talks to Rachel Dinning about the key battles and encounters that shaped the conflict, as well as the military strategy that informed its outcome.The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 4, 2023 • 47min
Why Britain fell in love with the NHS
Andrew Seaton, author of 'Our NHS: A History of Britain's Best Loved Institution', discusses the creation and survival of the NHS, exploring its early reception and efforts to gain public support. He highlights the role of key political figures and advocates, as well as the institution's adaptability to social changes and the impact of social democracy on its decline.
Jul 3, 2023 • 35min
From mysterious knitting needles to strange silhouettes: recreating historical clothing
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 this? Jane Malcolm-Davies busts some popular myths about historical clothing and unpicks the sources that give us a glimpse into what people really wore in the past. Speaking with Emily Briffett, she discusses the challenges of learning the historical tools of the trade, and offers advice to budding recreators.(Ad) Jane Malcolm-Davies is the co-author of The Typical Tudor: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1351741932/the-typical-tudor-reconstructingThe HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
