Dan Snow's History Hit
History Hit
Historian Dan Snow journeys across the globe to tell the stories of history's defining moments. From the Colosseum in Rome to the Great Wall of China, the battlefields of Waterloo to the Tomb of Tutankhamun, join Dan as he explores the how and why of the greatest monuments, battles, heroes, villains and events that have shaped our world.New episodes on Mondays and Thursdays with bonus subscriber only episodes every other Friday.You can get in touch with us at ds.hh@historyhit.comA podcast by History Hit, the world's best history channel and creators of award-winning podcasts The Ancients, Gone Medieval, and Betwixt the Sheets.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
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Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 14, 2021 • 29min
Written Constitutions with Linda Colley
On the podcast today we have the legendary Linda Colley to talk all about her new book examining the phenomenon of written constitutions. From Corsica in 1755 onwards via the United States and into the modern world constitutions represent an attempt by people to write down and codify the laws that govern a state. We discuss how these important documents are, and continue to be, a powerful symbol of statehood; how they represent the cultures and literature of the time and how their increasing importance from the eighteenth century onwards is intimately connected with the gigantic new forms of warfare that arise in the period.
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Mar 12, 2021 • 23min
Vikings in America
The Vikings were one of the great exploring peoples of the past. They travelled east along the rivers to the Silk Road, they explored west across the seas to the United Kingdom, they settled Iceland and Greenland and famously reached North America. L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada has been identified as a Viking site, but it seems that this was only a staging post for longer journey's but where they were headed beyond this point we don't know. This leaves open the tantalising possibility of finding further Viking settlement in North America. Gordon Campbell, Emeritus Professor and Fellow in Renaissance Studies at the University of Leicester joins me on the podcast to discuss the Viking relationship with North America and whether we might one day find a missing settlement.
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Mar 11, 2021 • 21min
History of Homelessness
Throughout history homelessness has been given many names vagrancy, vagabonding, tramping. Indeed, homeless people have been seen in different lights. Sometimes portrayed as romantic heroes maintaining their freedom to roam and refusing to accept the yoke of a capitalist, settled society but also as an existential threat to order and property. I spoke to Professor of Contemporary British History Nick Crowson in this episode of the podcast who has spent much of his career studying homelessness. We explored how homelessness has been seen throughout history, his efforts to find out more about the individuals involved, how the homeless are labelled by the legal system here in the UK and how the 1824 Vagrancy Act remains in force.
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Mar 10, 2021 • 33min
When We Nearly Nuked the Moon
Vince Houghton joins me on the podcast today to talk about some of the weirdest and craziest ideas put forward during the twentieth century. We're talking exploding bats, sonic cats, aircraft carriers made of icebergs and detonating a nuclear missile on the moon just to show that you could do it! This is a really fun episode and as you'll hear many of these ideas came closer to becoming reality than you might think. Vince Houghton is the historian and curator of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. He also is the host and creative director of the Museum's podcast, SpyCast, which reaches a national and international audience of over 2.5 million listeners each year.
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Mar 9, 2021 • 42min
Michael Palin: Erebus and Terror
In this archive episode, Dan Snow wrangles with a Python! He talks to comedy legend Michael Palin about his book, Erebus The Story of a Ship. The book tells the devastating true story of the Franklin expeditions to find the Northwest Passage, and how their history only slowly came to light.
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Mar 8, 2021 • 32min
On This Day She
To help celebrate International Women's Day I am joined on the podcast by Tania Hershman, Ailsa Holland and Jo Bell founders of On This Day She. Women have often been deliberately written out of history with their accomplishments been credited to men. On This Day She sets out to redress this imbalance and give voice to women, from all different backgrounds, that have been left out of history. It includes the good, the bad and everything in-between with both well-known women as well as those you may never have heard of. It's a fascinating and brilliant project that shines a light on the contribution women have made to history and in this episode, we talk all about their new On This Day book.Find their work @OnThisDayShe
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Mar 7, 2021 • 21min
Eddie the Eagle
I am joined by an absolute legend on the podcast today; Eddie the Eagle. He became an overnight sensation during the 1988 Winter Olympics as the first person to represent Great Britain in ski jumping since 1928. Although he finished last in both the 70 metres and the 90 metres he became a worldwide phenomenon due to his positive attitude and the extraordinary story of how he reached the games. He is one of the most zen people I have had the pleasure of interviewing and is just as happy plastering as appearing in the public eye. In this episode, we talk all about his Olympic adventure and Eddie shares with us some of his life wisdom.
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Mar 6, 2021 • 41min
The British Landscape: 12,000 years of history
Nicholas Crane is a geographer, explorer, writer and broadcaster. He has written and presented four notable television series for BBC Two: Coast, Great British Journeys, Map Man and Town. The Making Of The British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present is out now.
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Mar 5, 2021 • 21min
The Renaissance
Today on the podcast we're going to talk all about the Renaissance. We have all heard of it as a reawakening, a rebirth of European culture but what truly was it and why was it so important and are we going through our own renaissance now? I wanted to really get under the skin of the Renaissance and find out what exactly happened in Italy in the 15th and 16th century. Joining me to do just that is Mary Hollingsworth who has written a book called Princes of the Renaissance about the people who became the artistic patrons in that period.
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Mar 4, 2021 • 26min
What's Going on in Myanmar?
Myanmar is currently experiencing one of its worst-ever periods of violence and civil unrest as the population protests against the recent military coup. Many protesters have been killed and injured and Aung San Suu Kyi is once again under house arrest. To help explain what is happening in Myanmar and put the events into context I am joined on the podcast by the filmmaker Alex Bescoby, who has spent much of his adult life working and living in Myanmar. We explore this complex issue and how the current unrest is related to its history, colonialism, the country's partition in 1947 as well as the subsequent coups, revolutions and more recently genocide that has followed.
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