History Extra podcast
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History Extra podcast
The History Extra podcast brings you gripping stories from the past and fascinating historical conversations with the world's leading historical experts. Produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine, History Extra is a free history podcast, with episodes released six times a week. Subscribe now...
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James Garfield: life of the week
US president James Garfield's life is often overshadowed by his untimely death in 1881, as the second president to be assassinated in office. However,...
A new history of multicultural Britain
As Britain's influence on the world around it grew throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, so too did the world influence Britain – and a key part of...
What should we do with the Nazis? The road to the Nuremberg Trials
At the end of the Second World War, the victorious Allies had to decide the fates of the surviving leaders of a regime that had initiated the bloodies...
Who stole the Tudor crown?
On her deathbed Elizabeth I named the Scottish James VI as her successor, ensuring a smooth transition from the Tudor to Stuart monarchies. That, at l...
The librarian who stole KGB secrets
When an elderly man with a battered suitcase walked into the British embassy in Vilnius in 1992, few could have guessed what he was about to hand over...
Nellie Bly: life of the week
In the late 19th century, when female reporters were largely confined to newspapers' society pages, Nellie Bly's daring investigations and headline-gr...
The improbable alliance that defeated Hitler
To what extent does the course of history turn on the force of individual personalities? It’s a question that looms large when examining the unlikely...
Remember, remember: The legacy of the Gunpowder Plot
'Remember, remember the fifth of November…'. For more than 400 years, the Gunpowder Plot has been etched into Britain’s memory. In the final episode o...
Five partitions that shaped South Asia
If you were to look down at South Asia from space at night, you would see a bright scar stretching more than 2,000 miles. This is the border between I...
Crystal balls & contacting angels: predicting the future in early modern England
Eating the palpitating heart of a mole. Sleeping with a wolf's tooth under your pillow. Communicating with angels through a crystal ball. In the 16th...
Giuseppe Garibaldi: life of the week
He led one of history's most celebrated guerrilla campaigns, showed remarkable political acumen, and drove aristocratic English women wild. Is it any...
A day in the life of a gladiator
If we were to step back in time on to the blood-soaked sand of the Roman gladiatorial arena, what would we uncover about society, power and entertainm...
What if the Gunpowder Plot had succeeded?
We know the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 failed – but what if it hadn’t? What if Guy Fawkes had ignited the gunpowder under parliament, killing the king, no...
Bodies, bones & overflowing churchyards: a history of graveyards
Burying the dead has never been a simple matter. Whether due to elaborate grave goods, unique burial rituals, or public health concerns, burial places...
Myspace and MTV: how will future historians study the 21st century?
From social-media accounts to TV shows and video games, recent decades offer an enormous wealth of material for future historians to explore. But what...
Malcolm X: life of the week
Malcolm X was one of the most influential – and, sometimes, divisive – figures of the civil rights movement in the United States, a political activist...
Ghosts, grief and the paranormal
Why are we so spooked – and yet so fascinated – by things that go bump in the night? And can science really prove that ghouls exist? Alice Vernon talk...
How the Gunpowder Plot unravelled
In the autumn of 1605, Catholic conspirators believed they were about to strike a blow to the heart of the English state – but then a mysterious lette...
Sex and sensationalism: a history of the tabloids
Tabloid journalists often get a bad press. From publishing libellous headlines to hacking celebrities’ phones, recent years have not exactly done much...
11th-century Europe: not just the Norman Conquest
When we think of Europe in the 11th century, one date stands out: 1066. However, as Professor Charles West explains, this was a century of great chang...
William Shakespeare: life of the week
William Shakespeare is one of history’s most famous names – but how much do we really know about the man himself? And how did his family, education an...
Tudor life with Ruth Goodman
What did ordinary Tudors eat and drink on a daily basis? How did they keep themselves clean without baths and showers? And what surprising beliefs did...
Who laid the fuse for the Gunpowder Plot?
In the autumn of 1605, Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes led a desperate band of Catholic gentlemen in one of history's most daring conspiracies. Having s...
Reagan's plan to 'make America great again'
The phrase 'Make America Great Again' is indelibly associated with President Trump – yet a very similar version of the slogan – 'Let's Make America Gr...
How enslaved people fought for freedom across the Atlantic
From armed uprisings in the Caribbean to the hidden power of ritual, song and solidarity, the story of enslaved people’s resistance is far richer and...
Aneurin Bevan: life of the week
Aneurin Bevan's commitment to social justice led to the creation of the National Health Service in 1948 – one of the most ambitious social reforms in...
Bandits & blasphemers: crime in 17th century Scotland
Which crimes were most common in Scotland in the 17th century – and what can those crimes reveal about society at the time? In today's episode, we're...
The Normans: everything you wanted to know
After five years we come to our final 'everything you wanted to know about' episodes. We revisit our first episode where Marc Morris, author of an acc...
How Julius Caesar's funeral drama fuelled the mob
The assassination of Julius Caesar is one of the most infamous plots of the ancient world, but the dictator's death wasn't the only moment in his life...
The dark side of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys is well-known for his brilliantly evocative diary, which gives an unsurpassed insight into daily life in Restoration London. However, it...
Margaret Tudor: life of the week
Margaret Tudor was the daughter of a king, the sister of a king, and the wife of a king. But she was a political power player in her own right, carefu...
Britain's female slaveowners: the heiresses who made fortunes from enslavement
Women's role as slaveowners is often overlooked – but, just like men, they both profited from and maintained the institution of slavery. Speaking to E...
Roman homes: everything you wanted to know
If you could sneak a peek past the front door of a Roman home, what could you expect to find? Why was having a hole in your ceiling a clever feat of e...
Preview: Should historians be celebrities?
Historian, author and broadcaster David Olusoga is among the famous faces to feature on new TV series The Celebrity Traitors, which launches in the UK...
Queer life in Georgian Britain
There were many ways queer people in the Georgian era fought against social and legal restrictions to express their desire and convey their love for o...
Breaking news! How stories spread in early modern Europe
If you lived in 16th-century London, would you have any idea what was happening in Paris, Venice or Frankfurt? Well, yes, according to Joad Raymond Wr...
Robert Peel: life of the week
He established the Metropolitan police, became embroiled in years of bitter disputes over the Corn Laws, and was vilified for his political U-turns. D...
The German Peasants' War: a summer of fire and blood
The German Peasants' War of 1524-5 was the largest popular uprising in western Europe before the French Revolution. Thousands flocked to its cause as...
Art Deco: everything you wanted to know
In the interwar period, a movement emerged that brought together architecture, fashion, and even typography that echoed the hopes, anxieties and ambit...
America in Korea: a failed occupation?
For three quarters of a century, the Korean peninsula has been divided between two very different regimes that are bitterly opposed to each other. But...