History Uncensored

The Strait of Hormuz is a strip of water, a few miles wide, through which passes enough energy to shake the whole world. It's one of the most geopolitically charged waterways on Earth, and this is not an accident of the present. It is the result of strategic geography that has channelled trade, empire and coercion for centuries. Bianca Nobilo gives us a quick history... Learn more about your ad ch...

Bianca Nobilo dives into the compelling history of the American Mafia, speaking to former mob boss Michael Franzese and more. Who were the first real gangs of New York? How deeply involved in American politics - and assassinations was the Mafia? And what did it feel like to watch your criminal empire crumble from the inside? Behind the suits and swagger were rackets, intimidation and victims - lis...

Friday the 13th is considered unlucky by many - but why? There’s at least one every year, with the next one coming up this week and the calendar date causes people to skip travels, avoid important business deals and generally feel a sense of unease. It’s easy to assume it comes from ancient superstition - but this isn’t actually the case. History Uncensored’s Bianca Nobilo explains more… Learn mor...

Iran has been governed by the Islamic Republic for more than four decades, with the regime suppressing fundamental rights and killing thousands of Iranian people in the last few months alone. Resistance to the system has repeatedly erupted - from student uprisings, to reform movements, to mass protests led by women and young people. So why hasn’t it fallen? History Uncensored's Bianca Nobilo discu...

If you want to understand world history, regional, Middle Eastern politics, and our world's broader contest between democracy and autocracy, you have to understand Iran. It is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations and the first ancient superpower, the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus, a state that has been repeatedly conquered by Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, yet its strong national identity r...

Kings once ruled by divine right... but now royals can be arrested by Thames Valley Police. But how did we get here? Bianca Nobilo gives us 1,000 years of royal scandal in just three minutes, before speaking to royal author Robert Hardman to discuss whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor can be removed from the line of succession and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc...

How hard is it really to depose a Prime Minister? Can they be impeached like a US president? And can a monarch remove a PM? History Uncensored's Bianca Nobilo talks us through the ways in which to remove a leader in the UK - drawing on past examples of when a bid to oust someone has been successful... and when it has not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An entire colony of 100 people gone - leaving a single word carved into wood. A man who parachuted from a plane into a storm, never to be seen again. A ship found sailing across the Atlantic, missing all of its passengers. All of them vanished, forever. Bianca Nobilo talks us through the five most mysterious disappearances - and explains how although they may be unsolved, there is still new eviden...

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct while in public office on today, his 66th birthday. It's possibly the biggest royal scandal of our time - but there have, of course, been many throughout history. Bianca Nobilo speaks to royal author Tom Bower to discuss what today might mean for the former prince - and for the future of the monarchy as a whole. Learn more abo...

Award-winning historian and best-selling author William Dalrymple joins History Uncensored host Bianca Nobilo to discuss life in India, the hidden cause of the American Revolution, ancient superpowers ... and the mystery of a deceased cockatoo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Olympics were not always a celebration of peace and unity. In the past, they were weaponised by dictators and marred by violence and corruption. They have however always been a recurring instrument of power, identity, and spectacle. Bianca Nobilo takes us on a journey from the ancient games to how the Olympics became a Cold War battlefield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

Following her deep-dive in our Samurai Uncensored episode, Bianca Nobilo finds out more about what the Japanese warriors were really like from specialist Dr Jonathan Lopez-Vera. Many of us have a preconceived notion of the samurai, thanks to the depiction of them in film and video games - but the truth is actually much different from the myth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices...

The myth of the samurai slices through the fog of history. The elite warriors and masters of the sword who are bound to live and die with honour are shrouded in myth. Where did the samurai actually come from? What did they really live by - and what was invented later? And were women ever part of the warrior class - or is that pure legend? Bianca Nobilo talks us through the history of the legendary...

Deepfakes nudes have moved from fringe experiment to mass phenomenon. The creation and distribution of tampered-with images has affected hundreds of thousands of people, overwhelmingly women, without their consent. It's a problem that's only worsening today with the growth of AI - and history explains why this behaviour is happening. Bianca Nobilo delves into the past of deepfakes and nude images...

When President Trump first expressed interest in acquiring Greenland in 2019, the world was incredulous - but did you know he wasn’t the first? History Uncensored's Bianca Nobilo talks us through a brief history of world’s largest island… Deeper reading/ listening from Bianca: “I recommend ‘The Future History of the Arctic’ by Charles Emerson and ‘The Arctic: What Everyone Needs to Know’ by Klaus...

Bianca Nobilo uncovers the history of vampires, from the village in the 1700s who dug up their dead to make a grisly discovery, to how the bloodsuckers have been presented in film and literature, taking them from monsters to sex symbols. Plus, what does it take to be a modern-day vampire? Bianca speaks to Leibniz Institute research associate, Peter Kreuter, Prof Roger Luckhurst, who is editor of T...

Bianca Nobilo delves into the wonderfully wicked world of magic, uncovering the real life wizards in Renaissance Europe, Isaac Newton’s secret search for the Philosopher’s Stone and more. Guests include author Rachel Morris, who tells the story of the golden age of alchemists, including John Dee, and Professor William R Newman, who has written what many consider to be the definitive work on Isaac...

Bianca Nobilo delves into the Nuremberg Trials of the 1940s, which saw high-ranking Nazi officers charged and punished for war crimes and crimes against peace and humanity. She dares to face the uncomfortable questions, such as: were the people who committed such atrocities 'normal' - and in some cases, even charismatic? Succession star Brian Cox, who depicted Hermann Göring in the 2000 series Nur...