HistoryExtra podcast

On 19 April 1775, American militia and British regulars clashed at Lexington and Concord in what would become the first battles of the Revolutionary War. But, as historian George Goodwin reveals, the significance of the fighting lay as much in how it was reported as in what actually happened. To mark the 250th anniversary of the 'the shot heard around the world', Elinor Evans spoke to him to find...

Cut off from the outside world and with food and other essentials dwindling, it's estimated that upwards of one million people died. Yet throughout this ordeal, a group of indomitable scientists risked their lives to protect the world's first seed bank. Danny Bird speaks to writer Simon Parkin about the Plant Institute's pioneering work and the astonishing fortitude of the men and women who labour...

From Snow White to Sleeping Beauty, the Brothers Grimm are best known for collecting and curating fairy tales. But, as Ann Schmiesing reveals, recording these stories for posterity was only one of their ambitious projects. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, she charts the lives of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, exploring their extremely close relationship, love of folklore, political leanings and attempts to...

When US forces entered Vietnam, the nation's leaders believed they could contain communism and secure victory. Instead, they found themselves trapped in a war that drained resources, divided the country, and ultimately ended in failure. Geoffrey Wawro explains to Elinor Evans how flawed strategies doomed the US campaign from the start, and why Nixon’s secret plan to end the war failed to achieve l...

Emerging from crusading endeavours in the Holy Land, the Teutonic Order was one of great military orders established in the 12th century. Its influence spread far and wide, and its members negotiated with popes and emperors. Speaking to Emily Briffett, Aleks Pluskowski explores how a humble field hospital went on to establish itself as one of the most significant religious corporations of medieval...

Amid the horrors of Auschwitz, a group of female musicians were forced to play for their lives. Author Anne Sebba joins Lauren Good to discuss this women's orchestra, exploring how music was used as an instrument of control, how the players fought for their own survival, and what their fates were after liberation. (Ad) Anne Sebba is the author of The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz: A Story of Surv...

John F Kennedy remains one of America’s most iconic presidents – his life and untimely death wrapped in both mythology and conspiracy. But how much of his legacy is based in reality, and how can his reputation be understood more than 60 years after his presidency ended? Speaking to Elinor Evans, historian Mark White unpacks JFK’s leadership, his glamorous carefully curated image, and the stark con...

She super-charged Mark Antony's rise to power, whipped up gang violence, went to war with Octavian – and may, just may, have abused Cicero's decapitated head with a hairpin. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Jane Draycott explores the life of Fulvia, the extraordinary figure who rewrote the rulebook of what a woman could achieve in the cut-throat world of ancient Roman politics. (Ad) Jane...

Sir Simon Schama is one of the world's leading historians, a bestselling author and a renowned documentary maker. In his latest documentary film, The Road to Auschwitz, he tells the story of the Holocaust, arguing that it was a crime of complicity across Europe. In this episode, Simon explains to David Musgrove what it was like to visit the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau for the fir...

Between the 1870s and the First World War, European colonialists set their sights on the Africa, making territorial land grabs that consumed nearly the entire continent. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, Professor Richard Reid explains how the so-called 'Scramble for Africa' played out, and explores its immense impact on Africa and its peoples. (Ad) Richard Reid is the author of The African Revolution:...

What connects a notorious Chilean dictator with an SS commander who played a key role in the Holocaust? This is the question at the heart of a book by the author and lawyer Philippe Sands, which follows the twin stories of Augusto Pinochet's sensational arrest in London in 1998 and the postwar career of Walter Rauff, who spent many years in Pinochet's Chile. Philippe was joined by Rob Attar to exp...

Trade wars and tariffs have once again been making headlines in recent weeks, as US president Donald Trump's government adopts combative economic policies. But are such approaches really that unusual? Speaking to Matt Elton, Frank Trentmann looks back at centuries of economic warfare – and reveals the historical factors that have sparked it. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind...

In the latest episode of our monthly series, Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter discuss recent headlines about funding cuts to history departments in the UK’s universities - and we hear from Lucy Noakes, president of the Royal Historical Society, with her take on the situation. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...

Debates about whether museum artefacts should be returned to the cultures that made them have made headlines several times in recent years. But historian and author Justin M Jacobs explains to Matt Elton why he believes that calls for these objects to be repatriated often overlook the wishes of the people who made them in the first place. (Ad) Justin M Jacobs is the author of Plunder?: How Museums...

Paris's Belle Époque – or 'Beautiful Era' – conjures up images of cafés, can-can dancers and sunny walks along the River Seine. But was life in the French capital in the late 19th and early 20th-century really as exciting as the scenes painted by Toulouse-Lautrec? Jon Bauckham talks to Dr Mike Rapport about the real history behind the Belle Époque, revealing why there was also a darkness to the 'c...

In 1910, music hall performer Belle Elmore went missing. Her husband Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen claimed Belle had gone to America to visit a dying relative. But before long, Crippen's stories began to unravel and the doctor went on the run, triggering an international manhunt. Hallie Rubenhold re-examines Crippen's crimes in her new book Story of a Murder, and she spoke to Ellie Cawthorne about what...

In the 1970s, as the Troubles divided Northern Ireland, hundreds of armalite guns were sent to the IRA from across the Atlantic. Reporter Ali Watkins follows the smuggling operations of a ragtag group of Irish American gunrunners from Philadelphia in her new book The Next One is for You. She spoke to Ellie Cawthorne about their impact on the conflict over the ocean. (Ad) Ali Watkins is the author...

Thomas Becket is probably medieval England's most famous martyr and saint – yet the circumstances of his life are overshadowed by his infamous feud with King Henry II, and his shocking murder in Canterbury Cathedral one winter's evening in 1170. Emily Briffett speaks to historian and author Michael Staunton to chart how Becket rocketed to power from humble origins, before dramatically switching fr...

Has our focus on the impact of the transatlantic slave trade blinded us to the diversity and complexity of Africa's past? That's one of the arguments at the heart of Luke Pepera's new book Motherland, which spans 500,000 years of the continent's history. Luke speaks to Matt Elton about some of the stories that shine the spotlight back on African people. (Ad) Luke Pepera is the author of Motherland...

Why, in the 1850s, was the excrement of thousands of people being deposited straight into the Thames? How lethal were Victorian London's cholera outbreaks? And why is Joseph Bazalgette one of the most heroic figures in London's history? Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Rosemary Ashton answers the most pressing questions on an infamous pollution event caused by soaring temperatures and hug...

Even if you're not a fan of classical music, chances are you will have heard Handel's Messiah. Going behind the scenes of its creation, Charles King delves into the shifting politics of the Hanoverian court, the sex scandals of London’s West End, and the surprising role of the transatlantic slave trade in financing the arts. Speaking to Elinor Evans, he reveals why, despite the complex circumstanc...

From true crime pamphlets to reports from the scaffold, early modern Britain was gripped by tales of women who killed. But were these cases as common as they seemed, or was something else at play? Speaking to Lauren Good, historian Blessin Adams explores the obsession with female murderers in this period, and what this tells us about historical attitudes to gender, justice and power. (Ad) Blessin...

While the Suffragettes were fighting to win the vote, over in Germany, Rosa Luxemburg was focused on overthrowing the entire system. A committed Marxist revolutionary and a fervent advocate of internationalism, Luxemburg believed that true freedom lay beyond ‘bourgeois democracy’. Her sharp intellect and uncompromising stance made her a formidable force in the politics of early-20th century Europe...

The histories of religious reformations across the globe have largely focused on men. But women were also integral to these major transformations. Speaking with Emily Briffett, historian Merry Wiesner-Hanks explains how early modern women strove to shape the world around them – as wives, mothers, missionaries, mystics and migrants. (Ad) Merry Wiesner-Hanks is the author of Women and the Reformatio...

What was history's worst furnishing trend? Why, in 1953, were you more likely to own a television than a fridge? And how can you learn more about the history of your own house? Deborah Sugg Ryan joins Ellie Cawthorne to talk about the history of British homes, taking listeners on a whistle-stop tour through garden gnomes, deadly gas irons, dodgy DIY and carpeted bathrooms. (Ad) Deborah Sugg Ryan i...