HistoryExtra podcast

Elizabeth Stuart was beloved by Protestants and Catholics, English and Scots alike. Many clamoured for her to replace her brother, Charles I, on the throne, and one admirer even commissioned a treasonous painting of her wearing the Tudor crown. Nadine Akkerman speaks to Rhiannon Davies about this fascinating and now largely forgotten figure. (Ad) Nadine Akkerman is the author of Elizabeth Stuart,...

Richard Bosworth answers listener questions on the authoritarian ideology that emerged in Italy a century ago How was Mussolini able to seize control in Italy a century ago? What differentiated Italian Fascism from Nazism? And is the term “fascist” bandied around too much today? In the latest in our series answering your questions on history’s biggest subjects, Richard Bosworth speaks to Spencer M...

Dejan Djokic reflects on the brief 1991 war that saw Slovenia secure independence and helped set in motion the bloody collapse of Yugoslavia. In conversation with Rob Attar, he explores the events both as a historian and through his own memories of being a Yugoslav conscript based in Slovenia at the time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices...

From Twelfth cakes to creepy greetings cards and booze-soaked desserts, Annie Gray guides us through festive feasting in the Victorian era. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, for the third episode in our mini-series on Christmas food through history, she also touches on turkey, trifle and whether the Victorians really did “invent Christmas”. (Ad) Annie Gray is the author of At Christmas We Feast: Festiv...

Historian Mark Mazower explains how the Greeks secured an unlikely victory against the Ottoman empire in their 1820s fight for freedom. Speaking to Rob Attar, he also reveals how the dramatic events of two centuries ago would have a profound impact on the future of the European continent. (Ad) Mark Mazower is the author of The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe (Allen Lane, 202...

In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Ellie Cawthorne and Gavin Mortimer chart how the attack unfolded on 7 December 1941, sharing the stories and eyewitness accounts of those involved, from Japanese pilots and US navy personnel to army nurses and top commanders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podc...

John Callow discusses the tragic case of the Bideford witches, the last women in England to be executed for the crime of witchcraft In 1682, three women – Temperance Lloyd, Susannah Edwards and Mary Trembles – became the last in England to be hanged for the crime of witchcraft. John Callow speaks to Kev Lochun about how circumstance and ill-fortune led the so-called “Bideford witches” to the gallo...

As we approach the 1900th anniversary of the building of Hadrian’s Wall, Rob Collins answers listener questions on Britain’s most famous Roman fortification. Speaking to David Musgrove, he tackles the big issues about the boundary’s creation and purpose, as well as looking at everyday life on the wall.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices....

Stephen Walker tells Rhiannon Davies about the history of animals in space, from fruit flies and monkeys to Laika the Soviet space dog  Thousands of animals paved the way for human space travel. But for many of them, it was an incredibly painful – or deadly – experience. Stephen Walker tells Rhiannon Davies about this overlooked chapter of space exploration, from Soviet space dogs strapped to rock...

Taking in glamorous dinner parties and decadent “wine-chocolate”, Annie Graytransports us back to a festive feast from the Georgian era. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, for the second episode in our mini-series on Christmas food through history, she also touches on dangerous parlour games and complaints about Christmas being “too commercial”. (Ad) Annie Gray is the author of At Christmas We Feast: Fe...

Mary Sarotte tells Spencer Mizen about her new book Not One Inch, which reveals how diplomatic missteps after the fall of the Berlin Wall soured US-Russian relations and fuelled the rise of Vladimir Putin. (Ad) Mary Sarotte is the author of Not One Inch: America, Russia and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate (Yale University Press, 2022). Buy it now from Amazon: ​​https://www.amazon.co.uk/Not-O...

In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Steve Twomey speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the immediate run-up to the attack, revealing how inch-perfect Japanese planning and complacent oversights by American military figures combined to leave Pearl Harbor naval base a sitting duck for Japanese bombers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more...

In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Dayna Barnes speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the United States in the years and months leading up to the attack. They discuss the American perspective on the disintegrating relationship with Japan, get to grips with US thinking on the eve of the attack, and ask: why was the American public blindsided by the Japanese raid? Hosted...

Were medieval attitudes to sex really that different from our own? Historian Katherine Harvey speaks to Elinor Evans about the sex lives of ordinary people in the Middle Ages – from how sexuality was governed by ideas about sin, to the “love magic” that was thought to trick people into bed. (Ad) Katherine Harvey is the author of The Fires of Lust: Sex in the Middle Ages (Reaktion Books, 2021). Buy...

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Robert Sackville-West describes attempts to identify the bodies of the dead after the devastating battles of the First World War  Historian Robert Sackville-West describes the searches to identify – and in some cases, return – bodies of the dead after the devastating battles of the First World War: a service that provided important closure for many bereaved families. Speaking with Elinor Evans, he...

From brawn to plum pottage, Annie Gray takes us back to the raucous world of festive feasting in the medieval and Tudor eras. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, for the first episode in our new mini-series on Christmas food through history, she also touches on subversive merrymaking, spectacular dinnertime entertainments and hefty meat pies. (Ad) Annie Gray is the author of At Christmas We Feast: Festiv...

In the first episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Chris Harding speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about Japan in the years running up to December 1941. They discuss the long-running historical factors that edged the country ever closer to war with the United States, and ask: what led Japan to embark on such a risky gamble? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Lear...

Colour has been hugely important to humans through history, with different cultures attaching their own meanings to all the hues of the rainbow. From the ancient societies who venerated purple to the modern political radicals who chose red as the colour of revolution, James Fox speaks to Rhiannon Davies about these fascinating associations.  (Ad) James Fox is the author The World According to Colo...

Psychiatrist and historian George Makari speaks to Jon Bauckham about the origins of the term “xenophobia”, and the ways in which western thinkers have interpreted people’s fear of strangers, from the 19th century to the present day.   (Ad) George Makari is the author of Of Fear and Strangers: A History of Xenophobia (Yale University Press, 2021). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/F...

Christine Kinealy answers listener questions on the devastating famine that struck Ireland in the mid-19th century Christine Kinealy answers listener questions on the causes and consequences of the devastating famine that struck Ireland in the mid-19th century. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, she also discusses whether we should call it a “famine”, the role of aid and migration in the crisis, and if...

Shakespeare has been an obsession of extremist groups across the globe over the centuries. The Nazi Party held him up as a hero, while Osama Bin Laden condemned him as the ultimate symbol of the depraved west. Islam Issa speaks to Rhiannon Davies about the playwright’s tangled relationship with terror. (Ad) Islam Issa is the author of Shakespeare and Terrorism (Routledge, 2021). Buy it now from Am...

Historian Roderick Beaton ranges over 4,000 years of Greek history, from the glories of Mycenae to the life of a modern European nation. In discussion with Rob Attar, he picks out some of the key moments in this journey, including the triumphs of ancient Greece, the conquests of Alexander the Great and the 1820s battle for independence.  (Ad) Roderick Beaton is the author of The Greeks: A Global H...

Peter Stanford speaks to Emily Briffett about his new book, If These Stones Could Talk, which chronicles his journeys around Britain and Ireland’s churches, abbeys, chapels and cathedrals in a quest to understand how religion has defined our past and continues to shape our present.  (Ad) Peter Stanford is the author of If These Stones Could Talk: The History of Christianity in Britain and Ireland...

From the courtesans of Edo Japan and ancient Greece to the mollyhouses of Regency London, Kate Lister speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about her new book Harlots, Whores and Hackabouts, which charts the long, diverse and colourful history of sex work.    (Ad) Kate Lister is the author of Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts: A History of Sex for Sale (Thames & Hudson, 2021). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://...