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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 for the real stories behind your favourite films, TV shows and period dramas, as well as compelling insights into lesser-known aspects of the past.    We delve into global history stories spanning the ancient world right up to the modern day. You’ll hear deep dives into the lives of famous historical figures like Cleopatra, Anne Boleyn and Winston Churchill, and explorations of intriguing events from the past, such as the Salem witch trials, the battle of Waterloo and D-Day.    Expect fresh takes on history, helping you get to grips with the latest research, as we explore everything from ancient Roman archaeology and Viking mythology to Renaissance royals and Tudor kings and queens.    Our episodes touch on a wide range of historical eras – from the Normans and Saxons to the Stuarts, Victorians and the Regency period. We cover the most popular historical subjects, from the medieval world to the Second World War, but you’ll also hear conversations on lesser-known parts of our past, including black history and women’s history.    Looking at the history behind today’s headlines, we consider the forces that have shaped today’s world, from the imposing empires that dominated continents, to the revolutions that brought them crashing down. We also examine the impact of conflict across the centuries, from the crusades of the Middle Ages and the battles of the ancient Egyptians to World War One, World War Two and the Cold War.     Plus, we uncover the real history behind myths, legends and conspiracy theories, from the medieval murder mystery of the Princes in the Tower, to the assassination of JFK.     Featuring interviews with notable historians including Mary Beard, Tracy Borman, James Holland and Dan Jones, we cover a range of social, political and military history, with the aim to start conversations about some of the most fascinating areas of the past.  Unlock full access to HistoryExtra.com for 6 months for just 99p https://www.historyextra.com/join/

Enjoying a leisurely bike ride

On a long drive through the countryside

King vs parliament: the moment that sparked civil war
Thomas Cromwell: the triumph and tragedy of Henry VIII's right-hand man
Beastly Victorians: preventing animal cruelty in the 19th century
D-Day: Land
A 17th-century scandal & a writer's secret life
Plato: life of the week
Breastfeeding in the Middle Ages
D-Day: Sea
A Soviet road trip through 1930s America
Galileo: life of the week
What was life like as a peasant?
Conspiracy Revisited: The JFK assassination – 95 per cent certain?
The British empire's divisive legacy
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: everything you wanted to know
Dinosaurs: a Victorian obsession
Tiger Tamer | 6. battling against Bovril
WW1's eastern front: everything you wanted to know
Mary Wollstonecraft: life of the week
An obscenity trial that shocked Victorian Britain
Lothar II vs Theutberga: a marriage scandal that shook the ninth century
Tiger Tamer | 4. celebrity pedestrian
A political earthquake: Britain's first Labour government
From Russia to Texas: the search for a Jewish homeland
British Redcoats: everything you wanted to know
The West's attempt to crush Bolshevik Russia
Tiger Tamer | 3. would you let a tiger lick your face?
Mary & George: the real history behind the new drama
History Behind the Headlines: ageing politicians & new names for the London Overground
The man who ran Auschwitz: the real story of The Zone of Interest
Alcatraz: everything you wanted to know
Plague, leprosy & murder: unlocking the secrets of medieval bones
Tiger Tamer | 2. sail, steam & stormy seas
The EU: from Maastricht to Brexit
Rudyard Kipling: life of the week
Winthrop Bell: a Canadian spy who predicted Nazi horrors
Arts & Crafts movement: everything you wanted to know
Stonewall: the 1969 fight for gay rights
The Chinese migrants chasing an American dream
Conspiracy | 4. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
Chivalry: everything you wanted to know
Alexandria: the first modern city
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: everything you wanted to know
Nicholas Winton: the 'British Schindler'
Boston Tea Party | 4. The crackdown
Aztec warfare
History Behind the Headlines: Elections, ‘panda diplomacy’ and the word of the year
Boston Tea Party | 3. The destruction of the tea
Sherlock Holmes: the real history that inspired the detective stories
Life of the week: Queen Victoria
Bannockburn: Robert the Bruce’s greatest victory
Boston Tea Party | 2. The Sons of Liberty
Amazing Grace: a story of salvation and slavery
Life of the week: Amelia Earhart
Nazi Germany: the myth of the innocent bystander
1970s Britain: everything you wanted to know
Caesar | 6. The evil that men do
Netflix's The Crown: history and storytelling
Books and war: from James Bond to leaflet bombing
Medieval manners: social etiquette in the Middle Ages
1950s Britain: everything you wanted to know
The dangerous road to the Bastille
Astronomy history: everything you wanted to know
The dark side of Dickens
The dangers of medieval travel
The Pre-Raphaelites: everything you wanted to know

While doing your laundry