-
35:17Episode 1
The Aftermath of World War One
Episode 1
Today Dan is joined by Margaret MacMillan, professor at St. Antony's College at Oxford University and author of Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War. Together they discuss the effects WWI had on the world, and how Europe began to rebuild in the years that fol...
-
23:15Episode 2
D-Day Veteran Interviews: WarGen
Episode 2
A series of four D-Day veteran interviews from WarGen - an online repository of oral history from the people who lived through World War Two. Short versions of these interviews with Arthur Davis, Ken Stone, Harry Appleton and Jack Bracewell also feature in our documentary D-Day: As It Happened.
-
1:38:58Episode 3
My Life and World War Two
Episode 3
Happy Birthday Victor Gregg - he has turned 100 this week. Victor volunteered to join the army before the Second World War and he fought all the way through - from clashes with the Italians in North Africa in 1940 to being captured 75 years ago this autumn at Arnhem. He was a Prisoner of War in D...
-
They Shall Not Grow Old: In Conversation with Peter Jackson
Episode 4
They Shall Not Grow Old is a remarkable new documentary made by Peter Jackson. The Oscar-winning director has restored and colourised World War One footage from the Imperial War Museum, adding a soundtrack with original audio and transforming the entire project into 3D. In doing so, he has create...
-
25:54Episode 5
Sam Mendes on 1917
Episode 5
1917 is a new film directed by Golden Globe winning film maker Sir Sam Mendes. Set in early 1917, at the height of the First World War on the Western Front, Mendes uses the backdrop of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line as the stage for telling a story inspired by the memories of Alfred Me...
-
29:44Episode 6
Ottoman Empire with Kate Fleet
Episode 6
The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across into Arabia and the north coast of Africa, was home to one of the most extraordinary empires in history: the Ottoman Empire. Along its routes flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. In existence for 600 years, it also saw the swe...
-
37:40Episode 7
Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudors
Episode 7
Nicola Tallis comes on the show to talk about the extraordinary Margaret Beaufort: 'Mother of the Tudors' and the ancestor of all subsequent royals.
-
Niall Ferguson on Social Networks Throughout History
Episode 8
Most history is hierarchical: it’s about popes, presidents and prime ministers. A very small section of society has wielded very great power. But what if that’s simply because they are responsible for creating the historical archives? What if we are missing out on understanding equally powerful b...
-
33:55Episode 9
How the Earth Shaped Human History
Episode 9
Great leaders? Industrial change? Revolutions? If you thought these were the things that shaped history, think again. Back by popular demand, Lewis Dartnell returns to the show. He explains how modern political and economic patterns correlate with events which happened not decades or centuries ag...
-
European Prosperity in the 19th Century with Orlando Figes
Episode 10
Orlando Figes talks to Dan about social and technological developments and their links with cultural changes back in the 19th century.
-
11:34Episode 11
F-35 Simulator
Episode 11
The F-35 is the latest plane to join the ranks of the RAF. What is so special about it is that it is a single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed for many missions with advanced, integrated sensors built into every aircraft. Missions that were traditionally performed by small numbers of...
-
25:34Episode 12
A Strange Bit of History
Episode 12
We were delighted to have comedy royalty on the podcast. Omid Djalili talked to me about one of his earliest stage creations, first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1993. Over the next four years it was performed 109 times in 10 different countries. The backdrop of this epic storytel...
-
30:14Episode 13
Untold Stories of World War One
Episode 13
Dan Snow introduces four projects funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council over the last four years, highlighing underexplored aspects of First World War history, from German wartime photography to miltary training in Northern Ireland.
-
50:45Episode 14
A History of Unbelief
Episode 14
Religious belief looks more precarious in the modern world than ever before. But is that the truth? Dan Snow explores the role of unbelievers throughout history, to discover if we're uniquely unbelieving now, or whether there have always been those who wouldn't believe. This project was made poss...
-
20:01Episode 15
A History of the Oceans
Episode 15
We are a land animal. But millions of us have taken to the sea to live, fight, travel, eat, escape and seek fame and fortune. I am obsessed with the sea. On how humans have built ever more efficient and capable ships to exploit its riches and opportunities. This is an conversation I’ve been longi...
-
Uncharted Heights: Leaving the Planet with Dallas Campbell
Episode 16
Dallas Campbell talks to Dan about the secret history of the Space Race, reveals the truth about the moon landings and examines mankind's insatiable, eternal drive to reach new worlds.
-
19:21Episode 17
Vampires with Richard Sugg
Episode 17
Richard Sugg, author of a new book on real vampires, talks Dan through the weird world of supernatural bloodsuckers. Myths of Vampires have their roots in the condition of sleep paralysis and popular Enlightenment literature while being distinct to certain countries and cultures.
-
32:20Episode 18
Tony Blair on Political Power
Episode 18
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was also the longest serving Labour Prime Minister, spoke to Dan about the nature of political power - within party politics, government policy and Britain's role in the world stage. He also discusses the major challenges Britain faces in a changing world ...
-
36:47Episode 19
Tom Holland on the Birth of Islam
Episode 19
Historian Tom Holland shares his fascination at how the events of ancient history can resonate in the modern world. The author of Islam: The Untold Story talks to Dan Snow about the birth of this rich and sophisticated civilisation, tracing its history through the centuries, and its interaction a...
-
28:13Episode 20
The History of Westminster Abbey
Episode 20
Sir David Cannadine shows Dan around the iconic Westminster Abbey, in the heart of London. With an unrivalled arrange of monuments - ranging from grand royal tombs to the grave of The Unknown Warrior - and spectacular architecture spanning nearly 1,000 years, join the two historians as they explo...
-
15:34Episode 21
Saving Timbuktu's Manuscripts
Episode 21
For centuries the city of Timbuktu was famed as a golden metropolis situated on the southern fringes of the Sahara; tales of its immense wealth and its reputation as a key centre of learning obsessed travellers and adventurers for many hundreds of years. Timbuktu certainly has one of the most ill...
-
27:54Episode 22
Modern Spain
Episode 22
Sir Paul Preston CBE comes on the show to discuss Spain's modern history and explain how the stripping away of its empire in the early 19th century had such a catastrophic impact on the country.
-
45:45Episode 23
Henry VIII
Episode 23
In today's episode, Dan is joined by fellow history presenter Suzannah Lipscomb to discuss the history of Henry VIII and the impact he had on Britain over the years.
-
27:05Episode 24
The Mayans
Episode 24
In today's episode Dan is joined by David Freidel, often regarded as the real life Indiana Jones, to talk through the history of the Mayans and some of his own discoveries in that area.