It is one of history’s most compelling cold cases. What happened to the Ninth Legion, a crack unit of 5,000 Roman soldiers who vanished from the historical record without a trace?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Roman historian Dr Simon Elliott to investigate the fate of the legion that helped conq...

The story goes that in 1895 Bridget Cleary was burned to death by her husband who believed she was a 'changeling' fairy.

In today's episode, Anthony and Maddy interrogate the stories we've been told about this murder in rural Ireland and if an interesting story of supernatural belief has gotten...

Dan Snow investigates the real history of the Illuminati.

Obviously, a secret sect doesn't control global events - despite what the internet says. But the myth of a shadowy cabal of elites grew out of a very real secret order, and one that went extinct within a decade. So what is the true story ...

What happened to King Tut's 'Little Tut' during mummification? The rumour is that he took a hard one to the afterlife, but what can we know after several millennia and a very rough excavation?

Dr Campbell Price came into the studio to bust a few myths about the boy Pharaoh. But not to worry, for...

Before Boudicca, another British leader brought the Roman war machine to a grinding halt. Meet Caratacus; the cunning King of the Britons who spent seven years outmaneuvering the empire.

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Miles Russell to uncover the forgotten story of this charismatic guerrilla fi...

You've heard of the witch trials, but have you heard of the werewolf trials?!

This fascinating history takes us to back to the 16th and 17th centuries, when panic spread through villages in mainland Europe leading to a number of people being tried and executed as werewolves.

What evidence did ...

Henry VIII is dead, and England has replaced him with a boy king. But the one really pulling the strings of power behind the young and inexperienced Edward VI is one of Tudor England’s most formidable power players: John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.

Remembered by his enemies as the ‘Wicked Du...

When the asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, one remarkable avian survivor traded the skies for the sea. Tristan Hughes and paleontologist Dr. Steve Brusatte explore how prehistoric penguins emerged on ancient Zealandia, lost their flight and grew into colossal apex predators. How did these giant o...

Did the Nazis run a eugenicist breeding program? How did they encourage larger families? And what was their surprising angle on extramarital pregnancies?

In essence, what was the Lebensborn policy?

Taking us through Nazi family policy today is Lisa Pine. Lisa is Fellow of the Institute of Histo...

How much can we really know about the historical Jesus? The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have shaped Christianity for nearly 2,000 years, but they were written decades after the events they describe. So how should we treat them as historical sources?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Profes...

In 1845 two Royal Navy ships, HMS Terror & HMS Erebus, departed Britain on an expedition into the Arctic. Along their ill-fated icy expedition, they disappeared almost completely, becoming one of history's greatest maritime mysteries…

In this episode, Anthony and Maddy follow the trail of clues ...

To many she's known as Lady Jane Grey, but history should remember her as Queen Jane I.

She was only queen for 9 days in 1553, but this made her the first ever queen of England when she was just 16.

What happened in her short life that made her suddenly the most powerful woman in England? How d...

They called her a treasonous nymphomaniac who bankrupted France for diamonds and cake. The revolutionaries didn't just execute Marie Antoinette - they waged a brutal smear campaign to ruin her first. But what if almost everything you’ve been told about 'Madame Déficit' is a lie? From fake royal s...

They called her a treasonous nymphomaniac who bankrupted France for diamonds and cake. The revolutionaries didn't just execute Marie Antoinette - they waged a brutal smear campaign to ruin her first. But what if almost everything you’ve been told about 'Madame Déficit' is a lie? From fake royal s...

Marie Antoinette famously spent quite a lot of money and time on her outfits and make-up. But what would it feel like to actually wear it?

Kate is joined by the amazing Casta Hex, historical drag queen, embroiderer and textiles artist for film and TV. Casta creates all her costumes using histori...

The fate of the Mediterranean hung in the balance during this bloody battle between the Knights of St John and the armies of Suleyman the Magnificent in the summer of 1565. The Ottoman Empire had carved its way across three continents and now turned its sights to the tiny island of Malta. Tens of...

We've spent a lot of time in of Victorian London on this podcast- a world of cobbled streets, grimy buildings and crowded homes. But how accurate is this- what was it really like to live in the slums of Victorian London?

Our guest today is Dr. Jackie Riding! Jackie is a specialist in the history...

How did the Romans ambush a massive Carthaginian fleet from behind a Sicilian island to win one of history's fiercest sea battles? For over 20 years, Rome and Carthage fought a brutal war for supremacy over Sicily. Tristan Hughes is joined by Carthage expert Dr. Eve MacDonald to explore the epic ...

Did Ancient Rome have as many adult group activities as we think they did? Or was this just a Victorian myth?

Joining Kate to get behind the bacchanalia is fan-favourite Emma Southon, whose new book is 'Servus: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire'.

One of history’s greatest invasion stories, stitched into 70 metres of medieval embroidery. In this episode, we unravel 10 top scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry to learn about this dramatic tale of conquest, betrayal and bloodshed, the mystery of who really made it, and what it reveals about the No...

In 1381, thousands of ordinary people rose up against the Crown, marched on London, and came close to bringing England’s political establishment to its knees... In this episode, Anthony and Maddy are joined by our very own Matt Lewis to discuss the Peasants’ Revolt: why it happened, who led it, a...

It's the most famous sunken ship in history, but its story is surrounded by a lot of myth.

Were the working classes locked below deck and doomed to drown? Could the Titanic have avoided the iceberg? And most importantly (to us, at least), what sex and scandals took place on board?

Joining Kat...

Professor Chris Stringer is on the Ancients podcast to talk about recent discoveries, DNA, and migration patterns of early humans.

The story of human origins is often imagined as a simple journey from Africa, but is the truth actually much messier? Tristan Hughes and leading palaeoanthropologis...

Babylon has a PR problem, and it's 2,600 years in the making.

The Bible remembers it as the ultimate city of sin, the place that crushed Jerusalem and dragged the Jewish people into exile. But if you look beyond this chapter, you find history's first true megacity. An ancient metropolis so influ...