In this podcast Dan talks to Golden Globe winning film maker Sam Mendes about his new World War One film 1917. Based in part on an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes, it chronicles the story of two young British soldiers at the height of WWI during Spring 1917.

June 1944: the SAS parachute deep into occupied France, to wreak havoc and bloody mayhem. In a country crawling with the enemy, their mission is to prevent Hitler from rushing his Panzer divisions to the D-Day beaches and driving the Allies back into the sea. Damien Lewis joined me on the podcast...

Kim Ghattas joined me on the podcast to explore how Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran - who were once allies and the twin pillars of US strategy in the area - became mortal enemies after the revolution of 1979. In a war of cultural supremacy, we discussed the nature of various groups using and dis...

Dr Sue Black is a British computer scientist, academic and social entrepreneur. She has been instrumental in saving Bletchley Park, the World War II codebreaking site. Her book documenting this vital task is 'Saving Bletchley Park: How #SocialMedia Saved the Home of the WWII Codebreakers'.

Henry Hemming is a historian and author of five works of non-fiction including In Search of the English Eccentric, Misadventure in the Middle East, shortlisted for the Dolman Travel Book Award, and Churchill’s Iceman, published in the US as The Ingenious Mr Pyke, which became a New York Times bes...

Selma Van De Perre joined me on the pod to talk about her life as a Dutch Jewish Resistance fighter during the Second World War. She joined the resistance under the pseudonym Margareta van der Kuit, and she forged documents and delivered them throughout the entire country. She escaped the Nazis o...

Did people have better sex under socialism? The answer is probably yes, and Dan talks to Kristen Ghodsee to find out why, also discussing why young people are having less sex and the Soviet approach to gender equality. Image credit: Adam Jones

Dan talks to giant of journalism, Sy Hersh, about the many things he's covered in his long career, from Vietnam to Iraq to Trump.

Suzie Grogan talks about the 'hidden illness' of World War One, now better known as shellshock or PTSD. Dan chats with her about the initial reception to cases of shellshock and how diagnoses changed as we understood the problem better over time.

Dan talks to Janet Booth, the grand-daughter of Harry Farr, who was shot for cowardice in October 1916. Image Credit: Oosoom (CC).

Rob Heard created an incredibly-moving memorial to the Battle of the Somme. In the new podcast, Dan talks to him about his inspiration and what the work means to him.

James Holland joined me on the podcast to discuss the allied invasion of Sicily on the 10th July 1943.

David Boyle @davidboyle1958 has been fascinated by the navy since he was a boy, but also writes about politics, economics and management. His latest book, Lost at Sea: The story of the USS Indianapolis, combines his interest in naval history with his interest in great management disasters, becaus...

I am very excited to be joined by Colonel Kevin W. Farrell, who spent over 30 years in uniform and commanded at the platoon, company, and battalion levels. He finished up in the army as the Chief of the Military History Division at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. I am fascinated to hear ...

Dan talks to Frank McDonough about the resistance of Sophie Scholl, on the 75th anniversary of her execution by the Nazis.

Dan talks to Macintyre about a double agent - a story clouded in deception and intrepidation.

Ben Macintyre joined me on the podcast to talk about Ursula Kuczynski, one of the greatest spies of the 20th Century.

Dr Lyuba Vinogradova @Lyuba_Martin is a Russian historian and author. Her most recent book is entitled Avenging Angels: Soviet women snipers on the Eastern front (1941–45).

Last summer Dan was lucky enough to sit down with 101 year old Mary Ellis, a courageous and pioneering aviator. She talked about her love of flying and the incredible feats she undertook as a spitfire pilot. Mary Ellis passed away at the age of 101 on 25 July, 2018.

Dan talks to John Nichol on his new bestseller about the Spitfire, the plane that was critical to the RAF's efforts in the Battle of Britain and the Second World War, and they discuss why it occupies such a special place in British hearts.

Dan talks to Chris West about his new history of the Eurovision song contest, and the political history that surrounds it. Image credit: Frederic de Villamil / Commons

Dan talks to BBC Security Correspondent Gordon Corera about Britain's secret pigeon spy force.

80 years ago today the Second Great Fire of London was unleashed by sustained German bombing during one of the fiercest nights of the Blitz. On this podcast Dan goes on a tour around the City of London with Clive Harris looking at how Luftwaffe bombs reshaped the city. Dan also talks to Dr Tom Al...

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum is an American journalist and Pulitzer Prize–winning author who has written extensively about communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.