20th Century

20th Century

Defined by a rise of nationalism, two world wars, clashing super powers, nuclear weapons and space exploration, the 20th Century is certainly not void of fascinating history. Enjoy our enormous library of documentaries on key events such as D-Day or the sinkng of the Titanic, interviews with leading experts such as Tom Holland, David Cannadine and fascinating podcasts on the history of warfare.

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20th Century
  • 🎧 Argentina's Missing Black Communities with Celestina Olulode

    Celestina Olulode is a BBC reporter, who has spent a long time in Argentina researching why Argentina has a low black population compared to counterparts in South America such as Brazil. One reason is down to aggressive racial policies in the 19th century, but Celestina also discusses the things ...

  • Culture of Memory: Germany's Post-WW2 Statues and Memorials

    Throughout Germany post World War Two monuments can be found in all shapes and sizes. But what they are memorialising is unique: ‘Erinnerungskultur’ – ‘culture of memory’. Focused around the sins of Nazi Germany, these memorials were designed to commemorate the country’s sins between 1933 and 194...

  • Eastland: The Shipwreck That Shook America

    On 24 July 1915 the SS Eastland rolled onto its side and sank in the Chicago River, killing 844 passengers that were onboard. This is the story of this tragic event, 'the Blue Collar Titanic', one of the worst maritime disasters in US history.

  • 🎧 Army Wives: From Crimea to Afghanistan with Midge Gilies

    In this fascinating interview, Midge Gillies, author of acclaimed The Barbed-Wire University, discusses the role of the army wife over the centuries, and remarks on the extraordinary women who were pillars of support and strength in times of great hardship.

  • 🎧 Arnhem 75: The Veteran's View

    This podcast sees Dan jump out of an aircraft to relive the events of the landing back in 1944, while on the way we hear the testimonies of veterans who lived through the Battle of Arnhem. Dan also chats to the UK and US ambassadors to the Netherlands, as well as the Mayor of Arnhem. Producer: Pe...

  • 🎧 Assassination and Coverups in The Cold War Congo

    I was joined by an award-winning investigative journalist, Ravi Somaiya, to discuss the mysterious death in 1961 of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld. Although Dag Hammarskjöld was called ‘the greatest statesman of our century’ by John F. Kennedy, his plane was shot down as he flew over The C...

  • 🎧 Assassination in Sarajevo: Archduke Franz Ferdinand

    Dan visits Sarajevo on the trail of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, his assassin, Gavrilo Princip, and the fatal encounter that led to the outbreak of WWI.

  • 🎧 Assassination, Fascism and The Abdication Crisis

    Alex Larman has struck gold. He discovered one of the rarest and most precious things in the history world: an unknown source which shines a bright new light on its subject. He uncovered brand new documents relating to an assassination attempt on Edward VIII in July 1936, by George McMahon. Alex ...

  • Simon Sebag Montefiore on Stalin

    How did a young boy from Georgia become a merciless politician who shaped the Soviet Empire in his own brutal image? Historian and bestselling author, Simon Sebag Montifiore talks to Dan about the rise of Joseph Stalin, a man who caused the death and suffering of tens of millions under his regime...

  • RRS Discovery: Aboard the World's First Polar Research Vessel

    Dan Snow steps aboard the RRS Discovery in Dundee, the first purpose built scientific research vessel for the Antarctic. Guided around the ship by Ali Gellatly, he learns what life and adventure was like aboard this unique vessel.

    The legendary polar explorer Captain Scott commanded Discovery's...

  • 🎧 Australia, Anzac and History

    I was thrilled to have Mat McLachlan on the pod, one of Australia's foremost history presenters and writers. Using his encyclopaedic knowledge of Australian battlefields, Mat and I chatted about Australia's complex relationship with its past, and how this history is perceived and commemorated today.

  • 🎧 Authoritarianism & Unfreedom with Professor Tim Snyder

    Professor Tim Snyder is an expert in authoritarian regimes and how they develop. He talks to Dan about Russia, the USA, Europe and what the lessons of the past tell us about what's going on today.

  • The Spying Game

    1 season

    During the Cold War, the superpowers mobilized thousands of spies and spotters to lift the enemy’s secrets. The three-part program The Spying Game takes a close look at this era of rising tensions between East and West.

    Part 1 examines Germany’s role as battleground for countless spies — all act...

  • 🎧 Babita Sharma on Corner Shops

    Babita Sharma is esteemed British broadcaster, and a presenter on BBC News and the BBC World News. In this episode, she takes us through a history of corner shops. Corner shops have been ever important in British society, as hubs of their communities, and places where people from all walks of lif...

  • 🎧 Battle of Britain 'What Ifs'

    Dr. Jamie Wood and Professor Niall Mackay at the University of York are mathematicians who love history. Sensible dudes. They released a paper which sent the rest of the history world into a meltdown when they tried to use the statistics of airframe losses from the Battle of Britain to test just ...

  • 🎧 Battle of Britain: What Were the Germans Thinking?

    Victoria Taylor is an aviation historian who is just completing her PhD in the Luftwaffe and its politicisation under the Nazis. She talked to me about how the Germans approached the Battle of Britain. Were they the mighty Goliath to Britain's David or were they in fact more evenly matched? And w...

  • 🎧 Battle of Britain: Why the RAF Won

    80 years ago, in 15 September 1940, the Luftwaffe made a gigantic aerial assault on London in the belief that the Royal Air Force was down to its last few fighters. This, they hoped, would be the decisive clash that finished the RAF, and force Britain to the negotiating table or even pave the way...

  • Nikita Khrushchev: The Red Tsar

    This film is a living history. Nikita Khrushchev’s closest family members and historians tell a story from the centre of power. This unique biography of a witness of the century comes alive in the shadow of the events he was part of.

    Despite being an ardent Stalinist for many years, it was Nikit...

  • 🎧 Battle of the Somme: Part Five - A French Perspective with Stephanie Trouillard

    Stephanie Trouillard is a journalist at France 24, specialising in sports and international history.

  • 🎧 Battle of the Somme: Part Four - The War Above with Joshua Levine

    Joshua Levine is a historian and author, his latest book The Secret History of the Blitz is out now.

  • 🎧 Battle of the Somme: Part One - The Pals with Professor Peter Doyle

    Professor Peter Doyle is a geologist and military historian of twentieth-century conflict. He has a particular interest in World War One and recently co-authored Kitchener's Mob: The New Army to the Somme.

  • 🎧 Battle of the Somme: Part Six - The Irish Experience with Heather Jones

    Dr Heather Jones is Associate Professor at the Department of International History London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr Jones is the author of Violence against Prisoners of War in the First World War.

  • Ernest Shackleton: With Ranulph Fiennes

    In this fascinating interview, Dan Snow chats to the world's greatest living explorer Ranulph Fiennes about Ernest Shackleton and his heroic expeditions in the Golden Age of Antarctic Exploration.

  • 🎧 Battle of the Somme: Part Three - A German Perspective with Robin Schäfer

    Robin Schäfer is a German military historian. His latest book Fritz and Tommy: Across the Barbed Wire is co-authored with Peter Doyle.