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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/

History Extra podcast

From cleaners to codebreakers, women’s contributions to the history of British intelligence have often gone unrecognised and forgotten. But in actuality, female operatives penetrated enemy networks, executed astonishing operations, and organised a labyrinth of classified documents. Speaking to Rachel Dinning, Claire Hubbard-Hall delves into the untold stories of women in British intelligence.

(Ad) Claire Hubbard-Hall is the author of Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence (Orion, 2024). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fher-secret-service%2Fclaire-hubbard-hall%2F9781399603430.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The real Miss Moneypennys: the secret history of Britain's female spies

How did a man who crushed unions in Gilded Age America come to see himself as humanity’s benefactor? Speaking to Elinor Evans, historian and biographer David Nasaw explores the many contradictions of 19th-century industrialist Andrew Carnegie’s life. From his ruthless business tactics and controversial role in the violent 1892 Homestead Strike, to his reinvention as a pioneering philanthropist and self-declared enemy of war, they uncover how Carnegie shaped the age of steel – and struggled to reconcile capitalism with conscience.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andrew Carnegie: life of the week

In the 1970s, a global group of feminist activists banded together with one demand: 'wages for housework'. Emily Callaci explores this campaign in her Cundill Prize-nominated book Wages for Housework and, in this episode, she speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about why the idea of women being compensated for unpaid household labour caused such a stir at the time – and continues to resonate today.

To find out more about the Cundill History Prize, go to www.cundillprize.com.

(Ad) Emily Callaci is the author of Wages for Housework: The Story of a Movement, an Idea, a Promise (Allen Lane, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wages-Housework-Story-Movement-Promise/dp/024150290X/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wages for housework: the daring 1970s campaign that challenged women's roles

Who went to the theatre in ancient Rome – and what kind of spectacle would they have expected to see? And did the drama performed on stage reflect the politics, society and culture of the day? Emily Briffett and historian Jessica Clarke peer behind the metaphorical curtain of ancient Rome’s theatres, to explore the plays, playwrights, and performances that entertained the empire.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ancient Roman theatre: everything you wanted to know

Born to an enslaved mother in the British Caribbean in the tumultuous, brutal world of the late 18th century, Henry Christoph's role in the Haitian Revolution saw him rise to prominence – and was just one chapter in a remarkable trajectory that eventually led to him becoming the only monarch of the Kingdom of Haiti. Speaking to Matt Elton, Marlene L Daut discusses her Cundill Prize-nominated book, The First and Last King of Haiti, which tells this story.

To find out more about the Cundill History Prize, go to https://www.cundillprize.com/

(Ad) Marlene L Daut is the author of The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christoph (Yale University Press, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Last-King-Haiti-Christophe/dp/0300283857/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Haiti's first and only king

For most of the latter half of the 20th century, the world was frozen in a standoff. The Cold War era was defined by the ideological fissure between capitalism, led by the United States, and communism, espoused by the Soviet Union. But in a new book, Vladislav Zubok challenges much of the accepted wisdom that has shaped popular perspectives about this standoff since 1991. Speaking to Danny Bird, Zubok discusses why Americans were far more ideological than their Soviet contemporaries; why decolonisation and the Global South became the ‘nuclear fuel’ that sustained the Cold War; and how the conflict’s conclusion in the 1990s continues to reverberate in global affairs to this day.

(Ad) Vladislav Zubok is the author of The World of the Cold War: 1945-1991 (Pelican). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cold-War-New-History/dp/0241696143/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How the Cold War made the modern world

Climbing to the top of Gilded Age society in 19th-century America, socialite Alva Vanderbilt made headlines for being one of the first elite women to divorce on her terms, and she later turned her ambition – and considerable fortune – to the fight for women’s rights. In today's episode, Nancy Unger tells Elinor Evans about a woman who upended the highest echelons of society, caused scandal and heartache, but ultimately blazed a path from strategic social climber to outspoken suffragist.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alva Vanderbilt: life of the week

Across 12,000 years of history, prosperity has flourished in societies where women could fully participate – and faltered when they were pushed to the margins. That's what Dr Victoria Bateman argues in her new book Economica. From Stone Age big-game hunters to Roman traders, Renaissance brewers and pirate queens, she explores how women’s economic power has shaped civilisations, but also how bias, law and culture have erased these contributions. Speaking to Danny Bird, Victoria challenges myths about the rise of capitalism – and warns that ignoring women’s crucial role in humanity's prosperity risks repeating one of history’s most common mistakes.

(Ad) Victoria Bateman is the author of Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth and Power (Headline Press, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ECONOMICA-global-history-women-wealth/dp/1035415771/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How women were erased from economic history

They gave us the alphabet, charted the seas by the Pole Star, and built Carthage – once Rome’s greatest rival. So why have the Phoenicians been forgotten? Speaking to Emily Briffett, historian Josephine Quinn explores the story of these ancient seafarers, traders and city-builders who connected the cities surrounding the Mediterranean – and left an extraordinary legacy – long before Greece and Rome rose to power.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Phoenicians: everything you wanted to know

Despite facing significant obstacles in their own lives, black women in the United States were at the forefront of campaigns for human rights at home and abroad. Historian Keisha N Blain tells the stories of some of these women who, in the 19th and 20th centuries, worked outside the corridors of power to fight for freedom across the globe. She was joined in conversation by Rob Attar.

(Ad) Keisha N Blain is the author of Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights (W. W. Norton & Company, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWithout-Fear-Black-Making-Rights%2Fdp%2F0393882292.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Black women and the fight for human rights

In 2010, the world was stunned when the United States exposed a covert Russian spy network operating on its soil. Seemingly all-American families living in white-picket-fenced suburbia were in fact deep undercover Russian agents. Many had been living under assumed identities for decades, lying even to their own children. In this episode, journalist Shaun Walker speaks to Danny Bird about Moscow’s longlasting ‘illegals’ programme – perhaps the most audacious chapter in the history of espionage. He reveals how the roots of the operation reached back more than a century to before the Bolshevik Revolution; how the Soviet Union deployed it against supposedly ‘friendly’ states; and how today’s Russia reveres these spies as patriotic heroes.

(Ad) Shaun Walker is the author of The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West (Profile Books, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fthe-illegals%2Fshaun-walker%2F9781788167772.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The spy next door: Moscow's century-long plot to infiltrate the west

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