Channel History Hit

Who knew that Broken Promises have a history?! Well they do and it's FASCINATING, and James and Sam explore the wonderful of history of saying you're going to do ONE THING and then doing SOMETHING ELSE instead. SO ANNOYING. And they focus in particular on the promises that James VI and I made to Catholics, how he broke them...and how those broken promises led to Guy Fawkes stashing 36 barrels of gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament...the Gunpowder Plot!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Globalisation. It's a word we often associate with the politics, society and economics of our own lifetimes. But Valerie Hansen, an esteemed professor of History at Yale, has argued that globalisation is embedded deep in the past. Whilst traditionally, historians have cited Columbus' 1492 voyage to America as a kick off point, Valerie pulls us way back to the year 1000. In this podcast, she reveals how international trade routes already linked the globe, with evidence such as the frozen textiles found in Greenland made of hairs from North American animals. This was a fascinating discussion, proving once again, how history can tell us so much about the contemporary world.For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month f

Episode 16 in our Homeschooling series! This one's all about the history of Blame and wanting to say IT'S SO YOUR FAULT!! James and Sam explore the idea of blame in history and then focus on who was held responsible for the First World War, and the writing of the War Guilt clause in the Versailles Treaty.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For soldiers of the Crimean War, perhaps the greatest adversary they faced was the Selimiye Barracks in Scutari, a makeshift hospital for wounded men. A lack of hygiene, medicine and compassion made this a living nightmare - if you didn't perish from your wounds, you would probably succumb to one of the mass infections which plagued the barracks. But one nurse changed all that, Florence Nightingale, who is commonly considered the founder of modern nursing. Professor Lynn McDonald took me through the incredible work of Nightingale, highlighting her importance as a social reformer and statistician. In light of the current world pandemic, we also discussed how Nightingale would have set out to combat the challenges of COVID-19. For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod1' at

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. For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/$1.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Did Hitler shoot himself in the Führerbunker, or did he slip past the Soviets and escape to South America? There have been innumerable documentaries, newspaper articles and twitter threads written by conspiracy theorists to back up the case for escape. Luke Daly Groves has made it his mission to take on the conspiracy theorists, and smash their arguments using historical method. With the help of recently declassified MI5 files, previously unpublished sketches of Hitler's bunker and eyewitness accounts of intelligence officers, this made for a fascinating discussion. Enjoy. For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/$1.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of THE KISS, which is all about Admiral Lord Nelson, WWI AND WWII, witchcraft, the devil and goats, the Reformation, voting in the 18th century England, poster girls, and the #metoo movement, and much, much more!   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This fifteenth (yes, FIFTEENTH!) episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SLOBBERING and JAMES VI AND I! The Unexpected History of SLOBBERING is all about disease and insanity and the history of teething (rubbing rabbit brains into the gums of infants). James and Sam explore the fascinating history of the James VI and I through the subject of slobbering, inspired by Anthony Weldon's famous description of this Stuart monarch. Learn about James's experience as king of Scotland, his learning and writing, his penchant for favourites, royal finances, his relationship with parliament and the divine right of kings!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this podcast, Dan Snow is joined by Professor Mark Bailey, High Master of St Paul's School, London and Professor of Later Medieval History at the University of East Anglia to delve into the topic of The Black Death. They discuss how it emerged and spread throughout the world, what impact it had on society and how it would return every few decades over the 400 years that followed.For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/$1.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of BALCONIES, which is all about propaganda and politics, the assassination of Martin Luther King, eavesdropping on the royal family, it’s about Churchill, Hitler and Mussolini, the Globe Theatre (and the Lord's Room), popular misconceptions about Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, and of course it’s about the Italian spirit of community during lockdown and the global COVID-19 crisis!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sex. There's a lot of it about. We talk about war, chaos and atrocities on this podcast a lot although, thankfully, few of us have first hand experience of them. Yet we rarely talk sex. Which is odd. Sex is what got us here in the first place and nearly all of us will experience it in some form through our lives. I talked to Dr Kate Lister about the ways in which society dictates how sex is culturally understood and performed have varied significantly through the ages. Dr Lister runs the brilliant digital project Whores of Yore and has just written the brilliant Curious History of Sex. We chatted about why humans are the only creatures that stigmatise particular sexual practices, and sex remains a deeply divisive issue around the world. This was a fascinating chat.For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to&n

This fourteenth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores NAMES and THE DOMESDAY BOOK! The Unexpected History of NAMES is all about Viking Nicknames, titles for royalty and the aristocracy, it's about women being hidden from history (think the name-changing Bess of Hardwick), and Scandinavian linguistic dominance across Europe. James and Sam explore the fascinating history of the Domesday Book through the subject of names, including how it was made and why, what it was used for, and the process of collecting the information that went into it. What does it tell us about Norman England? And what does it leave out? Learn how to write your very own Domesday Survey of where you live!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This thirteenth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SHOWOFFS and NORMAN CASTLES! The Unexpected History of showing off is all about world-famous historical showoffs, like Henry VIII, Hitler and Louis XIV, it's about the history of fashion (think outlandish gloves and tall hats), architecture and prodigy houses, lavish gifts and bling!, US consumerism in the 1950s and of course schadenfreude! James and Sam explore the fascinating history of Norman Castles through the subject of showing off, including the building of stone and wood castles, the strategic control of England by the Normans, and detailed discussion of Motte and Bailey Castles.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I was thrilled to be joined by Mark Vincent, an expert in criminal subculture and prisoner society in Stalinist Labour camps. Mark has looked at thousands of journals, song collections, tattoo drawings and slang dictionaries to reveal a hidden side of Gulag daily life. In this podcast, he also explained how these criminal habits laid the foundations for the Russian mafia.For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/$1.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This twelfth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SCABS and MEDIEVAL MEDICINE! The Unexpected History of scabs is all about a personal history of childhood, the Industrial Revolution, health and safety, the history of science and discovery, Elizabeth I and much much more. James and Sam explore the history of medieval medicine through the subject of scabs, including the causes of disease (including the four homours), the treatment of medieval everyday illnesses and emergence of anatomy.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This eleventh episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores SCARS and THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY! The Unexpected History of scars is all about personal history, West African tribes, Count Otto von Bismarck (the man who unified Germany!), Glasgow in the 1930s and much much more. James and Sam explore the history of slavery through the subject of scars, including the triangular trade, the abolition of slavery, and the famous image of the African American slave, Gordon or Whipped Peter.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dr Helen McCarthy, lecturer in modern British history at the University of Cambridge, joins Dan to discuss the complicated past of working motherhood. They consider how women have been excluded from the world of work as well as attempts to break into it, and how these developments have informed our views on gender, work and equality in Britain today.For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/$1.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Histories of the Unexpected, James and Sam explore the unexpected history of APPLAUSE, which is all about popularity in Ancient Rome, Stalinist Russia, babies, opera-going sophisticates, crowds and paying people to clap (or boo!), Henry James's failure as a playwright, and of course gratitude to the NHS and front line medical staff across the globe during the COVID19 crisis!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This tenth episode in the special series of Histories of the Unexpected Homeschooling explores ACCIDENTS and EVERYDAY LIFE IN TUDOR BRITAIN! The Unexpected History of accidents is all about personal history, world-famous accidents like the sinking of the Titanic, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster or Aberfan in 1966, heroism, health and safety, the Industrial Revolution and much much more. James and Sam explore the world of everyday life in Tudor Britain through the subject of accidents, including the history of childhood, coroners' records and the diary of John Dee.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this podcast I was joined by Margaret MacMillan, professor at St Antony's College, Oxford University and author of 'Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War'. We discussed the effects WWI had on the world, and how Europe began to rebuild in the years that followed.For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about some of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/$1.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.