The best history podcasts

If tales of the past are your bag, the podcast has proven to be a fine platform for both historical deep dives and retrospective digestible nibbles. "There is, let's be honest, a lot of history out there," said Time Out, and podcast explorations of it can be "perfect road trip fodder, to say the least".

Podcasts are "making brushing up on history topics easier and more entertaining than ever", said Real Simple, "often revealing new facts and prompting new ways of thinking along the way".

The Rest is History

This series sees historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook "interrogating the past, and attempting to de-tangle the present", said the team. They're "distilling the entirety of human history, or, as much as they can fit into about 50 minutes". The series is "breathtaking in its scope", said The New Statesman, as it teaches us about "Pompeii, Vladimir Putin and 'killer fashion', including flammable tutus". It blends "serious historical inquiry with contemporary culture", according to GQ.

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Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

This sporadically released series discusses historical events such as the Cold War, Adolf Hitler and the First World War in a "theatre of the mind" style. "If you plan to dedicate any time at all to the history genre, you would be negligent not to start here," said WhatPods. Meanwhile, Slate magazine ranked the "Ghosts of the Ostfront" episode from 2009 the fifth-best podcast episode of all time, lauding Carlin as a "wide-eyed, colourful guide".

You're Dead To Me

Greg Jenner, of "Horrible Histories" fame, takes the fun of that franchise to the airwaves in this charming podcast. It covers everything from the history of fairy tales, to the history of chocolate. "Whether it is useful in a pub quiz, to impress your friends with fun historical facts, or to broaden your perspective on what history itself means", said Retrospect Journal, this pod will "teach you valuable lessons while you don't even realise you're learning". 

The British History Podcast

This chronological retelling of the history of Britain focuses on the lives of people. "You won't find a dry recounting of dates and battles here," say the makers. "Instead you'll learn about who these people were and how their desires, fears, and flaws" shaped our history. The "fiercely independent" series is a "deep, deep dive into the misty past", said Forbes, and "a blast from podcasting's past".

Dan Snow's History Hit

Dan Snow's podcast is "top of the list for history shows", said the Evening Standard. There are episodes covering events such as the Peterloo Massacre in 1800s Manchester, and the Hiroshima atomic bombing. Offering "digestible nuggets", said The Times, this podcast sets out to cover the "most exciting and important things that have ever happened on the planet". You can't say fairer than that.

You're Wrong About

Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes channel their obsession with the past into this podcast that "reconsiders a person or event that's been miscast in the public imagination", including Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah Winfrey's couch and whether Yoko Ono broke up The Beatles. While they "never sacrifice accuracy for the sake of fun", said Time, their "breezy tone keeps even the heaviest of topics engaging". The hosts "prove time and time again that the past is a different country", said The Irish Times.

1619

This New York Times podcast explores the legacy of slavery in the US, taking its name from the year that the first ship carrying enslaved Africans arrived. Nikole Hannah-Jones is particularly strong on how slavery has formed the US as we know it today. It is an "ambitious, necessary and emotive listen", said The Guardian, as well as an "urgent reminder of how much work there is yet to be done".

Stuff The British Stole

The British Empire "stole a lot of stuff", said the makers of this podcast, which sets out to provide the "not-so-polite" history behind the objects. This "excellent, funny, fiery" Australian podcast is alive to "burning injustice", said Time Out, and makes a "pretty good guide to some of the world's key museum artefacts".

The Week Unwrapped

Have you missed the biggest news of the week? Or at least the stories which will shape our lives in years to come, when the passing hype of the day's headlines have faded from memory. That's the premise of The Week's own award-winning podcast, "The Week Unwrapped", which seeks out under-reported stories with unexpected consequences, from the world-changing to the small but personally significant. 

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