Episodes

  • Alexander the Great: life of the week

    Alexander the Great: life of the week
    Jun 15 2026
    Stretching from Greece to India, Alexander the Great’s empire was one of the largest in human history, and he’d conquered it all by the time he was 30 years old. So how did this young king of a small Greek kingdom defeat the mighty Persian empire and become a godlike figure in the process? Alexander’s astonishing story is explored by Edmund Richardson in a new biography and, in this HistoryExtra podcast episode, Edmund is joined by Rob Attar to explore Alexander's remarkable life and mysterious death. ----- GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Want to hear more from Edmund Richardson? Check out this episode where Edmund traces the hunt for one of Alexander the Great's lost cities: https://bit.ly/4neFMSi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • What myths do we tell about royal women?

    What myths do we tell about royal women?
    Jun 14 2026
    Have royal women's stories been misconstrued? Speaking to Charlotte Vosper, Kate Williams argues that many of them have been, tracing the lives of a whole host of queens – from Hatshepsut to Queen Victoria – to explore how and why these women have so often been viewed through a particular lens. ----- GO BEYOND THE PODCAST If you’d like to hear more from Kate Williams about the real lives of royal women, check out her HistoryExtra Academy series, in which she takes us on a tour of queens through time across six videos: https://bit.ly/4wL7gU8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    51 mins
  • Cleopatra’s death – and cultural afterlife

    Cleopatra’s death – and cultural afterlife
    Jun 13 2026
    The final chapter of Cleopatra’s life is shrouded in mystery. Did she really take her own life? Was an asp involved? And why don’t we know where her tomb is? In this final episode of our four-part Sunday Series on the ancient queen’s life and times, Islam Issa – professor of public humanities at Birmingham City University – tackles these questions, and explores just why Cleopatra continues to fascinate us, thousands of years later. ----- GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Captivated by Cleopatra? Matt Elton has curated a collection of essential reading, listening and viewing from the HistoryExtra vaults to help bring the ancient queen to life: https://bit.ly/3Pgs3hv And don’t miss our HistoryExtra Academy, Royal Women with Professor Kate Williams, for more on some of the past’s most powerful female leaders – from Cleopatra to Elizabeth II: https://bit.ly/3PRpwue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • Masters of disinformation: how British spies played dirty in the Cold War

    Masters of disinformation: how British spies played dirty in the Cold War
    Jun 11 2026
    They 'haunted' an Indonesian general with a talking ghost and planted fake hippies in a Bulgarian youth festival. But did they change the course of the Cold War? Rory Cormac introduces Spencer Mizen to the comically absurd – and dangerously controversial – tactics deployed by a group of misfits and mavericks charged with raining down confusion on Britain's adversaries in the 1950s and 60s. ----- GO BEYOND THE PODCAST To hear more from Rory Cormac on the HistoryExtra podcast, listen to him discussing Queen Victoria's spy network here: https://bit.ly/4sHYQKJ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    35 mins
  • Churchill's toughest decision

    Churchill's toughest decision
    Jun 9 2026
    In the summer of 1940, the Royal Navy attacked a French fleet moored off the coast of north Africa, killing almost 1,300 sailors. Winston Churchill described his decision to greenlight the operation as the toughest he ever had to take. But was it the right decision? Edward Abel Smith talks to Spencer Mizen about an incident that would shake Britain's wartime relations with France. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST To hear more from Edward Abel Smith, don't miss our podcast episode on the remarkable life of Nicholas Winton, the British Schindler, who helped hundreds of Jewish children escape Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War: https://bit.ly/4e80MrF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    36 mins
  • Henry Paget: life of the week

    Henry Paget: life of the week
    Jun 8 2026
    Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey, lived a life of extravagance, luxury and theatre – and for this, he was the subject of much intrigue in the late 19th century. In this episode, Michael Hall speaks to Charlotte Vosper about the man dubbed the 'Dancing Marquess' – and whose story has now been dramatised for the big screen in new film Madfabulous. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCASTIf you'd like to hear more from Michael about queer lives connected to the National Trust and its properties, check out our discussion of his latest book A Queer Inheritance: https://bit.ly/3RzQszl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    44 mins
  • The hidden history of female sexual pleasure

    The hidden history of female sexual pleasure
    Jun 7 2026
    How did women in the past experience sex and pleasure? Kate Lister reveals that this is a rather complicated question. Instead of simply lying back and thinking of England, women have long fought for their right to pleasure. But at the same time, women's sexual experiences have also been bound up in cultures of shame and control since antiquity. Speaking to Charlotte Vosper, Kate introduces us to these histories. Please note that this episode contains a very frank and open discussion of sex and sexuality, and strong language throughout. ----- GO BEYOND THE PODCAST If you'd like to learn even more about sex toys from the past, check out this eye-opening article about history's 12 strangest examples: https://bit.ly/4eFxPn6 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    48 mins
  • Why Cleopatra was more than a bewitching beauty

    Why Cleopatra was more than a bewitching beauty
    Jun 6 2026
    We often think of Cleopatra as using her feminine wiles to secure, and maintain, power. But was that really the case? And what other skills and qualities did she have? In this third episode of our four-part Sunday Series charting the ancient queen and her world, Matt Elton is joined by Islam Issa – professor of public humanities at Birmingham City University – to discover more about Cleopatra the leader. ----- GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Captivated by Cleopatra? Matt Elton has curated a collection of essential reading, listening and viewing from the HistoryExtra vaults to help bring the ancient queen to life: https://bit.ly/3Pgs3hv And don’t miss our HistoryExtra Academy, Royal Women with Professor Kate Williams, for more on some of the past’s most powerful female leaders – from Cleopatra to Elizabeth II: https://bit.ly/3PRpwue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    41 mins