HistoryExtra podcast

From zoot suiters and mods, to mashers and Congolese sapeurs, since the early 19th century, fashionable male subcultures have popped up across the globe. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, Peter Andersson e...

Cultural historian and author Breeze Barrington brings to life the fascinating – and often misunderstood – story of Maria, or Mary, of Modena. Born into Italian nobility and raised with quiet ambition...

What would it have been like to have witness one of the most spectacular sights of the ancient world first-hand? Speaking to Rachel Dinning, Bettany Hughes explores the extraordinary Temple of Artemis...

What was life like on the frontier in 19th-century America? Forget Hollywood’s high-noon shootouts and lawless swaggering cowboys – historian Karen Jones paints a far more complex picture of the Ameri...

South Asian history is currently in the spotlight, with 2025's South Asian Heritage Month focusing particularly on themes of movement and migration. But what's the value of such dedicated history mont...

The decision by the United States to drop atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 remains one of the most controversial moments in modern history. Did the atomic bombs forc...

In 2015, the Bank of England asked the British public to nominate a deceased cultural figure they felt deserved the honour of appearing on a banknote. The figure they chose was JMW Turner. So what mad...

At 8.15am on 6 August 1945, an atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima. It was an event that changed the course of history, but it was also one driven by individuals. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mi...

Imagine being torn from your home and sent to live with strangers... well that was exactly what happened for many in the Second World War. To escape the threat of bombing in British cities, thousands ...

Ever since the 1870s, rumours have swirled around Queen Victoria and her Highland servant John Brown. Were the pair in love? Could they have got married? And might they even have had a secret child? H...