Letters from the front line

Nell Gwyn epitomised the wild spirit of the Restoration era. An orange-seller turned actress, turned royal mistress of King Charles II, she hustled her way to the very top with charm, wisecracks and w...

14 Jan 202535min

They attacked children. They exhumed dead bodies. They were even thought to be in league with the devil. And yet, despite this long list of misdemeanours, pigs were an indispensable part of urban life...

13 Jan 202533min

The Hanseatic League was often compared to a crocodile, because it was a shadowy, somewhat sinister entity that kept its true intentions concealed. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Professor ...

12 Jan 202544min

What was it like to undergo an operation in a world with no anaesthetic? How was the stethoscope invented? And when did surgeons first operate on a human heart? Talking to Lauren Good, Dr Carol Cooper...

10 Jan 202538min

They spanned a continent, offered a conduit for soldiers and pilgrims alike – and may not have been as straight as legend suggests. Roman roads played a formative role in Europe's development for cent...

9 Jan 202538min

History is often told through the epic struggles of famous personalities or grand movements. Yet sometimes the voices of ordinary people break through. In this episode, Maurice J Casey speaks to Danny...

8 Jan 202534min

Poisoned sweets. Criminal misdeeds. And a sex scandal involving… the prime-minister. Listen to HistoryExtra's new podcast History’s Greatest Scandals, delving into the murky underworld of The Victori...

7 Jan 20252min

The name Susan B Anthony is inextricable from any history of the American movement for women's suffrage. Yet the life of the woman herself can be obscured by her status as a campaigner and figurehead....

7 Jan 202549min