
The Sahara: a green and pleasant land
The Sahara is known as one of the world’s hottest and driest environments, but during his explorations of the desert over the past 60 years, Martin Williams has discovered evidence of a green and plea...
12 Aug 202238min

Tutankhamun | 1. Unearthing the boy king’s lost tomb
One hundred years ago, in 1922, Egyptologist Howard Carter made one of the most spectacular discoveries in the history of archaeology, when he unearthed the tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt’s Valley of th...
11 Aug 202245min

Is Queen Henrietta Maria’s rotten reputation deserved?
As the wife of Charles I, Henrietta Maria was in the firing line of the parliamentary propaganda machine. The Stuart queen was known as the “popish brat of France”, a “whore” and “the wife who wore th...
10 Aug 202244min

Measurement: an unexpected history
From weight and distance, to calorie-counting and calculating the depths of space, throughout history, humans have loved to measure things. Speaking to Elinor Evans, James Vincent – author of Beyond M...
9 Aug 202249min

15 minutes of fame: Alice Kinloch, Pan-African activist
It’s the HistoryExtra podcast’s 15th birthday! To celebrate, we’ve asked 15 historians to nominate a figure from history they think deserves their ‘15 minutes of fame’. In this episode, Professor Hak...
8 Aug 202219min

First World War poets: everything you wanted to know
How much has our view of the First World War – one of mud, trenches and futility – been shaped by the work of a handful of poets? How did the British public respond to poems criticising the war effort...
7 Aug 202241min

Stalingrad: a soldier’s testimony
Author Iain MacGregor reveals how the unpublished memoirs of a German officer shed fascinating new light on the battle of Stalingrad. Speaking with Rob Attar, Iain explains how Fritz Roske’s accounts ...
5 Aug 202253min

Medieval monks: a day in the life
Danièle Cybulskie charts a day in the life of a medieval monk, from morning rituals and mealtime misbehaviour to daily chores and worldly reflection. Speaking with Emily Briffett, she explores what su...
4 Aug 202240min



















