The Origins of Istanbul
Today we dig into the history of Istanbul, the city at the crossroads of East and West. Across thousands of years, the city has survived the rise and fall of empires, weathered sieges and Crusades, an...
27 Dec 202443min
Charles Dickens' Christmas
Just as Scrooge wanders London's streets on a cold Christmas night, Dan Snow follows the ghosts of Charles Dickens' past to discover the city that inspired his greatest works. With London-born tour gu...
25 Dec 202446min
Folk Christmas: Yule, Solstice & Ancient English Traditions
Folktales around the fire, gooding & mumping and the terrifying Hooden Horse are just some of England's winter folk traditions from history. In this episode, Dan explores the unlikely and often dark o...
23 Dec 202430min
How the Mongols Changed the World
After the death of Chinggis Khan, the founder and first Emperor of the Mongol Empire, the land became the largest contiguous empire in history.The Horde, the western portion of the Mongol empire, was ...
20 Dec 202419min
Georgian Christmas
Pantomimes, pleasure gardens, bare-knuckle boxing and political upheaval. Christmas in the 18th and early 19th centuries was a very different affair from the peaceful family celebration of the Victori...
18 Dec 202437min
The Cod Wars
In the long and lamentable history of human conflicts, the Cod Wars have to be among the most bizarre. And what was the catalyst for them? You guessed it - fish. These 20th-century confrontations pitt...
16 Dec 202440min
The Syrian Civil War: How It Started
Dan is joined by the Defence Editor for The Economist, Shashank Joshi, to explore the origins of the brutal Syrian civil war that has left the country in ruin and with an uncertain future. They unrave...
13 Dec 202434min
Henry VIII's Tudor Christmas
Tudor Christmas was a time for revelry and fun. Henry VIII and his court celebrated the full 12 days of Christmas in excess, with tables ladened with roast swan, suckling pig and venison pasties, amon...
11 Dec 202432min
