History Extra Podcast

The roots of immigration detention in the US stretch back over a century. Speaking to Elinor Evans, historian Brianna Nofil explores how the US built a vast migrant detention regime. From jailing Chinese migrants in 1900s upstate New York to the private prison boom of the 1980s and beyond, she explores why detention remains a defining and deeply contested feature of American immigration policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While most of the other surviving Axis leaders were put on trial following the end of the Second World War, Japan's Emperor Hirohito never faced justice and, instead, continued to reign until his death in 1989. Debate continues about how far he was personally responsible for Japanese aggression in the 1930s and 40s, and in today's Life of the Week episode, Dr Christopher Harding guides Rob Attar through those arguments – and explores Hirohito's role in Japan's hugely successful postwar transition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did a muddy settlement on the banks of the river Tiber grow into the greatest empire the world had ever seen? Who was the more diabolical: Caligula or Nero? And was there really such a thing as Pax Romana? Speaking with Spencer Mizen, Edward Watts answers some of the most intriguing questions about this extraordinary culture – and considers just how Rome rose to dominate the ancient world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In AD 79, Pompeii and Herculaneum were subsumed by the eruption of Vesuvius, buried and preserved under metres of volcanic ash. Today, they are among the most famous ruins of the ancient world – and in this four-part Sunday Series, we’ll be exploring their secrets. In this first episode, historian Dr Jess Venner guides Kev Lochun through daily life in Pompeii and Herculaneum. They explore the myths surrounding the ‘mountain’, why pomegranates mean we can’t precisely date the disaster and how – implausible as it may seem today – the residents of these Roman cities had no idea they were living in the shadow of death.  ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Want to know more about the story of Pompeii? HistoryExtra's Kev Lochun has curated a selection of essential reading from the HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine archive to help you explore the story of the cataclysm, the Roman way of life and the nature of the Roman empire: https://bit.ly/4bjYKmE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc

In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, it fell to Britain to maintain the balance of power in continental Europe – but how could a small island manage such a task? How could it prevent the rise of another tricorned tyrant? That's the subject of Andrew Lambert's sweeping new book No More Napoleons. Speaking to Kev Lochun, he explains how Britain helped maintain peace in Europe without the need for huge armies, why Belgium was so important to maintaining stability on the continent, and why the idea of ‘Britannia Rules the Waves’ continues to be relevant today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The past 12 months have seen protests around the world make headlines and dominate social media feeds. But how have such popular demonstrations changed the course of history? In this episode, historians Katrina Navickas and Timothy Garton Ash join Danny Bird to explore centuries of people power – and the protests that had the most impact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hatshepsut is one of ancient Egypt’s most extraordinary figures: a pharaoh who deftly asserted her right to the throne, reigned over an era of prosperity, and commissioned some of the most iconic monuments of the era. But how did she rise from a royal princess and consort to become pharaoh in her own right? Emily Briffett is joined by Egyptologist Dr Campbell Price to explore Hatshepsut’s remarkable story – from how she navigated public relations to the complex dynamics between her and Thutmose III. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The chaos of the Spanish conquest, the humiliation of military defeat to the United States, the disruption of the revolution… Mexican history is often viewed through the lens of trauma and violence. Yet, as Paul Gillingham outlines in a new book, Mexico: A History, this was also one of the earliest democracies in the world – one in which Indigenous peoples enjoyed rights unthinkable in the US at the time. Paul guides Spencer Mizen through one nation's extraordinary history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does Austen’s later writing tell us about her changing ideas? And what factors contributed to her death? In this fourth and final episode of our series chronicling the novelist’s life and work, Dr Lizzie Rogers charts the last part of Austen’s story, and her enormous continuing influence. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Want to go further into the world of Jane Austen and her literary creations? HistoryExtra's Lauren Good rounds up some essential reading, listening and viewing from the HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine archive to deepen your understanding of Austen's life, her work and the Regency era in which she wrote: https://bit.ly/49F9oUk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A prophetess who warned Oliver Cromwell against killing the king. A Yorkshire maidservant who gained an audience with the Ottoman Sultan. The religious tumult of the 17th century gave ordinary women opportunities to have their voices heard more than ever before. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, Dr Naomi Baker looks at several of these radical religious women, who she profiles in her book Voices of Thunder.  (Ad) Naomi Baker is the author of Voices of Thunder: Radical Religious Women of the Seventeenth Century (Reaktion, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fvoices-of-thunder%2Fnaomi-baker%2F9781836391197. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why should you be careful about who's first through your door on New Year's Day? What led people to believe that newts and earwigs were responsible for their ailments? And why do sticks play such a key part in children's imaginations? Ceri Houlbrook and Owen Davies, co-authors of new book Folklore: A Journey through the Past and the Present, join Matt Elton to chronicle some of the most compelling stories from British folklore – and explain why they include UFOs just as much as ghosts and goblins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘Evil genius’ is a phrase that could have been invented to describe Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Augustus butchered his way to power in the chaos that followed Julius Caesar's assassination, and then showed the political cunning to remain there for four decades. In conversation with Spencer Mizen, Ed Watts – author of The Romans: A 2,000-Year History – considers the secrets of the success of an extraordinary individual who transformed the ancient world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do we know for certain about Old Norse ideas about masculinity and femininity, and can Viking Age mythology provide any answers? In conversation with James Osborne, Dr Jackson Crawford discusses the second edition of his translation of the Poetic Edda, and explores what can still be learned from the collection of Old Norse narrative poems that forms the foundation of our understanding of Viking mythology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was at Chawton House, a cottage in rural Hampshire, that Jane Austen experienced one of the most fruitful episodes of her writing career. In this third instalment of our four-part series charting the novelist's life and work, Dr Lizzie Rogers tells Lauren Good about this creative flourishing, and explores the popular works that Austen published during the period. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Want to go further into the world of Jane Austen and her literary creations? HistoryExtra's Lauren Good rounds up some essential reading, listening and viewing from the HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine archive to deepen your understanding of Austen's life, her work and the Regency era in which she wrote: https://bit.ly/49F9oUk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Æthelstan was crowned in Kingston upon Thames 1100 years ago, in AD 925. He went on to extend his authority far beyond his initial powerbase of Wessex and Mercia to become the first king of England. David Musgrove talks to Professor David Woodman, author of The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom, to hear why we should remember Æthelstan's reign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s one of the most romantic images of the First World War: British and German soldiers meeting in No Man’s Land on Christmas Day, 1914, for a spontaneous truce and a game of football. But did it actually happen? Historian Alex Churchill joins Rachel Dinning to discuss the famous event – and reveals what really happened in the trenches in December 1914. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Don’t miss our six-episode HistoryExtra Academy course WW1: Myths and Misconceptions, in which Alex Churchill challenges the most significant misunderstandings about the global conflict: https://bit.ly/4aVy63a Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Father Christmas – or Santa Claus – is one of western culture’s most recognisable figures. But from his mysterious origins to quite how he ended up as owner of a North Pole workshop staffed by elves, much about the festive season’s main man remains a mystery. In this episode, Thomas Ruys Smith joins Matt Elton to discuss the cultural life and career of the benevolent gift-giver – and reveals when Santa Claus first had to battle Father Christmas for the crown of festive figurehead. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Read Thomas Ruys Smith’s feature on the intertwined history of Father Christmas and Santa Claus on the HistoryExtra website: https://bit.ly/3MJN7LA ––––– Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you know that Elizabethan Londoners were good kissers? That medieval drinkers used beer to fight off the flames of a raging inferno? And that Jane Austen doesn't paint an entirely accurate picture of the early 19th century? These are just some of the facts served up in Ian Mortimer's new book, Mortimer's A to Zs of English History. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Ian takes us on an immersive tour of the nation in four periods: the 14th century, the Elizabethan age, the Restoration and the Regency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We might assume that Jane Austen led a quiet existence, writing dramatic plots instead of experiencing them herself – but that presumption is far from the truth. In this second episode of our four-part series on Austen's life and writing, Dr Lizzie Rogers and Lauren Good chart the author’s tumultuous twenties, an eventful period of her life during which she faced everything from a fleeting romance to sudden loss. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Want to go further into the world of Jane Austen and her literary creations? HistoryExtra's Lauren Good rounds up some essential reading, listening and viewing from the HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine archive to deepen your understanding of Austen's life, her work and the Regency era in which she wrote: https://bit.ly/49F9oUk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In September 1939, an unlikely assortment of journalists, politicians, novelists and spies assembled in a Bedfordshire village and set about waging a covert propaganda war on Hitler's Germany. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Terry Stiastny reveals how the Political War Executive deployed everything from fake news and pornography to bogus killings to spread fear and confusion in Nazi-occupied Europe. (Ad) Terry Stiastny is the author of Believable Lies: The Misfits Who Fought Churchill's Secret Propaganda War (Ebury, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fbelievable-lies%2Fterry-stiastny%2F%2F9780753559833. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices