History Today Podcast

'Doc' Susan Anderson set out to prove that 'a woman could be a good doctor'. She did so in the most difficult surroundings: America's Wild West.An audio long read of the article published in the December issue of History Today. You can read the article online here, or buy a copy of the issue from our website.Written by Susan Jonusas. Read by Greig Johnson.Music: Jan MorgensternImage: Susan Anderson, c.1900. Wikimedia/Creative Commons. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This year marks the 900th anniversary of the worst maritime disaster suffered by the English Crown and, arguably, by England. The sinking of the White Ship – a vessel carrying the English king Henry I’s sole heir – on 25 November 1120, was a disaster from which anarchy would follow. Join Charles Spencer, author of The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream (William Collins, 2020) in conversation with History Today Editor Paul Lay. Charles has also written an article on the White Ship for the December issue of the magazine, on sale at newsstands across the UK, on our website, and as a digital edition on the History Today app. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the Wars of the Roses, Margaret is remembered as a warrior queen, the ‘she-wolf of France’. But the means by which she operated in the period of Lancastrian exile from 1461-71 – her unceasing diplomatic efforts in Europe and campaign of resistance in northern England – have tended to be sidelined in histories of this apparently national conflict. The story of Margaret’s campaign to regain the crown for the House of Lancaster is one of daring deeds, admirable courage and tragedy wrenched from the jaws of triumph.Despite her valiant efforts on their behalf, Margaret of Anjou would lose both her husband and her son in the dynastic tragedy of the Wars of the Roses. This article appeared in the November issue of History Today. Read the article online here, or buy a copy of the issue from our website.Written by Lauren Johnson. Read by Greig Johnson.Music: Kai EngelImage: Margaret of Anjou, seated with Henry VI, is presented with a book of romances by John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury (detail). French, 15th century © British Library Board/Bridgeman Images. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Over the past hundred years, foreign correspondents have been central to the West’s understanding of Russia’s political and cultural turning points, the revolutions, wars and changes in political power.In this episode, History Today Editor Paul Lay is joined by James Rodgers, whose latest book, Assignment Moscow, focuses on the stories of those journalists who have forged this understanding.Assignment Moscow: Reporting on Russia from Lenin to Putin is published by I.B. Tauris. You can read the History Today review from the September 2020 issue on our website.James also took part in the 'Head to Head' series in the October 2020 issue, which asked four historians to consider the question: Could the Soviet Union Have Survived? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

During the last week of September an Azerbaijani offensive re-ignited a decades-old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh (‘Mountainous Karabakh’) region. The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan is sometimes explained as a result of ‘ancient hatreds’. In reality, it is nothing of the sort, despite both sides using history to bolster their claims to the region. This article was part of our Miscellanies series. Sign up to receive this free weekly long read in your inbox, at https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies.Written by Jo Laycock. Read by Paul Lay.Image: 'We Are Our Mountains' monument north of Stepanakert, 1978. Completed in 1967, it is a symbol of Armenian heritage in the region. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sikh queen Jind Kaur inherited an empire shaken by unexpected deaths and embroiled in civil war, but her biggest problem was the British. Who was Jind Kaur and how did she become such a formidable woman? This article is from the October issue of History Today: buy a copy of the issue from our website, from newsstands across the UK, or read it via the History Today app, available on Google Play and the App Store. Read by Greig Johnson. Written by Priya Atwal. Music: Kai Engel. Image: Maharani Jind Kaur, by George Richmond, 19th century © Christie’s/Bridgeman Images. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A terrorist attack on Wall Street on 16 September 1920 aroused suspicion of anarchists, socialists and foreigners, as America saw danger around every corner.This article is from the September issue of History Today: buy a copy of the issue from our website, from newsstands across the UK, or read it via the History Today app, available on Google Play and the App Store.Read by Greig Johnson. Written by James Crossland.Music: Kai Engel.Image: Aftermath, Wall Street bomb, 16 September 1920 © Bettmann/Getty Images. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 1660, the Royalist exiles were returning with European languages, manners and culture in tow. Yet, of all the European imports that Charles and his Royalist entourage ferried back to their homeland, it was the courtly position of the maîtresse-en-titre that would prove most significant. Despite the scandalous overtones of adultery inherent in the job title, it was a much sought-after role, offering financial and social opportunities not only to the mistress herself but also to her relatives, carving out a space for female agency in a patriarchal institution. Join Annalisa Nicholson in conversation with History Today Editor, Paul Lay, as she discusses her article from the August issue.Buy a copy of the August 2020 issue of History Today from our website, or read it via the History Today app, available on Google Play and the App Store. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Life and death in a Viking battle depended not on military prowess, but on the favour of the valkyries. Why were these mythical figures, who decided a warrior’s fate, female?This article was part of our Miscellanies series. Sign up to receive this free weekly long read in your inbox, at https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies.Written by Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir. Read by Greig Johnson. Music: Kai Engel. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Shortly after 5pm on 7 June 1520, Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France met for the first time. That first meeting, and their time together over the following fortnight, became known to history as the Field of Cloth of Gold. In a spirit of rivalry and cooperation, the two young Renaissance monarchs asserted their power and authority at one of the last great demonstrations of the chivalric age. This article is from the July issue of History Today: buy a copy of the issue from our website, or read it via the History Today app, available on Google Play and the App Store. Introduced by History Today editor, Paul Lay. Read by Greig Johnson. Written by Glenn Richardson. Image: The Field of the Cloth of Gold, English, c.1545 © Getty Images. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this podcast, History Today Editor Paul Lay is joined by David Abulafia, winner of the 2020 Wolfson History Prize, for his book The Boundless Sea.The Boundless Sea traces the history of human movement and interaction around and across the world's greatest bodies of water, charting our relationship with the oceans from the time of the first voyagers. David also wrote an article for the November 2019 issue of History Today, which you can read on our website: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/virgin-islands-atlanticImage: Caravel from 'Atlas of Lázaro Luis (detail), 1563. Bridgeman Images. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The hero of the Haitian Revolution’s lonely death in a French prison cell was not an unfortunate tragedy but a cruel story of deliberate destruction.This article is from the June issue of History Today: buy a copy of the issue from our website, or read it via the History Today app, available on Google Play and the App Store.Introduced by History Today editor, Paul Lay. Read by Greig Johnson. Written by Marlene L. Daut.Music: Kai Engel.Image: Portrait of Toussaint Louverture, chromolithograph by George DeBaptiste, c.1870 © Getty Images. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join Marlene Daut in conversation with History Today Editor, Paul Lay, as they discuss the background of the Haitian Revolution, Toussaint Louverture, and the revolution's legacies.Marlene has written an article for the June issue of History Today on 'The Wrongful Death of Toussaint Louverture', which is also available to listen to as an audio long read on our podcast.Buy a copy of the June issue from our website, or read it via the History Today app, available on Google Play and the App Store.Marlene L. Daut is Professor of African Diaspora Studies at the University of Virginia and author of Tropics of Haiti: Race and the Literary History of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World (Liverpool University Press, 2015).Image: Toussaint Louverture fighting the French in Saint-Domingue, 19th-century engraving © Getty Images. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The city of Thebes was central to the ancient Greeks’ achievements in politics and culture. For many centuries it has been largely – and often deliberately – forgotten.Join Paul Cartledge in conversation with History Today Editor, Paul Lay, as they discuss Paul Cartledge's article on 'Thebes: The Forgotten City', which is in the June issue of History Today.Buy a copy of the June issue from our website, or read it via the History Today app, available on Google Play and the App Store.Paul's latest book, Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece is published by Picador.Image: Illustration for Seven Chiefs Against Thebes, c. 1794, John Flaxman. Metropolitan Museum of Art. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the 17th century, fanciful solutions to the mystery of the swallow’s whereabouts were the result of an intense battle over the nature of scientific reasoning, which had been raging for centuries – and which is still raging today. This article is from the May issue of History Today. Buy a copy of this issue from our website, or read it via the History Today app, available on Google Play and the App Store. Written by Alexander Lee. Read by History Today Editor, Paul Lay. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Myanmar’s colonial legacy includes racial hierarchies and authoritarian government. In the new nation state, not everyone is welcome. To understand why Rakhine State is in such turmoil we need to follow the threads of ethnic nationalism back to before Myanmar existed. This article is from the May issue of History Today. Buy a copy of this issue from our website, or read it via the History Today app, available on Google Play and the App Store. Introduced by History Today editor, Paul Lay. Read by Greig Johnson. Written by Ewan Cameron.Music: Kai Engel. Illustration: Ben Jones. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Four historians discuss what we learn from history about how diseases spread, and how we respond to them.Buy a copy of the April issue of History Today from our website: www.historytoday.comJohn Henderson: ‘Strategies to cope with plague have formed the basis for later policies’. Read by Paul Lay.Patricia Fara: ‘Fear and suspicion multiply more rapidly than any virus’. Read by Katie Holyoak.Samuel Cohn: ‘Epidemics strike from the outside and are carried in’. Read by Paul Lay.Sandra Hempel: ‘Smallpox remains the only human disease to be eradicated’. Read by Katie Holyoak.Introductions read by James Gribben. Music by Kai Engel. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

France’s attraction to right-wing populism has been a constant, if shape-shifting, presence in its politics since the end of the 19th century.This article appeared in the April 2020 edition of History Today. Read the article online or buy a copy of this issue from our website.Written by Martin EvansRead by Greig JohnsonProduced by History TodayMusic by Kai Engel See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 1942, Lieutenant Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a Soviet frontline sniper, was sent on a mission to convince US and British allies to open up a Second Front against Hitler’s forces.Her arrival in Washington DC coincided with a historic moment of American-Soviet friendship, even while the press found the female sniper, with her claimed tally of 309 German kills, rather shocking.Historian Dr Julie Wheelwright in conversation with History Today Editor, Paul Lay.Julie's Article 'A Woman's Place', on Lyudmila Pavlichenko will be the April cover story of History Today, on sale from Thursday 19 March. Pre-order your copy now on the History Today website.Julie's book 'Sisters in Arms: Female Warriors from Antiquity to the New Millennium' is published by Osprey.Music: Kai Engel. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In March 1876, the young Sigmund Freud arrived in Trieste, looking for the testicles of an eel. For centuries past, these troublesome organs had proved elusive. Despite the most intensive – not to say intimate – research, no one had managed to track them down. This article appeared in the March 2020 edition of History Today. Read the article online or buy a copy of this issue from our website.Written by Alexander LeeRead by Greig JohnsonProduced by History TodayMusic by Kai Engel See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This year, the US looks back four centuries to an intrepid band of refugees making a perilous home in New England. The Mayflower pilgrims had been outlaws in England, members of an underground church known as the Brownists or Separatists. They believed church should be a voluntary community rather than a compulsory state religion. For their refusal to submit to the Church of England they had faced raids, prison, exile and death for the previous 60 years.This podcast explores a previous expedition to North America. The Separatists had attempted to become the pilgrim fathers in Newfoundland as early as 1597.Join Paul Lay, editor of History Today, in conversation with Stephen Tomkins, author of The Journey to the Mayflower: God’s Outlaws & the Invention of Freedom (Hodder & Stoughton, 2020).You can read Stephen's article in the February issue of the magazine on our website, or buy a copy here. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 1867, a notorious divorce case revealed the horrific methods with which one London surgeon was treating his patients.This article appeared in the February 2020 edition of History Today. Read the article online or buy a copy of this issue from our website.Written by Sarah WiseRead by Greig JohnsonProduced by History Today See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this new podcast series, we speak with historians who are leading in their field. Each episode will be on a different subject and era; and a chance to hear the stories, to ask questions and to indulge our curiosity, with the experts in the area.These conversations will be interspersed with audio articles from the magazine. We’ve specially selected pieces that are eclectic, intriguing, and of course, informative. Our first piece is on the female genital mutilation scandal that shocked Victorian London.Explore all areas of the past, guided by those who know the subjects best. And enjoy more from the leading authoritative history magazine.The first two episodes will be available from 14 February. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Historian Michael Burleigh discusses his new book The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: A History of Now. Is the United States in permanent decline? Will China replace it as the global superpower? Are we entering a post-democratic world? And how do we prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Maiken Umbach and Neil Gregor join History Today editor Paul Lay to discuss the new critical edition of Hitler's notorious book. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We discuss Tantric Buddhism with Ruth Garde, curator of a new show at the Wellcome Collection. Also: Marc Morris on King John and the siege of Rochester. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Amy Fuller discusses the myths surrounding Mexico's Day of the Dead, and Andrew Lownie talks about the obstacles facing historians trying to use the Freedom of Information Act to access government files. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Peter Frankopan joins us to discuss the importance of viewing history not from a western or eastern perspective, but one that links the two together. Plus, Mathew Lyons and Catherine Fletcher on the plight of young academics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We speak to Katie Donington about the legacies of Britain's involvement in the slave trade. Also: Cambodia's lost rock and roll scene, and a report from the International Medieval Congress. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This month we discuss Proto-Indo-European, the ancestor of almost every language now spoken from the Hebrides to the Himalayas. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This episode is a Magna Carta special. We talk to Alexander Lock about the Charter's importance in America, and Lauren Johnson about the role of women in Magna Carta. Plus, a look at the British Museum's new display the medals of the Sun King. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kate Wiles talks to Lawrence Warner about the origins of the Middle English narrative poem Piers Plowman. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fern Riddell talks to the historian Greg Jenner about his new book, 'A Million Years In A Day'. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Paul Lay and Richard Dale discuss the mysterious death of a liveryman at St Paul's Cathedral in 1514. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gerard Russell and Tom Holland discuss the plight of religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Matt Carr discusses Sherman's March to the Sea, a key turning point in the American Civil War. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Charles Freeman discusses his research into one of history's greatest mysteries. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Roger Moorhouse discusses the pact between Hitler and Stalin, which lasted from 1939 to 1941. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The American filmmaker Ken Burns talks about his latest documentary, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Onyeka joins us to introduce a number of aspiring Africans who made an impact on Georgian society during the 18th century. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Raoul McLoughlin talks about Rome’s desire for an African empire, a fierce struggle for trade, land and the search for the source of the Nile. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Paul Lay talks to Ian Bradley about how the Scots were the most vocal advocates of a vibrant, imperial, Protestant Great Britain. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We speak to Gyanesh Kudaisya about the final years of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, who died in May 1964. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode Charlotte Crow talks to Jessie Childs about her article in the April issue of History Today, Beware the Foul Fiends, which concerns a graphic account of an exorcism in 16th-century London and the plight of Catholics in Elizabethan England. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We speak to Calder Walton, the author of Empire of Secrets: British Intelligence, the Cold War and the Twilight of Empire, which won the Longman-History Today Book of the Year prize. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Richard Weight joins us to discuss Britain's reluctant regicides, and why the country is embarrassed by its revolutionary past. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mark Horton tells the story of an archaeological dig that may have fuelled the fantasies of J.R.R. Tolkien. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Jacob Norris discusses the real history of Bethlehem. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Allan Mallinson joins us to discuss a 'lost' memo penned by Winston Churchill in 1911 concerning the prospect of a European war, a missive that, had its recommendations been implemented, may have brought the conflict to an early end. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jerry White discusses the housing crisis that afflicted London during the First World War, one that had a profound affect on living conditions in the capital. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Alexander Lee discusses historical notions of the ideal city. This podcast replaces a previous one in which the audio was too quiet. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.