Time for some podcasting history. The first podcast is considered by many to be Doug Kaye’s IT Conversations, which ran from 2003 to 2012. A year after the show’s inception, journalist Ben Hammersley wrote about this new phenomenon for The Guardian, ultimately giving the medium its name: “But what to call it? Audioblogging? Podcasting? GuerillaMedia?” We’re happy to say the publication you’re reading now isn’t called the Audioblogging Review.
That’s the end of your history lesson. After all, you’re here for history podcasts. This genre is filled with quality shows, so what gives a great history podcast its edge? Every show on this list makes excellent editorial calls, regardless of topic or format. Some illuminate previously overshadowed periods of history, while others propose new ideas around our most infamous historical events. No matter its methodology, each of these history podcasts rewards listeners with rich insights into our past delivered at a pleasant pace.
How many times a day do you think about the Roman Empire? For the hosts of The Rest is History, the number might be hard to quantify. And it doesn’t end there. Every empire in history is up for consideration on this British podcast, which is an archetype of the genre. It covers various events in history through a mini-series format, allowing hosts historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to untangle the threads with care, analysis, and a touch of light-hearted commentary. The show has built a loyal following over the years through consistency. You have to admire these hosts for their productivity. Each forty-minute episode digests a vast amount of information, condensing it into knowledge that is entertaining and accessible. It’s little wonder that the show is the go-to history podcast for so many.
Revolutions hardly needs an explainer. It’s a podcast that dives into moments in history when an oppressed population overthrew their ruling class. For a show all about turmoil, uprisings, and disaffection, writer and host Mike Duncan delivers these complicated historical episodes with all the enthusiasm of your neighbor describing their new driveway paving. But it works. After twelve seasons and over 100 episodes, Revolutions remains worth listening to because it isn’t brash or reductive. In fact, it might appeal precisely because it diverges from the reactionary pace of today’s news cycle. This show rewards fans with steady pacing, nuance, and attention to detail, appealing to anyone who enjoys Stephen West’s podcast Philosophize This!. Even if you don’t have a favorite philosopher, Revolutions might just leave you with a favorite political uprising.
British historian Dan Snow has been making television and radio programs about history for over two decades. His latest project, Dan Snow’s History Hit, is a masterclass in making history accessible to the public. The podcast manages to be both topical and historical, which makes you wonder whether Snow is trying to have his cake and eat it too. But the format has proven successful, thanks to quick turnarounds and a backlog of pre-recorded episodes. How else would he put out a show about Queen Elizabeth II on the same day she died? Bravo, Dan.
Snow isn’t quite Lucy Worsley — but then, who is? — yet he remains a popular mainstay of the history broadcasting scene. Yes, there’s a scene. History Hit has endured in this competitive market since 2015 because it is both well-researched and digestible. With episodes erring on the shorter side, around 20 minutes, the show is ideal for a coffee break or while cooking dinner. Just make sure you avoid all the episodes on plague while you carve the chicken.
When Blowback releases a new season, we clear our playlist and listen. If you’ve heard previous seasons of the show, our reasons should be obvious. But we’ll explain anyway. Blowback covers contemporary political history, describing itself as “a podcast about the American Empire”. The latest free season of the show is about Afghanistan, namely America’s involvement in the country both before and after 9/11. Even from a distance, hearing the sounds of those attacks in the first episode of season four remains a chilling experience. Blowback evokes similar feelings to watching The West Wing and All The President’s Men. Entertaining, absorbing — yet unnerving.
Whether you consider it a war, invasion, or intervention, the consequences of Western activity in Afghanistan were never more apparent than during the evacuation of Kabul by foreign citizens in 2021. This might be where many of us consider the story to end. But Blowback doesn’t look at this event in isolation. Context is key, especially in geopolitics — and Blowback has applied this lens to each of their subjects, from the Korean War to Iraq. We consider this show unmissable.
Named one of our favorite podcasts of 2018, You Must Remember This takes listeners through the debauchery, scandal, and forgotten stories of Old Hollywood. For more than 200 episodes, host Karina Longworth has illuminated details of Hollywood lore that, invariably, are not exactly how we remember them.
Films like Babylon and Hail, Caesar! have made it clear that Hollywood is just as interested in its myths and scandals as we are. As an author, as well as a film critic, Longworth knowledge lends You Must Remember This even more weight. In his recent round-up of the best film podcasts, Matt Seaton described the show as a series of “podcast-essays” that “unfold like stories.” The result? A meticulously researched dive into Hollywood legends of the sort that endure with each passing generation.
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Flames of Freedom is a docudrama chronicling how forty-two courageous Jews risked their lives in 1733 to cross the Atlantic Ocean, hoping to settle in the American colony of Georgia. They were fleeing the Portuguese Inquisition, murderous pogroms of Eastern Europe, and antisemitism in England to build a future with religious freedom and economic opportunity. They gambled with their lives and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the slim chance they would be allowed to settle in the new American colony of Georgia to be founded by James Oglethorpe. Nothing about this journey from oppression to liberty was easy, nor was the desired outcome certain. Given the Georgia Trustees’ blatant objections to Jews settling in the new colony, the possibility that Oglethorpe would reverse course and accept them seemed nearly impossible. But an unforeseen epidemic threatening to wipe out the budding colony would completely change that calculus.
Forget King Charles. Melvyn Bragg is the true patriarch of the British nation. Don’t believe me? Bragg has been at the helm of In Our Time since 1998, with over 900 episodes to date. Let the record show that Charles III has been in his post for a fraction of that time, with much less deference given to him. In Our Time is a British radio show and podcast presented by Bragg and recorded live for BBC Radio 4. It’s an academic roundtable that explores rich and diverse topics, from the Knights Templar to the Dead Sea Scrolls; think of a niche topic and they’ve likely covered it.
If we can’t convince you of the delights of listening to three academics arguing about the real meaning of a palimpsest dating back to 1543, then perhaps our claim that this podcast could comfortably get you through an undergraduate degree might persuade you. Long live the reign of Bragg.
What would a list of educational podcasts be without a show from NPR? Enter Throughline. Put simply, this is a history podcast about often marginalized and frequently debated events in history, casting a critical lens on topics from the prosaic to the provocative.
When Podcast Review spoke with the hosts of Throughline, Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei, we learned that the show has been accused of being both too political and apolitical. But they take this as a compliment. “If we’re getting it from both sides, I think we did a good job.” Looking back, it’s easy to see why this podcast has been successful. Whether discussing monopoly or the modern white power movement, Abdelfatah and Arablouei never swerve.
While you couldn’t pay me to become a Middle East historian right now, some brave podcasters have been covering this ancient and compelling region for years. Conflicted is a show that brings together history and geopolitics to understand the overall political landscape of the Middle East and parts of Africa, from early history through the Cold War and into the present day. While this is a show that’s unlikely to please everyone, hosts Aimen Dean and Thomas Small give “objectivity” and “balance” a good stab. It’s worth noting that most history podcasts will engage with volatile political issues at some point. We’ve never seen a reviews section that hasn’t included accusations of bias — and that goes for all podcasts, including the cooking shows. The reason Conflicted succeeds is down to its willingness to engage in long-form discourse on topics that are difficult to discuss and complex to analyze. The show also engages with its listeners — known as Conflicted Community — to ensure friendly debate flourishes.
So where to begin? Each season grapples with a different part of Middle Eastern history. While dropping in mid-season is possible, we’d advise at least starting at the beginning of a theme. You could always jump right back to the beginning, perhaps to a simpler time… oh, wait, never mind.
We called 1619 one of the best podcasts of 2019. Returning to the show a few years later, it’s hard to miss all the reasons why it had such an impact. The title refers to August 20, 1619, the day a ship carrying enslaved Africans landed on the shores of Virginia. Over 400 years later, The New York Times’s 1619 Project offers an ambitious examination of slavery in the United States. This podcast’s first episode begins with host Nikole Hannah-Jones standing in New England, looking back across the Atlantic towards Africa. 1619 is an intimately narrated and rigorously researched telling of a history that, even now, is glossed over.
Sometimes the news on Earth is so distressing that the only option is to launch into space. Fortunately, Kevin Fong has returned with another podcast about space travel to distract us from whatever that politician just posted on social media. 16 Sunsets is the sequel to the hit British podcast 13 Minutes to the Moon and boasts the same incredible sound design. It even features music by Christian Lundberg, a member of Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Composers’ Collective, in addition to 40 interviews with NASA veterans. Interstellar, eat your heart out.
After previously covering the Apollo 11 and 13 missions, Fong explores NASA’s ambitious Space Shuttle mission in his ten-part follow-up. If you enjoy the drama of a rocket launch, you won’t be disappointed.
It may seem odd to recommend a show about space on a list of the best history podcasts; we often associate rockets and planets with the future, not the past. But as 16 Sunsets proves, the history of space travel, though recent, is rich in fascinating testimony and packed with excitement. And let’s face it, there’s not much going on in space travel at the moment. So they launched a few satellites? Big woop. Wake me up when we go back to the moon.
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History is probably the most infamous history podcast on this list. It’s certainly the most acquired taste. That hasn’t stopped it from gaining a cult following for its richly layered storytelling and the striking artwork that accompanies it.
True to its name, Hardcore History is not for dabblers. Each episode stretches for hours — we’re talking the best part of five — and Carlin uses that time to paint an intriguing, highly contextualized portrait of some of the darker periods of world history. Though Carlin insists he is a “fan of history, not a historian,” he takes complicated events and makes them feel real through clever discussion, often flipping ideas on their head and asking listeners to examine concepts from multiple angles. Though Carlin’s deference for historical nuance often sacrifices sensitivity around language, the show remains a staple of the genre.
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Alice Florence Orr is a staff writer and assistant editor for Podcast Review. She is based in Edinburgh. You can connect with her on Twitter or read her work on aliceflorenceorr.com