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The word ‘medieval’ is often used to mean backward, benighted, unscientific. But is this fair? Historian of science Seb Falk joins Tom and Dominic to explore how the Middle Ages shaped and influenced...
· 52 min 11 sec
Oh, to be Dutch in the seventeenth century. Or Roman in 150 AD. Or British in the 1990's. Tom and Dominic debate the merits of various "Golden Ages" in history, and ask whether we might have seen the...
· 57 min 56 sec
Curator and art historian Aparna Andhare gives Tom and Dominic her selection of the ten buildings that best illustrate India’s past 4,500 years. Ranging from Mohenjo-daro to Narendra Modi, all the Sub...
· 1 hr 24 sec
How did the existence of dinosaurs come to be discovered, & what role have they played in the popular imagination over the past 200 years? And what can humanity learn from the extinction of dinosa...
· 54 min 38 sec
Did the industrial revolution really improve people’s lives? And why was Britain first to industrialise? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by Emma Griffin, professor of modern history and a...
· 1 hr 2 min 6 sec
Despite his overwhelming lead in the polls, President Richard Nixon’s paranoia leads to the criminal actions of the Watergate scandal. In this second part of our mini-series, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom...
· 53 min 44 sec
What led Richard Nixon into the greatest political scandal in American history? Dominic Sandbrook, acclaimed historian of the period, leads Tom Holland on an extraordinary journey from Nixon’s humble...
· 49 min 51 sec
The world’s most famous classicist, Professor Mary Beard, joins Tom and Dominic to discuss how the legacy of classical Greece and Rome has been interpreted and re-interpreted over the past millennium...
· 1 hr 2 min 44 sec
WARNING: THIS PODCAST INCLUDES SPOILERS ABOUT THE NEW JAMES BOND MOVIE. DO NOT LISTEN UNTIL YOU’VE SEEN THE FILM.What does the new Bond movie tell us about modern masculinity? And where does the franc...
· 37 min 47 sec
Something wicked this way comes. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take a deep dive into the real history of Scotland’s most notorious king. Was he really the murderous man of Shakespeare’s writing? P...
· 56 min 20 sec
In today’s episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by Dr Eleanor Barraclough as they sail across the Atlantic in a dragon-ship, bound for the epic world of the Norse sagas. What society did the Vikings se...
· 1 hr 1 sec
As Angela Merkel bows out of German politics, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore the surprisingly colourful world of Germany’s Chancellors since the Second World War. It’s a story of rebels, ex...
· 1 hr 2 min 21 sec
The fictional British agent James Bond returns to our cinema screens this week, but what do the history and evolution of Ian Fleming’s iconic character tell us about our changing society? Dominic Sand...
· 57 min 54 sec
Writer and critic Tomiwa Owolade joins Dominic and Tom to discuss the pan-African movement and the varying ways in which African states became independent from their European colonisers during the 20t...
· 55 min 4 sec
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook continue their celebration of the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian invasion of Greece. Today, they look at two battles which have echoed down the millennia: Thermop...
· 1 hr 47 sec
In 480 BC, 300 Spartans made a famous stand at Thermopylae, as hordes of Persian soldiers, led by Xerxes, seemed set to succeed in their aim of conquering Greece. However, although Leonidas and his me...
· 57 min 34 sec
Tom Holland is joined by Ali Ansari to discuss the most influential mistresses in history. The definition of success is to impact history, despite often humble beginnings.Recorded live at the London P...
· 1 hr 19 min 43 sec
There are estimated to be around 16 thousand churches in England alone. But which are the finest in the UK? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by the director of Friends of Friendless Church...
· 1 hr 10 min 47 sec
On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, four commercial airliners were hijacked above the US by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda. What followed was the deadliest terrorist attack...
· 57 min 55 sec
The rise of social media is the central subject of our second instalment with tech pioneer Marc Andreessen. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook ask whether social media is the principal force behind an...
· 48 min 28 sec