logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
32m 49s

American Castaways: Treachery & Survival...

History Hit
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Today
What Did FDR Get Wrong?
Franklin D Roosevelt is consistently considered one of the United States' best Presidents. Elected four times, he oversaw the end of the Great Depression and victory in the Second World War.But was all of this actually his work? Did FDR solve the depression? And how do both his f ... Show More
48m 56s
Mar 2
Life and Death on the Oregon Trail | The Frontier
In the first instalment of our Frontier miniseries, we explore one of the most iconic symbols in American history: the Oregon Trail. For decades, thousands of Americans packed their lives into wooden wagons and set out for the West. They crossed sun-scorched plains without shade, ... Show More
51m 30s
Feb 26
The Making of Malcolm X
Known by the end of his life as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, the Black Nationalist leader best known as Malcolm X died at just 39. Despite his short life, however, his legacy continues to this day.Don is joined by Clarence Lang today, who introduces us to this legendary figure and t ... Show More
52m 19s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
229. Britain’s Last Colony: The Second World War, Forced Deportations, and 9/11 (Ep 1)
The Chagos Islands have dominated news headlines over the past few months, but the struggle of the Chagossian people to reclaim their island home has spanned decades. First colonised in 1513 by the Portuguese, the archipelago shifted from one imperial master to another over the c ... Show More
32m 54s
Mar 2024
Episode 1: Half a Million Sheep Can't Be Wrong
When Argentina invades the Falkland Islands, Margaret Thatcher sends a huge flotilla on an 8000-mile rescue mission – to save a forgotten remnant of the empire, and her premiership. Onboard the nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror, Lieutenant Narendra Sethia starts to keep a diary. Th ... Show More
52m 48s
Mar 2025
237. The Great Famine: The Irish Exodus to America (Ep 2)
The legacy of the Great Famine continues to shape not only Ireland, but the Irish diaspora in America, Canada, and the UK. In the mid-1800s, starving families fled the country in search of survival, gathering at the docks to board “coffins ships” sailing to Liverpool and the east ... Show More
43m 58s
Nov 2025
97. Selling The World's Secrets: Why The Brits Won The Falklands War (Ep 2)
THE REST IS CLASSIFIED LIVE 2026: Buy your tickets HERE on Friday 7th November at 12pm GMT. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the CIA and its German counterpart, the BND, were listening to the encrypted messages of at least 62 countries around the world. This intellige ... Show More
51m 27s
Nov 2024
A History of Escaping from Alcatraz Prison
<p>Alcatraz was the jewel in the crown of America's prison system. The wind-swept island fortress was the final stop for the nation's most dangerous criminals, including the notorious gangsters Al Capone and George 'Machine Gun' Kelly. It was thought to be escape-proof - at least ... Show More
36m 48s
Jul 2025
276. The Biggest Corruption Scandal in French History (Part 4)
How was George Eiffel of the Eiffel Tower involved in a huge corruption scandal associated with the Panama Canal? How many workers died during the French attempt to build the canal? And who was Bunau-Varilla and how did this smooth-talking moustache-wielding French engineer manag ... Show More
32m 1s
Oct 2024
196. Blackbeard’s Reign of Terror
“At our first salutation he drank damnation to me and my men who styled cowardly puppies saying he would neither give nor take quarter…” By the end of November 1717 Blackbeard had become one of the most feared pirates of his age. Having declared war upon the British empire in re ... Show More
40m 15s
Oct 2025
93. JFK vs the CIA: Bay of Pigs (Ep 4)
"We not only look like imperialists, we look like stupid ineffectual imperialists, which is worst of all." That was the assessment of one of Kennedy's aides following the swift collapse of the Bay of Pigs invasion. The landings fall apart almost immediately: the beaches are laced ... Show More
52m 39s
Jun 2025
578. The Irish War of Independence: Bloody Sunday (Part 3)
What occurred on Bloody Sunday on 21 November 1920 - a turning point in the Irish War of Independence and one of the bloodiest and most brutal moments in Irish history? How many British Army Officers were assassinated on the instructions of firebrand political leader, Michael Col ... Show More
57m 46s