In the 1840s, famine hit Ireland with devastating consequences. But what were the circumstances that turned a potato blight into a catastrophe that shattered societal structures and caused around a million deaths? Padraic X Scanlan speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the causes and impact of the famine, linking the disaster to the economic structures of the Brit ... Show More
Apr 24
Preview: The surprising history of pizza
It's now among the world's most popular foods – but what do we know about the origins of pizza? Today on the HistoryExtra podcast, we're bringing you a slice of our new series, History's Greatest Dishes, that serves up a feast of facts about some of the past's most remarkable del ... Show More
14m 5s
Mar 2025
The Great Hunger of Ireland: Natural Disaster or Man-Made Genocide?
In the mid-19th century, British-occupied Ireland lost roughly one-third of its population during a years-long catastrophe known as “The Great Hunger” or, “The Irish Potato Famine.” In the years that followed, some have wondered if the tragedy wasn’t the result of a natural disas ... Show More
37m 18s
Feb 2023
How the Famine Irish built New York
<p>Between 1840 and 1860 the population of New York almost trebled growing from 300,000 to 800,000. This influx of migrants from Europe gave birth to modern Manhattan. At the heart of this story were the 250,000 Irish people who made the city their home in the aftermath of the Gr ... Show More
32m 24s
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
Oct 2025
Ep 191 Famine: More than starvation
As we learned last week, starvation extends far beyond hunger and what a lack of food does to the human body. Similarly, famine is much more than a food shortage and starvation on a population-level scale. This week, we’re picking up where we left off last episode to explore the ... Show More
1h 10m