Yesterday

670. Tom Holland Meets Paul McCartney

How was Paul McCartney influenced by life in postwar Liverpool? How did he and the Beatles first learn to make music? And were they influenced by literature as well as other musicians? Join Tom Holland as he asks Paul McCartney these questions and more in a very special interview ... Show More

39m 42s

May 10

668. Greece vs Persia: The Rise of the First Superpower (Part 1)

Why did the Persian Empire cross the Aegean to destroy Athens in 490BC? Who was Darius, the King of Kings, and the most powerful man in the world? And, how did this totemic invasion unfold? Join Tom and Dominic as they launch into one of the most cataclysmic clashes in all ancien ... Show More

1h 11m

May 6

667. The Mystery of the Mona Lisa

Is there a secret meaning behind the Mona Lisa’s famously ambiguous smile? What light does the painting shed upon Renaissance Italy, and Leonardo da Vinci himself? And, who is the mysterious man or woman in the painting…? Join Dominic and Tom as they unfold the secret history beh ... Show More

1h 9m

Mar 2025

234. Battle of the Boyne: Clash of Two Kings (Ep 2)

The Restoration reinstates the monarchy in England, Scotland & Ireland, and Irish Catholics believe that they will get their lands back for their loyalty to the king. And when the openly Catholic King James II succeeds his older brother, they are even more hopeful. But English Pr ... Show More

41m 12s

Feb 2025

233. Blood and Betrayal: Oliver Cromwell's Irish Invasion (Ep 1)

His statue may stand proudly outside the Houses of Parliament in London, but in Ireland, Oliver Cromwell is remembered as “the Devil from over the Sea” for the bloodshed he unleashed there from 1649 to 1653. Rising to prominence as a Parliamentarian during the English Civil War ... Show More

40m 27s

Mar 2025

235. The Viceroy, The Psychopath, and The Merchant: The Irish in Empire (Ep 3)

Ireland may have been England’s first colony but, by the 17th century, Irishmen were carving out their own imperial legacies in India. Gerald Aungier, an ambitious East India Company official, saw Bombay as a new frontier for plantation and trade. Drawing from his family’s planta ... Show More

51m 58s

Nov 2025

King Harold Godwinson vs. William the Conqueror: Great Royal Rivalries in History

1066, a date which lives in infamy in many a school child’s history test. For in that year England saw 4 Kings, and two bitter enemies battle for the throne. The ultimate victor would change the course history. The new series King and Conqueror dramatizes this pivotal rivalry wit ... Show More

33m 39s

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

Mar 2020

Taranaki Wars: Waitara and One Family's Journey

Shots fired in Taranaki in 1860 sparked decades of conflict and the country's longest running war. The rapidly growing settler population is desperate for more land while local iwi are more reluctant to sell. In part three, we look at the New Zealand Company's dodgy deals and res ... Show More

1 h

Sep 2025

33. Prince Albert’s Dying Wish: Stopping An American-British War (Ep 2)

Why did Britain and America nearly go to war over the capture of two Confederate officers from a British Ship? What did President Lincoln’s Emergency War Cabinet respond to Britain’s threatening ultimatum? How did Prince Albert keep the peace with the last letter he ever sent? Jo ... Show More

33m 22s

Jul 2025

274. Pirates of Panama: Francis Drake Strikes Spain's Empire (Part 2)

Who was Captain Morgan, and why is a spiced rum named after him? How did a Welsh buccaneer lead an attack on the heart of Spain’s empire in Panama? How did Elizabeth I fund Francis Drake’s first slaving voyage? William and Anita are joined once again by historian and archaeologis ... Show More

50m 6s

Apr 2025

Attila the Hun, Part 1 of 2

We’re in south-eastern Europe in the 400s AD. The once mighty Roman Empire is riven in two. And on the Great Hungarian Plain a fearsome enemy is rising. The Huns’ king, Attila, will become a terrifying, iconic figure. A byword for plundering and pillaging. The archetypal warlord. ... Show More

57m 10s

Jul 2025

Hannibal's March on Rome

<p>It was perhaps Hannibal’s greatest gamble — after years of victories, not least his famed trek across the snow-capped Alps, could he strike at Rome itself?</p><br><p>In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Louis Rawlings to explore the dramatic years a ... Show More

55m 55s

669. Greece vs. Persia: The Battle of Ma...