May 1453 saw the siege that would lead to the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was the culmination of an age-long struggle between Christianity and Islam for control of the Eastern Mediterranean. The Ottoman leader Mehmed II had dreamed of possessing the city since he was a boy, and now the shining light of Christian civilization, which had lasted 1100 years, fell into the hands of Ottomans. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Matt Lewis is joined by Prof. Marc David Baer to delve ...
Dec 30, 2024•37 min•Ep 1564•Transcript available on Metacast Today we dig into the history of Istanbul, the city at the crossroads of East and West. Across thousands of years, the city has survived the rise and fall of empires, weathered sieges and Crusades, and remained a centre of world religion, trade and politics. With us is Jonathan Harris, Professor of the History of Byzantium at Royal Holloway and author of 'Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium'. He tells us all about the key moments that transformed the Eastern Roman capital of Constantinople into...
Dec 27, 2024•44 min•Ep 1563•Transcript available on Metacast Just as Scrooge wanders London's streets on a cold Christmas night, Dan Snow follows the ghosts of Charles Dickens' past to discover the city that inspired his greatest works. With London-born tour guide David Charnick, they slip down hidden alleyways to find the old debtor's prison that the Dickens family once called home; a place that haunted a young Charles for the rest of his life. They find the old counting houses and graveyards that inspired the creation of Ebenezer Scrooge and the locatio...
Dec 25, 2024•47 min•Ep 1562•Transcript available on Metacast Folktales around the fire, gooding & mumping and the terrifying Hooden Horse are just some of England's winter folk traditions from history. In this episode, Dan explores the unlikely and often dark origins of some of our Christmas traditions that can be traced back thousands of years. He's joined by folklore historian Vikki Bramshaw, to discover what midwinter legends were brought over with the Anglo-Saxon invasion, the origins of the Yule log and some of the unusual ways people passed the long...
Dec 23, 2024•30 min•Ep 1561•Transcript available on Metacast After the death of Chinggis Khan, the founder and first Emperor of the Mongol Empire, the land became the largest contiguous empire in history. The Horde, the western portion of the Mongol empire, was the central node in the Eurasian commercial boom of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and was a conduit for exchanges across thousands of miles. A force in global development as important as Rome, the Horde left behind a profound legacy in Europe, Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, pa...
Dec 20, 2024•19 min•Ep 1559•Transcript available on Metacast Pantomimes, pleasure gardens, bare-knuckle boxing and political upheaval. Christmas in the 18th and early 19th centuries was a very different affair from the peaceful family celebration of the Victorian Age. Georgian Christmas was raucous and rowdy, and it was time for a bit of fun before heading back to work. In this seasonal episode, Dan delves into the festivities of London's working classes with Footprints of London tour guide Rob Smith. From an 18th-century showman who would put two joints ...
Dec 18, 2024•38 min•Ep 1558•Transcript available on Metacast In the long and lamentable history of human conflicts, the Cod Wars have to be among the most bizarre. And what was the catalyst for them? You guessed it - fish. These 20th-century confrontations pitted hardy British fishermen and ships of the Royal Navy against the unwavering Icelandic Coast Guard. They involved medieval inventions and tactics like ships ramming each other, and even live fire. The conflict would shake the very foundations of NATO, and threaten to upend the balance of power in t...
Dec 16, 2024•40 min•Ep 1557•Transcript available on Metacast Dan is joined by the Defence Editor for The Economist, Shashank Joshi, to explore the origins of the brutal Syrian civil war that has left the country in ruin and with an uncertain future. They unravel the complex political and cultural history of the region to explain why we're seeing turmoil today and what sense it could give us about what might happen now that the Assad regime has fallen. Written by Dan Snow, produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Max Carrey Sign up to History Hit for h...
Dec 13, 2024•34 min•Ep 1556•Transcript available on Metacast Tudor Christmas was a time for revelry and fun. Henry VIII and his court celebrated the full 12 days of Christmas in excess, with tables ladened with roast swan, suckling pig and venison pasties, among other delights. It's believed one Christmas, the King spent the equivalent of £13 million on the celebrations. He loved to dress up and tease his wives as well as take part in festive games. Dan travels to what was once the heart of Henry's court, Hampton Court Palace, to meet with Historic Royal ...
Dec 11, 2024•33 min•Ep 1555•Transcript available on Metacast Warning: this episode contains graphic details of injuries. The brutal nature of the First World War presented frontline medical personnel with an array of horrific and debilitating wounds, inflicted on a previously unimaginable scale. From gas attacks and bayonet wounds to rifle fire and artillery barrages, day-to-day life on the frontlines posed a serious risk to life and limb. The doctors and nurses responsible for medical care rose to the challenge, and the First World War saw a dramatic tra...
Dec 09, 2024•26 min•Ep 1554•Transcript available on Metacast The rise of fascism in America in the 1920s & 30s looked just like the rise of fascism in Germany at the same time- scapegoating, the dissemination of false information, the attempted erosion of democracy… Dan is joined by Rachel Maddow, host of the chart-topping Ultra podcast and The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC to explore how Nazism infiltrated the highest political offices in the US government, but also the unsung American heroes who risked everything to stop it. Rachel's latest book is Preque...
Dec 06, 2024•33 min•Ep 1552•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 1 in our 'Origins of Christmas' series. This Roman winter festival laid the foundations for many of our Christmas customs today- feasting, gift-giving and revelry. During Saturnalia, Emperors held elaborate games at the Colosseum while others gave gag gifts. Meanwhile, in the home, the societal hierarchy was flipped - slaves were served by their masters at the dinner table and out in the streets it was a carnival of music, dancing and debauchery. Dan is joined by Dr Frances Macintosh, Th...
Dec 04, 2024•23 min•Ep 1551•Transcript available on Metacast Today we explore one of history's most consequential relationships - that of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, a pivotal alliance that shaped the world we live in today. Alongside Lindsay Graham from the chart-topping American History Tellers podcast, Dan digs into the story of Britain and America's alliance in the Second World War and the diplomatic and personal relationship of these two world leaders, their famous meeting at the White House in December 1941 and the impact it had on ...
Dec 02, 2024•51 min•Ep 1550•Transcript available on Metacast In the 5th century BC, the ancient world's pre-eminent superpower turned its gaze towards the turbulent fringes of its empire. Under the illustrious Persian conquerors Darius and Xerxes the Great, the Achaemenids would send enormous armies west to contest an alliance of rebel Greek city states. The conflicts that followed brought the Persian and Greek worlds closer together and set the stage for a drastic reshaping of the ancient world. Joining us is Patrick Wyman, host of the Tides of History a...
Nov 29, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep 1549•Transcript available on Metacast This is the story of British fascism seen through the life of its leader, Oswald Mosley. We explore his charismatic yet deeply flawed personality, his relationship with European fascists, and the eventual decline of his movement. With us is Stephen Dorril, a former senior lecturer in journalism at Huddersfield University and the author of 'Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism'. He joins us for an in-depth look at this complex and controversial figure. Produced and edited by James Hi...
Nov 27, 2024•55 min•Ep 1548•Transcript available on Metacast Amid the chilling tension of the Cold War, Ian Fleming captured readers with his character James Bond, whose missions were based on his experiences with the elite and secretive 30 Assault Unit in WWII. 30AU was established in 1942 by British Naval Intelligence and was overseen by Fleming. Their role was to capture secret German documents, weapon blueprints, and communication codes from behind enemy lines. They often targeted command centres, labs, and bunkers to recover valuable information and ...
Nov 25, 2024•36 min•Ep 1547•Transcript available on Metacast 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, until one night in June 1962, when three men on an improvised raft slipped into the icy waters of San Francisco Bay, never to be seen again. The inescapable prison had finally been beaten. Today we're joined by Jolene Bab...
Nov 22, 2024•37 min•Ep 1545•Transcript available on Metacast Dan explores stories of London's Blitz, beyond the stiff-upper-lip stereotypes Dan discovers an unexpected world of crime, sexual revolution and desperation. He is joined by Joshua Levine, historical advisor on the new Steve McQueen movie, Blitz, to uncover the everyday lives of Britons under relentless bombing and the extraordinary resilience that shaped a generation. Blitz will be available to stream on Apple TV from the 22nd of November 2024. Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Pa...
Nov 19, 2024•42 min•Ep 1544•Transcript available on Metacast The true nexus of power in the Roman Empire wasn't in the Emperor's box but in the shadowy ranks of the Praetorian Guard. First established in 27 BCE by Caesar Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, they acted as his personal army and security escort. But it didn’t take long for their influence in Rome to become more insidious … they became kingmakers and power brokers with the ability to topple a dynasty at the drop of a hat. They were the ones who decided who lived and who died. Dan and Dr ...
Nov 18, 2024•30 min•Ep 1543•Transcript available on Metacast Spartacus is probably the most famous gladiator in history but how much of his legend is actually true? Dan is joined by Dr Rhiannon Evans, from Melbourne’s Le Trobe University, a leading expert in Ancient History and one of the hosts of the Emperors of Rome podcast to find out. They trace what little we know of his origins, his life in the gladiator school where he led a kitchen revolution and escaped with a cohort of other enslaved fighters before raising an army to fight a revolt that pushed ...
Nov 15, 2024•41 min•Ep 1542•Transcript available on Metacast Join Dan at Rome's Colosseum as he separates fact from fiction in the world of the gladiators. He traces the origins of gladiatorial fighting from funerary celebrations to elaborate spectacles in the arena, what it would take to make it to the top and what really happens when a gladiator loses the fight. With the help of expert historians, Dan explores the myths perpetuated in Hollywood movies, the role of the games in Roman political life and what you'd actually see if you got a ticket to the g...
Nov 13, 2024•48 min•Ep 1541•Transcript available on Metacast Join Dan on an adventure in Rome as he traces the true history of the gladiators. He begins his story in 64 AD with the great fire of Rome that left the city in ruin. From the ashes rose a new Emperor and his dreams for a gargantuan amphitheatre, unlike anything the Empire had ever seen. With the help of leading experts, Dan explores the building of the Colosseum, the biggest stage in the Roman world, and the ingenuity and cruelty of the entertainment that took place there during the inaugural 1...
Nov 11, 2024•49 min•Ep 1540•Transcript available on Metacast In this dramatic episode, Dan tells the incredible story of how Shackleton saved every single man on the fated Endurance expedition from perishing in Antarctica. In late 1914, the charismatic and brilliant explorer Ernest Shackleton led 27 men on a voyage to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. But what should have been a successful expedition turned into a two-year nightmare of hardship and catastrophe when their vessel the Endurance was crushed in the Weddell Sea pack-ice and sunk. Str...
Nov 11, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep 1538•Transcript available on Metacast From the Clinton 'crime family' to businessman JP Morgan sinking the Titanic to kill off his rivals, conspiracy theories are rife on the internet. Dan Snow teams up with BBC journalist Gabriel Gatehouse, creator of hit The Coming Storm podcast, to unravel the journey of conspiracy theories from whispered suspicions to narratives that have shaped modern American politics. Beginning with the mysterious death of Vince Foster and Clinton-era controversies in the 1990s, this episode explores how cons...
Nov 06, 2024•37 min•Ep 1537•Transcript available on Metacast In the western nave of Westminster Abbey, nestled between illustrious tombs and beneath a slab of black Belgian marble, lies the body of an unidentified soldier of the First World War. He is remembered as the Unknown Warrior, a symbol of the half a million Commonwealth servicemen who went missing between 1914 and 1918, their earthly remains lost to the chaos of conflict. As Remembrance Day approaches and guided by John Nichol, former RAF navigator and author of 'The Unknown Warrior', we journey ...
Nov 04, 2024•39 min•Ep 1536•Transcript available on Metacast The 2024 US Presidential election is just around the corner, and it seems like the result is balanced on a knife's edge. As the polls continue to roll in, pundits are predicting the closest US election ever. But we history lovers are always wary of the word 'ever', and so in this special Explainer episode, Dan gets under the hood of the US electoral system. How does it work, and is this truly the closest election in American history? Written and produced by Dan Snow, and edited by Dougal Patmore...
Nov 01, 2024•47 min•Ep 1535•Transcript available on Metacast In 1974, a pioneer of the SAS and master of military deception, Dudley Clarke, passed away. His death went almost entirely unnoticed by the British public, despite the fact that he carried out some of the most dramatic deception campaigns of World War Two. He waged a covert war of trickery and misdirection across Europe, which ended up getting him arrested by Spanish authorities while dressed as a woman. He also helped to found one of the world's preeminent special forces; the Special Air Servic...
Oct 30, 2024•28 min•Ep 1534•Transcript available on Metacast In the second episode of our Wars of the Roses series, Edward IV secures the English throne after his victory at the bloody Battle of Towton. But his betrayal by Warwick the 'Kingmaker' throws the house of York into disarray once again. The civil war reignites, and only after immense bloodshed will a new dynasty will arise - that of the Tudors. England's political landscape would be changed forever. Once again we're joined by Matt Lewis, historian, author and host of our sister podcast, Gone Med...
Oct 28, 2024•40 min•Ep 1533•Transcript available on Metacast This is the first episode in a two-part series on the brutal, three-decade-long civil war that tore England in two. Today, we explore the complex allegiances, rivalries, and personalities that made it all happen before hearing about the first bloody battles between the houses of York and Lancaster. For this, we're joined by Matt Lewis, historian, author and host of our sister podcast, Gone Medieval . Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore. Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning...
Oct 24, 2024•50 min•Ep 1531•Transcript available on Metacast 
