Dan Snow's History Hit - TopPodcast.com

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Spies in the Sky Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Spy balloons are really blowing up right now. The US has shot down one confirmed Chinese balloon and has engaged several other unidentified flying objects. But like so many things we cover on this podcast, it's an old method in a new outfit. Spy balloons for reconnaissance go back all the way to the French Revolution and pop up again in the American Civil War.

To talk through the history of spying from the sky, Dan is joined on the podcast by the curator at the International Spy Museum Dr Andrew Hammond who also hosts their podcast Spycast. They discuss the ideas that have taken off and the ones that haven't... including pigeons with cameras, drones disguised as dragonflies and satellites in outer space.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and mixed by Dougal Patmore.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!

Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Tragedy of HMS Captain Feb 15, 2023

Show notes

As a crew of over 500 boarded HMS Captain in the autumn of 1870, none of them knew their fate was sealed in the offices of the dockyard. The Captain was one of the Royal Navy’s first steam powered battleships- both innovative and formidable - three masts with wrought iron armour, but it was no match for the treacherous storm it came up against one September night in the Bay of Biscay.

As the Captain was battered and swallowed by the Atlantic, the men onboard suffered terribly: some washed overboard, some caught in steam explosions below and others trapped in the rigging and sails as she disappeared. Only 18 survived, by rowing scantily clad, barefoot and traumatised through the darkness until daybreak. The tragedy ripped through Victorian Britain and quickly questions started to be asked about how this could have happened and who was responsible.

Today, over 150 years later, Dr Howard Fuller from the University of Wolverhampton and his team have made a breakthrough in their search for the wreck off the coast of Spain. They're almost certain HMS Captain lies off Cape Finisterre and are working on a campaign to explore the wreck, to discover more about the ship and its sinking. Part of the project is to find out more about the last moments of the men on board, most of whom lost their lives, for their descendants and families who are still looking for answers.

You can find out more and donate to the Find the Captain fundraiser project here: findthecaptain.co.uk

Produced by Mariana Des Forges, sound design and mixing by Dougal Patmore.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!

Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.

Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nicholas Said: The Extraordinary Life of a Traveller, Soldier and Translator Feb 14, 2023

Show notes

This is the remarkable story of Nicholas Said - born into a wealthy Muslim family in the ancient Bornu Empire, his childhood was interrupted when, aged 13, he was sold into slavery. His journey would take him across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, and bring him into contact with illustrious figures like Tsar Nicholas I and Queen Victoria. As a free man, he would join one of the first African American regiments in the Union Army and fought in the American Civil War. Dean Calbreath is a journalist and author of The Sergeant: The Incredible Life of Nicholas Said, and joins us to take us through this astonishing tale.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Muppets Take Moscow! Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

Car bombings, assassinations and a military takeover: these are just some of the things American TV producer Natasha Lance Rogoff and her team faced when trying to bring The Muppets to the former USSR in the 1990s.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russia that emerged was a chaotic, sometimes violent free-for-all for western investors and oligarchs, swooping in to buy up businesses, natural resources and really anything they could. For regular Russians, they had to navigate a new, more free society and Natasha, a fluent speaker with experience in Russian TV, was drafted in to introduce The Muppets as the ambassadors to show children how to do that.

An exercise in trying to introduce western values but also establish international relations with a former enemy, almost every aspect of the Russian Sesame Street- Uliza Sezam - was coloured by cultural clashes. Both nationalities had to learn to work together and better understand one another. What was created was a wholly Russian show, with new characters founded in traditional folklore and music informed by Russia’s rich cultural history. The show was a huge success, beloved by children across the entire USSR and ran for 10 years into Putin’s reign of power.

Natasha joins Dan to tell this extraordinary story as they delve into the societal pressures faced by Russia after the Soviet Union and its relationship with the west which is still so relevant today.

Her new book is called ‘Muppets in Moscow.’

Archive of Sesame Street and Uliza Sezam courtesy of Sesame Workshop.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and mixed by Dougal Patmore.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!

Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.

Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pre-historic Women Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

For years we've understood that in the prehistoric hunter-gather world, the men did the hunting and the women did the gathering. Prehistoric man went on adventures, invented, created and drew, whereas prehistoric women stayed home, educated children and carried out domestic chores. Well, research now shows that this wasn't the case. Researchers are taking a closer look at our distant ancestors and breaking stereotypes about early women. Dan is joined by Thomas Cirotteau, co-author of the book Lady Sapiens: Breaking Stereotypes About Prehistoric Women to unearth a new understanding of our origins.

Produced by Beth Donaldson and mixed by Dougal Patmore

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!

Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.

Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan, The Skeletons and The Battle of Waterloo Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

Dan Snow’s History Hit hits the road to Belgium and the Waterloo Battlefield to see the soldier’s bones found in an attic earlier this month.

The Battle of Waterloo is often remembered for its great leaders; Napoleon, Wellington and Blücher. Or, for its sweeping strategic importance but what did the ordinary fighting men endure? We went to the Waterloo Battlefield to learn about the almost apocalyptic reality of the battle with thick quagmires of mud and the bodies of both soldiers and horses strewn about. French Historian Antoin Charpagne shares stories of the men on the ground, what they ate (or didn't), their relationships and how they suffered. The History Hit team then head to Universite de Liege Medical Institute to the morgue to see what bones from Prussian soldiers can tell us about the battle before finally heading on to the Brussels Museum of Natural Sciences where Dan helps Dr Caroline Laforest unpack the British bones that have just arrived.

With great thanks to Mathilde Daumas, Dr Bernard Wilkin and Waterloo Uncovered.

Produced by Mariana Des forges and mixed by Joseph Knight.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!

Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.

Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Medieval Leaders and Queens: Aethelfled, Hildegard & Jadwiga. Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

Aethelfled, a warrior queen who crushed the Vikings, Jadwiga, the first Queen Regent of Poland and Hildegard of Bingen, an 11th-century polymath abbess who became a 20th-century feminist icon and saint. Art and cultural historian Dr Janina Ramirez joins Dan on today's episode to tell the stories of three incredible medieval women. They all ruled, influenced and changed history but are often left out of the narrative of the Middle Ages.

Janina's new best-selling book 'Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It' is out now.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and mixed by Dougal Patmore

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!

Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.

Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Real Casanova Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

Content Warning This episode contains adult themes and language that may not be suitable for children.

On this special network crossover episode we're calling 'History Hit in the Sheets', host of our chart-storming 'Betwixt the Sheets' podcast Kate Lister joins Dan to unravel the stories, adventures and troubled legacy of Casanova.

Sex - lots of sex. That's what we think of when we think of Giacomo Casanova, Italy's most prolific lover and adventurer. But, there was much more to this Venetian womaniser than just romancing - he was a scam artist, outlaw, alchemist, spy and church cleric. He wrote satires, fought duels, and escaped from prison more than once. He even set up the French national lottery. We know so much about Casanova thanks to his mammoth three thousand page autobiography. It spoke of his incredible life in Europe, but is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century. He's often been painted as a rascal but today many question the darker side of his sex life; within his 'tally' of sexual partners, many seem forced and some were children, including his own.

Produced by Freddy Chick, Charlotte Long and Mariana Des Forges. Mixed by Dougal Patmore.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!

Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.

Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Murder of Charles I Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

It's 1660 and General Edward Whalley and his son-in-law board a ship bound for the New World. They're on the run, wanted for the murder of King Charles I. His execution, the culmination of the English Civil War, sees control taken from the royalists by Oliver Cromwell and his parliamentarians for ten years. But, when the royalists return to power, an epic manhunt ensues for the fugitives hiding out in America.

This is the plot of celebrated author Robert Harris' new historical novel Oblivions which takes a reader on a journey into the wilds of seventeenth-century New England. Robert joins Dan to talk about writing historical fiction, the history behind it and the unlikely way this story came to him.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!

Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.

Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sex Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

250 million years ago the armour-plated Placoderm fish invented the act of sex as we know it. Hubba Hubba. Dive into the historical sack as we go in search of the origins of nature’s greatest-ever invention.

Dallas’s guest on this episode is Australian palaeontologist John Long, author of The Dawn of the Deed.

Produced by Freddy Chick. The senior producer is Charlotte Long.

If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!

Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.

Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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