Dan Snow's History Hit - TopPodcast.com

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Whaling Feb 02, 2026

Show notes

The history of whaling is complicated. At its height in the 18th and 19th centuries, whaling was a global enterprise built on perilous voyages, long seasons at sea, and a fierce chase for oil and baleen that illuminated streets and homes and lubricated the industrial revolution. In doing so, obsessed nations like Britain, Norway and America hounded whale populations to the brink, decimating populations and altering marine ecosystems forever.

But it's important to remember that this industry also has a rich social history. Whaling sustained communities across the globe, providing work, culture and a crucial way of life for working people in coastal regions and on remote islands like Shetland off the coast of Scotland.

In this episode, Dan heads to Dundee, once a hub of the whaling industry, to explore both the devastating ecological impact and the rich human story to give us a fuller understanding of the history of whaling. He speaks to the curators at the South Georgia Museum, Jayne Pierce and Helen Balfour, as well as Richard Sabin from the Natural History Museum and also one of Shetland's last remaining whalers, Gibby Fraser.

You can explore more at https://whalersmemorybank.sgmuseum.gs/ to read through testimonies from other whalers, see incredible archive images and learn more about whales in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

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

Joan of Arc Explained Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

Teenage peasant, visionary commander, convicted heretic, national saint - Joan of Arc's life reads like a legend. Today, Dan digs past that legend to understand who Joan really was, and why her story still provokes devotion, debate and reinvention 6 centuries later.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on.

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

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

The Dambusters Raid Explained Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

In May 1943, the RAF launched one of the Second World War’s most audacious missions: the Dambusters Raid. Today, we follow the raid as it unfolded, hearing about the remarkable people involved and examining its lasting impact.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on.

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

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

The Battle of Bosworth Jan 22, 2026

Show notes

In August 1485, the would-be king Henry Tudor went head-to-head with King Richard III - the final, decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses. Only one of these men would leave the battlefield alive, and this bloody clash between Houses York and Tudor would decide the future of Britain.

Joining us is Matt Lewis, host of the Gone Medieval podcast, to take us through this climactic moment in British history.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on.

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

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

The Top Assassination Attempts on Hitler Jan 19, 2026

Show notes

What does it take to kill a dictator? In this episode, we explore the most dramatic assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler. From Georg Elser, the lone-wolf carpenter who built a bomb by hand, to the Polish underground’s relentless plots under occupation, and finally Claus von Stauffenberg, the one-eyed officer whose briefcase bomb nearly took out the Führer.

Joining us for this is Roger Moorhouse, author of 'Killing Hitler'.

Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on.

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

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

A History of Iran Jan 15, 2026

Show notes

How does Iran's history underpin today's unrest? Dan traces more than 2,500 years of Iran's story — from the first Persian empires through conquest, dynasties, and revolution — to understand how power, identity, and sovereignty have shaped the country. He's joined by Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian History at the University of St Andrews, to explore key turning points over the centuries from the Arab conquest to the 1953 overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and the 1979 Revolution.

A version of this podcast was first released back in 2019.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on.

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

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

U.S. Interventions in Latin America and Beyond Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

For over 200 years, American presidents have repeatedly justified intervention as 'protection' - from the Monroe Doctrine of the 1820s, Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the 20th century, to Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush during the Cold War. America has a long history of using formal, informal, military and economic power to influence and exert control in its neighbouring countries and beyond.

Dan is joined by Professor Daniel Immerwahr, historian and author of How to Hide an Empire: The Greater United States, to explore the ways in which America has shaped the political landscape in the western hemisphere for two centuries. They examine the parallels and differences of historic interventions like the 1954 coup in Guatemala and the 1989 invasion of Panama with the events of today.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges, edited by Dougal Patmore.

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

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

A history of (American) occupation in Greenland Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

This isn't the first or even second time the U.S has made moves to procure Greenland in the last 160 years. President Donald Trump has stepped up his rhetoric, now saying that the use of US military is ‘always an option’ to annexe the autonomous territory. Currently part of the Kingdom of Denmark, an American takeover of Greenland would pose a serious crisis for NATO. But how much authority does Denmark have to protect Greenland? Why does Trump want it, and why are there already American troops already stationed there?

In this episode, first released in January 2025, Dan and Professor Robert Rix from the University of Copenhagen trace the occupation of Greenland from the first Vikings to the arrival of the Americans in the mid-20th century, as well as explain its relationship with Denmark and explore previous attempts from American administrations to acquire it.

You can discover more about the history of Greenland in Robert's book 'The Vanished Settlers of Greenland: In Search of a Legend and Its Legacy'.

Produced by James Hickmann, Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on Youtube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

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

The Rise, Fall and Rise of the Taliban Jan 05, 2026

Show notes

The Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 shocked the world. But, it was not an abrupt collapse — it was decades in the making. Lyse Doucet has spent her career reporting from the world's war zones and at the key moments in modern history as the BBC's Chief International Correspondent. She's followed the events in Afghanistan for decades and joins Dan to explain the rise of the Taliban from the chaos of the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, through their brutal rule in the 1990s, the impact of American and British intervention after 9/11 and explains how they returned to Kabul in 2021, plunging Afghanistan into another era under their grip.

Her new book, which explores this history through the lens of the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, where both international journalists and the Taliban stay, depending on who is running the country. It's called 'The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan'

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

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

How Did Ancient Romans become Christians? Jan 01, 2026

Show notes

Around 50 CE, a small group of travellers began to preach that a Jewish man, crucified by the Romans, had risen from the dead. Teaching love, forgiveness and eternal life, this new faith quickly gained followers. By the early fourth century, it was thriving, and over the next hundred years, it exploded, spreading across the entire Roman Empire before becoming its official religion. What enabled it to take such a strong hold so quickly and so steadfastly?

Dan is joined by author, broadcaster and historian Professor Alice Roberts to examine how Christianity out-organised and outlasted the Roman Empire.

Alice's new book is called 'Domination: The Fall of the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity'.

Produced by James Hickmann, Mariana Des Forges and edited by Matthew Wilson and Dougal Patmore.

Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on Youtube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on.

You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

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

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