Empire: World History

Latest Episodes:

366. Ancient Egypt: Tutankhamun The Boy King (Ep 5) Jun 07, 2026

Show notes

**Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com**

His death mask is one of the most famous faces in Ancient Egyptian history, but who was the real Tutunkhamun? What do the items found in his tomb tell us about his life? And what myths have been spread about him?

Anita and William are joined by Dr Campbell Price, author of Golden Mummies of Egypt, and Curator of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum, to discuss the life of King Tut.

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Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk

X: @empirepoduk

Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Editor: Bruno Di Castri

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

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365. Ancient Egypt: Who Was Nefertiti? (Ep 4) Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

**Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com**

Her image has been reproduced by countless artists in recent years, but who was the real Nefertiti? How did she become a pharaoh in her own right? And why is there still controversy over her statue?

Anita and William are joined once again by Aidan Dodson, author of Nefertiti, Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt: Her Life and Afterlife, to discuss the iconic queen.

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For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.

Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk

X: @empirepoduk

Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Editors: Oli Oakley and Sam Benson

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

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364. Ancient Egypt: The Fall of Akhenaten (Ep 3) May 31, 2026

Show notes

**Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com**

Why did Akhenaten’s name get struck from the historical record after his death? Why did he build a new city in the sparse desert? Who ruled after he died?

Anita and William are joined by Aidan Dodson, author of Amarna Sunset, to discuss the collapse of the Amarna Revolution.

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Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk

X: @empirepoduk

Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Editor: Bruno Di Castri

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

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363. Ancient Egypt: Destroyer Of Gods – Pharaoh Akhenaten (Ep 2) May 27, 2026

Show notes

**Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at ⁠empirepoduk.com⁠**

Why did Egyptian priests wear animal masks? Who was the goddess of hangovers? And how did the Pharaoh, Akhenaten, destroy the many Egyptian gods to worship the sun disc, the Aten?

William and Anita are joined by Professor Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones to discuss Akhenaten’s extraordinary religious revolution and whether he was a pioneer or a tyrant.

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Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

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Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Editor: James Clayden

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

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The Scandal That Shaped Partition: Heartbreak & Secret Deals May 26, 2026

Show notes

**Unlock the full episode and the complete members’ miniseries by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com**

How did the relationship between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten tangibly change the course of Partition? What were the parting words that Nehru said to his love when the Viceroy and Vicereine left India? How did the relationship between these three important individuals change over the rest of their lives?

In the final episode of Empire’s first members-only miniseries, Anita is joined once again by Alex Von Tunzelmann to discuss the parting of the Mountbattens and Nehru, and how the romance with Edwina changed the future of India.

Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk

X: @empirepoduk

Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

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362. Ancient Egypt: Great Kings of The Bronze Age (Ep 1) May 24, 2026

Show notes

**Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com**

You’ve heard of Tutankhamun, but what do you know about the world he grew up in? In this series, we explore the Amarna Revolution, when Tutankhamun’s father instigated the biggest religious revolution the world had ever seen. Who were the individuals at the centre of the movement: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Tutankhamun?

What are the Amarna Letters and how do they reveal the intricate lives of the kings of the Late Bronze Age? Who was Pharaoh Amenhotep III? What was the status of Ancient Egypt on the eve of the revolution?

Anita and William are joined by the brilliant Eric Cline, author of Love, War, and Diplomacy: The Discovery of The Amarna Letters and The Bronze Age World They Revealed, to discuss the revelations of these insightful clay tablets.

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Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk

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Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Editor: Lorcan Moullier

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

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361. Louis Theroux On The Settlers, The Manosphere, & Tribalism May 20, 2026

Show notes

William and Anita are joined by Louis Theroux to discuss his documentaries on the Settler movement in the West Bank, and explore how extremists operate. What are the commonalities between HS TikkyTokky and the mother of the settler movement, Daniella Weiss? How do the extremists in these documentaries use shamelessness to their advantage? And what does Louis think about having invented “The Theroux Method”?

To listen to our series on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, head to episodes 346-353.

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Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk

X: @empirepoduk

Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Editor: Bruno Di Castri

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

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The Scandal That Shaped Partition: The Affair May 19, 2026

Show notes

**Unlock the full episode and the complete members’ miniseries by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com**

How did Edwina Mountbatten literally fall into the arms of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946? Who was Subhas Chandra Bose and why did he travel to Nazi Germany? How did Louis Mountbatten also become close with Nehru and in what way did this change Indian politics?

In Episode 3 of Empire’s first members’ miniseries, Anita is joined once again by Alex Von Tunzelmann to discuss the moment that Edwina Mountbatten and Nehru met for the first time, and how their relationship changed the course of Partition.

Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk

X: @empirepoduk

Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

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360. Spice Wars: The Battle of the East India Companies (Ep 3) May 17, 2026

Show notes

What caused the mighty Dutch East India Company to plummet from immense Golden Age wealth to total bankruptcy? Who was ‘Peter Pepper’, and how did his stolen plants end the VOC's spice monopoly? And how did a tiny Caribbean island spark the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War simply by saluting the American flag?

Get the entire Dutch Empire miniseries early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at ⁠⁠empirepoduk.com⁠ ⁠

In Episode 3 of our series on the VOC, William and Anita are joined by Dutch anthropologist and historian Michiel Baas to explore the staggering collapse of the Dutch East India Company. They discuss the greatest commercial reversal in history, as the English East India Company transformed into a powerful corporate state, while the mighty VOC went completely bankrupt.

For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to ⁠www.goalhanger.com.⁠

Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk

X: @empirepoduk

Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

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359. Spice Wars: The Birth of New York (Ep 2) May 13, 2026

Show notes

What drove the Dutch to employ samurai mercenaries to commit horrifying genocides in the Banda Islands? Why were European powers willing to torture and kill just to control the global supply of a dried seed? How did a peace treaty trade a spice island for Manhattan, giving birth to New York?

Get the entire Dutch Empire miniseries early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com

In the second episode of our series on the Dutch East India Company, William and Anita are joined by historian Giles Milton, author of Nathaniel's Nutmeg, to explore the deadly rivalry between the English and Dutch East India Companies. They discuss the brutal battle for Run Island, the horrific genocide committed by the Dutch in the East Indies, and how a trade for nutmeg gave us modern-day Manhattan.

For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.

Email: empire@goalhanger.com

Instagram: @empirepoduk

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk

X: @empirepoduk

Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott

Social Producer: Charlie Johnson

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Dom Johnson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices