A lot of history episodes and a lot of film episodes. A few other subjects in between!
Giles Milton is one of my favourite authors producing narrative history today. The stories he tells are just jaw dropping.... more
David Parnell and I wrap up the story of Belisarius and Antonina. We are now on to the liberation of... more
David Parnell has a wonderful new book out called Belisarius and Antonina. This is the story of a real husband... more
Frank Dikötter is the author of a series of brilliant and harrowing books about communist China. He is not only... more
This is the story of Anson's voyage around the world in the 1740's. In particular it is about the ship... more
Jasper Sharp is probably the UK's leading expert on Japanese film and he joined me on the show today with... more
John McWhorter and Tom Holland are a perfect pairing. They are absolutely delightful company both with a dry sense of... more
Roger Crowley is one on the best (if not the best) narrative historians of the Middle Ages. Here is on... more
Stacy Schiff is one of America's most acclaimed historians and biographers. Her book The Witches is a detailed, almost forensic, history... more
Christopher de Bellaigue's book The Lion House is a brilliant history of the first part of Suleiman the Magnificent's reign. I... more
Professor David Abulafia's wonderful book The Great Sea covers so many topics. Today we talked about slavery. Until recently I... more
Scott Sumner is an economist with a well known and much quoted blog. But it is the bit of the... more
I have always found the war Octavian fought against Antony and Cleopatra hard to understand. How did Antony find himself... more
Anna Keay's book The Restless Republic is just brilliant. It covers the period following the execution of Charles I when... more
Following on from last week in this episode things reach boiling point. Marriage alliances are discarded, invasions undertaken D day... more
Tristan Hughes has writen a brilliant book about the years immediately following the Death of Alexander the Great. As Tristan... more
Really thrilled to have Bret Devereaux and Ed Watts on the podcast together. We looked at Gladiator as a film... more
I chatted to Battleship Bean and John Schilling about nuclear war. We discussed the wonderful Dr Strangleove and tried to... more
In part 1 of the story Napoleon III persuaded Maximilian and Carlotta to accept the Mexican crown and become emperor... more
Karl Marx called it 'one of the most monstrous enterprises in the annals of international history'. This seems unfair to... more
In the Dutch Republic of the 1630's trading in tulips went mad with bulbs and even parts of a bulb... more
James Howard - Johnston returns to talk about the astonishing upending of the world order that happened just a few... more
Paul Lockhart is brilliant on the history of guns (and firepower more widely). He is interested not just in the... more
Ed Watts is one of the most engaging writers and speakers on Roman history I have talked to. In this... more
In October 1950 the Americans are racing to the Yalu river, trying to bring the war in Korea to a... more
Everyone has heard of the Silk Road but this is The Silver Way. It is the story of the Manilla... more
The story of the siege of Constantinople in 1453 is a rich one. Roger Crowley tells the story absolutely brilliantly... more
In the year 617 the Roman Empire stands on the brink of extinction. In the West the empire is long... more
Stephen Greenblatt wrote a fascinating book The Swerve about the rediscovery in 1417 of a work of philosophy from antiquity.... more
In 1889 a woman calling herself Pearl Hart holds up a stagecoach in Arizona. In this episode John Boessenecker talks... more
Edward Watts startled me with his claim that the Western Roman Empire didn't fall in AD 476. And he has... more
Zareer is a a renowned historian and broadcaster. Clive of India is out of fashion these days but Zareer remains... more
Laurence Bergreen threads the needle for me. He tells Magellan's story in a way that is exciting and moves with... more
It is hard to describe Peter Henderson's adventures without lapsing into cliche. Hair raising, eye popping and so on. A... more
Thony Christie has a blog called the Renaissance Mathematicus. It covers the history of science and is one of the... more
David Rooney is the author of About Time: A History of Civilisation in Twelve Clocks. He talks about clocks (in... more
Freddie, Abe and I talk about movies. Three blokes talking about feminism in movies. Well of course. But much more... more
Julian Sancton is a wonderful guide to the Belgian expedition to Antartica in 1898. The crew of the Belgica included... more
Kenji Tierney is a wonderfully engaging speaker. Starting with memories of being introduced by his grandmother to sumo by way... more
Robin Gaster's book Behemoth, Amazon Rising: Power and Seduction in the Age of Amazon is available to buy on, naturally,... more
Thony Christie has a blog called the Renaissance Mathematicus. It covers the history of science and is one of the wonders of... more