HistoryExtra
Immediate Media
Weekly deep cuts into overlooked lives and events, from Lady Jane Grey to Olaf Tryggvason.
Why we picked this
We picked HistoryExtra for its refusal to treat the past as a collection of simple costumes and dates. The show pairs academic historians with rigorous interviewers who push past standard textbook narratives. Each conversation treats historical eras as complex webs of politics, material culture, and social pressure. We favor feeds that respect the listener's intelligence over sensationalism, and this podcast delivers granular, primary-source-driven inquiry week after week. The back catalog rewards anyone looking for durable, meticulously researched historical context.
Recent episodes
Richard III's traumatic childhood
Oct 26, 202632 min
How Ghosts makes history funny – without getting it wrong
Oct 22, 202626 min
America's anti-Chinese laws: a forgotten history
Oct 20, 202629 min
An African king in the Roman empire
Oct 19, 202636 min
Everyday life in a slave trading town
Oct 18, 202630 min
From plague 'searchers' to strawberry birthmarks: a history of women's bodies
Oct 15, 202634 min
The country house at war
Oct 13, 202627 min
The pioneering surgeon who stood up to Rasputin
Oct 12, 202648 min
The stolen Native Americans who shaped US history
Oct 11, 202647 min
Being disabled in the medieval era
Oct 8, 202645 min
Vanilla: a far from ordinary history
Oct 6, 202637 min
Ancient explosives and the philosopher's stone: a history of alchemy
Oct 5, 202635 min
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Stuff You Should Know
General knowledge podcast tackling eclectic topics from history and science to pop culture and more.