Historian Dan Snow journeys across the globe to tell the stories of history's defining moments. From the Colosseum in Rome to the Great Wall of China, the battlefields of Waterloo to the Tomb of Tutankhamun, join Dan as he explores the how and why of the greatest monuments, battles, heroes, villains and events that have shaped our world.
New episodes on Mondays and Thursdays with bonus subscriber only episodes every other Friday.
You can get in touch with us at ds.hh@historyhit.com
A podcast by History Hit, the world's best history channel and creators of award-winning podcasts The Ancients, Gone Medieval, and Betwixt the Sheets.
History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™
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Henry VIII is dead and England has replaced him with a boy king. But the one really pulling the strings of power behind the young and inexperienced Edward VI is one of Tudor England’s most formidable power players: John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.
Remembered by his enemies as the ‘Wicked Duke’, Dudley was ruthless and ambitious - but also a skilled statesman who helped rescue England from war, financial crisis and political instability. Then, in 1553, he risked everything by attempting to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne.
In this episode Dan is joined by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb to explore Dudley’s extraordinary rise and bloody fall - and ask: was he a villain, an opportunist, or Tudor England’s unlikely saviour?
You can check out Dan and Suzannah's latest documentary series How the Tudors Lost Their Heads on National Geographic.
Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Hannah Feodorov
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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 (https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe).
You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
Dan Snow's History Hit is a History Hit podcast.
History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™.
5 Oct 2026
The Yakuza
They projected themselves as fearless protectors bound by a code of chivalry, yet in their wake they left trails of bloody street duels and ritualised finger-chopping. From 17th-century dispossessed samurai turned street muggers, to powerful paramilitary bosses infiltrating national politics, the yakuza's evolution is a masterclass in criminal survival and reinvention.
Andrew Rankin, author of 'Yakuza: A 400-Year History of the Japanese Underworld', joins us to uncover the dramatic rise and transformation of Japan's organised crime syndicates.
Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Tim Arstall.
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 (https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe).
You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
Dan Snow's History Hit is a History Hit podcast.
History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™.
1 Oct 2026
The Cuban Missile Crisis Explained
The nuclear close calls, rogue commanders, silent standoffs and split-second decisions that nearly resulted in nuclear armageddon… In this episode, Dan breaks down the edge-of-your-seat crisis that almost triggered Doomsday, and explains how individual heroism and blind luck saved humanity from extinction.
Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Natasha Hughes.
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.
Dan Snow's History Hit is a History Hit podcast.
History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™.
Inside a recent episode
The Making of 'All Quiet on the Western Front'
Published 6 Mar 2023 · Transcript excerpt
[…] How did that rise? Why? All of that stuff were not really taught. So we felt one that was really important. And then also when you're adapting a novel like this. It's a beautiful, poetic novel, but it's almost like excerpts of a diary. There's no through line of action. So how do you create some kind of dramatic tension that can drive the story and act almost like a ticking clock? Because we know that modern cinematic audiences are different now than they were then. So you want to cater to what you think will appeal to an audience and me as a viewer. So that's when we thought about the storyline of the armistice in the last six hours of the war. […]
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