Dan Snow's History Hit

By History HitHistory

Ranking
11th
on History
Favorites
5,419
Followers
Typical duration
37 min
per episode
If it hooks
68%
finish an episode

Based on Podcast App listening data

Dan Snow's History Hit episodes

February 12, 2020 The Adventuress
In the 1930s Lady Lucy Houston was one of the richest women in England and a household name, notorious for her virulent criticisms of the government, but politics had been far from her mind when, as young Fanny Radmall, she had set out to conquer the world. Armed with only looks and self-confidence, she exploited the wealth and status of successive lovers to push her way into high society. Seeking influence in national politics, Lady Houston financed the first flight over Mount Everest, backed secret military research, and facilitated the development of the Spitfire aircraft. She even purchased a newspaper. Seeking to expose the Prime Minister as a Soviet agent and promote Edward VIII as England's dictator, Lucy was loved as a patriot but loathed as a troublemaker. Historian Teresa Crompton talks Dan through the life of a once famous woman, now totally forgotten.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
22 min
February 12, 2020 The Adventuress
In the 1930s Lady Lucy Houston was one of the richest women in England and a household name, notorious for her virulent criticisms of the government, but politics had been far from her mind when, as young Fanny Radmall, she had set out to conquer the world. Armed with only looks and self-confidence, she exploited the wealth and status of successive lovers to push her way into high society. Seeking influence in national politics, Lady Houston financed the first flight over Mount Everest, backed secret military research, and facilitated the development of the Spitfire aircraft. She even purchased a newspaper. Seeking to expose the Prime Minister as a Soviet agent and promote Edward VIII as England's dictator, Lucy was loved as a patriot but loathed as a troublemaker. Historian Teresa Crompton talks Dan through the life of a once famous woman, now totally forgotten.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
22 min
February 10, 2020 A Very Stable Genius
Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig are both Pulitzer Prize winning journalists at the Washington Post.

They've written a new book with yet more revelations from inside the Trump White House so Dan seized the opportunity to ask just how insane the whole thing is.

That's it really.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
23 min
February 10, 2020 A Very Stable Genius
Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig are both Pulitzer Prize winning journalists at the Washington Post.

They've written a new book with yet more revelations from inside the Trump White House so Dan seized the opportunity to ask just how insane the whole thing is.

That's it really.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
23 min
February 09, 2020 Dresden. 75 years on.
75 years ago this week Dresden, in Saxony, known as the ‘jewel box’ because of its stunning architecture was obliterated by British and American bombers. The flames reached almost a mile high. Around 25,000 people were thought to have been killed. The novelist Kurt Vonnegut was there. It was he who wrote that the smouldering landscape was like walking on the surface of the moon. Even in the immediate aftermath it was controversial. Churchill instantly appeared to regret it. The Nazi government dramatically inflated the death toll to cast themselves as much the victims of monstrous violence as the Jews, Slavs, Poles, Romany and other groups they had murdered on an industrial scale.

In this podcast Dan talks to Sinclair McKay about his new book about Dresden. They met in Coventry. A city also infamous for destruction from above during the Second World War. Today the two cities are twinned, united by the shock of firestorms delivered from above.

Was it a war crime? Was it necessary? Why did it happen? Dan asks Sinclair about one of the Second World War's most controversial moments.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
36 min
February 06, 2020 The British Republic
Paul Lay, editor of History Today, has written a great book about the rise and fall of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate (1653–1659), England's sole experiment in republican government – and one of the most extraordinary but neglected periods in British history. Having won two civil wars, conquered Ireland and Scotland and seen off Charles II, in 1653 Oliver Cromwell assumed the title of 'Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. But, as Paul explained to Dan, crafting a lasting, stable and legitimate alternative to monarchy was a lot more complicated....
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 2 min
February 06, 2020 The British Republic
Paul Lay, editor of History Today, has written a great book about the rise and fall of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate (1653–1659), England's sole experiment in republican government – and one of the most extraordinary but neglected periods in British history. Having won two civil wars, conquered Ireland and Scotland and seen off Charles II, in 1653 Oliver Cromwell assumed the title of 'Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. But, as Paul explained to Dan, crafting a lasting, stable and legitimate alternative to monarchy was a lot more complicated....
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
1 hr 2 min
February 05, 2020 Flu pandemics. Then and Now.
'We are very very vulnerable' says the brilliant science author and journalist Laura Spinney.

Her fantastic book 'Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World' is a shocking account of the flu pandemic that killed tens of millions of people a century ago.

What was Spanish Flu and what lessons are there for us today? As the coronavirus sweeps across China this is a really important conversation about flu, anti-microbial resistance and whether we should be scared.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
30 min
February 04, 2020 Confronting a Nazi past
Derek Niemman and Noemie Lopian work together. Two people from very different backgrounds, they tour the world telling people about their family stories.
Author and writer Derek Niemann discovered only a few years ago that the grandfather he never knew had been an SS officer, in charge of slave labourers in the Nazi concentration camps.
Dr Noemie Lopian is the daughter of Holocaust survivors: at the age of 10, her mother had a Gestapo pistol pointed at her head. Her father survived four years of slave labour and concentration camps. Noemie translated herfather's gripping and deeply humane memoir of those years - The Long Night.
The crimes committed by and against their forebears have drawn Noemie and Derek to form a highly unusual and indeed possibly unique partnership. In 2019, Noemie and Derek began sharing their stories as a warning of the perils of extremism and to inspire greater understanding.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
33 min
February 04, 2020 Confronting a Nazi past
Derek Niemman and Noemie Lopian work together. Two people from very different backgrounds, they tour the world telling people about their family stories.
Author and writer Derek Niemann discovered only a few years ago that the grandfather he never knew had been an SS officer, in charge of slave labourers in the Nazi concentration camps.
Dr Noemie Lopian is the daughter of Holocaust survivors: at the age of 10, her mother had a Gestapo pistol pointed at her head. Her father survived four years of slave labour and concentration camps. Noemie translated herfather's gripping and deeply humane memoir of those years - The Long Night.
The crimes committed by and against their forebears have drawn Noemie and Derek to form a highly unusual and indeed possibly unique partnership. In 2019, Noemie and Derek began sharing their stories as a warning of the perils of extremism and to inspire greater understanding.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
33 min

About Dan Snow's History Hit

From the publisher's feed

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 [email protected]

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™

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.